CFL bulbs

My first grow I used 2 clip on lamps and they worked very well, I really liked the ability to aim & adjust height. Currently with the sockets mounted on the sides and the 'Y' adapters, they are at more of a 30° angle with curved reflector above. Lovin' it so far.
 
take a look at my grow. I am currently using 6 75 watt cfls and one 300 watt ( big azz bulb ) so far so good. one fan and the fridge stays at 75.
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i firmly believe that CFLs are a great way for any grower to start and to figure out if this is the right hobby for them before they go balls to walls with the investing.

best of luck to your grow, and remember to ask anything u can think of, theres no dumb questions, and this forum is busting at the seams with knowledgeable growers that are willing to answer any questions

:reading420magazine:
 
^^^^^agreed

although some long time/very experienced growers still use cfls because of the savings in energy and the much lower temperatures
 
Besides the savings in energy you have a grow up you can buy at any home store for a few dollars. You can get a pack of CFLs, a fan and some light fixtures or less than $50. Not bad for a poor boy on a budget.
 
Hi All,
Embarrassingly new so please bear with me....:)

I'm considering two CFL's both 250W, 15,000 lumens. One 2700K for flowering and the other 6500K for veg hung with chains horizontally and height adjustable.

The are "Feliz" lights and fixture. Grow space is 3'x3'x3.5' tall.

Is this lumen output sufficient? Is the wattage too high for the space?

Thanks!
 
I'm assuming you want to use cfl's because you don't want to have heat or ventilation? But I love cfl's I have been building boxes for people to grow out of and your cfl's will work but if you using a reflector as if it were an hps it is not going to put out 15000 lumens because cfl's need to be very close to get the full output. You may want to add a few 26 watt cfl's as supplemental lighting on the sides because the penetration from cfl's leaves plenty to be desired, but if you have a cfl covering most of your plant you can get some very nice nugs. It'd only cost you a few more bucks so that is my two cents, ose bulbs ought to work but if you want superior product maybe spring a few extra bucks for some supplemental.
 
TorturedSoul said:
250-watt CFLs? Consider going with one of our fine sponsors and their horticultural CFLs, such as EnviroTech Lighting.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that..very good suggestion to support those who support the site.

I'm going with CFL's as it was recommended by others, doesn't put out as much heat, makes interior temps more manageable and saves on energy costs. I'm growing for personal consumption, I don't consume much, and need a new hobby! :reading420magazine:

My box will be small - 3' x 3' x 3.5' - building it myself. I will look like a piece of furniture so as to be more stealthy.

That's the short story..studying here is a blast..:yahoo:

Thanks again for the advice!
 
Yessir good luck. That might work just fine or it might not. Just have to try it and see. I'm convinced that cfl lighting works fine if all the other elements are not way off, nutrition and ventilation for example. My first grow was a bagseed plant that went from seed to harvest in 12 weeks at 2ft. tall and gave about 3/4 ounce dry, maybe a little less. And the best part is it was flowered under 98watts of cfl lighting, vegged under even less! Sure a 2ft tall plant can produce a lot more but the potency was excellent and the plant was healthy the whole time. Some days saw an inch gain in height. I'm sure this will not work for every person or every strain but jeez if I can reproduce that(I lost the strain, so maybe not) then there just isn't much driving me to get too complicated with the whole thing. Maybe you will have similar results.
 
I'm committed to having everything as perfect as it can be. I'm not in a hurry to build an inferior box and the plant or plants will have everything needed to maximize produce quantity and potency.

That said, I don't want to be over zealous and do more harm than good by trying to be too perfect.

That's why I was looking for an opinion on whether or not 250w CFL's would be overdoing it when I could get healthier results from 150w or 200w. Just don't know enough to make that call on my own.

My box will have all the bells and whistles necessary for success without being too complex..ie. soil grow on my first time then I'll see how it goes with hydro on successive grows.

That's my goal while I realize I may completely fail on first attempts, I won't quit until I've got it down. Sounds obsessive but..lol oh well.

Thanks!

:thankyou:
 
Obsess away my friend. Some people, like myself and apparently you too can't be happy starting something without doing it until they can say "I got it. I now know that I'm good at this." I think that as a general rule is a good thing. Good luck!
 
kfswantoon said:
Obsess away my friend. Some people, like myself and apparently you too can't be happy starting something without doing it until they can say "I got it. I now know that I'm good at this." I think that as a general rule is a good thing. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I'm the same way. I'll figure this beast out yet! ;)

I started growing in a box and attempted a bubble system with a ScrOG - I do not recommend doing that to anyone! It's (nearly) impossible to deal with the reservoir with the roots in it, and the plants attached to the lid - and once growth hits the screen, that would make it even more difficult. I luckly found out that this combo was not a good one very early in the grow and switched everything up. I don't need to be overly stealthy so I ditched the cab (my ventilation through the box wasn't good enough, so heat became a problem too) and switched to an ebb and flow system.

I made mistakes with my lights (strength and distance - I'm using CFLs), my ventilation, my nutes, my heat - you name it, I've screwed it up so far! LOL! The community here has tonnes of info if you're willing to look for it. :reading420magazine: So I was able to get some great information to help me out through my various screw ups.

I did manage to progress through all the mistakes with the ladies - they were stunted and looking really bad at some times, but they're much better now and are 1 week into flowering. I'm using 1x250W 2700k CFL, 3x65W 2700k CFLs, and 1x43W 2700k CFL to cover my 2'x2.5' ScrOG. I just rigged up the 250W this evening so it's not mentioned in my journal yet as I write this, but tomorrow I'm going to try and drop a few more of the smaller wattage (no heat) CFLs into the jungle I've created with my LST so help get some of the lower bud sites. We'll see!

All in all, it's a super fun hobby with lots to learn - which is my kind of hobby! I play strategy games until I master them, and I'm looking forward to mastering this too - one day. :grinjoint:
 
Taxx said:
I started growing in a box and attempted a bubble system with a ScrOG - I do not recommend doing that to anyone! It's (nearly) impossible to deal with the reservoir with the roots in it, and the plants attached to the lid - and once growth hits the screen, that would make it even more difficult.
Click to expand...

If you mean emptying the reservoir, it's not difficult with a little prior planning. If it is not sitting directly on the floor, there are bulkhead-type drain valves that can be installed. Or a poor man could cut an additional hole in the lid (covered when not in use) just large enough to drop a short hose in. Cover the end with a finger, withdraw the excess length, point it at a bucket, and remove your finger - the reservoir will quickly be siphoned out. Failing that, there are hand-pumps available for a couple of bucks wherever kerosene heaters are sold for fuel transferral.

You're right, though. Once a plant hits a screen and you start training it under the screen... And branches start forming as if by magic... After that all gets going, it's very difficult to (nigh impossible, lol) to remove the lid due to the plant pushing against the screen and that whole equal but opposite force thing. When I grew in those big red Solo drink cups, the plant would slowly force it down into the reservoir (as it destroyed it). Never seemed to hurt the plants a bit, but the hydroton media would get loose in the reservoir. Well... A couple pieces would; most was ensnared in the root ball.
 
isntead of using the 250w, use a lower wattage cfl like 50 or 100, just use several of them in different positions around the plant for better light coverage/penatration to the lower leaves
 
XxUpInSmokExX said:
isntead of using the 250w, use a lower wattage cfl like 50 or 100, just use several of them in different positions around the plant for better light coverage/penatration to the lower leaves
Click to expand...

Yup, yup..the lumen output is much better with several 65w'ers than going with the larger watt bulbs...

I bought my box today...it's an under sink kitchen unfinished oak cabinet. Home depot was selling them for $105. I'm going to customize it for my purposes.

I know I could've built one myself but this was a good deal and it's perfect and totally stealthy in my garage. Looks like something it's not. Building my own box to look like that would've been more work.

Once again, pursuing the path of least resistance!
 
I agree that is is better to use many smaller wattage CFLs as opposed to using lesser amounts of larger wattage CFLs. If you want to penetrate and cover MJ plants you have to put those suckers everywhere. I personally put them up, down, along the sides and use white board to reflect as much light back up and into the plants as possible.
 
and also, although very little heat is put off by the cfls, the 250w will put off a significant amount of heat compared to if you use the 65watts or whatever small ones you decide to use
 

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