CFL advice please

Hiramklarke

Hiramklarke

Active Member
4x23w65K over head and 2x14w27K on sides in a 8'x2'x2' closet

I know the plant looks alittle bad but this is merely an experiment with CFL's...it was a runt of some plants i have goin on outside so i decided to see how CFL's work out for me20140710_114628.jpg ....my question is..how long can i get away with my current setup?
 
skunkd0c

skunkd0c

Well-Known Member
i would remove the side lights they just look like they crowding the little thing and maybe making the air directly around the plant a little warm
do you have a fan lightly blowing on it ?

the plant does not need very much light until it develops a root system this must happen first before it will green up and develop new shoots
once this happens and new shoots are growing daily you will know the plant is ready to grow quickly and use the extra light

keep the air moving around the plant will help to keep it healthy
 
Hiramklarke

Hiramklarke

Active Member
Ok i will remove side lights, and yes i have a fan keeping those leaves jiggling...how long can i get away with the 4 lights on top? Wont have any extra cash for another 2 weeks
 
Pass it Around

Pass it Around

Well-Known Member
You can get away with those lights until you flower, it may not be IDEAL but that isn't the question. I would definitely give the little lady some breathing room though as others have stated you don't need that much light to keep a plant vegging. As soon as you can upgrade your lighting is the best time to do it.
 
Pass it Around

Pass it Around

Well-Known Member
I use t5's for babies and then Led after they root. The plants respond a lot better to the LED's and have ; thicker stalks, fatter leaf, thick ass roots and faster growth. I will leave plants under t5's if I am waiting to chop down because the t5's grow slower making it easier to keep it from overgrowing the veg area.
 
Hiramklarke

Hiramklarke

Active Member
Well im tight for cash and i was referring to how many actual watts of cfl (not incandescent equivalent) should i veg this plants with? led is not an option right now
 
weedenhanced

weedenhanced

Well-Known Member
Pass it Around said:
I use t5's for babies and then Led after they root. The plants respond a lot better to the LED's and have ; thicker stalks, fatter leaf, thick ass roots and faster growth. I will leave plants under t5's if I am waiting to chop down because the t5's grow slower making it easier to keep it from overgrowing the veg area.
Click to expand...
T5s for babys why? I use a 400w mh bulb dimmed to 200 straight off .
This babying of plants kis stupid t5 will make a weak stretchy plant compared to a mh I germ seed paper towel method when crack straight into a jiffy pellet and that pellet straight into big pot straight under the mh.
a led? R u serious u want strong plants use a mh bulb for veg the result will astonished u
skunkd0c said:
i would remove the side lights they just look like they crowding the little thing and maybe making the air directly around the plant a little warm
do you have a fan lightly blowing on it ?

the plant does not need very much light until it develops a root system this must happen first before it will green up and develop new shoots
once this happens and new shoots are growing daily you will know the plant is ready to grow quickly and use the extra light

keep the air moving around the plant will help to keep it healthy
Click to expand...
Fan to strengthen the stem and helps make plant grow a thick stem
 
Last edited:
weedenhanced

weedenhanced

Well-Known Member
Hiramklarke said:
4x23w65K over head and 2x14w27K on sides in a 8'x2'x2' closet

I know the plant looks alittle bad but this is merely an experiment with CFL's...it was a runt of some plants i have goin on outside so i decided to see how CFL's work out for meView attachment 3199905 ....my question is..how long can i get away with my current setup?
Click to expand...
Ur plant look droppy either 2 hot or overwatered to create a good root structure id recommend that u water the plant about 1 cup a day and when u water do it in a circle around seedling about 3 inches away from it it makes the plants roots stretch for the water.

Growing autos and learning about how to maximize your plant growth for the first 3 weeks can be applied to a normal photo.
 
weedenhanced

weedenhanced

Well-Known Member
rob333 said:
i can give some awsome cfl advice probley the best advice on rollitup DONT USE THEM THEY ARE SHIT AND A WAST OF TIME good luck hope my advice helps ;)
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Lmfao I love it I reakon there shit 2 but then again I reakon mh for veg hps for flower and with a good cool tube u can use them in any grow
 
weedenhanced

weedenhanced

Well-Known Member
skunkd0c said:
i have read this in grow books not sure it makes much difference in practice
i find stem size is dependent on strain and root space
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Ok so try this get a seedling if u dont expose to a breeze it will be weak and stringy and thin stemed the plant with weaker roots and stem compared to a seedling under a breeze will actualy make the plant root better cause it needs stronger roots to hold it up against a breeze like u say thicker root mass thicker truck
 
skunkd0c

skunkd0c

Well-Known Member
weedenhanced said:
Lmfao I love it I reakon there shit 2 but then again I reakon mh for veg hps for flower and with a good cool tube u can use them in any grow
Click to expand...
yeh compared to led of equiverlent wattage or even a small hps
cfl are shit, but they get newbies into growing at a very small cost
i like to think of them as like training wheels
noobs can then progress to a better light
although the OP did say this is just an experiment for him with cfl and he has plants outside

 
skunkd0c

skunkd0c

Well-Known Member
weedenhanced said:
Ok so try this get a seedling if u dont expose to a breeze it will be weak and stringy and thin stemed the plant with weaker roots and stem compared to a seedling under a breeze will actualy make the plant root better cause it needs stronger roots to hold it up against a breeze like u say thicker root mass thicker truck
Click to expand...
i have done this and i did not find any benefit, seedlings during the early stages do not benefit from fans they are too delicate
very quickly the stems are firm enough by themselves no need to fuss over them

the size of the stem is not much of a concern to me as long as the plant can support itself
i find the actual root space makes a difference to stem size when the root space is very large/unrestricted
i have grown plants that only yield 3-4 oz which have the same size stem as plants that yield over 1lb

when i grow plants in the larger hydro trays so the roots have at least 3ft each way to travel before forming a rootmat
the steams are quite a bit thicker but the yield is no larger for the same size plant
 
Pass it Around

Pass it Around

Well-Known Member
weedenhanced said:
T5s for babys why? I use a 400w mh bulb dimmed to 200 straight off .
This babying of plants kis stupid t5 will make a weak stretchy plant compared to a mh I germ seed paper towel method when crack straight into a jiffy pellet and that pellet straight into big pot straight under the mh.
a led? R u serious u want strong plants use a mh bulb for veg the result will astonished u

Fan to strengthen the stem and helps make plant grow a thick stem
Click to expand...
Do you have any experience with expensive LED's ? Because I have grown with t8,t5,cfl,hps,mh,led. I keep my power bill under 200 bucks a month and have no need of air conditioning. My setup may not be ideal for you but for the conditions I am in at the moment it is absolutely amazing. Keeps me from having to buy medicine and I have a collective to take my extra.

Babying of plants is a misconception of yours, it is all a matter of controlling temperature without using excess energy. When I look at my boss's 8 light setup I think damn... I could do that but I also have seen the bill at the end of the month and it is hard to keep up with 8k in power/nutes/ anything else needed for the shop.

I would love to see more people saving money on their power bill but too many folks buy the cheap leds and discount them all as garbage.

[ In a perpetual system one must have a veg area , sprouting & cloning , and flower. I like to keep all three separate in case anything bad happens in one of the areas. mold/bugs/random acts of god etc. ]
 
weedenhanced

weedenhanced

Well-Known Member
weedenhanced

weedenhanced

Well-Known Member
skunkd0c said:
i have done this and i did not find any benefit, seedlings during the early stages do not benefit from fans they are too delicate
very quickly the stems are firm enough by themselves no need to fuss over them

the size of the stem is not much of a concern to me as long as the plant can support itself
i find the actual root space makes a difference to stem size when the root space is very large/unrestricted
i have grown plants that only yield 3-4 oz which have the same size stem as plants that yield over 1lb

when i grow plants in the larger hydro trays so the roots have at least 3ft each way to travel before forming a rootmat
the steams are quite a bit thicker but the yield is no larger for the same size plant
Click to expand...
U may right but ill still allway have air movement in my grow room
 
Hiramklarke

Hiramklarke

Active Member
First Thank you all for responding, secondly skunkd02 is correct, i am just getting my feet wet with indoor growing...i have some beauties outside and i wanted to give cfl's a crack....i know cfl's are frowned upon but this is the way im choosing to start...i also have a VERY rookie question...are there special fixtures for MH bulbs are do they have screw in connections like cfl bulbs? Also B166ER420 that looks perfect!!! Im not trying for a lb out of my closet, thats what my babies outside are for!!! How did that brickweed bud smell like after cured??? How many watts did u use for vegging?
 
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