HID or CFl. is my box too big or too small

[Phenom420]

geeze man how big is your grow? and hey i have a question, wats your personal recomendation for a seed co. that ships to the us. i honestly cant decide

Attitude Seeds are good I hear and Im ordering my first seeds from nirvana (because they r cheap)

I have about 50-60 plants in all.
all good bag seed and some killer shit as well.

I've read enuf on those 2 seed banks to know thats the safest bet

 

[DR.Greentrees]

yea i was gonna go with nirvana. im gonna chack out attitude. nirvana does have low prices and i love the aurora indica. a buddy of mine ordered from there for this past outdoor season and just got done curing a week ago. its amazing. i did check out your albums. very nice man. i gotta run to go grab my lights soil and pots though. this thing needs to be done by the end of the week. well thats my goal. thanks for all the help and make sure you tend to those seedlings haha. happy smoking tuninturnondropout

 

[Roseman]

And in the end,
the love you take,
is equal to the love,
you make.

 

[Phenom420]

And in the end,
the love you take,
is equal to the love,
you make.

Sweet man, just sweet!
+rep, well I was but I gotta spread it around more

 

[DR.Greentrees]

Great song. got my foil up since i am soo broke and have no money for mylar. hung my lights. got pots and soil. soil will go in later tonight when i can get it up here to the attic when my girls roomate leaves for work lol. miracle grow potting mix with banana peels. have a high nitrogen fert im gonna use after about 2 weeks or so. also gonna germ my seeds tonight. so theyll pop in a few days. just some great bagseeds i have. well the bud was great... lets hope these seeds turn well. so my soil will be in tonight. im gonna run my lights for about a day before my seeds are done germinating on paper so i can warm my soil a little bit. then plant them when they are ready and hopefully within a week ill have a camera and ill be able to take some pictures of my babies just poppinn through dirt. mmm im excited. thanks for everything guys. happy smoking tuneinTURNONdropout!

 

[Phenom420]

Great song. got my foil up since i am soo broke and have no money for mylar. hung my lights. got pots and soil. soil will go in later tonight when i can get it up here to the attic when my girls roomate leaves for work lol. miracle grow potting mix with banana peels. have a high nitrogen fert im gonna use after about 2 weeks or so. also gonna germ my seeds tonight. so theyll pop in a few days. just some great bagseeds i have. well the bud was great... lets hope these seeds turn well. so my soil will be in tonight. im gonna run my lights for about a day before my seeds are done germinating on paper so i can warm my soil a little bit. then plant them when they are ready and hopefully within a week ill have a camera and ill be able to take some pictures of my babies just poppinn through dirt. mmm im excited. thanks for everything guys. happy smoking tuneinTURNONdropout!

Happy gorwin Bud

 

[Roseman]

Did someone give you some help or good advise? Then click this next to the Post number in each post, and leave them your name and a note.
Maybe they will give it back.

 

[DR.Greentrees]

wow i am that slow. sorry man

 

[Phenom420]

wow i am that slow. sorry man

LOL, it's take a while to figure it all out, it's not like it's labeled.

Time to get high guys!!!

 

[DR.Greentrees]

veg lights, soil, pots, fan, little heat issue, chords, power, all taken care of. germinating seeds currently, lights are on with no fan heatin up that soil a little bit it was freezing cold. issue with the box getting a little cold. decided not to cut any vent holes. simply stuck the fan in the room. instead of completely sealing off the room i left the top and he side behind the fan of the removable face about 2 inches off the box to draw air in behind the fan and let a little hot air escape at the top. figured this would just be one of those trial and error things in the placement as is starts to cool down in the attic. i waited until now to start my grow for a reason lol. that being how hot it gets here in the summer and my low budget makes it difficult for nice exhaust fans and such. hoping to have access to a camera by the time they break soil, if not before. i wanna start my journal. thanks everyone. happy smoking tuneinturnondropout

 

[VTGOLD@420]

Roseman You know your stuff. I've been debating HPS vs. CFL for awhile, and you pretty much got me convinced. I do my outdoor thing right now but I want Fresh nugs in the winter. Good stuff man!

 

[Roseman]

Roseman You know your stuff. I've been debating HPS vs. CFL for awhile, and you pretty much got me convinced. I do my outdoor thing right now but I want Fresh nugs in the winter. Good stuff man!

thank you,
and
+REP 4 u,
Roseman

 

[Phenom420]

yeah Roseman is a smart mofo!
Here's to ya man, time for a toke!

 

[Roseman]

I'l gladly accept the good words for being helpful, I do try hard in that area to be helpful, but SMART? Man, I used to be, but now I'm just an old stoned out, very forgetful old man, growing a little pot and smoking it too.

 

[DR.Greentrees]

roseman your too humble. if anything your age makes you wise. soils betters, its not hard and freezing anymore. lights ran for a full 20hrs and warmed it up a little bit. room gets nice and warm with no fan. peaked at like 91 so thats just like a hot day not too bad, lights just went off about 45 minutes ago. gonna take a temp again right before they go on, im gonna do this next 20hrs with the fan on and see how temp gets. my seeds need to germ faster so i can plant them haha. so now im just kinda waiting. for my seeds, for a camera, for this post to end so i can go smoke. happy smoking everyone. wake and bake, TUNEIN turn on DROPOUT

 

[Roseman]

"TUNEIN turn on DROPOUT"

how old are you to have known that one?

 

[arcticvapors]

I'l gladly accept the good words for being helpful, I do try hard in that area to be helpful, but SMART? Man, I used to be, but now I'm just an old stoned out, very forgetful old man, growing a little pot and smoking it too.

you just described me...peace roseman!

 

[DR.Greentrees]

im 18. lets just say my dads a real cool dude haha. that and you can say i was def born in the wrong era. all my beleifs about marijuana and other drugs and life in general put me right back there. its something ive loved since i was maybe 13. drugs yes but not just drugs drug culture and such things. like... i wouuld have been a digger!

 

[arcticvapors]

ur an old soul drgreentrees, an old soul...

 

[Roseman]

Roseman You know your stuff. I've been debating HPS vs. CFL for awhile, and you pretty much got me convinced. I do my outdoor thing right now but I want Fresh nugs in the winter. Good stuff man!

CFLs vs HID Lights

If you want to start an arguement fast, then visit an Internet Grow Forum or Chat Room and mention CFLs vs HID Lights.
Let me just tell you a fact. HID Lights (High Intensity Discharge Lights) are much more efficient than CFLs (Compact Flourscent Lights) and they grow FASTER and penetrate a large plant much better than CFLs do. HID lights grow tighter denser buds too. That is a fact no one should argue. HIDs win easily.
Wait a minute. What costs more to purchase? What requires a fancier Reflector and costs more to hang? What cost more to use and adds more to the electric bill? What cost more to handle the HEAT?

HEAT? I can touch a 200 watt CFL for ten seconds and not burn my hand. I can hold a burning 42, 65, or 85 watt bulb in my hand for five seconds and not get burnt. I can touch a HID bulb for half a second and have a serious blister and burn. Touching a HID bulb is like touching the burner on an electric stove. If you use HID bulbs, not only will you have to cool the bulb, you will have to cool the grow area too. Growing with HID lights requires VENTING the HEAT, and that cost extra money.

If you are a large scale grower, or commercial grower, HID lights are best for you.
If you are a small grower, a closet or tent grower, then CFLs are your best, easiest, cheapest way to grow.

As I mentioned, I like the cheaper CFLs because of their mobility and ease of use. When I did my first grow three years ago, a 65 watt CFL was the largest made and sold. Today I see up to 300 watt CFLS, but I do not advise using the larger watt CFL bulbs.

Let me tell you about CFLs.

From Ed Rosenthal:

In the new Skunk Magazine there was a question in the "Ask Ed" section that just made my night last night when reading it...



The question was:

I intend to grow a single cannabis plant in a space 1' x 2'. What light would you recommend? I was think of using four 30-watt compact fluorescent lamps. Will this be enough? Cost isn't an issue but I am deterred from getting a high pressure sodium [light] because of the amount of heat the bulb produces.

Answer:

As you mentioned, you have several lighting systems to choose from, including compact fluorescents and high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps. Among HPS lamps you have a choice between a single 100-watt lamp which uses a total of about 120-watts and emits about 8,800 lumens(73 lumens per watt) or a 150-watt lamp, which uses about 180 watts and emits almost double that-15,800 lumens (87 lumens per watt).

A 42-watt compact fluorescent (CFL) emits about 2700 lumens(64 lumens per watt). Four 42 watt CFLs use 168 watts and emit 10,800 lumens. Other size CFLs have a similar efficiency.

However, that is only part of the story. Plants use mostly red and blue light. Yellow and green light is of little use to them, so light that is emitted in these spectrums is wasted energy. Most of the light emitted by HPS lamps is in the yellow spectrum. Only a small amount of the emitted light is is in the orange or red spectrums, which plants use efficiently. Warm white fluorescents (2700 Kelvin) emit a greater portion in the red and orange sectors.
Although fluorescents produce only about 75% of the light per watt that the HPS does, the amount of light usable by the plant is equal or probably higher with the fluorescents. You may wish to experiment to see if adding a single cool white CFL to replace one warm white results in shorter, stouter stems and more vigorous growth. The reasoning is that warm whites don't emit much blue light, which the plants use for photosynthesis and to regulate their growth. The cool white bulb supplies the blue light.

My call for your unit would be to use several (three to five) CFLs with a total input of between 120-160 watts. Although the 150 watt HPS is a bit more efficient that the CFLs in total output, watt for watt the fluorescents provide as much useful light as the HPS lamp. Heat is another consideration. The HPS runs much hotter and emits more heat than the fluoescents.

Make sure to use reflective material around the garden so that any light escaping the garden is reflected back to the plants. Any light that doesn't get to the plant leaves is wasted.


Look at a lumen/watt ration of various CFL's. The higher the wattage of CFLs, the lower the lumen/watt ratio. This chart was submitted by Jerry Garcia, of RIU and edited for typos.

For example...

the 200w listed at 9250 lumens for a lumens/watt ratio of 9250/200=46.25

the 150w is listed at 7500 lumens for a l/w ratio of 7500/150=50

the 125w is listed at 6500 lumens for a l/w ratio of 6500/125=52

the 42w are listed for 2700 lumens, l/w ratio of 2700/42=64.28

I have some 26w that give off 1700 lumens for a l/w ratio of 1700/26=65.38

GE lists some 13w that give off 825 lumens for a l/w ratio of 825/13=63.46

So, according to these numbers the most efficient bulbs for growing are the 26w that emit 1700 lumens. If you used 8 26w bulbs (208 watts total) you'd be getting 13,600 lumens...4,350 more lumens than a single 200 watt cfl.

I suppose you need to purchase more sockets and cords and things to support 8 bulbs, but in the long run more lower watt CFLs seem like the way to go.