So im going the CFL route...

[sm0keyrich510]

And i need some advice.

I need to know:

A) where should i get my CFL's from? is 1000bulbs a good idea?

B) What watt CFL's should i get? (not referring to their equivalent) should i get 42watters? 30 watters? 65 watters? 105 watters? etc.

C) am i rite that i want to keep my lights at a 3 to 1 ratio for each stage? ie. 3 6500K bulbs for veg state and 1 2700K bulb then visca versa for the flowering stage? or have i been misinformed?



My main goal is to get a small setup going in a closet sized space.

HPS and MH are not viable options at the moment so im looking to start roughly 3-4 seedlings (yes from seeds)...1 of which is GUARANTEED a female purple wreck...the other 2-3 im not sure of i just found them in some weed i had gotten and want to see if any are female.

so any/all help would be appreciated.

thank you.

 

[sm0keyrich510]

oh and are the spiral CFL's what i should use? or what? there are PLENTY of types of CFL's and im lost.

and where can i get some fixtures to plug said bulbs into? and how do i know which fixtures will be safe and work (dont want to start any fires now)


the screw in types rite?

 

[CFL+OutdoorGrower]

1. You can get cfl's from online to walmart, loweys stores like that.
2. Depends on wether you are growing big bushes (you'd want roughly 50w at the head and spread 23w's around to help distribute light to all areas of the plant. Because the light penetration through the leaves are not as good as hps). (If your doing the SOG method you wont have to use as many lights to get to the bud.)
3. Yes you can do that, But for veg you want daylights(5500-6700k) For flowering you want warm whites(2700-3500k)
4. You will want to put the light schedual at 20/4 or 18/6 for veg and when you want it to start floweing go from 12/12 to 14/10. Can vary for diffrent strains.
5. You can use spiral or straight cfl's but i use spirals myself.
6. You can buy the fixtures online and from walmart etc.
7. You can use screw ins or bayonettes. It dosnt matter. Just use what the bulbs you buy are. I use bayonetes myself.
Hope this helps!
Goodluck! & Peace

 

[@jax1969]

I'll take a swing at some of your questions.

A) 1000bulbs has good selection. Get 'em where you can find 'em. I get mine mine from Home Depot, Lowe's, WalMart. Wherever. I'm into convenience and stealth.

B) I read somewhere (probly here or on ICMag) that anything over 42 watt bulbs and you start to lose effeciency. you lose Lumens/Watt or something to that effect. So I wouldn't use any bulbs over 42 watt. Some people prefer using a lot of smaller watt bulbs so you can position them all over, like 27 watt'ers.

C) I have always read that the plants like the mixed spectrum and that 2:1 or 3:1 is good. You want a minumum of 3000 Lumens per square foot.

Spiral CFLs are fine, I use em. I don't think any one style CFL is really much better than any others. The main thing is to pay attention to the Lumens, K and watts.

Look thru this forum and the DIY forum, lots of good ideas for fixtures. Some folks like to build something totally DIY, others like power strips with socket plugs, others like those bathroom vanity bars. Up to you. I built my 3 socket strip DIY.

I will say this, CFLs can put off some heat. So be prepared to deal with ventilation if you plan to grow in a confined space.

My personal stealth micro grow is about 1.8 sq ft
Lighting: CFL
2 x 42w, 2700k, 2600 lumens
1 x 27w, 5500k, 1700 lumens
111 watts total
6900 lumens.
58 watts/sq ft
3630 lumens/sq ft.

My 2 LST'ed girls are lovin it.

Have fun. Cheers.

 

[clasonde]

1. You can get cfl's from online to walmart, loweys stores like that.
2. Depends on wether you are growing big bushes (you'd want roughly 50w at the head and spread 23w's around to help distribute light to all areas of the plant. Because the light penetration through the leaves are not as good as hps). (If your doing the SOG method you wont have to use as many lights to get to the bud.)
3. Yes you can do that, But for veg you want daylights(5500-6700k) For flowering you want warm whites(2700-3500k)
4. You will want to put the light schedual at 20/4 or 18/6 for veg and when you want it to start floweing go from 12/12 to 14/10. Can vary for diffrent strains.
5. You can use spiral or straight cfl's but i use spirals myself.
6. You can buy the fixtures online and from walmart etc.
7. You can use screw ins or bayonettes. It dosnt matter. Just use what the bulbs you buy are. I use bayonetes myself.
Hope this helps!
Goodluck! & Peace

i agree with all this.

in my experience if you keep your light spectrum at a 75% blue (6500k) and 25% red (2700k) for veg you will get some fast growing plants and for flowering just switch it 75% red (2700k) and 25% blue (6500k) you will get flourishing plants and more trichs/higher potency.

you can use higher wattage CFLs but the higher the watt the less lumen/watt ratio your plants will receive. i like the 42w cfls and i like to keep em either angled or sideways so i get the maximum coverage for the plant.

also try and keep the lights within 1-3inches from the plant because it will help to your buds to become dense and most cfls are more effective within this range.

try to keep the lights surrounding the plant instead of just ontop, this will create bigger buds. if you can buy or make some homemade reflectors i would recommend doing that.

CFLs are awesome for the electricity costs, but it seems that the flowering periods of certain strains seems to be a couple of weeks longer with them.

good luck and happy growing

 

[sm0keyrich510]

I'll take a swing at some of your questions.

A) 1000bulbs has good selection. Get 'em where you can find 'em. I get mine mine from Home Depot, Lowe's, WalMart. Wherever. I'm into convenience and stealth.

B) I read somewhere (probly here or on ICMag) that anything over 42 watt bulbs and you start to lose effeciency. you lose Lumens/Watt or something to that effect. So I wouldn't use any bulbs over 42 watt. Some people prefer using a lot of smaller watt bulbs so you can position them all over, like 27 watt'ers.

C) I have always read that the plants like the mixed spectrum and that 2:1 or 3:1 is good. You want a minumum of 3000 Lumens per square foot.

Spiral CFLs are fine, I use em. I don't think any one style CFL is really much better than any others. The main thing is to pay attention to the Lumens, K and watts.

Look thru this forum and the DIY forum, lots of good ideas for fixtures. Some folks like to build something totally DIY, others like power strips with socket plugs, others like those bathroom vanity bars. Up to you. I built my 3 socket strip DIY.

I will say this, CFLs can put off some heat. So be prepared to deal with ventilation if you plan to grow in a confined space.

My personal stealth micro grow is about 1.8 sq ft
Lighting: CFL
2 x 42w, 2700k, 2600 lumens
1 x 27w, 5500k, 1700 lumens
111 watts total
6900 lumens.
58 watts/sq ft
3630 lumens/sq ft.

My 2 LST'ed girls are lovin it.

Have fun. Cheers.

sounds good.

from seed to harvest how long does it take you with that type of setup and what is ur usual yield per plant?

trying to get a feel of what to expect.

 

[Burger Boss]

Hey Rich, i'm an outdoor grower, but i'm setting up an indoor nursery/clone station. Using 4 - 42 watt spiral bulbs for the sides & a 125 watt U5 bulb in a Bright Wing overhead. The whole set-up cost around $100. Good luck & good grow...BB

 

[Concord Dawn]

Hey smokey, here's my light setup. Total cost, $32. Thats 4 23 watt 2700k's and 1 6500k for a total of 9600 lumens. Check out my grow for more pics of the light. Good luck and hope this helps.

 

[sm0keyrich510]

awesome advice guys. wat are the average yields you guys pull with these types of setups?

 

[NEEDforSpeed]

sounds good.

from seed to harvest how long does it take you with that type of setup and what is ur usual yield per plant?

trying to get a feel of what to expect.

awesome advice guys. wat are the average yields you guys pull with these types of setups?

In for an answer

 

[Concord Dawn]

In for an answer

My guess would be about 3 months or so and I would say maybe a 1/2 oz to an oz and a 1/2 or more depending on how big you go and that strain you have.

 

[clasonde]

its hard to say a specific yield amount when talking about cannabis. so many other factors other than light, like genetics, soil, nutes, veg times, etc.

 

[@jax1969]

I agree with clasonde. It is really hard to speculate on either duration or yield. There are so many factors.

 

[CFL+OutdoorGrower]

You really have to have the green thumb to pull of a good yeild for like 120w and under for 2 plants. Meaning, You should either SCROG, SOG, or LSTing the plant. You should decide and read up. Each have there advantage for your space, pot size and bud+ to leaf- ratio. It's not to hard,you just have to look on the forum for things you are lacking in e.g nitrogen, phosphorus and pottasium are really plant killers eventually. Get some perlite and organic fert or bio bizz. I have had great success under cfl's with them. Happy smoking.

 

[sm0keyrich510]

i have another question.

i was looking at fixtures for my the bulbs would this one work? http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-Fans-Bath-Vanity-Lighting/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5Zarv3/R-202022451/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

and i was wondering when it says it can hold 100watt bulbs (or cfl equivalents) do they mean i can use a 100watt CFL or that i can use a CFL bulb that is equal to 100watts of incan. light? ie only up to a 23 watt cfl (i believe is equal to 100watts of incan. light)

lemme kno.

thanks

 

[CFL+OutdoorGrower]

I use fixtures from lamps, but it looks like a good investment. And, it means you can use 100w's yes. But... i wouldnt go above 42w's because at 23w there intensity to size ratio means you get more out of 2 23w's then a 46w sort of thing. Peace goodluck

 

[sm0keyrich510]

I use fixtures from lamps, but it looks like a good investment. And, it means you can use 100w's yes. But... i wouldnt go above 42w's because at 23w there intensity to size ratio means you get more out of 2 23w's then a 46w sort of thing. Peace goodluck

so those CFL's on 1000bulbs above 42w wouldnt be a good investment? I seen some in the 85 to 105 watt range bulbs capable of putting out 6800 lumens on a single bulb.

Other than the cost benefit factor wouldn't a 85 watt or 105 watt cfl help in the flowering stage?

i believe the 105 watt cfl's put out 400W to 420w per bulb.

i was originally thinking get a 85-105 watt cfl, a couple 42's and a couple 23's (in both 2700k and 6500k.

how are the 5000k full spectrum cfl's? are they true full spectrum as they say or still heavy on the blue side of the spectrum since 6500K is?

i've been having the hardest time with lights and what fixtures to use, etc. and nutes...beyond that i pretty much know what i want to use and how i wanna do it.

dont know much about topping the plants either...something im going to have to read up on.

i got a lot to learn on this side of the marijuana world still thats why i've come here (due to the fact i've decided to give it a go).

 

[Concord Dawn]

CFLs come in 15, 26, 42, 65, 85 and 105 watts and recently last year, even larger wattages.
The 26s and smaller are not as efficient to me.
26s to 85s do not put out any noticable heat unless you use a lot of them.. The 105s do put out some heat, but not as much as HID lights.
I can touch and hold a burning 65 or 85 watt bulb.
The 42's are about $9 each.
65 watts are abut $17 to $20 each, 85s are $30 each, 105s are $39 to $42 each, average is $40 each for 105s.
A CFL needs a reflector, like a hood. I like the $10 heavy duty clamp reflectors at Lowes, Home Depot or Walmart. They also offer a cheaper $8 reflector but it is smaller and flimsey.

With CFLs, you need the DUAL SPECTRUM, red and blue spectrums. That does not refer to the color of the bulb that you see. It refers to the kind of rays, like UVA or UVB, or the color temp, called kevins.
CFLS come in 2700 kevins, 3000, 4100, 5100, and 6500.
2700k is for BLOOM OR FLOWERING , 6500k is the VEG Spectrum. The others are "MID" spectrums or in between.
IF you use the MID-range bulbs (4100) then also use the 6500 and 2700s.
In outdoors, the sun produces different rays in the spring (VEG Rays called Blue) and late summer for Bloom spectrum, the RED spectrum. The sun also produces green, and orange rays, but plants do not use them. (see more below)

CFLs were new on the scene, in 2006 the biggest made was 65 watts. When we talk about CFL watts, we are talking about the actually electricity used, NOT the equivalant. For example, a 15 watt CFL bulb puts out 60 watts.

Spiral and Tube type CLFS emit LIGHT FROM THE SIDES, NOT THE ENDS OR TIPS.

YOU CAN GET SPIRAL CFLS (15, 26, 42, 65, 85) AND TUBE TYPE CFLS 105s.

Per Roseman

 

[CFL+OutdoorGrower]

For topping you want to take off the small shoot of leaves (the next one) and the light penetrates the top well and two shoots will come out. I had a demented plant that actually sent out 3 shoots from doing the pinch and twist technique. Goodluck

 

[CFL+OutdoorGrower]

And umm dude, If i were you i would get 4 42w's - 3 2700k(warm whites) and 1 6500k(daylight) for flowering on that 4 light fixture. And 3 6500k(daylight) and 1 6500k(warmwhite) for veg. Then get some 23 or 26w's for other sides of the plant a few weeks into veg. I can clone 20 clones with 3 20w cfls (fully rooted and growing). If you have 8 lights on the plants (the 4 in the fixture and 2 on either side of each plant) then you would do a good grow. You dont need to get high wattage ones really. If you have a good reflector(hood) over your 4 42w's and then those extras you would really get a big harvest for cfls.