Low energy lighting (cfl/led) does it work?

[OriginalGangstaKush]

Ok so i am a new grower, have been toking for years and really want to move on to getting high on my own supply so i dont have to rely on dealers with there often disappointing shizz. I have currently got 5 KC brains' Brains' Damage (anyone has experience with this strain if so would like to know how you got on) on the go in my garden at present. They have been soaking up the sun sun for a couple of months now and are looking pretty good, with the only real problems a slight browning of the edges of certain leaves, and trips on 1 plant. Basically this particular strain will take at least 9 weeks to flower and where i live the daylight hours outdoors doesnt get down to 12 hours until late september which means that it wont be ready until late november, and the country i live in is just plain cold by that time of year and would surely do no good to my plants, and im not the type of guy to cover them with something thast will block out the light and take it off a 5am and 5pm everyday etc so flowering indoors seems like the only option. Have a nice closet which i can put some lights in, with a fan etc. And then will probably turn it into a vegging closet and get some auto's of some kind.

Sorry for the long intro, but basically what i want to know is is it possible for the amateur grower to produce nice buds with good thc content with a couple of 250w red spectrum CFL's over 5 plants with possibly a couple of 125w cfl's hanging in/around the sides of the plant for extra light. I have also seen some LED grow light boasrds which look pretty cool and apparently are good for growing for 10 years with no need to change the blub, plug and grow. Was thinking even it would be cool to surround my grow room with 3 or 4 led boards attached to the walls surrounding the plants with 1 250w/300w CFL hanging above as a main light. If i am going to fork out a couple of hundred bucks i'd like to know that i can get some good smoke out of it. If anyone has any suggestions or experience on growing with cfl's/led's then i'd be very interested to hear, i would rather grow low energy to save ont he pennies but also so there wouldnt be any heating/fire/ventilation problems in my grow space causing me to spend further money to put it riight. I'm super enthusiastic because really just want to supply my own smoke. I have a couple of hundred burning a hole in my pocket, should i get cfl's? t5? or just swallow my pride and go for a HPS system to flower and metal halide to veg? Please people help me out, will be purchasing this in a couple of weeks as no real need as vegging outside nicely and weather is glorious at the moment. If anyone has any experienced with kc brains brains damage also let me know and thanks for the patience if anyone actually did read this , cheers.

OG KUSH

 

[nosmoker]

the red spectrum is a lie they only give out blue light you can see that as soon as they turn on... the blue spectrum ones maybe ok ( not grate ) for veg but non of them are any good for flowering... i wouldn't recommend them atall but we all got to learn from ar own mistakes lol !!!

 

[growingforfun]

if your willing to put up a few hundred bucks for lights buy a HPS. theres tons of them up on craigs list where i live and it looks like your wanting somwhere between 400 and 600 watts of light. the best bang for your buck is gonig to be HPS hands down. CFL's work ok but if your gonig to buy a bunch of them or even 2-3 or 4 of them think about keeping that many lights cooled off. cooling 1 more powerful light is much much easier take it from me. iv got some cfls going in 1 tent and hps in the other so i know for me its easier to keep hps cool. as your the LED lights dont bother with it. if you deside to buy LED's you have to get powerful leds i would not buy under 180 watt led's and you have you buy about 1 per plant maybe 2 plants per light.

theres also great deals on ebay for new 400 watt hps/mh switchable systems that are about 120 bucks that are PERFECT for most people. that includes ballest, hood, hps bulb and mh bulb. if your really wanting to spend more then 120 think about buying 2 of those or just saving the money and investing in A/C or nutes or whatever else for yuor plants. good luck bro

 

[OriginalGangstaKush]

Thanks for the quick reply, didnt think anyone would read it let alone 2 replies in 10 minutes lol. Thanks alot growingforfun i think you are probably right its just paranoia in my head of me causing my entire house to burn down, and i dont really want much ventilation in my grow room as trying to be sly and i heard cfl's were efficient and not too hot. If you think a 400w HPS Lamp would be better from what i have read you are definitely right, i just have never seen one in operation. Here's a further question dude, if i was growing in a closet that was say 8 feet tall from floor to ceiling, and 3 feet x 3 feet wide, and this grow space had a door which is always closed apart from feeding times etc, would it get really ridiculously hot in there? considering its closed and the only ventilation would be a fan, could always get a more powerful fan, but i am trying to do it relatively slyly so dont want big shiny venting tubes all over the place. Yeah i will be looking to spend around 200 dollars on lights, im actualy in the uk so would be about 150 pounds sterling, i know i can get a 400w hps lamp for that, just a bit cautious cos its not my house and i dont want any mishaps, also dont want my plants getting too hot and buckling on me! really just want some nice smoke! so HPS the way to go? thanks,

KUSH

 

[zem]

yeah definitely HPS but you will need to exhaust and intake from the room somehow. if you cannot make holes for that, then you will need to get an A/C and CO2 tank and regulator but that will get way overbudget for you so i guess you should either make the holes or just forget about it...

 

[growingforfun]

Thanks for the quick reply, didnt think anyone would read it let alone 2 replies in 10 minutes lol. Thanks alot growingforfun i think you are probably right its just paranoia in my head of me causing my entire house to burn down, and i dont really want much ventilation in my grow room as trying to be sly and i heard cfl's were efficient and not too hot. If you think a 400w HPS Lamp would be better from what i have read you are definitely right, i just have never seen one in operation. Here's a further question dude, if i was growing in a closet that was say 8 feet tall from floor to ceiling, and 3 feet x 3 feet wide, and this grow space had a door which is always closed apart from feeding times etc, would it get really ridiculously hot in there? considering its closed and the only ventilation would be a fan, could always get a more powerful fan, but i am trying to do it relatively slyly so dont want big shiny venting tubes all over the place. Yeah i will be looking to spend around 200 dollars on lights, im actualy in the uk so would be about 150 pounds sterling, i know i can get a 400w hps lamp for that, just a bit cautious cos its not my house and i dont want any mishaps, also dont want my plants getting too hot and buckling on me! really just want some nice smoke! so HPS the way to go? thanks,

KUSH

are you renting? do you have room mates?
if you have other ppl living there they will find out. that space is a bit smaller then i thought. in that space i would advise less light then a 400 watt unless your willing to modify the door.

if you want to be a baller this is what i would do: goto a store and buy a cheapo door for like 30 or 40 bucks and cut a hole in the top of it. in this hole you can fit in a 6 inch fan that will blow air out of the closet and you can even put a brown screen over the outside of that whole so its not like super clear what it is. on the bottem of this door i would cut the bottem half inch to inch to let air passivly get in and with that you have your ducting compleatly hidden


but really imo your best option in a 3x3 space is 1 plant and maybe 5 26 watt cfls. whiel the hps lamp would give you killer results thats alot of watts in a small space light that and venting will be a issue.

with heat i like to think of it more like the watts maknig the heat not the lamp. xwatts of cfls will make heat like xwatts of hps if you use less it will make less heat, get what i mean?

 

[alexonfire]

are you renting? do you have room mates?
if you have other ppl living there they will find out. that space is a bit smaller then i thought. in that space i would advise less light then a 400 watt unless your willing to modify the door.

if you want to be a baller this is what i would do: goto a store and buy a cheapo door for like 30 or 40 bucks and cut a hole in the top of it. in this hole you can fit in a 6 inch fan that will blow air out of the closet and you can even put a brown screen over the outside of that whole so its not like super clear what it is. on the bottem of this door i would cut the bottem half inch to inch to let air passivly get in and with that you have your ducting compleatly hidden


but really imo your best option in a 3x3 space is 1 plant and maybe 5 26 watt cfls. whiel the hps lamp would give you killer results thats alot of watts in a small space light that and venting will be a issue.

with heat i like to think of it more like the watts maknig the heat not the lamp. xwatts of cfls will make heat like xwatts of hps if you use less it will make less heat, get what i mean?

I like that plan dude! +rep

 

[OriginalGangstaKush]

Hey thanks for reply dude, yeah i think you are right, that was my concern, i mean i could make some holes in the door or use a temporary door in its place and make holes in that, just dont want to over complicate things, quite like the idea of a plug and grow lamp, without the need for big ballasts, A/C and co2 etc, as would be costly and not sure if i could maintain that on the sly without it being noticed. hmmmm. This intrigues me, really would like to grow with big wattage cfl's because they seem the easiest method for my application. However HPS is alot better supposedly but just worried the room will be too hot, so with air con units is it literally just a case of having one of those silver vents through a hole in the closet door, wiht some kind of extraction fan or something? i'm new to all this so sorry if i sound somewhat dense. That would then make the room adjacent to the closet pretty smelly in when its in flowering mode? My thinking is that it will. So no one would reccoment cfl's, they are not worth the expenditure for what you yield? Grrrrr lol, more info would be appreciated thanks.

OG KUSH

 

[zem]

ummmm... 3x3 is more than the space needed for 400w. actually you need 50w of HPS/foot so 3x2.6 would be right for 400w. thats the size i make my closets to maximize wall reflection and minimize room size although i have a whole room i could use. the smaller room size means that you can change the air quicker with a stronger airflow and the walls will be closer to the plants so no light spills

 

[shizz]

thats not ture at all. that cfl only leave off of blue spectrum lighting. if u buy 2500k cfl or warm white and a 5500k brite white u can see the difference. there is sub formues in here look it up. cfl do work i have a good grow right now. hps is def better. and there not that much more in cost compared to cfl. but the info give to you is false.

 

[growingforfun]

Hey thanks for reply dude, yeah i think you are right, that was my concern, i mean i could make some holes in the door or use a temporary door in its place and make holes in that, just dont want to over complicate things, quite like the idea of a plug and grow lamp, without the need for big ballasts, A/C and co2 etc, as would be costly and not sure if i could maintain that on the sly without it being noticed. hmmmm. This intrigues me, really would like to grow with big wattage cfl's because they seem the easiest method for my application. However HPS is alot better supposedly but just worried the room will be too hot, so with air con units is it literally just a case of having one of those silver vents through a hole in the closet door, wiht some kind of extraction fan or something? i'm new to all this so sorry if i sound somewhat dense. That would then make the room adjacent to the closet pretty smelly in when its in flowering mode? My thinking is that it will. So no one would reccoment cfl's, they are not worth the expenditure for what you yield? Grrrrr lol, more info would be appreciated thanks.

OG KUSH

if you cut a hole in a temp door it would be easy really, i have a 6 inch fan i use as a booter and i could see cutting a hole in a door, fitting that fan directly into the door and maybe screwing it in so it wont fall out when i open/close the door and just plug it in and BAM venting solved, no ducting. led lights are great, i have one and i love it soooo much but they cost a ton and so keep that in mind.if your willing to spend 200 on lights you could buy 2 of the 90 watt led ufo's or a 180 watt panel. they are a good thing and make nearly no heat. i have a 600 watt led that cost me 719 bucks plus shipping of like 20 bucks. big cost but my plants grow 1-2 inches a day and it works better then my 1000 watt hps. only drawback as that 600 watt led only works on 2 maybe 3 plants

 

[zem]

fluros are actually better than cfl's, they give less heat and more lumens/watt but really not recommended for flowering. you need to make a hole in top of closet, then a duct to exhaust outside somehow, maybe a false ceiling to hide it, and you can make the hole of the intake from the room next to it. just tryin to help. however you try to grow cfl or hps you need to vent them. plants need fresh air to breathe and grow, not just to keep cool

 

[growingforfun]

fluros are actually better than cfl's, they give less heat and more lumens/watt but really not recommended for flowering. you need to make a hole in top of closet, then a duct to exhaust outside somehow, maybe a false ceiling to hide it, and you can make the hole of the intake from the room next to it. just tryin to help. however you try to grow cfl or hps you need to vent them. plants need fresh air to breathe and grow, not just to keep cool

floros are nice, however most of them are 4 feet long and he only has 3 feet to work with. theres 2 foot'ers out there but ya...

 

[OriginalGangstaKush]

Yeah dude thats a pretty awesome idea to be fair, so maybe i could get away with cutting the top of the door off and fitting a fan to it and having a 250w HPS lamp? would that still yield better results than say 2 200w cfl's in your opinion? If im spending money i might as well go the whole hog becuase i plan to always have some plants on the go so would like a proven reliable system. I do live with people, who tolerate my smoking indoors etc and i have voiced my ideas of growing and no one is against it, its almost a case of the more sophisticated the system the more likely they will seriously disapprove lol, if it seems very amatuer then its ok if you understand what i mean lol. But obviously i dont want it to be amateur and i have these trees growing outdoors now and they certainly are not going to waste so it will be happening some way. I really like you idea of cutting the top of the door or with a circulating fan behind it, pretty ingenius to be honest. Also when i get this system set up i will be keeping my progress up to date on here with pictures etc so you can see my progress (whatever light source route i decide to go down). They are basically ready to go into flowering now, are around a yard tall, quite bushy, nice big leaves, has 4 true sets of leaves etc. Just waiting to find out what the best set up for me would be, dont wanna go to jail and dont want dirt weed! lol. Anyways thanks alot this is all helping, so far i think i could just about get away with making holes in the door and getting a/c going. Unless anyone else has another idea that might involve less work

KUSH

 

[12benji]

I hav'nt heard of anybody flowering with l.e.d. lamps sure sounds good though!!lol

 

[growingforfun]

if there already that big you need to flower them asap lol you will prolly run out of space in that closet to be honist. since you live with other people you have to understand the smell, it will be very strong. you know that smell when you put your nose in a really dank bag of weed? thats what i smell every day when i open my front door. granted i have alot of plants but even 1-2 plants in late flower then dry and cure its going to be smelly

how cold is it going to get where you live when it would be 12/12 lighting? if its not too cold and you could get away with it you will get wayyyyyyy wayyyyyy more weed that way and you wont even have to buy lights.

 

[growingforfun]

I hav'nt heard of anybody flowering with l.e.d. lamps sure sounds good though!!lol

iv done it and as long as your plants are close to the light like i keep mine (about a inch hard since they grow so fast though) and the results are killer, the buds of my plants under the led are about 2x the same age plant that isent under the led, also the ones under the led are about 8 inches taller then the other plants that were teh same height at the start of my little test. leds are not better then hps, they are not worse then hps, they are just differant lights and you have to use them differantly then hps lights.

 

[OriginalGangstaKush]

hmmm, interesting, sounds like led's would work but for the amount i would have to spend to get a worthwhile system i can rule them out for now then, until then technology comes on and the prices fall. Ideally i would like to keep it outdoors obviously, i have a decent place, very secluded from prying eyes in my garden, gets a good amount of sun throughout the day also. well it doesnt get down to 12 hours day light 12 hours darkness until septemeber 25th here (i lookedit up lol) and this particular strain says floiwering of around 9 weeks, so it will be end of novemeber before harvest. October here the average high is 15 degrees celcius, with an average low of 7 degrees celcius, and november the average high is 11 and the average low is 4, which im pretty sure is too cold for good weed? but i could be mistaken, guessit all depends on the strain etc, a major problem though is that the rainfall increases dramatically at that time of year and would be susceptible to mould bud rot etc. Also if the smell is going to be truly dank then i have neighbours within around 20 metres on all sides, but no one right smack bang next to me, but close enough probably to smell some flowering weed maybe. I could solve this whole problem by just covering my plants 12 hours a day and flowering them that way, yields would be exclennet i know, but i dont think i could do it with work commitments etc, and from what i have read messing with the times it gets light whiole flowering can effect its hormones etc etc causing rubbish buds! plus i wouldnt mind having a set up for growing when its winter. Hmm well if the smell gets that bad indoors i guess i would have to look into carbon filters which i dont know very much about either, if it was just stiniing up the place for a week or 2 real bad for the final part of flowering would probably be ok. so you think it would survive outside? i could quite easily make a makeshift greenhouse with a wooden frame and stretching polythene over , and if the plants got big i can dig a trnech in the ground to save a foot or so. suggestions? thanks again

Kush

 

[growingforfun]

i dont know the lowest temps weed can live, i am going to assume though that these are in pots since your thinking of bringing them indoors, this must be in a back yard then. im also going to assume your roomies are chill. count 9 weeks back from septemeber 25th and on that date start bringing them in doors to your room where you sleep after it has been light outside for 12 hours. this is prolly the best way to do it and its free, plus wont have to cover them. let me know what you think about it

 

[Rusko]

Yea i agree with NOT using CFL for flowering.Ive been told by my brother that it gives u "popcorn" nuggets and quality isnt too good.IM USING BOTH HPS and CFL for Vegi.8 CFl 6 blue 2 red 150w HPS sunsytem light.....IM NOT EVEN sure if im doing perfect but hey MORE LIGHT THE BETTER-brother...hope it helps..GET HPS not just CFL for floweringgg...