Strength of cfl's

Ontheball

Ontheball

Well-Known Member
Im highly considering moving onto cfl due to the massive amounts of heat from my hps.

But what strength bulb do you really need ?

i.e. I had a 250w hps , i didnt think it was enough plant grew ok but same strain under my new 400w was double in double

Ive got 4 clip on lights and leads and have been looking at 65w red and blue bulbs but have now stumbled over 300w cfl and im thinking surely the 65w isnt enough ?
 
Ontheball

Ontheball

Well-Known Member
ok mate so i should stay away from these 65w then ? or could i use multiple bulbs ? cuz thats looking cheaper :P
 
hoss12781

hoss12781

Well-Known Member
use multiple bulbs or check 1000bulbs.com they have some awesome 105w cfls that produce in the neighborhood of 7000 lumens and only cost about 20 bucks. That is also the largest wattage cfl you can fit in a standard edison socket (at least in America). That or get leds. Thats what I wound up doing when the heat was out of controll with my two 400w hps bulbs backed by about 315w of cfl.
 
nog

nog

Active Member
125w or bigger, the problem is the plants need to be close, say 2 inches, from the bulb, they work great for vege, and the white 6500k are great at keeping plants squat and bushy, the 2700K warmer ones are ok for flowering but nowhere near as good as the hps, The only problem i have encountered is because the plants need to be close to the bulb, they can burn the plant if it touches the bulb so you need to check everyday.
 
hoss12781

hoss12781

Well-Known Member
nog said:
125w or bigger, the problem is the plants need to be close, say 2 inches, from the bulb, they work great for vege, and the white 6500k are great at keeping plants squat and bushy, the 2700K warmer ones are ok for flowering but nowhere near as good as the hps, The only problem i have encountered is because the plants need to be close to the bulb, they can burn the plant if it touches the bulb so you need to check everyday.
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This is very true. I didn't have the 125 watters cause they required a mogul socket, but they'll burn your plants if they touch them. They'll kick all kinds of ass two inches away from the plant. Found out the hard way when one of the hinges on my reflector went out and let a 105w spiral cfl fall straight down on top of one of my girls. She got wasted.
 
M

Mr.Highlyfe

Well-Known Member
Im using a mix spec of cfls in my 12/12 rubbermaid bin 2 2700k 65w = 100w equiv and 1 6500k 65w = 100w equiv i have been growing for about 21/2 years now and i have only used cfls and i must say i've had some impressive grows if i do say so my self. You do have to watch your gurls to make sure they dnt touch and get burned but for the price,savings, and overall outcome i would say you can't go wrong with cfl's.
 
jackoladd

jackoladd

Active Member
just cram as many cfls as you can and strategically place them. And remember a 14w cfl is equivalent to like 60w of light from a filament bulb. look at my latest thread i am getting pretty good results with less than 50 watts of cfl on each plant.
 
T

TinyGrow

Active Member
Go to home depot get DAYLIGHT 100w equivs. that are bright as fuck and pretty beefy. For floweing go get the TCP Sunlight bulbs theyre 15 bucks each but let off i believe like 8k lumens a pop? Put a reflector I would estimate it to about 10-12k
 
I

islandhigh

Member
You're better off buying multiple lower wattage bulbs than one high wattage bulb. That way you can place the bulbs above and around the plant instead of just above it. For veg you need 5500k - 6500k color temp (usually labeled daylight). For flowering use 2700k (usually labeled soft white).
 
Silversun

Silversun

Active Member
jackoladd said:
just cram as many cfls as you can and strategically place them. And remember a 14w cfl is equivalent to like 60w of light from a filament bulb. look at my latest thread i am getting pretty good results with less than 50 watts of cfl on each plant.
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You shouldn't use the equivalent watts to compare to anything in regards to growing, that number means nothing. Also I wouldn't use any CFL under ~25watts its just too small, but that's just my preference, 45watts and up is the way to go. My 42watt TCP CFL's puts out 67 lumens per watt (according to the manufacturer) which is ~2800 lumens per bulb. Compare that to a 2ft T5 which is ~2000 lumens and you'll see that its not such a bad deal seeing as how you need a fixture for a T5. You want about 2500 lumens per SQFT for seedlings, 5500 lumens per SQFT for veg, for bloom it's a bit more debated but you want anywhere from 7000-10000 lumens per SQFT. Hope this helps, stay high.
 
Kiokrassi

Kiokrassi

Active Member
i saw someone say you need to check buds and move lights every day this is simply not true. after week 3 of flowering there is really no more stretching and you shouldnt have to move your lights at all anymore.
 
W

Wrekstar

Active Member
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