Are Four 42 Watt CFL Enough For 2 Plants?

[tnugent24]

I was just wondering four 42 watt(actual watts: equivalent to 150w incandescent) and one 75w fluorescent grow light is enought to flower 2 medium sized plants (Romulan and Purple Dragon)in my closet. I am very familiar with growing and i have a few harvests under my belt but i mainly have experience with outdoor and HPS, not CFL. The pics are 4 weeks veg and the first day of flowering under the new lights. Other info- 3 gallon geo-pots, fox farm organic ocean forest soil, no nutes during veg, fox farm nutes for flower, 2 120w philips agro-lite plant light for veg(i know people cannot stress enough how shitty these are but the dude at home depot recommended them and they actually worked pretty good for veg!), 4 42watt(actual watts) ECOsmart soft white CFL 2800 lumens with 2700 Kelvin rating, last but not least LST and topping. Thanks in advance. BTW i live in California and i am a legal cardholder for medical marijuana

 

[Psyclops]

Lumens per Sq. Ft. is what you are interested in. It is advised that you have between 3,000 to 7,000 Lumens per sq. Ft.. The sun on a bright day is 10,000 Lumens per sq. ft. What you want to do is add up the total lumens for each bulb and divide that total by the number of sq. ft. you are lighting. This will give you your Total Lumens Per Sq. Ft. Obviously the more the better. Hope I have helped to answer your question.

 

[tnugent24]

thanks man i have 4 bulbs at 2800 a piece. my grow area is like 1 foot wide, 2 feet long, and less than 2 feet high

 

[ae86 grower]

yes they will flower your girls but after dealing with hps and such your yeild will be smaller, you have what 168w along with the veg 75w so 243w in total? thats not to bad for cfl growing...

 

[ae86 grower]

Lumens per Sq. Ft. is what you are interested in. It is advised that you have between 3,000 to 7,000 Lumens per sq. Ft.. The sun on a bright day is 10,000 Lumens per sq. ft. What you want to do is add up the total lumens for each bulb and divide that total by the number of sq. ft. you are lighting. This will give you your Total Lumens Per Sq. Ft. Obviously the more the better. Hope I have helped to answer your question.

i think its more to do with watts that lumens to be honest...

 

[tnugent24]

yes they will flower your girls but after dealing with hps and such your yeild will be smaller, you have what 168w along with the veg 75w so 243w in total? thats not to bad for cfl growing...

Damn! thanks bro. i was hella stressin if it would be enough and you just put my mind at ease haha. And when i used hps it would only be to veg them and then throw em outside, i have only harvested HPS once and it had mites so the yield wasnt too spectacular anyways

 

[ae86 grower]

distance to the plant is the thing with cfl`s, you`ll have to adjust the bulbs each day and keep them a couple of inchs away from the canopy to get the best results, also a little topping and lst will increase the yeild a few grams on each plant..

 

[yesum]

Plenty of watts for plants 18 inches tall or shorter. Just get those lights close, like 1 or 2 inches away. Reflectors will add a lot of light if you can rig them. Just have air flow over the canopy for the heat they trap. I would use y splitters for 2 cfls, so 2 y splitters. Aluminum baking pan or similar for reflector. You can also hang the lights vertical in between the plants.

 

[ae86 grower]

Plenty of watts for plants 18 inches tall or shorter. Just get those lights close, like 1 or 2 inches away. Reflectors will add a lot of light if you can rig them. Just have air flow over the canopy for the heat they trap. I would use y splitters for 2 cfls, so 2 y splitters. Aluminum baking pan or similar for reflector. You can also hang the lights vertical in between the plants.

some good points there.. especially the canopy fan, really does help to build strong stems, and strong stems hold lots of weight

 

[tnugent24]

Plenty of watts for plants 18 inches tall or shorter. Just get those lights close, like 1 or 2 inches away. Reflectors will add a lot of light if you can rig them. Just have air flow over the canopy for the heat they trap. I would use y splitters for 2 cfls, so 2 y splitters. Aluminum baking pan or similar for reflector. You can also hang the lights vertical in between the plants.

i have two 10 and a half inch clamp light reflector. they both have a Y splitter with the blubls in them....plenty of reflectivity...im tryin to figure how to post pics but im a newb on this site haha

 

[ae86 grower]

hit the go advanced button on reply box, then scroll down to manage attachments, when it opens hit add files and your away with it..

 

[tnugent24]

ok figured how how to upload pics. i had to turn them off bcuz they were too bright to take pics

 

[ae86 grower]

yep they`ll do the job fine, lower the bulbs to the plant and stick you pinky between the top and the bulb, thats how close they need to be, hence why you have to ajust them sometimes twice a day, also from what i can make out she looks alittle streched, you should top her now, it will corect the strech and make her bush out for you..

 

[tnugent24]

yep they`ll do the job fine, lower the bulbs to the plant and stick you pinky between the top and the bulb, thats how close they need to be, hence why you have to ajust them sometimes twice a day, also from what i can make out she looks alittle streched, you should top her now, it will corect the strech and make her bush out for you..

ive already topped about 4 tops on each plant and tied em down (LST) bcuz they were stretching. im just trying to get the branches in the middle some more light

 

[ae86 grower]

https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/151706-uncle-bens-topping-technique-get.html


lots of handy reading here on it...

 

[tnugent24]

and im starting flowerng today so i dont want to top anymore

 

[ae86 grower]

ive already topped about 4 tops on each plant and tied em down (LST) bcuz they were stretching. im just trying to get the branches in the middle some more light

ooopppsss posted to early, well theres a few ways to do it, easiest to hang another bulb half way between top of pot and top of plant.. wouldn`t worry about it until there bushy thick and fan leafs are blocking the light tho

 

[tnugent24]

easiest to hang another bulb half way between top of pot and top of plant

ya thats what i was thinking of doing. and i was considering putting in 1 23w bulb (around 5000k i think) that i have laying around. i have been researching cfls during flowering and alot of people recommend adding in one veg buld during flower

 

[tnugent24]

*BULB not buld lol

 

[ae86 grower]

yes i myself have 4 65w flower bulbs and 4 36w daylight bulbs.....

and i switch out a daylight bulb for another flower bulb over the flower period to have 8, 65w flower bulbs running at the end of the grow

i`ll see if i have a pic to show you what i mean...