Autoflower & CFL lights

[Princess Pot]

I was thinking about autoflowering plants. Would it be possible to use cfl lighs for the whole grow process? Would u use 2700k for the first 30 days, then 30+ with 6500k? (20h on 4 off? the whole grow) or 6500k for the whole grow.. About 4 bulbs per plant. .........Any ideas would be appreciated........

 

[medical/420]

i would use both spectums the whole grow

 

[imchucky666]

It won't hurt to use both spec's the whole grow, and your plants will never tell you that they have too much CFL lighting, so cram as much as you can in there, but I would try and get as many 6500's in there as you can to start, then once they start flowering switch over to as many 2700's as you can fit.
Give us some pics once you get going, I'm curious to see how auto's will do with your idea of 4 per plant, because I just started a small closet grow, and have 4-5000k bulbs on her, one 2700k, and an incandescent for heat at night to keep temps from dropping too much.

 

[Mattemil]

Here is my first auto under CFL about 3 1/2 weeks in, I was using a mix of bulbs but switched to all 2700 now.Aside from a but of nute burn I am happy.

 

[TheCh33se]

Yeah that'd work but you'll definitely want to add more. My plant had little light on it early on and seems to be a little stretched, currently it has 9 cfls on it though for a total of like 260 watts. The buds look nice and plump though!

 

[Adonis]

I am currently using 5000k 23w CFL's. I am at week 2 veg and I have much better growth than I ever did with 30 years of HPS use (thats if you prefer short bushy plants). The nodes are less than 1" apart and the are bushy, bushy, bushy. The roots have already outgrown 6" pots and I have had not one issue thus far. I will switch to 2700k when I want to flower. I veg 24/0 and use no nutrients at this time. I have 16 CFL's over 8 plants. When they reach about 12" i'll start adding 6500k T-12's pointing up from the floor and sides. A total of 688 watts. When the lite source is only 2" from the plants this wattage has a powerful effect on growth. I have never had plants stretch using CFL's, not even the Blue Dream which is known for its height.

 

[imchucky666]

I am currently using 5000k 23w CFL's. I am at week 2 veg and I have much better growth than I ever did with 30 years of HPS use (thats if you prefer short bushy plants). The nodes are less than 1" apart and the are bushy, bushy, bushy. The roots have already outgrown 6" pots and I have had not one issue thus far. I will switch to 2700k when I want to flower. I veg 24/0 and use no nutrients at this time. I have 16 CFL's over 8 plants. When they reach about 12" i'll start adding 6500k T-12's pointing up from the floor and sides. A total of 688 watts. When the lite source is only 2" from the plants this wattage has a powerful effect on growth. I have never had plants stretch using CFL's, not even the Blue Dream which is known for its height.

Here's the one I have going right now, pic taken at 17 days from sprout, I started it straight in the cup.
She's only 2 1/2 inches tall, but geez View attachment 2424464

 

[Adonis]

One thing I have experienced with CFL's is the fast and extensive root growth. CFL's tend to cause short bushy growth which fools us into thinking there is less overall growth, hence, less root growth (my twisted theory). I started in 16 ounce cups and by day 10 I had a rootball evident of too small a container. I switched to 6" pots and by day 20 they were already outgrowing that pot (only 4" tall). After transplanting it immediately fixed that curly/puffy leaf appearance I thought the CFL's were causing). I have learned that with using CFL's I should start with a much larger container than when using more traditional lite setups. I have had to forget everything I thought I knew about growing when I began using CFL's but it has been fun and a much easier learning curve than the HPS and MH methods. What makes me smile is the massive amount of growth I get in such a short bush. Nice pic!

 

[brewing up]

the more spectrum the better

 

[imchucky666]

One thing I have experienced with CFL's is the fast and extensive root growth. CFL's tend to cause short bushy growth which fools us into thinking there is less overall growth, hence, less root growth (my twisted theory). I started in 16 ounce cups and by day 10 I had a rootball evident of too small a container. I switched to 6" pots and by day 20 they were already outgrowing that pot (only 4" tall). After transplanting it immediately fixed that curly/puffy leaf appearance I thought the CFL's were causing). I have learned that with using CFL's I should start with a much larger container than when using more traditional lite setups. I have had to forget everything I thought I knew about growing when I began using CFL's but it has been fun and a much easier learning curve than the HPS and MH methods. What makes me smile is the massive amount of growth I get in such a short bush. Nice pic!

Here's a quick pic of the roots I had today when I moved from the cup at 21 days from sprout.
I see what you meant, I wouldn't have thought I'd see anything like this with only 3 1/4" (It had grown from 2 1/2" since yesterday when I measured!).

 

[Adonis]

Yep, that's exactly what I had in my cups. After a few more days in the 6" pot it was even worse than that. I know it goes against what the experts say about too large a pot, too soon, but the CFL's available today are technology only a few years old so there are many new and unknown factors which might go against traditional beliefs. Currently I have a grow I started in 5 gal buckets and I'm curious to see what the roots look like at harvest. I just dont see a point to transplanting 4-5 times before the flowering stage with CFL's. I would love to hear some newer science on CFL's and rooting

 

[imchucky666]

Yep, that's exactly what I had in my cups. After a few more days in the 6" pot it was even worse than that. I know it goes against what the experts say about too large a pot, too soon, but the CFL's available today are technology only a few years old so there are many new and unknown factors which might go against traditional beliefs. Currently I have a grow I started in 5 gal buckets and I'm curious to see what the roots look like at harvest. I just dont see a point to transplanting 4-5 times before the flowering stage with CFL's. I would love to hear some newer science on CFL's and rooting

Agreed...........

 

[yesum]

I veg and flower with 2700k with no problems. The main thing is keep em close, 1 or 2 inches away. A reflector will almost double the light though few bother with them.

A small 20 something watt light can have a beer can reflector made for it. My choice is a large (10 inch diameter) clamp reflector with a y splitter for 2 bulbs.

 

[medical/420]

I really like useing 2700k bulbs the whole grow, with some 5000k bulbs in there. i dont like the 6400-6500k bulbs as the spectrum is alittle high. The 2700k in the begeining really makes tham hurry up and grow. IMHO

 

[imchucky666]

I really like useing 2700k bulbs the whole grow, with some 5000k bulbs in there. i dont like the 6400-6500k bulbs as the spectrum is alittle high. The 2700k in the begeining really makes tham hurry up and grow. IMHO
View attachment 2426502

Really? Can you tell that the bloom spec actually HELPS in the veg?
I heard they could be used, but never realized they would help.
I am vegging 1 plant right now, with 4x13w 5000k bulbs and 2x23w 2700k bulbs and that's how I ended up with the root picture I put up a few posts back.
I just happened to get the 5000k's because I was told they are as good as the 6500k's, and ran across a 4 pack for cheap.

 

[medical/420]

the 2700K is close to the FALL/Autum color of the sun, whitch makes the plant hurry up because it thinks the end is near. and with autoflowers you want them to grow as fast as possible.

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

just a FYI 2700k CFLs are about 1/3 of the price as 6500k bulbs and they will veg just fine under 2700k so if your on a budget (which im assuming you are since your using CFL's) then you will be able to buy more 2700k bulbs with what you have for funding.

 

[imchucky666]

the 2700K is close to the FALL/Autum color of the sun, whitch makes the plant hurry up because it thinks the end is near. and with autoflowers you want them to grow as fast as possible.

Makes sense, I never thought that far ahead

 

[imchucky666]

just a FYI 2700k CFLs are about 1/3 of the price as 6500k bulbs and they will veg just fine under 2700k so if your on a budget (which im assuming you are since your using CFL's) then you will be able to buy more 2700k bulbs with what you have for funding.

On that note, Lowe's has 2 packs of the 23w 2700k bulbs for $7, and 4 packs of 13w 5000k bulbs for $9.