New Guy Needs Guidance on CFL Lighting

[DharmaBud]

Hello All,

I'm new to growing. First week in July I plan on buying a GL80 Growing tent. I can't afford HID nor it's required additional cooling equipment. The floor of the tent will be 2'7" x 2'7". I will only be starting with a few Feminized White Widows. I need some advise on how I can set up my CFL's so they just don't have a lone bulb hanging over every plant. The fact that the square footage is so small, is it possible to hang multiple CFL's from a radiator and bath all the plants? Then just raise the reflector as needed when the plant grows? What Wattage should I be looking at? I know I need 6700k and 3000k Kelvin, but for the size of the tent, what wattage would be most benificial to the plants?

:Namaste:

Jeff

 

[brewing up]

300w or more ime

 

[DharmaBud]

When setting up the lights, do you generally have both the red and blue lighting the plant t the same time, or do you wait for flowering to begin to go to 3700k? I am trying to avoid have a bunch of dangling cords hanging down over the plants, but have been unable to find a reflector device that can bath 3-4 plants with light that will fit the required amount of cfl's.

Thank you for your response brewing up. I guess it doesn't allow me to give you reps lol!

 

[MrEDuck]

I'd suggest using at least 10 of the 23W CFLs and more would be better. At that point you're spending almost as much as you would on a 400W HID and an appropriate fan.

 

[DharmaBud]

I'd suggest using at least 10 of the 23W CFLs and more would be better. At that point you're spending almost as much as you would on a 400W HID and an appropriate fan.

I was thinking more in the lines of these and still coming under the HID budget

FELIZ 200W BLUE 6500K

FELIZ 200W RED 2700K

Now the Hanger:

SUN SYSTEM® 8 HIGH WATTAGE FLUORESCENT GROW LAMP FIXTURE


Question I have for you though, Can I get away with just one hanger in my tent and swap bulbs when it comes flowering time, or do I need to double down?

Thank you as always

 

[fir3dragon]

I was thinking more in the lines of these and still coming under the HID budget

FELIZ 200W BLUE 6500K

FELIZ 200W RED 2700K

Now the Hanger:

SUN SYSTEM® 8 HIGH WATTAGE FLUORESCENT GROW LAMP FIXTURE


Question I have for you though, Can I get away with just one hanger in my tent and swap bulbs when it comes flowering time, or do I need to double down?

Thank you as always

i suggest more then 1 bulb because cfl doesn't go deep so the top will have a nice bud but below the top will be popcorn.


You can however use cfl for veg without problems and always get hid before you flower.

 

[DharmaBud]

i suggest more then 1 bulb because cfl doesn't go deep so the top will have a nice bud but below the top will be popcorn.


You can however use cfl for veg without problems and always get hid before you flower.

Do you suggest a reputable HID? I'm on a military disability right now, left too many parts over in afghanistan and Iraq, and my monthly stipend doesn't amount to much. That's whu I had staye away from them in the first place.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[KingSemiazas]

7500k 6500k 5000k and 2700k. The more you have the better!! But they will warm up a small space after an hour or so, I just keep my closet door open and let mine breath with a small fan in the closet and a big fan blowing into it from the room. And yes raising the lights as the plants grows works fine. Just don't burn them because cfls will burn the top of your plant. try to have a fan blowing upwards at the bulbs to blow the heat up.

 

[fir3dragon]

Do you suggest a reputable HID? I'm on a military disability right now, left too many parts over in afghanistan and Iraq, and my monthly stipend doesn't amount to much. That's whu I had staye away from them in the first place.

Thanks,

Jeff

I do suggest hid. I'm using a 400w htg supply hps and never had any problems. It's magnetic, not digital but you can use cfl to veg if you wanted or a metal halide conversion.

Light- http://htgsupply.com/Product-HTGSupply-400-watt-High-Pressure-Sodium-Grow-Light.asp

a inline fan and filter are essential for smell no matter what, while your at it might as well get a cooltube and do two things t once

inline fan- http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-HYDROFARM-ACDF6-Hydroponic-Active-Air-6-Inch-In-Line-Fan-400-CFM-Blower-/390582965771?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5af08f160b

filter- http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Inch-Air-Carbon-Filter-Inline-Fan-Scrubber-Virgin-Charcoal-Odor-Control-HPS-/400329497917?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d357f5d3d

cooltube- http://www.ebay.com/itm/COOLTUBE-Reflector-Air-Cooled-6-8-Grow-Light-COOL-TUBE-GLASS-HOOD-/160918803674?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item25778214da

those items are what I use. Works good on a budget. I'm upgrading to 600w quality equipment after this grow.

 

[Sunbiz1]

How tall is the tent?, HTG is a good option but sounds like your budget isn't that high...and you would def need some type of cooling in that small tent using MH/HPS fixture.

I'd take a trip to Home Depot, get your daylight 6500K and 2700K bulbs, a few indoor extension cords, and those medium base to standard plug adapters.

 

[DharmaBud]

hey Dragon, I'm using the GL80 tent. THe fan you mentioned is a 6 inch, don't think it will fit well. Will need to look for something smaller. Any suggestions on CFM for a small tent like that? If you are using a grow light likr the one in your first link, how are you using the cool tube in conjunction with that?

Just so I get it straight, do you suggest me getting two of those hangers and two bulbs each from the first post on this thread, or is one enough for the size of the tent?

Thanks Guys

Namaste

Jeff

 

[DharmaBud]

How tall is the tent?, HTG is a good option but sounds like your budget isn't that high...and you would def need some type of cooling in that small tent using MH/HPS fixture.

I'd take a trip to Home Depot, get your daylight 6500K and 2700K bulbs, a few indoor extension cords, and those medium base to standard plug adapters.

Sunbiz, its only 5'11" tall. Yeh, being on military disability doesn't ;eave me much. I truly don't know how I'm going to afford what I need and then have any money left over for seed lol!!!

 

[DharmaBud]

i suggest more then 1 bulb because cfl doesn't go deep so the top will have a nice bud but below the top will be popcorn.


You can however use cfl for veg without problems and always get hid before you flower.

Dragon, what if I got two hanger and associated bulbs and kept them just close enough to the plant to penetrate, then raise them as the planrt grew? Would that solve my issue?

 

[Maphyr]

If you're going to go with HID lighting, then I suggest going with a CMH bulb. It runs cooler than HPS/MH and you can use 1 bulb for the entire grow, it also runs on the cheaper magnetic ballasts. For smaller grow areas CMH or LED lighting is far superior to HPS/MH setups. To get a ballast, bulb and reflector is about 200$ You'll have to cool your tent, but you're going to have to cool your tent no matter what type of lighting you decide to use, it needs ventilation and proper air flow.

You stated you plan on growing a few plants, you're going to need a lot of CFL's to provide a few plants with enough light. CFL's do not penetrate the canopy very good, so if you go with CFL's you're also going to need side lighting. Side lighting is good for all types of light setups, but for CFL it is absolutely necessary. You're really better off just going with a HID, especially if you're doing more than 1 or 2 plants, and in a small area CMH is king of HID's.

 

[fir3dragon]

hey Dragon, I'm using the GL80 tent. THe fan you mentioned is a 6 inch, don't think it will fit well. Will need to look for something smaller. Any suggestions on CFM for a small tent like that? If you are using a grow light likr the one in your first link, how are you using the cool tube in conjunction with that?

Just so I get it straight, do you suggest me getting two of those hangers and two bulbs each from the first post on this thread, or is one enough for the size of the tent?

Thanks Guys

Namaste

Jeff

i don't do cfl, I can't say. They are good for veg. So if you can get hid later go ahead and veg

Dragon, what if I got two hanger and associated bulbs and kept them just close enough to the plant to penetrate, then raise them as the planrt grew? Would that solve my issue?

This will work, but cfl isn't as good as hid

 

[MrEDuck]

I paid about $225 for my 400W kit with a cooltube, a MH and HPS bulb and the fan and ducting. Two of those reflectors and two bulbs is $200 and a 400W HPS will blow away a 2 200W CFLs.
I run my 400W in a 2x2x4 box in a closet.

 

[DharmaBud]

I know I am in the midst of people who have done this longer than I, but it doesn't make sense to me why a grow tent measuring 2'7" x2'7" with a possible maximum of four plants couldn't flourish with two 300 watt CFL's with a radiator something like this, that can be adjusted as the plant grows in height. I would of course have two 300 watt 6700k bulbs and two 300 watt 2700k bulbs. My issue with HID is the heat, I am in a 12' x 16' cabin in Alaska, and have no way to vent all that heat an HID buld would generate. I could hope at least to use small fans in the tent to dissapate the heat of the CFL's as well as helping strenghthen the plant stem.

Any advise is welcome.

Thank you for your help!

Namaste

Jeff

 

[Darth Budder]

I know I am in the midst of people who have done this longer than I, but it doesn't make sense to me why a grow tent measuring 2'7" x2'7" with a possible maximum of four plants couldn't flourish with two 300 watt CFL's with a radiator something like this, that can be adjusted as the plant grows in height. I would of course have two 300 watt 6700k bulbs and two 300 watt 2700k bulbs. My issue with HID is the heat, I am in a 12' x 16' cabin in Alaska, and have no way to vent all that heat an HID buld would generate. I could hope at least to use small fans in the tent to dissapate the heat of the CFL's as well as helping strenghthen the plant stem.

Any advise is welcome.

Thank you for your help!

Namaste

Jeff

So i am a big fan of CFLs, its how i got started. But if you have to relize they are less efficient at generating light. This means there is actually more heat per watt comming from the cfls then your hid. if you get an hid with separate ballast, you can keep the ballast outside of the grow room and your temps inside will be a lot lower i think is what people are saying..


But, if your going CFL, going to spend that much (i think you picked like an 70-80 dollar product), i would reccomend this rig from htg: http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-2-Lamp-PL-55-Tek-Lamp.asp and get bloom and veg lamps for it.

Most of the reviews i have seen on this product say they are, litterally, "fucking bright!", i, however, have not used one.. yet...

 

[MrEDuck]

Two 300W CFLs are going to be hotter than a 400W HID.
My grow is in a closet and with the closet door open 6" it stays under 10 degrees above ambient temps. I'd think in a small cabin in Alaska having an extra small space heater wouldn't be the worst thing.
This is the light kit I got http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00547I5I8
You need a fan and some ducting to go with it.

 

[kpmarine]

I know I am in the midst of people who have done this longer than I, but it doesn't make sense to me why a grow tent measuring 2'7" x2'7" with a possible maximum of four plants couldn't flourish with two 300 watt CFL's with a radiator something like this, that can be adjusted as the plant grows in height. I would of course have two 300 watt 6700k bulbs and two 300 watt 2700k bulbs. My issue with HID is the heat, I am in a 12' x 16' cabin in Alaska, and have no way to vent all that heat an HID buld would generate. I could hope at least to use small fans in the tent to dissapate the heat of the CFL's as well as helping strenghthen the plant stem.

Any advise is welcome.

Thank you for your help!

Namaste

Jeff

1.) The spiral shape of a cfl actually blocks alot of it's light.
2.) The lower wattage, the more efficient the CFL. 300w worth of 25w bulbs is actually more effective than a single 300w.
3.)Why use 600w of cfl when 400w of HID will do it? Budget concerns are a big deal for you; why pay an additional 50% in electricity for your grow?
4.)600w of CFL is going to produce more heat than a 400w HID. Honestly, HID doesn't really heat up more than other things. It's just a point source so all the heat is in one area.
5.)If you're in Alaska, just crack your tent and put in a circulation fan. It's not like you're in the desert. Doesn't your state average a high of 70f in the summer?