144 Watt CFL Grow

This is my second grow and I recently switched from crap Amazon led lighting to 144 watts of cfl 2700k. Ive got this random bagseed plant from club sack growing right now in a 3 gallon pot, in ff coco loco, on ff tiger bloom and big bloom, 11 days into flowering, following a month veg period. She showed her pubes 2 days ago. It is topped at the third node and has been LST'd to create 6 main tops. I have two clones from her, one that I just planted in a voss bottle under a 20w cfl that I'm putting straight into flowering because I don't give a shit and another that is still rooting in ph water. I have two more light fixtures already wired up and ready to add another 92 watts of cfl if I feel need be. Hopefully I pull a decent amount for the light that I'm working with.

Added 4 more 23 watt cfls last night. So now I have 236 total watts cfl. Should increase yield a bit.

Created a make-shift light hood last night with some reflectix left over from my grow box and some wire ties. I have 184 watts of cfl in the hood and 52 watts hitting the lower areas, which I'll probably create a reflector for as well.

How's the progress coming.

Looks good.

You still have the led? Use both or convert it to cobs.

Dabzyyy said:

How's the progress coming.

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I've cleaned her up a lot. I clipped all larf and left my plant with 6 tops, which are all 12" from the top to the bottom node (clipped to 9 nodes on each). The total height of the plant is 21" from coco to top.

whitebb2727 said:

Looks good.

You still have the led? Use both or convert it to cobs.

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I have (3) 10w leds and a 24w. I would convert to cob if I could get the stuff for cheap enough

HazednConfused said:

I have (3) 10w leds and a 24w. I would convert to cob if I could get the stuff for cheap enough

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Hell, throw them in there to. I prefer mixed spectrum bud.

One of my colas. Day 30 of 12/12; Day 58 overall

Looking good, I agree with adding that LED back also.

Looks good

HazednConfused said:

This is my second grow and I recently switched from crap Amazon led lighting to 144 watts of cfl 2700k. Ive got this random bagseed plant from club sack growing right now in a 3 gallon pot, in ff coco loco, on ff tiger bloom and big bloom, 11 days into flowering, following a month veg period. She showed her pubes 2 days ago. It is topped at the third node and has been LST'd to create 6 main tops. I have two clones from her, one that I just planted in a voss bottle under a 20w cfl that I'm putting straight into flowering because I don't give a shit and another that is still rooting in ph water. I have two more light fixtures already wired up and ready to add another 92 watts of cfl if I feel need be. Hopefully I pull a decent amount for the light that I'm working with.

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Kick ass dude... this is very similar to what I did/am doing... I love that you're not just trying to push for mythically huge plants and buds... just doing you.

thewanderingjack said:

Kick ass dude... this is very similar to what I did/am doing... I love that you're not just trying to push for mythically huge plants and buds... just doing you.

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Yeah, I try to take in as much info and suggestions from people on this site,, but I'm mostly trying to grow some weed with what I got and have a little fun doing it; forgetting about all the "extra" stuff. I just want a decent harvest.

HazednConfused said:

Yeah, I try to take in as much info and suggestions from people on this site,, but I'm mostly trying to grow some weed with what I got and have a little fun doing it; forgetting about all the "extra" stuff. I just want a decent harvest.

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Agreed..it can all get blown outa proportion..like any hobby.

You will both probebly have 5k setups in 5 years time and look back at threads like this and go..wow..i did that..lol
(and yes..im doing a cheap ass 130w grow to)

To be honest i think our grows are more interesting.

Lucky Luke said:

Agreed..it can all get blown outa proportion..like any hobby.

You will both probebly have 5k setups in 5 years time and look back at threads like this and go..wow..i did that..lol
(and yes..im doing a cheap ass 130w grow to)

To be honest i think our grows are more interesting.

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Exactly. Yes, hps' and these 600-1k watt led lights are bad ass, but that will come with time. I will have that bad ass dream set up some day, but for now I'm just enjoying the simple things! I'm going to have to check out your grow bro. Thanks

HazednConfused said:

Exactly. Yes, hps' and these 600-1k watt led lights are bad ass, but that will come with time. I will have that bad ass dream set up some day, but for now I'm just enjoying the simple things! I'm going to have to check out your grow bro. Thanks

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Simple is my dream. But yeah, I may choose to grow/expand... who knows... but I am happy with what's happening now, so that's good

HazednConfused said:

This is my second grow and I recently switched from crap Amazon led lighting to 144 watts of cfl 2700k. Ive got this random bagseed plant from club sack growing right now in a 3 gallon pot, in ff coco loco, on ff tiger bloom and big bloom, 11 days into flowering, following a month veg period. She showed her pubes 2 days ago. It is topped at the third node and has been LST'd to create 6 main tops. I have two clones from her, one that I just planted in a voss bottle under a 20w cfl that I'm putting straight into flowering because I don't give a shit and another that is still rooting in ph water. I have two more light fixtures already wired up and ready to add another 92 watts of cfl if I feel need be. Hopefully I pull a decent amount for the light that I'm working with.

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on my first grow, i bought like 30 cfl bulbs from home depot, and realized how much money i was spending on cfl's and sockets, thankfully home depot has a fantastic return policy and i got all my money back, the cost of cfl way surpased buying a 400 watt hps from ebay,, the 400 watter set ups with ballast and hood are like 110 dollars complete,,
but its kinda too late now,, so grow a couple of rounds under the cfl';s so they pay for themselves, and switch to something else later,,
good job keeping it simple

so I bought 24 CFLs... at um 6 bucks a pack of six? 4x$6=$24... clamps lamps: $4x12, $48... splitters (so I could put two bulbs in one lamp: I forget, less than $10 for 12.. total cost ~$82 for ~480 Watts. I haven't seen much in HPS 400w for under $150... (maybe $130 at the lowest?).

Of course there's the quality of light situation... but for the cost CFLs have done great for me... Vegged 12 plants under that 480 (actually I sprouted them under 2x24w CFLs and slowly grew to the 24 for the 480 by the end of veg) and they're pretty nice looking (all other factors considered). But I also have a small cab 3x4x4, any HID would be too hot and intense for those conditions, I think... I got down to 8 plants by flower and switched to LED, with a couple of CFLs for additional... the temp is just right like that. Again, doing great.

Being able to stretch the cost over time was helpful. The fact tat all I bought is reusable and will in fact see a lot of use from me for other thins is also a big bonus.

I've consistently had CFLs outlive HID bulbs and ballasts (due to their higher intensity)... and then you have the actual added running cost (since you need to cool... it's bulb wattage plus watts for the vent fan to cool the bulb...

CFL are definitely , at the very least, a good way to get into growing. and as you said, the saving they provide can help someone save for their next step.

Tim Fox said:

on my first grow, i bought like 30 cfl bulbs from home depot, and realized how much money i was spending on cfl's and sockets, thankfully home depot has a fantastic return policy and i got all my money back, the cost of cfl way surpased buying a 400 watt hps from ebay,, the 400 watter set ups with ballast and hood are like 110 dollars complete,,
but its kinda too late now,, so grow a couple of rounds under the cfl';s so they pay for themselves, and switch to something else later,,
good job keeping it simple

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Thanks for the info. Yeah, but the whole thing isn't about money right now. I can get a thousand watt hps, ballast, and hood for $90 right now at a local thrift store. They have 5 identical setups listed on Craig's list. I'll probably pick one up just to have it for later, because that is a hell of a deal. I'm just seeing what can be done with a weak ass cfl setup, then I'll transfer to a big boy hps or led. My dream setup is a 6'x6'x8' room, exhausted with inlines and carbon filters, 1 Kind K5(or other equiv led) 1,000watter mounted horizontally on each wall and 2 on the ceiling, 4 Vornado fans circulating the bitch, dwc setup, scrog. And that is just my dream for right now! When that or something similar has been accomplished, I'll probably be dreaming of an auto humidity/temp controlled, cob light up so bright that I'll be a shade darker every time I go in my grow room and come out. But for now I'm with my baby spirals lol. Thanks man!

thewanderingjack said:

Simple is my dream. But yeah, I may choose to grow/expand... who knows... but I am happy with what's happening now, so that's good

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I'm with you on that! But, understand when I say simple, I mean the form of lighting is weak and pretty much in its simplest form. Because lighting a 2'x2' room would be a lot easier with one nice LED, or maybe even an hps. Having to arrange a bunch of cfls to cover a plant makes it more complicated than one high output light, lol. But, it's still fun! Thanks bro