250 Watt CFL grow

nahph1 · Mar 2, 2010

Hello, I'm doing my first grow, and am using 250 watt. cfl's. I have one veg. spec. and one bloom spec. I'm working in a small closet space and only growing 6 plants under the 250w. cfl in a hydrofarm reflector (just fit).
My question is has anyone else used these monster bulbs before?
I'm currently on week 4 of veg.(24/0) and they are all big and healthy about 12 - 14" tall. Wondering if they will get bigger or should I go to 12/12 cycle?(dont know the strain)
Also I'm using F.F. soil and nut.
Any input would be very helpful. Thanks,

Sens · Mar 3, 2010

Flower if you want. Just make sure you can control temps and achieve complete darkness and you should be good.

crazy-mental · Mar 3, 2010

Sens said:
Flower if you want. Just make sure you can control temps and achieve complete darkness and you should be good.

sounds good,
what strain you growing, and if your plants just fit, do you know, they can double or triple in size when you goto 12/12.
how long are you intending to vegg for?

nahph1 · Mar 3, 2010

crazy-mental said:
sounds good,
what strain you growing, and if your plants just fit, do you know, they can double or triple in size when you goto 12/12.
how long are you intending to vegg for?

Well I figured they were done in veg. I don't know the strain, just some bag seeds. I thought they would be a bit taller by week 4 but that's ok. The six do fill my space completely so after I can pull the males I should have enough room for them to expand. My set up is totally sealed and light proof, and I have intake and exhaust so temps stay about 80ish. I will take a pic if I can figure out how to post it. Thanks.

hometownhero22 · Mar 3, 2010

i would go into flowering now. im currently growing and i put 2 plants into flowering just the other day and both were about 10 inches tall. flowering the plants will double, triple, our quadruple the size and the cfls wont be able to hit the lower budsites. smaller is better with cfls. check out this book called Buds for Less. its by seemorebuds and he shows how to grow with cfls, its very simple to understand its also a day by day step process of what the plants should look like and everything. you can find it at a borders or barnes and noble. that book is a must have for all cfl growers

nahph1 · Mar 3, 2010

hometownhero22 said:
i would go into flowering now. im currently growing and i put 2 plants into flowering just the other day and both were about 10 inches tall. flowering the plants will double, triple, our quadruple the size and the cfls wont be able to hit the lower budsites. smaller is better with cfls. check out this book called Buds for Less. its by seemorebuds and he shows how to grow with cfls, its very simple to understand its also a day by day step process of what the plants should look like and everything. you can find it at a borders or barnes and noble. that book is a must have for all cfl growers

Yeah I have noticed already that light getting through to the bottom is an issue. I will start the 12/12 today and figure that half will be male so that will leave me with 3 and enough space for them to grow more. I have plenty of height but not so much l + w. (Approx. 24x20x4

if I add a 24 inch t5 to the 2 sides would that do the trick?
When I get home ill post a pic of the setup. Thanks.

Pipe Dream · Mar 3, 2010

seriously man your gonna have some big plants and I don't know how many lumens that bulb is putting out but really suggest getting some more cfls for bottom and side lighting it's cheap and should definately increase your yeild.

nahph1 · Mar 3, 2010

Pipe Dream said:
seriously man your gonna have some big plants and I don't know how many lumens that bulb is putting out but really suggest getting some more cfls for bottom and side lighting it's cheap and should definately increase your yeild.

That's what I will do then. The 250watt is supposed to put out 15000lum. But it doesn't make it through to the bottom. Even with the inside totally covered with Mylar. I will add 2 24 inch t5s to the sides. Thanks.

hometownhero22 · Mar 3, 2010

nahph1 said:
Yeah I have noticed already that light getting through to the bottom is an issue. I will start the 12/12 today and figure that half will be male so that will leave me with 3 and enough space for them to grow more. I have plenty of height but not so much l + w. (Approx. 24x20x4 if I add a 24 inch t5 to the 2 sides would that do the trick?
When I get home ill post a pic of the setup. Thanks.

Yeaa man I'm pretty sure a t5 on each side would do the job, not totally sure if it will be enough but it will definitly help a lot. My first grow there was no side lighting at all and I still got an ounce of it. Just keep up the work and you wiill be very happy with the results no matter what your yeild is. The more experience the better they will be.

nahph1 · Mar 3, 2010

hometownhero22 said:
Yeaa man I'm pretty sure a t5 on each side would do the job, not totally sure if it will be enough but it will definitly help a lot. My first grow there was no side lighting at all and I still got an ounce of it. Just keep up the work and you wiill be very happy with the results no matter what your yeild is. The more experience the better they will be.

Here is a pic of them at about 3 weeks veg. they are taller now and have developed an complete canopy.
they are now on 12/12 and as soon as I can pull the males I will add 2 extra ho t5's to the sides of the box.

reuben85 · Mar 3, 2010

nice! how many plants you got in there,and do you always grow with cfls.

nahph1 · Mar 3, 2010

reuben85 said:
nice! how many plants you got in there,and do you always grow with cfls.

There are 6 plants in 1 1/2 gallon containers.(just fit). Looks like more due to the mylar. This is my first grow and figured with such a small space I wanted low heat, and avoid vent system. Come to find out that the 250watt cfl's i'm using generate a good deal of heat(well over 100 degrees at plant level with no vent.) So ending up having to use intake and exhaust fans. Also after about 2 weeks in veg. I had to add a carbon filter cause those babies were stinkin and I'm venting inside.
I'm thinkin about going bigger on the next grow, probally a 3x4x6 box with a 10-12 plants and a 400-600 watt mh/hps set up. I'll need some advice before I start that one.
I plan on keeping my cfl to start seed/clones, mabye even to veg.

Maddasher · Mar 14, 2010

nahph1 said:
There are 6 plants in 1 1/2 gallon containers.(just fit). Looks like more due to the mylar. This is my first grow and figured with such a small space I wanted low heat, and avoid vent system. Come to find out that the 250watt cfl's i'm using generate a good deal of heat(well over 100 degrees at plant level with no vent.) So ending up having to use intake and exhaust fans. Also after about 2 weeks in veg. I had to add a carbon filter cause those babies were stinkin and I'm venting inside.
I'm thinkin about going bigger on the next grow, probally a 3x4x6 box with a 10-12 plants and a 400-600 watt mh/hps set up. I'll need some advice before I start that one.
I plan on keeping my cfl to start seed/clones, mabye even to veg.

Great thread...just wondering what type of fans you used for your intake/exhaust and what your grow box dimensions are.

I'm trying to figure out my intake/exhaust for a 2.29 square foot area. Any feedback is much appreciated. Thx. :bigjoint:

ksums · Mar 22, 2010

Just wondering if you have any pics of how you hung those cfl's. I just picked up a few bulbs and am trying to figure it out. It,s good to know that they put off a lot of heat. I was gonna try no exhaust but I think I'll put one in.

jogofien · Feb 24, 2011

Your plants are looking nice, iv got a 90watt led for veg and 2 of those 250watt cfl's for flowering they do put out alot of heat my last plants died from it, i got an exhaust fan do you think dat would be enough to keep down the temps or will i have to get an intake fan too...I just put my seeds in there pots today under the led gona leave them veg for 2 weeks dis time before flowering...

PUFFIN $TRONG · Mar 6, 2011

i have 3 blackberry plants going all feminized i have the 2 smallest one 2.5 inches away from the lights and the biggest one i took off shoe box becuz it was getting a lil leaf burt :sad:

i currently have 104 watts in the rubbermaid ....hows it looking fellaz? :-(

cali805surf · Mar 6, 2011

Nice grow man. I've got a similar size space. I'm using 2 x 200 watt cfls and I put t5's vertically in the corners. Really helps. Also, you can veg on an 18/6 light cycle. Works the same if not better and saves you a little on electricity.

makinthemagic · Mar 6, 2011

nice grow. check through my journals below as I am doing something in similar size/scope as you. i really like how you have paid attention to the details to maximize your grow. those girls look healthy.

PUFFIN $TRONG · Mar 7, 2011

Thanks guys yeah I'm on the 18/6 now but the 2 biggest one is verry very droopy any suggestions? I don't want it to die!!! :wall:

...I'll post more pics of them if u want?

PUFFIN $TRONG · Mar 7, 2011

Yo magic I'm liking you grow alot homie I wanna do lights with the dome on it but ill do that when i have fans in first

250 Watt CFL grow

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