A Simple Question on My Ideal Lighting Setup

Nice to meet everyone. I'm new here, and about to start my first grow sometime in the next month. Due to constraints on money, I am not able to purchase what i truly want (like full spectrum LED lighting that, according to a few sites, works for growing MJ).

Anyhow, after extensive research i feel comfortable and confident that the grow (soil based) will go smoothly with my knowledge of soil, nutes, Ph, the life cycles, etc. The only thing that i'm worried about is the lighting and smell. Since i live in a rural area and don't get cop visits ever, and since my operation isn't going to be large (5 plants max), i plan on worrying about smell after my first grow or simply when it comes to that.

My plans on lighting however is the central question here. I plan on using two flourescent fixtures each with 4 48" bulbs. I want to hang them to the sides of my plants vertically so that the light gets to every nook and cranny within the plant. During vegetation, i was going to use all 6500k blue spectrum bulbs, but when flowering, in each fixture, use 3 2700k red spectrum bulbs in each fixture, and 1 6500k bulb (total of 6 red spectrum and 2 blue).

My main concerns are what wattage i should look at for each bulb (recommended), and lumen output that each bulb is recommended to shoot for (highest lumens? or highest lumens at a certain watt usage?).

My final concern is simply what i have thought about randomly - flowers tend to lean over towards the sun. Will the plant start to lean any without a powerful overhead HID fixture? Or should this not even be a worry when i could possibly just rotate the plant to force it into readjustment?

And as a side note so i don't go creating a whole new thread or researching several sites for information that isn't necessary to the growth itself - How much yield should i expect with this kind of setup (no HPS or MH lights to help out)? What is an average yield for most plants grown indoors (like 2-6oz or 8-12oz)?

Thanks ahead of time for any info. I'm very laid back to criticize my idea openly as i don't plan on my first grow bombing unless i end up getting all males which is completely out of my control (not using seedbank).

Keep the lights close and you will be fine. Tale careof smell now. It is a pain to add stuff mid grow and unless you are okay with smell, you will want to manage it. Even in veg smell comes when lights go off.

Why not just wait until you have enough money to buy a HID ballast?
It is 200 bucks.

If you half-ass it, you get half-ass product.

It amazes me the people who want to use crap to try and grow "good" products...

If you can't come up with 200 bucks, go get a freaking job.

I appreciate the advice althor, but don't be a prick about it. I actually don't have a job right now, and if the employment rate where i live wasn't as crap as it is, i would have one right now.

The reason i'm kinda rushing into it is simply because summer is extremely close, and since it is my first grow i want to do my best to avoid situations like infestation of my plants as much as possible. Bug control is one thing i haven't thoroughly researched, but i have read an article of how T5 flourescents can, in some cases, be better then HID lights. If i went the HID route, smell would be even less of a worry as my attention would be diverted into spending more money on an exhaust system to help keep the plants in the 72 to 77 degree Farenheit range that, with my current ideal setup, wouldn't be an issue. My income atm is too little that, as it stands, i would have to wait 6 months before i would be able to afford such a setup, a time-frame that would equal one good harvest window.

As time passes i will upgrade the growing room, but in the meantime, be it a half-ass product, i will make do with what i can.

So back to the actual discussion, with the aforementioned limitations imposed upon me, would it be more beneficial to grow 2 plants with a good vegetation window before harvest, is it possible to do 4 plants, or would hanging the lights over a SOG method be best? With said best method for the situation, what kind of yields could i expect? The yield calculator i found in a seperate thread doesn't allow selection outside of HID lighting.

good luck Amishman....the tubes will do just fine

Reg flouros are only good for clones or seedlings. You need a t5 54w per bulb to get good results

if you look around online on amazon or ebay you can find hps/mh 400w kits that would probably be cheaper then the t5 fixtures. however the hps does need more cooling so youd need to invest in a good centrifugal fan, and some ducting plus if smell is an issue (and it always is) you need a carbon filter. the yield you get from your palnt depends on what strain it is, how long its veged for, and if its getting optimal grow conditions. expect anywhere from 10grams to 4oz's depending on all these factors. If doing a vertical grow i wouldnt worry about the plants leaning to one side or another, ive seen many vertical journals and the seemed to grow straight as any other plant. you can always tie them if you need to.
If you want to grow weed be prepared to invest in it. its funny how a cheapo 200$ grow can quickly blow up to 600-800 dollars once you realise how many little things you might need and what equipment you need to buy to do it right i myself started with a 300$ budget and have now put about 900$ into my setup. If you dont have the money to do it right my advice would be to hold off until you do. dont worry about summer coming many many people grow in hot climates without issue using proper setups. try to buy things 1 or 2 at a time over a couple months instead of rushing out and buying cheap things because its convienant and you "want it now" patience is very important when growing weed so you might as well start now.

Go get. A job fuck you some people are disabled Ansdcan't. Work and are stuck with low social security money so extra 200 bucks is alot. Also we need to grow for medicine. So if you don't want to help then just shut up and don't post.

althor said:

Why not just wait until you have enough money to buy a HID ballast?
It is 200 bucks.

If you half-ass it, you get half-ass product.

It amazes me the people who want to use crap to try and grow "good" products...

If you can't come up with 200 bucks, go get a freaking job.

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Unnecessary. If you can't come up with constructive commentary, leave. Nobody benefits from your negativity.

Amishguy, stick to your plan but expect smell. The situation should be sorted before you plant. Good luck!

AmishMan53 said:

My plans on lighting however is the central question here. I plan on using two flourescent fixtures each with 4 48" bulbs. I want to hang them to the sides of my plants vertically so that the light gets to every nook and cranny within the plant. During vegetation, i was going to use all 6500k blue spectrum bulbs, but when flowering, in each fixture, use 3 2700k red spectrum bulbs in each fixture, and 1 6500k bulb (total of 6 red spectrum and 2 blue).

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I'd suggest 3 4 bulb T5 HO units. One on the top, and one on each side. Optionally you could put some cheap led ufos on the top.
It also doesn't hurt to break up one of the 4 foot units into two 2 foot units, since one 2 foot unit can carry seedlings and clones through early veg all by it self.

I would also look into using a couple of actinc bulbs (420 nm - 450 nm) to boost the blue.

check this thread out... https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/584032-closet-2-0-dialed-back.html

I'm using two 100 watt CFL's for 1 plant. You could buy a pack at your local, Home Depot or Lowe's I think the pack comes with like 4 bulbs for like 25$. A pack is like 400 watt CFL's. Might want to buy 2 pack if you got the cash. It all depends what kinda of bud your gonna grow.

That actually brings me to another good question. Is their any benefit to using CFLs over the T5 FL's? I figured long bulbs would put out the light better, but thats a generic "bigger is better" train of thought and HPS lights have proven their dominance over 4 foot FLs. We will be going to Lowes over the next few days to look at prices since wal-mart didn't have any fixtures for us to look at (nor could we find T5 bulbs, only t8 and t12).

Trust me when i say though, over time i will be sinking a lot of money into the grow room. We will be starting with regs and so the end result of this cheap route isn't too much a factor - if 4 plants are possible this early i'm hoping 2 will be females and end result of around 6-8oz, but is mostly a test to make sure i understand the nute levels, my tap water ph, among everything else that a beginning grower probably wouldn't consider or get right the first time.

strongly suggest going for HO t5s, and LOOK on ebay ... lots of choice available

I just picked up http://www.ebay.com/itm/221188658934?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
for my clones and seedlings

http://www.accesshydroponic.com/product.php?productid=6818&cat=97&page=1#.UTZ8gqLUbdQ

I found this, and for a little over 200 dollars it seems well worth it. One of the bulbs though is 4200k and seems a bit far off from the 6500k blue spectrum, so i would like to know if i need to replace it with a 6500k bulb. Also, if i arrange 9 plants in a 3x3 square, would this lighting work ok by itself? or do you think it will be necessary to add a couple CFLs?

I have a lot of vertical space so i figure 9 plants grown to 3ft before flowering should be my goal. If their anything else as far as lighting anyone here can think of to tell me i would greatly appreciate the advice. Also, sorry for all the questions and detail that i'm asking for, but spending $300+ i don't want my first grow to completely bomb out. If i'm going to do it, it's going to be done right the first time.

AmishMan53 said:

http://www.accesshydroponic.com/product.php?productid=6818&cat=97&page=1#.UTZ8gqLUbdQ

I found this, and for a little over 200 dollars it seems well worth it. One of the bulbs though is 4200k and seems a bit far off from the 6500k blue spectrum, so i would like to know if i need to replace it with a 6500k bulb. Also, if i arrange 9 plants in a 3x3 square, would this lighting work ok by itself? or do you think it will be necessary to add a couple CFLs?

I have a lot of vertical space so i figure 9 plants grown to 3ft before flowering should be my goal. If their anything else as far as lighting anyone here can think of to tell me i would greatly appreciate the advice. Also, sorry for all the questions and detail that i'm asking for, but spending $300+ i don't want my first grow to completely bomb out. If i'm going to do it, it's going to be done right the first time.

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ive heard good reviews of this unit http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-Dimmable-Detachable-Reflector/dp/B00547I5I8 they have a 600w model as well which might be better for 9 plants, but would need quite a bit more cooling then the 400w

I veg all my plants hundred the exact same set up your putting up. I used two 48 inch four bulb quantum Bad Boy T5 setups, for vegetation I use three 6500 K bulbs and one 2600 K bulb and I have fine result in vegetation. Here's a picture of a couple plants I vegetated for five weeks from the time the clones were planted into soil. They were 24 and 27 inches tall.I will admit I flower under a 1000 W high-pressure sodium. These guys do have a point though; I did buy expensive fixtures, but between the bulbs in the fixtures I spent $300 on two sets of fixtures. The same $300 could've bought me a 1000 W HID light which includes hood, bulb, ballast, 26 feet of flexible exhaust tubing and a 450 CFM exhaust fan.https://growershouse.com. They might not advertise it on their website but they do sell these in deals if you asked them on the phone or on the web. They are local store for me so I can see the advertisements when I walk into their store and they are always running the sales.