Are Four 42 Watt CFL Enough For 2 Plants?

not great pic`s sorry, but i think you can see what i was getting at....

you can see the difference in 6500k and 2700k

that looks nice bro. if i wouldve started with CFLs i they would be a lot bushier. but you live and you learn right? i learned not to trust the dude at home depot on which light to buy lol

dude. thats a badass idea for a mini greenhouse environment. i used to put baggies over the whole pot lol

hey you said it yourself.... you live you learn....

that was an idea someone on here gave me, so you see were all here to help eachother...

and it works a treat, they were tops i took to even the canopy now in flower with the rest of the girls, and even if its only a few grams from each of the two, its a few nights smokeing

lol ya thats a good idea. did you use cloning solution?

yes got some cloneing powder, the gel is hard to get in ireland...

was cheap to so not a bank breaker, and think of all the free plants i can now grow...

tnugent24 said:

i have two 10 and a half inch clamp light reflector. they both have a Y splitter with the blubls in them....plenty of reflectivity...im tryin to figure how to post pics but im a newb on this site haha

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I have the same large clamp reflectors. If you are using larger 42 watt bulbs you will need a extender on the y splitter to get the bulbs off the reflector enough. I measured the lux with the reflector and without, almost double with it.

yesum said:

If you are using larger 42 watt bulbs you will need a extender on the y splitter to get the bulbs off the reflector enough. .

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ya bro i figured that out when i got home and went right back to get an extender....anyways that was like a week ago

but thanks

ae86 grower said:

i think its more to do with watts that lumens to be honest...

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Actually when speaking of CFLs' Wattage doesn't mean squat. Total lumens is per sq. foot is what matters. HID lighting is a differant matter.

Psyclops said:

Actually when speaking of CFLs' Wattage doesn't mean squat. Total lumens is per sq. foot is what matters. HID lighting is a differant matter.

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who mentioned hid lighting? and as far as i`m concerned its all down to wattage, and even then its only as an estimate for yeild, some lads grow with 400w and 600w, same strain same conditions but different yeild for each grower, otherwise we`d all follow a design and be growing pounds of it all the time.....

Growing with CFL's is OK... But, if u ever "graduate" your lighting to an all HID lineup, and use MH AND HPS for the entire grow, u will only wish you would've done it sooner... But, with enough CFL's of the correct spectrums for each phase, and good reflectors and distances, Ive seen some pretty good-lookin and smokin' nugs come out of CFL-only gardens... But, only in rare instances... Good luck with your grow, though man...

And, yes, wattage doesn't necessarily mean much... Lumens and correct spectrums r what really it counts in making plants happy...

correct spectrum yes as in 6500k for veg with some 2700k, then 2700k for flower with some 6500k....

lumens and cfl, well unless you have some high power cfl`s as in 100w and a couple of them at that then your not going to get the lumens needed to get anywhere near a 400w or 600w, so to estimate yeild i go by the wattage, it seems to be a language everyone understands...

theres loads of sucessful growers with cfl`s some get 2 oz a plant and some get 1... i think this has more to do with there wattage that there lumens..

As far as figuring grams per watt, yes, I agree... But, with some different types of lighting, on one hand, you could have an HID fixture that emits 100,000+ lumens, and pulls 1.1W on 110VAC(using a 400W MH for hyp. purposes, here), while on the other hand, have a new-technology type of LED fixture, like The UFO, for instance, that emits the same amount of lumens, but only uses half, or less than half of the wattage, or power consumed by the HID fixture... So, itz all very relative to whichever situation you can be dealing with... This is just knowledge that is applied everyday for guys like myself, who have done comercial/industrial electrical work for 15+ years, so I can't help but to point this out, as it is just in me to see these variables...But, what u said is absolutely true when figuring yields per watt...

ae86 grower said:

correct spectrum yes as in 6500k for veg with some 2700k, then 2700k for flower with some 6500k....

lumens and cfl, well unless you have some high power cfl`s as in 100w and a couple of them at that then your not going to get the lumens needed to get anywhere near a 400w or 600w, so to estimate yeild i go by the wattage, it seems to be a language everyone understands...

theres loads of sucessful growers with cfl`s some get 2 oz a plant and some get 1... i think this has more to do with there wattage that there lumens..

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cool, have a quick question for you, i want to run 4 65w off a 13a fuse, roseing the cable from light to light so only one cable for all four bulbs, when they come on i have heard the cfl flutter might trip or false trip my mcb? is this possible? can flutter really trip my switch or is this just myth?

if so would lowering the fuse to a 5 amp help this out or whats my solution?

just to put thing in perspective isn`t a 400w hps around 40k lumens and a 600w hps about 60k lumens...

so if you want to judge cfl`s then should add them up (as you need a few) to get your lumens up to these numbers?

Ok to end your guys argument EVERY EXPERIENCED GROWER has told me it comes down to lumens. PERIOD! Not watts or type of bulbs or any of that shit, its lumens

if you are using the right spectrum bulbs that is

ae86 grower said:

who mentioned hid lighting? and as far as i`m concerned its all down to wattage, and even then its only as an estimate for yeild, some lads grow with 400w and 600w, same strain same conditions but different yeild for each grower, otherwise we`d all follow a design and be growing pounds of it all the time.....

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I started growing using strictly cfls', my production was "adequate" to my needs, (2 to 3 ozs. per plant depending on the length of vegging time, using around 9,000 L per sq. ft.), I now use a 400w & 600w hps, along with a 4' 6 tube T5 (353 Watts) and an additional 310 watts of cfls' in a 32 Sq. Ft. rectangular area, (8' X 4') My lighting changed with my level of experience.