CFL- Lumens - Reflector - Hydro

I am new so please bare with me, I have one of those 6 Hydro Grow plant systems that is about 17" long X 11" wide.

I understand Lumens has a lot to do with it?

I bought bulbs,etc at Wal-Mart so easy to return.

I have seen pics of systems similar to mine that have both the "Flowering" and "Vegetative" bulbs on at the same time, is this the preferred method?

I have a 100W 6500K 1600 Lumes bulb (that is the highest Lumes I can find at Lowes, Wal-Mart for the 6500K) should I stick with that or order online and I can get 4200 Lumes?

This will be in a silver reflector hanging above the system, with "Mylar" reflector on the side----unless you can give me a better set-up.

For the lower stage bulb I can find locally, a 2800K --1400 Lumens, or a 2800K --4200 Lumens.

If the Lumens are not the same in both bulbs will that throw things off?

Thanks for your insight.

100 W bulb that only puts out 1600 lumens? hahaha
look here man, dont look at the lumens, look at the Wattage. the higher the watt the better. with high watts you automaticly get high lumen.
K stands for Kelvin and thats the spectrum ( colour like) and for veg stage you shpuld have 6500 K and for bloom 2700 K
thats all you need to know

any thought on the Veg and Flowering lamps running at the same time as I have seen on some websites?

You are gonna need bigger bulbs for six plants, I grew four plants and made a homemade hood that housed 12x42watt cfls, I did about 8 bulbs of 6500k and 4 2700k for veg then the opposite for flower. If you have the room and the money go HID if not do not go any smaller than a 42 watt cfl, they make them up to 250 watts or so. When you are using the 100watt those are actually 26 watt and they do not carry enough light to be effective or effecient, especially in your setup, more light=more bud.... Good Luck

duuuuuuuuude. if want to solve one of the major problems ppl have, buy at least some 42w cfls. your 100w is really 26w. the "100w" on the box means this an equivalent to a 100w a-type bulb.

there are different amounts of lumens per square foot that you will read all over the web, however, THE MORE LIGHT THE BETTER. i like to stick with a min of 5000 lumens/ft^2, which is approx. one plant. You will need to goto your local hardware store and buy some medium base attachments. "Y's" are going to be important. turns one socket into two. PLEASE, do not buy an over priced reflector when you can build your own for 30 - 40 bucks AND!!! you can push 3X as many lumens with a little innovation. I currently have two that i have built, each spittin out 16,400 lumens. I would post pics but, i am having trouble uploading for some reason. Anyways, I bought some 125w cfls 6500k and 3500k and some 26w & 23w at lowes. one fixture holds 2 125w (5000 lumens x 2), and four 26 or 23 watt bulbs.

The 125w take a mogul base (bought at electrical store for $10 each) and there are two medium bases, each with a "Y"(both bought at local hardware store for like $3/base & $/Y). I wired everything with 8' electrical cords( DOLLAR STORE for $2. i bought them all). IMPORTANT - Be sure you keep track of your neutrals(usually has groves/ribbed on wire, or the big prong on the plug) and hots(usually black but im no electrician so be sure to check until you are sure).

Now with just these bulbs(2-125w & 2-26w & 2 23w(3500k), one fixture runs initially at 354 watts. I wired all leads to a short male plug. the fixture hangs from a quick disconnect (hardware store), attached to a rope and pulley. There is a female end extension cord running down the rope which i plug the fixture into. Another good part: if you buy some clip-on sockets (hardware store) you can add even more lumens if you use an extension cord with 3 female sockets. just clip on to the sides of fixture. it has a height of 9 ", length = 22" & width = 16". I was more concerned about height rather than area.

MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW MANY WATTS CAN BE SUPPORTED BY THE CIRCUIT BEING USED. volts X amps = watts