CFL's are stupid. I took them down.
- Thread starter fdd2blk
- Start date
sk3tch3
Well-Known Member
same here, i see guys tryin to fugure it out, "i got 19,000 lumens wit ten cfls at 23 watts equilivant to 100 watts it says on the box, ima add 10 more when i switch to flowering and blah blah blah...." wtf is wrong there, oh.... there rocking tons of lights to try and make up for the lack of penatration that non-HID lights have, so i gues ten lights @ 23 watts is saving you, 20 watts? duh 250 watt HID MH/HPS. sorry im high on the mothers finest
Token
Well-Known Member
True the only reason i'm tring it is there was a thread not to long ago that compared cfl's hps and flo and the cfl's actully did good. so i made think about tring them. I still have my 50 watt hps, and my 70 watt hps and my 1500 watt hps so I have seen what they can do.
Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
Well, since someone mentioned me and my CFL Grow here, I have to add my two cents worth. I am also going to start a new thread with this post too because I want many other newbies to see it that might be helped.
For the newbies reading this, I'm a newbie too. There are plenty of more experienced and more knowledgeable growers here at rollitup.org than I am.
Last year I did two Hydro grows, my first and only two Grows until this year. I had two lights, two 85 Watt Spiral CFLs in 2 ten inch reflectors, one red low Kelvin spectrum, and one blue spectrum high Kelvin bulb. Both Grows turned out identical. I started with seed given to me from an indoor SOIL grower friend who had allowed some Northern Lights and some White Widow to mix. After tossing three males, I had three female plants in one 6 cup tank, using a DWC and Bubbleponics System. Both times I wanted to do a FAST GROW, a STEALTH GROW and a Sea of Green Grow. I did not know anything about LST, Stressing, STRETCHING, Pruning, Trimming, Cloning etc. Both times I VEGGed for two weeks and FLOWERed for 8 weeks. Both times I got three "tops" but they were not big and not what I call a cola. Both times I got 2 and half ounces of dried buds. I got 3 buds, 3 or 4 inches long, and lots of two inch buds and dozens of popcorn buds the size of popcorn. ALL the buds were fluffy, and very sweet and tasty. I enjoyed my GROW, I was a very proud grower. Bottom line I got two and half ounces of fluff buds in ten weeks and I was proud and happy.
THEN I CAME TO ROLLITUP.ORG and I read and I studied and I met fdd2blk here.
The most influential post that I read here came from fdd2blk. I owe him a lot. He knows a lot about growing pot and he taught me a lot. He posted back around Christmas that it is not natural to start 12/12 FLOWERING at two weeks on little baby plants. He said it is just not natural, it is like a child getting pregnant and having a baby. He said that if you can, and IF you have the time and space, you ought to VEG as long as you can, at least 2 months or what is close to natural. Here in my part of the country, outdoor growers plant in April and VEGG all summer long. So I tried the same.
Jan 14, I had 6 sprouts, and I started FLOWERing 12/12 on March 20th. My plants were all about 18 to 20 inches tall. I wanted to grow BIG plants so I moved two of them to a 2nd tank to make space and I got 6 additional 85 watt CFL bulbs, and 6 42 watt CFL bulbs, all low kelvin for FLOWERing and all in ten inch reflectors.
I deliberately STRETCHED one plant and concentrated on her. She shared a tank with a 2nd plant. I gave her 5 85 watt bulbs and 6 42 watt bulbs. She got 4 and half feet tall. She had two nice colas, I mean coke can size but longer. I had two bulbs on each cola, 2 inches away. Those two buds are indescribable from the other buds. They are SO VERY DIFFERENT ! NO COMPARISON! They grew white fingers of buds, they are firmer, hardier, stronger, tighter, more compressed, hashier, sweeter, tastier, more sticky and the potency is as strong as I have had in 38 years of smoking. They excel all my other grow's potency tremendously. fROM THAT ONE PLANT, I got the two big colas, a dozen nice BIG buds, and a hundred small fluffy buds. The one 4 foot tall plant gave me 193 grams total of dried buds. The 2nd tallest plant that shared the eleven bulbs gave me 169 grams of dried buds. The one alone plant, although the same age and same height when I started 12/12, only had 3 85 watt bulbs and gave me only 64 grams (slightly over two ounces) of dried buds.
Let's compare. ELEVEN CFL Bulbs = 13 ounces
Three CFL Bulbs = 2 ounces
Duh? Not much comparison. The more watts you have, the more and better buds you get. And you can get more watts with HID lights. Just be ready to vent and control heat.
Let me also add more facts to consider.
I live in a large 1900 sq ft house with central heat and central air. We have lots of pets, fish and birds and we have a large power bill all the time, like $150 a month.
Whether I am growing or not, my power bill stays $145 to $ 155 a month. When I added the additional bulbs, my power bill did not go up.
I did not do anything about VENTING, or COOLING. I did keep a fan on them at all times. AND the Central Air helped alot too. This last GROW was started with the Central Heat on, and finished with the Central Air Conditioning on. All those bulbs did not add to the room's heat that I could notice. I paid $29 each for the 85 watt bulbs and $9.95 for the 42 watt bulbs. I am ordering 3 new 105 Watt CFLS now that just became available for my next grow.
Yes, HIDs are better, but they are hotter, bigger, and costs more. and NOT easily moved around.
CFLs are PERFECT for a small SOG, for STEALTH, for low budgets, low heat and small personal grows, in my humble opinion.
ALSO,
This old world is made up of many kinds, many types, different personalities, religions, races, colors, etc. We drive Cadillacs, Kias, Toyotas, Nissans etc and although we are in different cars, we all ride.
And this POT GROWING World is made up of different types too. Soil and Hydro Growers, Indoor Growers, Outdoor Growers, Organic and Natural, Chemical and High-TECH, Primative and Ghetto, Small Personal Use Growers and Commercial BIG For Money Growers. We are all different ! We do it different too.
I feel sorry for the grower trying to grow with 2 23 watt CFLs. He might get an ounce of Fluffy buds, but it is doubtful. BUT, He is Growing, he is part of rollitup, he is learning and he is having fun too. God Bless him.
We'll continue to debate and discuss CFL vs HID, SOIL vs HYDRO, Catholic vs Protestant, Jew vs Muslim, etc........ and the world will grow on!
For the newbies reading this, I'm a newbie too. There are plenty of more experienced and more knowledgeable growers here at rollitup.org than I am.
Last year I did two Hydro grows, my first and only two Grows until this year. I had two lights, two 85 Watt Spiral CFLs in 2 ten inch reflectors, one red low Kelvin spectrum, and one blue spectrum high Kelvin bulb. Both Grows turned out identical. I started with seed given to me from an indoor SOIL grower friend who had allowed some Northern Lights and some White Widow to mix. After tossing three males, I had three female plants in one 6 cup tank, using a DWC and Bubbleponics System. Both times I wanted to do a FAST GROW, a STEALTH GROW and a Sea of Green Grow. I did not know anything about LST, Stressing, STRETCHING, Pruning, Trimming, Cloning etc. Both times I VEGGed for two weeks and FLOWERed for 8 weeks. Both times I got three "tops" but they were not big and not what I call a cola. Both times I got 2 and half ounces of dried buds. I got 3 buds, 3 or 4 inches long, and lots of two inch buds and dozens of popcorn buds the size of popcorn. ALL the buds were fluffy, and very sweet and tasty. I enjoyed my GROW, I was a very proud grower. Bottom line I got two and half ounces of fluff buds in ten weeks and I was proud and happy.
THEN I CAME TO ROLLITUP.ORG and I read and I studied and I met fdd2blk here.
The most influential post that I read here came from fdd2blk. I owe him a lot. He knows a lot about growing pot and he taught me a lot. He posted back around Christmas that it is not natural to start 12/12 FLOWERING at two weeks on little baby plants. He said it is just not natural, it is like a child getting pregnant and having a baby. He said that if you can, and IF you have the time and space, you ought to VEG as long as you can, at least 2 months or what is close to natural. Here in my part of the country, outdoor growers plant in April and VEGG all summer long. So I tried the same.
Jan 14, I had 6 sprouts, and I started FLOWERing 12/12 on March 20th. My plants were all about 18 to 20 inches tall. I wanted to grow BIG plants so I moved two of them to a 2nd tank to make space and I got 6 additional 85 watt CFL bulbs, and 6 42 watt CFL bulbs, all low kelvin for FLOWERing and all in ten inch reflectors.
I deliberately STRETCHED one plant and concentrated on her. She shared a tank with a 2nd plant. I gave her 5 85 watt bulbs and 6 42 watt bulbs. She got 4 and half feet tall. She had two nice colas, I mean coke can size but longer. I had two bulbs on each cola, 2 inches away. Those two buds are indescribable from the other buds. They are SO VERY DIFFERENT ! NO COMPARISON! They grew white fingers of buds, they are firmer, hardier, stronger, tighter, more compressed, hashier, sweeter, tastier, more sticky and the potency is as strong as I have had in 38 years of smoking. They excel all my other grow's potency tremendously. fROM THAT ONE PLANT, I got the two big colas, a dozen nice BIG buds, and a hundred small fluffy buds. The one 4 foot tall plant gave me 193 grams total of dried buds. The 2nd tallest plant that shared the eleven bulbs gave me 169 grams of dried buds. The one alone plant, although the same age and same height when I started 12/12, only had 3 85 watt bulbs and gave me only 64 grams (slightly over two ounces) of dried buds.
Let's compare. ELEVEN CFL Bulbs = 13 ounces
Three CFL Bulbs = 2 ounces
Duh? Not much comparison. The more watts you have, the more and better buds you get. And you can get more watts with HID lights. Just be ready to vent and control heat.
Let me also add more facts to consider.
I live in a large 1900 sq ft house with central heat and central air. We have lots of pets, fish and birds and we have a large power bill all the time, like $150 a month.
Whether I am growing or not, my power bill stays $145 to $ 155 a month. When I added the additional bulbs, my power bill did not go up.
I did not do anything about VENTING, or COOLING. I did keep a fan on them at all times. AND the Central Air helped alot too. This last GROW was started with the Central Heat on, and finished with the Central Air Conditioning on. All those bulbs did not add to the room's heat that I could notice. I paid $29 each for the 85 watt bulbs and $9.95 for the 42 watt bulbs. I am ordering 3 new 105 Watt CFLS now that just became available for my next grow.
Yes, HIDs are better, but they are hotter, bigger, and costs more. and NOT easily moved around.
CFLs are PERFECT for a small SOG, for STEALTH, for low budgets, low heat and small personal grows, in my humble opinion.
ALSO,
This old world is made up of many kinds, many types, different personalities, religions, races, colors, etc. We drive Cadillacs, Kias, Toyotas, Nissans etc and although we are in different cars, we all ride.
And this POT GROWING World is made up of different types too. Soil and Hydro Growers, Indoor Growers, Outdoor Growers, Organic and Natural, Chemical and High-TECH, Primative and Ghetto, Small Personal Use Growers and Commercial BIG For Money Growers. We are all different ! We do it different too.
I feel sorry for the grower trying to grow with 2 23 watt CFLs. He might get an ounce of Fluffy buds, but it is doubtful. BUT, He is Growing, he is part of rollitup, he is learning and he is having fun too. God Bless him.
We'll continue to debate and discuss CFL vs HID, SOIL vs HYDRO, Catholic vs Protestant, Jew vs Muslim, etc........ and the world will grow on!
laserbrn
Well-Known Member
You did an excellent job with your stealth grow, everyone here knows about it and congratulations.
Back to the point. I have used CFL's, and they do generate heat. You may not live where temps reach 100+ degrees from May - October like I do, but I can't run with that much heat.
You have done CFL, we can see that, where is your HID grow? You have a one sided comparison here. Veg plants under HID for 2 months and flower for 2 months and you'll see what I'm talking about.
If I am reading this correctly you used a total of 8 85w CFL's + 6 42w CFL's. Is this correct? You had 932w of light!!!!!!!!
Certainly you can make anything work for 2 plants with 900+ watts. It's just inefficient. That's the point we are trying to get across. Had you used even a 400w HID and alloted 200w for ventilation you would have saved 33% on electricity and you could have grown 8 plants and yielded much bigger, better buds.
I understand that you maximized the light usage to get nice fuller buds, but you could have had EVEN better buds and a whole lot more of it.
I definitely give you crazy respect for having pulled off such a wonderful grow with CFL's, but it doesn't legitimize their use.
Back to the point. I have used CFL's, and they do generate heat. You may not live where temps reach 100+ degrees from May - October like I do, but I can't run with that much heat.
You have done CFL, we can see that, where is your HID grow? You have a one sided comparison here. Veg plants under HID for 2 months and flower for 2 months and you'll see what I'm talking about.
If I am reading this correctly you used a total of 8 85w CFL's + 6 42w CFL's. Is this correct? You had 932w of light!!!!!!!!
Certainly you can make anything work for 2 plants with 900+ watts. It's just inefficient. That's the point we are trying to get across. Had you used even a 400w HID and alloted 200w for ventilation you would have saved 33% on electricity and you could have grown 8 plants and yielded much bigger, better buds.
I understand that you maximized the light usage to get nice fuller buds, but you could have had EVEN better buds and a whole lot more of it.
I definitely give you crazy respect for having pulled off such a wonderful grow with CFL's, but it doesn't legitimize their use.
Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
I didn't mean to sound ALL FOR CFLs.
I was trying to say I just thought CFLs worked fine, until I saw what HIGH WATTAGE CAN YIELD. My house does have Central Air all the time so I didn't notice any heat and I could touch the bulbs and put them two inches away from the plants.
I was trying to say I just thought CFLs worked fine, until I saw what HIGH WATTAGE CAN YIELD. My house does have Central Air all the time so I didn't notice any heat and I could touch the bulbs and put them two inches away from the plants.
kindprincess
Well-Known Member
four foot ge flouro tubes. daylight. plants can touch the tubes and not get burned.
kp
kp
mogie
Well-Known Member
Watch out you are going to be crushed to death. No don't worry. Those buds falling on you were grown under cfl's they are light and airy. They won't hurt they just slowly float down to earth. Like a butterfly.
Now the buds grown under an HID they are compact and heavy. Damn those babies can do some damage if dropped on ya.
Now the buds grown under an HID they are compact and heavy. Damn those babies can do some damage if dropped on ya.
BloodShotI'z
Well-Known Member
"Whether I am growing or not, my power bill stays $145 to $ 155 a month."
Man I wish!! My light bill was $200+ BEFORE I even started my grow. And Im in an apt!!
Man I wish!! My light bill was $200+ BEFORE I even started my grow. And Im in an apt!!
we're at 350+. multiple dwellings. 1 bill. 1 payer. my 600w flower room along with 4 3' floros and my fans run me about $50 a month. i'm not using a lot but to add more to the bill already is just to much. i don't pay the bill. well i do, just not directly.
laserbrn
Well-Known Member
I finished my last grow under HID with central A/C running round the clock. Not just to cool the grow room, but because when it's hot I run my A/C. Plain and simple. Electric bill last month: $156.00.
I'm not saying that 4' GE floro's generate a lot of heat. They don't. They don't produce much light either. I have 4' T-5's in a 6 lamp fixture and it generates ~30,000 lumens and only a little less heat than the 250w HPS that I have. It's also a 364w fixture. Just doesn't make much sense to use. I use it for clones and early veg. About 1 1/2 weeks after my roots explode on my clones it's on to the HPS.
I'm not saying that 4' GE floro's generate a lot of heat. They don't. They don't produce much light either. I have 4' T-5's in a 6 lamp fixture and it generates ~30,000 lumens and only a little less heat than the 250w HPS that I have. It's also a 364w fixture. Just doesn't make much sense to use. I use it for clones and early veg. About 1 1/2 weeks after my roots explode on my clones it's on to the HPS.
BloodShotI'z
Well-Known Member
I keep my air on 24/7 too. For the plants...and I have a dog. I dont wanna come home and see either of them laid out. And Im in that 90f+ region starting in May. The AC is what kicks my ass on the bill. The grow raised it about $50 bucks.
BloodShotI'z
Well-Known Member
That has to suck.
beenthere donethat
Well-Known Member
and insulation is so cheap.... I don't get it. You'd recover the costs in a month at that rate of expense.
I'd rather be burning 6K of hps light for my $500...but hey..to each their own!
good luck
bt dt
I'd rather be burning 6K of hps light for my $500...but hey..to each their own!
good luck
bt dt
Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
I think one time I posted or told someone in a PM that I lived in California. I really live in the southeastern United States. AND where I live, we consider our bill, $150, as very high! We run the washer and dryer daily, we leave lights on all the time, either the AC OR Heat are always running........we do have a rural co-op non profit share-holder kind of electricity provider. That is what a lot people have in Alabama, Georgia, SC, Florida, Tennesee, etc
I guess I am blessed !
I guess I am blessed !