First time CFL question

Hello evereyone,

first of all, I would like to thank all of you, to be a part of this great community. I have ordered some feminized autoflower seeds for 6-7 months. I really can not remember the strain, because I had a lot of trouble since then. Now, the light in me woke up again and I want to make me some self made buds. I've bought the PC case (coolermaster 690), enough big a pot, organic soil and bat guano fertilizer. Until weekend I will set up the case and start germing one of the seeds. Since we (me and wife) are just smoking at weekends 1-2 rolls, I am not after big yield.

The only thing is lightning, I've read several journals, threads, guides but could not get a definite answer. Everytime I'll grow only one plant. My grow area is (W)213 X (H)482 x (D)524 mm. I want to use simple CFL's from start to finish. HPS or Mh lights are really expensive in my land and I don't want to spent that much money.

Sorry for writing a lot; the question is simple; for this grow area and one plant, how many and what kind of cfl's do I need? Is it better to mix the cfl's or change the cfl's after veg time?

Many thanks for reading and your answers.

You want blue spectrum lighting for veg and then when you wanna flower them you want red spectrum. Blue put out like 5600k lumens and red like 2700k you can mix the lights but if your in veg i would use like a 3:1 ration of blue spectrum and in flowering a 3:1 ration of red's. As far as how many you need, well i dont feel like calcuating your actual space into feet but for one plant i would say like 6-10 depending on the wattage.

Hey Doboyfresh,

that is exactly my problem not getting a concrete answer as I am a noob. I need some working solutions like for example : 2x 23w 5600k and 1x 2700k all the way. Anyway thanks for your answer.

Get 125w blue spectrum CFL and 125W red spectrum CFL, £40 so its not expensive.

Jamie,

if I use both it makes 250w in total, but my aim is to keep the bill a lil bit low. Is it possible to use 23w bulbs which are equvalent to 100watts or so?

Maybe getting an 250 watt hps light from start to finish will be enough? I really need a definite answer which saves me lot money.

Is HPS ok for the autoflowers from start to finish? Does it get real hot? By the way, the heat of the light will be good for the plantmaybe , I will use the PC in a room where the heating radiator will be off all the time.

prodream said:

Is it possible to use 23w bulbs which are equvalent to 100watts or so?.

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doesn't work that way 23 watts = 100 watts incadescent, not florescent BIG difference .

frmrboi said:

doesn't work that way 23 watts = 100 watts incadescent, not florescent BIG difference .

Click to expand...

what about the 250w hps all the way? Actually I found a kit with ballast, philips 250w hps lamp and a reflector all for 100$

If you are gonna go with cfls, put as many as you can afford.
However, contrary to popular opinion, in my experience, they DO get hot!
Perhaps not as hot as hid lights of-course, but they are not cool to the touch by any means!
I am currently running just 4-26w cfls in my grow tent with the door open and no fans yet.
The Tent temps are usually hovering around 85-90F! whereas the rest of my house is at only 70F.
So whatever style of lighting you decide to use,
make sure you have adequate ventilation! I'm just sayin!

prodream said:

what about the 250w hps all the way? Actually I found a kit with ballast, philips 250w hps lamp and a reflector all for 100$

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Check the (assembled) dimensions of that 250w kit...I doubt it'll fit in that pc case you bought (which is only 8.4" wide).

I think you'll probably be better off with CFLs. There are plenty of good examples of pc-case grows using CFLs here on RIU. Do some searching/browsing and find a setup that you like and that seems to work well for someone else...then copy it.

Yeah man if the 250W HPS will fit, Rock that and just get a 250W Metal Halide blub too.. Some gamers have 400watt power supplys in there PCs' and alot of people never turn there desktops off.. It wont spike the bill that much. I haven't noticed much of a increase and im growing with multiple lights! You would be much more happier with a HPS for flowering as well, Compact Floros don't give you density like you desire

where is a good shop to buy cfls ?

thenotoriousone said:

Yeah man if the 250W HPS will fit, Rock that and just get a 250W Metal Halide blub too.. Some gamers have 400watt power supplys in there PCs' and alot of people never turn there desktops off.. It wont spike the bill that much. I haven't noticed much of a increase and im growing with multiple lights! You would be much more happier with a HPS for flowering as well, Compact Floros don't give you density like you desire

Click to expand...

Ok as conclusion, i will stick with an 250w hps from start to finish. Is that ok? Yes it fits into my case. Do the hps lights get really so hot? I have planned the ventilation for a 250w hps. I don't think the heat will be an issue

Ya they get hot thats my problem I would brun them up, I use a t5 4-4ft bulbs set up right now an it workes perfect for veg, I havent switched it yet but I plane to flower with it to. but i plane to put others cfls with this. Someone said a 3:1? I was wondering I would and switched all of them but im glad someone said something, these bulbs are 54 watts are the red the same wattage?

So I finally got 4 cfl bulbs from a friend.
2x 60w 6700k + 2x 23w 2700k
I think(as far as i read the journals) i will put all 4 bulbs into the case and use them from start to finish..

Anyone disagree??? If no, i will start my journal this saturday. Thanks a lot for every single answer.