High Powered CFL's: Worth It??

Hey there fellow growers

I have a 400 watt HPS for flowering, but I'm setting up an additional veg cabinet to have more frequent harvests. I currently have a bunch of daylight cfl's that I'm going to be putting into a couple of vanity fixtures I picked up dirt cheap. My cfl's now range from 23-30 watts, and I've got like 15 of em so those plus a few 42 watt 2700k cfl's would fill the 12 sockets I have, even with some y-splitters. My question is, should I invest in high-power CFL's? I know having a higher intensity of light from one source is more effective than greater dispersion of lower intensity light. But it also costs a lot more. Today I almost put in an order with CFLuniverse.com (great site) for a 4-pack of 65 watt daylight cfl's plus two 105-watt cfl's, but those 6 bulbs plus shipping would have run me just over $100 (still a steal compared to most other sites). So what would you CFL growers out there recommend? Am I gonna be set with my proliferation of lower wattage bulbs, or should I break down and buy the high power CFL's and spread those out among the lower wattage ones? Any input, knowledge or experience, greatly appreciated. peace and warm wishes to everyone! (p.s. I can afford the $100, I just want it to make a big difference)

hey man im working with a 250w cfl vegging in my cabinet right now it totally kicks ass! check the link in my sig and see how effective it is. cheers

I use two 100w for my veg it works.

dopewear, your setup looks awesome man. So why'd you guys decide to go for the big CFL'S? Because the smaller ones are certainly way cheaper for watt, so why not just crowd a bunch of small ones around the plants?

I have heard that that wouldn't be as effective, but I'm just trying to figure out how much the difference is. Like would 10 27 watt bulbs be less effective than your single 250 watt bulb? because if they'd give the same light penetration, intensity, etc., it would make sense to get the smaller ones cause even in such numbers, they're WAY cheaper. thanks for the replies so far everyone!

i went with the large watt cfl because i had not seen much done with them so i figured id give it a try and im a big fan of LST so i think creating an even canopy would be great for one large single cfl. but if you were to grow a unleveled plant id say single bulbs would work better to be more direct. i dont know if im making sense im so baked. XD

dopewear said:

i went with the large watt cfl because i had not seen much done with them so i figured id give it a try and im a big fan of LST so i think creating an even canopy would be great for one large single cfl. but if you were to grow a unleveled plant id say single bulbs would work better to be more direct. i dont know if im making sense im so baked. XD

Click to expand...

nah man i get you. i'm a fan of LST as well, and topping. it's one of those things you got to weight the pros and cons. like with just a couple huge cfl's, you get one solid light source ie better penetration, need fewer sockets, have fewer bulbs to move around, less chance of bulbs knocking together, breaking, all that. BUT, they cost way more per watt, so they're real expensive, and if you do break one, you're out like 50 or 100 bucks instead of 4 bucks. probably the glass is thicker though than on the small ones... I've never used them before, I might give it a shot and get 4 65 watt ones plus 2 105 watters, and use those plus like 10 smaller ones to create a huge canopy of light in my veg box. for like 8 seedlings or maybe 5 vegetating plants that should be lots of good light. I just have to decide if I wanna put this 100 bucks into better lighting or a better exhaust fan for my flower closet...

When you figure the amount your going to spend on all these cfl's your basically at the cost of another hps. Why not go that route?

Mr Bomb said:

When you figure the amount your going to spend on all these cfl's your basically at the cost of another hps. Why not go that route?

Click to expand...

totally agree 100 percent. What is the point in having all those connections? 1 hps light source would simplify matters and give better light penetration.

Back to cfls - I disagree. Smaller cfls, 23 or 42w, are more efficient, cost less per watt, and are easier to position in tight places. If just used overhead for veg in might not matter, but if used in flower smaller ones are better IMO.

If you are set on cfls for veg. Personally i would go with envirolites not badly priced either. 2 x 250w envirolites with reflectors will come in at a bit over your 100buck budget. But the results would speak for themselves. But, personally would still go with hps.

Well if I were going to get another HID light for veg only, I would likely go with a Metal Halide, as that has the cool spectrum that promotes rapid vegetative growth. However, I just don't have an adequate space for that, nor can I afford/ have time to construct the ventilation for another big bulb. I just have a plywood semi-box with two open sides that I'm gonna place facing the wall (open side toward wall) and I'm gonna put these vanity fixtures facing eachother, one on the wall and one on the facing wall of the cabinet. That way I'll have a canopy of CFL's over the plants. I do have a metal halide bulb that is switchable with my HPS, so if there's time between when I finish flowering/harvesting one crop and when I need to start flowering another, I can just use that to boost veg on my little ones. But I also think having a CFL veg cabinet is a good call, because small seedlings at least benefit from that well-dispersed, less-intense light, as compared to an HID. Just some thoughts, I appreciate all the suggestions!

Yeah the CFL's work great for veg + cloning. I love how they produce low level of heat. I've never documented the results for flowering, but from what I've seen I'm sure they help.