enigma2118
Member
Hi there all. Just during the sprouting of the seeds and the first week of growth, would a 70W floodlight be okay? It would move under a better light after a week. Thanks.
how long will 70W cover it?
- Thread starter enigma2118
- Start date
sm0keyrich510
Active Member
a floodlight wont work (especially if its halogen). you are going to need either cfls (in bulb or tube form), an hps, or mh set up.
cfl's are the cheapest to buy and operate... you can get a 12pack of 23w cfls for roughly $20 at homedepot. the color (kelvin) is very import when using lights to grow. if purchasing cfl's you're going to want them to be 2700K for flowering and 6500K for vegging (its good to mix the spectrum i'd say 3:1). so for every three 6500 bulbs you use be sure to use one 2700K with it (during veg). During flowering its just the opposite for every 3 2700k bulbs u use be sure to add one 6500K
Once you get Cfls you will need something to run them on...a fixture of some kind. if you don't already have a fixture that you can use be sure pick up some power strips (you can get it at homedepot or lowes...3 pack for $6 i think). you will also need bulb to socket adapters (also can be found at lowes or homedepot). the have a plug on one side to go into the power strip and they have a place to screw in a bulb on the other side. they go for about $2 a piece. you can also get y shaped socket adapters to add two bulbs at a time.
pros: low heat, good lumen to watt ratio w/ all things considered (23w ones are 1600 lumens a piece roughly), low electric bills.
cons: not very powerful (or you need a lot of them and wont compare to hps/mh)
hps/mh is the best (and most expensive way to go). mh/hps bulbs come in 150, 250, 400, 600, 1000 watts(on average...some companies vary). for a 400w mh/hps its gonna run you about $200 or less if you go through htgsupply. the electric bills will be higher...your grow room will be hotter...however your lumens will be significantly greater. for example...a 600w hps bulb will put out roughly 90,000 lumens...calculate how many 23 w cfls you'd need to equal the same amount of lumens? well if you do the math you'd see that you'd be using MORE electricity to get 90,000 lumens out of cfls. if you had 20 23 w cfl's youd use 460watts of electricity but only get 32000 lumens. so you'll never get as much out of cfls as an hps. its fact. even if you get huge watt cfls...
so i'd say bang for you buck would be in hps/mh as the yeild and quality of the bud in the end will be remarkably bigger than cfls...the plant's growth will also increase in pace using hps/mh.
if you're going to go hps/mh my advice (if you can afford it) is to go digital. they run cooler and are more efficient than the standard magnetic ballasts.
pros: superior lumen to watt ratio compared to cfls...plants grow bigger and faster increasing yeild and overall quality.
cons: heat (especially if you live somewhere without an a/c in a hot place...) bills (electricity costs more but worth it technically) and if you're growing illegally it makes you easier to be found by police helicopters.
cfl's are the cheapest to buy and operate... you can get a 12pack of 23w cfls for roughly $20 at homedepot. the color (kelvin) is very import when using lights to grow. if purchasing cfl's you're going to want them to be 2700K for flowering and 6500K for vegging (its good to mix the spectrum i'd say 3:1). so for every three 6500 bulbs you use be sure to use one 2700K with it (during veg). During flowering its just the opposite for every 3 2700k bulbs u use be sure to add one 6500K
Once you get Cfls you will need something to run them on...a fixture of some kind. if you don't already have a fixture that you can use be sure pick up some power strips (you can get it at homedepot or lowes...3 pack for $6 i think). you will also need bulb to socket adapters (also can be found at lowes or homedepot). the have a plug on one side to go into the power strip and they have a place to screw in a bulb on the other side. they go for about $2 a piece. you can also get y shaped socket adapters to add two bulbs at a time.
pros: low heat, good lumen to watt ratio w/ all things considered (23w ones are 1600 lumens a piece roughly), low electric bills.
cons: not very powerful (or you need a lot of them and wont compare to hps/mh)
hps/mh is the best (and most expensive way to go). mh/hps bulbs come in 150, 250, 400, 600, 1000 watts(on average...some companies vary). for a 400w mh/hps its gonna run you about $200 or less if you go through htgsupply. the electric bills will be higher...your grow room will be hotter...however your lumens will be significantly greater. for example...a 600w hps bulb will put out roughly 90,000 lumens...calculate how many 23 w cfls you'd need to equal the same amount of lumens? well if you do the math you'd see that you'd be using MORE electricity to get 90,000 lumens out of cfls. if you had 20 23 w cfl's youd use 460watts of electricity but only get 32000 lumens. so you'll never get as much out of cfls as an hps. its fact. even if you get huge watt cfls...
so i'd say bang for you buck would be in hps/mh as the yeild and quality of the bud in the end will be remarkably bigger than cfls...the plant's growth will also increase in pace using hps/mh.
if you're going to go hps/mh my advice (if you can afford it) is to go digital. they run cooler and are more efficient than the standard magnetic ballasts.
pros: superior lumen to watt ratio compared to cfls...plants grow bigger and faster increasing yeild and overall quality.
cons: heat (especially if you live somewhere without an a/c in a hot place...) bills (electricity costs more but worth it technically) and if you're growing illegally it makes you easier to be found by police helicopters.
enigma2118
Member
Thank you Sm0key for the reply. I guess I should have put more info in tho. These guys would go under a 400 MH/HPS swappable light in a week. But in the meantime they would be sitting under just a 70W incandescent floodlight. I was hoping this would be enough just for the first week of life. My fear is that they would reach a point after 4 days or so, where the 70W didn't do anything, and they would just keel over.
So just wanted to check on their temporary home, is it okay for just 1 week.
You did mention Sm0key something I was going to ask (digital vs. magnetic) So a pre-emtive strike on that question, thanks.
So just wanted to check on their temporary home, is it okay for just 1 week.
You did mention Sm0key something I was going to ask (digital vs. magnetic) So a pre-emtive strike on that question, thanks.
sm0keyrich510
Active Member
yeah i just picked up a 600w greenhouse digital hps system from htg supply. i have only been using it for a few days (im in flowering btw) its done great. i have a small fan blowing on the bulb/inside of reflector and its kept it pretty cool w/ all things considered. i'd say theres a difference in heat between magnetic and digital. the ballast runs very cool..slight warm-ness to it at the end of the day and i dont even have a fan blow on it!
if you're just needing something temporary even 1 power strip + socket adapters and a small 4 pack of cfls will do the trick. it would cost less than $15.
if you're just needing something temporary even 1 power strip + socket adapters and a small 4 pack of cfls will do the trick. it would cost less than $15.