junior2471
Active Member
around how many cfl's do i need for 1-3 plants and how many watts?
how many cfl's on 1-3 plants?
- Thread starter junior2471
- Start date
I am not a veteran by any means... actually i am almost 2 weeks into my first grow, but I did read a while back that you should not use less than 100watts of CFL per plant for flowering. They say keep the light as close as possible to the plant and make sure to line the walls with mylar, or something some similar material.
I am growing 2 plants in a small area and will be using a 125watt CFL and a 110 watt 2' T5 lamp for flowering. Should be around 20,000 lumens and I also have extra CFLs if I think I need more light. Right now I have my ladies (Feminized Dutch Passion Mazar) under the T5 with two blue bulbs and they love it.
I am growing 2 plants in a small area and will be using a 125watt CFL and a 110 watt 2' T5 lamp for flowering. Should be around 20,000 lumens and I also have extra CFLs if I think I need more light. Right now I have my ladies (Feminized Dutch Passion Mazar) under the T5 with two blue bulbs and they love it.
The Grim Reefer
Active Member
Right now for my cfl grow I'm running (12) 42 watt (150w incandescent equivalent) bulbs..GE brand like what is used in Buds 4 Less book. I have it running on my two ladies for a total of 32,400 lumens. Grow area is 2 x 2. In flowering and they look beautiful.
If everything goes good and I get a decent yield off it, I'll probably make some more fixtures and just use the same setup per every 2 plants.
If everything goes good and I get a decent yield off it, I'll probably make some more fixtures and just use the same setup per every 2 plants.
Its not CFL wattage you should look for, its the effective light the plant gets.
You would be much better using a single 45W at 1 inch away from the plant than a 200W CFL at 10 inches away.
A few points you should take into consideration:
1. CFLs do produce heat. The most effective CFLs are the higher wattage.
Using a 45W will produce about the same light as 2x32W and would be easier to cool.
2. CFLs doesn't cost much but if you intend to get a dozen of them, dozen of sockets and quite a bit of electirical parts you would probably be better off getting a 150W HPS.
You should also take into consideration that you'll need to change the CFL's when you go into flowering to 2,700Kelvin CFLs. Thats quite a bit of CFLs.
3. CFLs give half the lumen per watt that HID light gives. HID light penetrated further making it more comfortable as it doesn't need to be adjusted every few days.
If you'r going with CFLs you need to keep the lights (considering the use of up to 45W CFLs) at around 2" from the tops.
That being said, I believe the most effective way to use CFLs is to get a strong one in the middle with a fan benith it pushing the heat up and away and using smaller ones around that circle.
The bigger the plants the higher the wattage.
For 3 plants that will be 10" at finish I'd get 1x45W CFL in the middle.
For 3 plants that will be 20" at finish I'd get 1x45W CFL in the middle and 3x32W CFLs at the outer circle.
You would be much better using a single 45W at 1 inch away from the plant than a 200W CFL at 10 inches away.
A few points you should take into consideration:
1. CFLs do produce heat. The most effective CFLs are the higher wattage.
Using a 45W will produce about the same light as 2x32W and would be easier to cool.
2. CFLs doesn't cost much but if you intend to get a dozen of them, dozen of sockets and quite a bit of electirical parts you would probably be better off getting a 150W HPS.
You should also take into consideration that you'll need to change the CFL's when you go into flowering to 2,700Kelvin CFLs. Thats quite a bit of CFLs.
3. CFLs give half the lumen per watt that HID light gives. HID light penetrated further making it more comfortable as it doesn't need to be adjusted every few days.
If you'r going with CFLs you need to keep the lights (considering the use of up to 45W CFLs) at around 2" from the tops.
That being said, I believe the most effective way to use CFLs is to get a strong one in the middle with a fan benith it pushing the heat up and away and using smaller ones around that circle.
The bigger the plants the higher the wattage.
For 3 plants that will be 10" at finish I'd get 1x45W CFL in the middle.
For 3 plants that will be 20" at finish I'd get 1x45W CFL in the middle and 3x32W CFLs at the outer circle.