How's this lighting setup? PICTURE**

I have room for 7 lights. One up top. and 6 on the sides (But high up on the sides...

The little space is about 2.5' by 2.5'

I may not even need 6 lights. But I have the room for them. Notice, on the left you see I can plug 2 in there, same on the right with the dual lighting... And on the power strip in the back I have the pluggins that are for lighting sockets. Then of course, I plugged one light in up top. This setup is only for the plants first month or so, then they're moved to my closet for the next 2-3 weeks. Then to my other close for flowering. What do you think about this setup? I know the plants stretch toward the light, but what if I loved them around to where they wouldn't really have to stretch sideways? Also, for like 5 plants, would I need 7 CFLs?

it would help if the room was white...

DodgeDread said:

it would help if the room was white...

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How about I just make the walls reflective as well?

Are the lights in good spots?

don't use mirrors or foil, plain matt finish white is best, i'm no expert but i'd say the more lights you have in there the better but remember to keep it from getting too hot, what wattage cfls do you have?

DodgeDread said:

don't use mirrors or foil, plain matt finish white is best, i'm no expert but i'd say the more lights you have in there the better but remember to keep it from getting too hot, what wattage cfls do you have?

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I haven't bought them yet. I don't even have seeds yet. Lol. I'm just getting everything set up. When I'm done installing, I'll make a trip to wal mart. Not sure what wattage. I know I need 6500K for vegging and 2700K for flowering. What wattage would you reccomend for say... 4 lights. Keep in mind, I'm not growing the plants there full time. I have three other grow spaces for when they get too big for this one. Also, I'll probably only have 4 plants max.

well i have a friend who grows 4 plants at a time with a 125w cfl, these might be too big for such a small space but on the other hand they don't get very hot so you could have it close, but there seems to be plenty of people who use 80w and less cfls and they seem to have no trouble. I;m starting my first grow at the moment too so hopefully we can help each other out cos like i said i'm no expert. yet.

DodgeDread said:

well i have a friend who grows 4 plants at a time with a 125w cfl, these might be too big for such a small space but on the other hand they don't get very hot so you could have it close, but there seems to be plenty of people who use 80w and less cfls and they seem to have no trouble. I;m starting my first grow at the moment too so hopefully we can help each other out cos like i said i'm no expert. yet.

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Yeah. I'm currently about 1 1/2 months through my first grow. I seem to be doing well, I just need more light. I assume that by 80w you mean that's the equivalent to a regular incandescent light. Which means it'd probably be around... 18 or 19w?

no i meant 80w but i presume you're gonna use the smaller household sized lamps in which case i'd just get the highest you can. Maybe the equivalant of 7 100w incandescents would be plenty. The 125w bulbs are about the length of your forearm so can be bulky in such a small area but i'm gonna attempt a similar setup soon for seedlings using a wooden box i made, a 125w cfl and some old computer fans in the top and bottom. having just one of these 125w in the middle of your plants should work really well. make sure to quarter turn the plants each day and they should do well

DodgeDread said:

no i meant 80w but i presume you're gonna use the smaller household sized lamps in which case i'd just get the highest you can. Maybe the equivalant of 7 100w incandescents would be plenty. The 125w bulbs are about the length of your forearm so can be bulky in such a small area but i'm gonna attempt a similar setup soon for seedlings using a wooden box i made, a 125w cfl and some old computer fans in the top and bottom. having just one of these 125w in the middle of your plants should work really well. make sure to quarter turn the plants each day and they should do well

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I was thinking that since the area was so small, I would get a some of the smaller wattage lights. I want the plants to get as large as they can in this one area before I move them to the next, so I'd like to use physically smaller bulbs to save up the space for my plants to grow. So, more smaller bulbs = less larger bulbs, I assume, and this should be fine.

As far as fans, I have one smallish fan in one grow room. I need 2 more fans for my other 2 new grow rooms. Made another today for flowering. Allows maximum room.

the smaller bulbs will obviously be cheaper and save room and hopefully for you they'll be enough to feed 4 plants. Let me know what you end up using and good luck!