is a 250w CFL not enough?

Hey all,

I have two grow rooms but due to some "home improvements" going on I had to shut down the larger grow room with a 400w HPS. for the next month or so I only have my Homebox XS with a 250w horticultural CFL in the 2700k range for flowering.

Looks like this one:



Is this not enough for a reasonable yield? I know i won't get 400w HPS results, but hey...

Some side lighting is never a bad idea, how many plants? how big of an area? how big are the plants right now?

It's a pretty tight area. About 2' by 2' by 5.5' (it's a Homebox XS).

I'm doing 8 plants (I just bought and transplanted the clones today). I'm only gonna let them root for and veg for a week or so then switch to 12/12. I plan on lollipopping all of them, since CFL's don't penetrate the canopy much and I'd rather have the plants focusing their growth on one main cola.

Here's what they look like today:

For the time being thats probally enough, but later as they get bigger i'd add side lighting.

Yeah then I'll probably add a few way smaller 6500k bulbs. I read that helps with trichome production.

Ya 250 is a good amount. I have a 200 watt and it does just fine on its own, but you can get much better results with added light....I used an LED panel and some cfl's and it makes a big difference! Whered you get a 250 watt self ballasted cfl? is it 6500k?

Well I have both 2700k and 6500k 250w CFL's. I got them at my local grow shop.

Is that self ballasted? I dont think it is, you'll still need a mogul socket, unless im mistaken, in which case I'm gonna order a bunch, cuz the highest self ballasted ive ever seen was 105w-125w, and those are still very new, used to be most 65w were not even self ballasted, but the technology has improved greatly.

you're right, mogul socket in the reflector.

Can't you wire the socket to a regular lamp though, no actual ballast is reguired is there?

no there's no external ballast. Reflector to socket directly

I think the plants are quite happy with the light for now. I will move the plants to my larger Homebox L with a 400wHPS in a week or so.

Here are my plants, semi-lollipopped: