Is this enough light to get something started?

bobbinweave

Active Member
My outdoor girls turned out to be boys... Since I still have some (bag) seeds left, I'm thinking of trying to get a half dozen or so plants quickly going under some lights. I can throw together a pretty good grow 'shed' by the weekend, and I think I still have an easy 8 - 10 weeks of growing time. I'm in Southern New England... (pray for a mild Fall!) Would an 18" CFL grow light with a couple of incandescent 75W grow light work okay?

Thanks. (I'm sooo bummed about my other plants...)

Bob
 

missnu

Well-Known Member
With CFLs it takes a lot of them to equal the growth of one HiD light...but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do...but ditch the incandescent bulbs..they put out more energy as heat, than as light...
 

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
How many watts is the CFL? You want 100 actual watts per plant minimum. Don't bother using the incandescents. They give off more heat than light and not a lot of light anyway.

also once the nodes start alternating you can force flower to see sex.. then reveg.. until you are ready to flower to the end
Wouldn't that cause stress and a loss of yield? Wouldn't it be easier/better for him to simply cut a clone then flower that? Don't need a separate room, just move it every 12 hours to a dark spot for a week or so.
 

zubey91

Well-Known Member
Wouldn't that cause stress and a loss of yield? Wouldn't it be easier/better for him to simply cut a clone then flower that? Don't need a separate room, just move it every 12 hours to a dark spot for a week or so.

nope all you do is once you see a hair.. give it 24 hours of light again and it will go back into veg state and won't lose yield. the plant would be too small to cut a clone... once the nodes alternate its usually only about 3-4 inches high or less.


make sure your lights are 5000k or above for veg
 
My outdoor girls turned out to be boys... Since I still have some (bag) seeds left, I'm thinking of trying to get a half dozen or so plants quickly going under some lights. I can throw together a pretty good grow 'shed' by the weekend, and I think I still have an easy 8 - 10 weeks of growing time. I'm in Southern New England... (pray for a mild Fall!) Would an 18" CFL grow light with a couple of incandescent 75W grow light work okay?

Thanks. (I'm sooo bummed about my other plants...)

Bob
The ones who have said stay away from the incandescent bulbs those are better suited to growing lizards than they are plants. The CFL is more than sufficient for your needs. In Southern New England they are predicting a very mild fall and winter...don't you just love this odd weather? Good luck with your shed.
 

bobbinweave

Active Member
How many CFL's though? is there any difference between the 'screw-in' type and the long ones? do I need 'Plant grow lights' or will regular CFL's work?
 

zubey91

Well-Known Member
How many CFL's though? is there any difference between the 'screw-in' type and the long ones? do I need 'Plant grow lights' or will regular CFL's work?

regular CFL's will work.. but pay attention to the lumens.. 5000k and above for vegging (6500K is ideal) 2700k for flowering don't use ANYTHING from above 2700k-5000k it doesn't do anything for the plant
 

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
regular CFL's will work.. but pay attention to the lumens.. 5000k and above for vegging (6500K is ideal) 2700k for flowering don't use ANYTHING from above 2700k-5000k it doesn't do anything for the plant
That's light spectrum's. Lumens are the amount of visible light. Also mixing the spectrums is a good idea. You want more 2700k for flowering, but you still want to add some 6500k. 3:1 is what I use.
 

zubey91

Well-Known Member
That's light spectrum's. Lumens are the amount of visible light. Also mixing the spectrums is a good idea. You want more 2700k for flowering, but you still want to add some 6500k. 3:1 is what I use.

yes I ment spectrum... and he is correct.. i've only done 2700's but added a 6500 about a week ago.. and noticing a differnce already. so yeah mix em up but mostly 2700
 

missnu

Well-Known Member
I have grown plants from seed to harvest only under MH, so the 2700 or 5000 or whatever doesn't really matter that much at all...I used to think so, but once you really get into it, it doesn't matter as much as you might think.
 

bobbinweave

Active Member
I'm guessing that the packaging is going to tell me the spectrum? And it sounds like I'll need two sets of bulbs; some in the 6500 range and another set in the 2700 range, correct?
 

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
Correct, you want more 2700k while are in flowering and more 6500k while vegging. Plants thrive under the correct nanometers depending on their stage. You can grow with blue bulbs, but just like in nature, lower spectrum light is better.
 
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