Lighting Help, any info/opinion appreciated

Hi folks,

This is my first time growing and would appreciated some help on what lighting to go for.

I've been reading alot of info on the different types available out there, and its giving me a sore head

I was thinking of buying one off those LED red/blue light panals on amazon for about £30, but read so many mixed reviews it put me off abit so Im now thinking some CFL lights might be better.

What im considering buying is one red 2700k and one blue 6400k CFL light.
These seem a good option as no pricey ballast is needed.

Im only growing two plants in my cupboard, its a decent size space.
Just wondering if this would be ok for a first time grow, afterwards i can adjust things if needed for better results.

Thanks for the help.

While I am not a lover of CFL's, they do have their place for small grows under 3sq ft. Sodium lights will always be more efficient but if you only have a small space, those sound a good choice. Look for how many lumens they emit, more the better but mj needs a minimum of 3,000 lumens per sq ft while in veg and 5,000 lumens per sq ft while flowering. The colour spectrums are right (2700k & 6400k). Paint the walls with flat white paint for reflection (Mylar is great but MUST be completely flat) Green mojo & happy growing dude. W

If you have the space for a 2 foot bulb, I would recommend T5 lighting.... if not CFL will do and prob be better than those cheap LED panels for 30

Wat's up , yeah that'll work fine, a hps or mh would be better of course,it depends on the wattage in this case, the higher the better(and lumens). I'm using a 250w 6400k cfl and two 100w 2700k cfls in a closet grow(geting hps intime for flower), no complaints. I'd only use leds as a secondary light, personally. Good luck with your grow man , hope that was of any help
peace : )

I don't know if you have the money to spend, but I highly recommend the Sunshine Systems 28w Grow Panel. It costs about $120 currently on Amazon, but it works wonders. I've been very pleased with it so far, and you won't have any heat issues in such a small space. Don't get the Grow Panel 14 (it's about $50), I don't think it's enough juice. But the 28w has been working wonders.

During flowering, I would add a couple of T5s, but the Grow Panel will carry you far.

Good luck!

for a sirst timer i would suggest in buying these as there really good as you progress you can keep them to clone your new babys and so on there worth it as you get better in growing move up in power and space http://sunblasterlighting.com/t5-fixtures.php

Do not buy an led pannel or ufo with anything less than 90w of power. It will be bullshit. Led lights that will actually work cost real money.

Thanks for all the info and recomemdations folks.

Ive decided to give the two CFL's a try and see how things turn out.
Its my first attempt at growing so i know there will be some trial and error.

I'll most likely try other options at some point to see what the differences are.

Cheers again!

I have one more question if anyone can help,

Ive bought those two CFL's lights, now i need a lamp holder for them.

Ive seen 'normal' and CFL lamp holders advertised, they look the same to me but was wondering if there's any difference or would any lamp holder do as long as it has the correct bulb fitting?

Thanks again.

Banteros said:

I have one more question if anyone can help,

Ive bought those two CFL's lights, now i need a lamp holder for them.

Ive seen 'normal' and CFL lamp holders advertised, they look the same to me but was wondering if there's any difference or would any lamp holder do as long as it has the correct bulb fitting?

Thanks again.

Click to expand...

As long as they screw in, they should fit regular light sockets. Which, BTW are cheaper than breathing, lol... several bare sockets ($1.50-$3) and a stripped extension cord have served me well for over a year now.

Ok thanks for the info

Hi guys ! Please help me and tell me if more small cfl's are as effective as 1 big cfl ! Exemple : 5 x 25w cfl are as effective as 1x 125w cfl
I'm asking this because i want to save some money...

depends entirely on your set up. To be effective with many smaller ones your going to have to be moving them constantly as lumenessence fades quickly with cfl. One of my first grows was four autos with four 105w cfls. Keeping them close together the light on one plant provided side lighting to the plants next to it. Add up all the lumens produced and you should find a general equivilancy. I would opt for fewer higher wattage bulbs, that or pony up and get some HID or LED. I've seen some kick ass cfl grows but they're never as nice (quality and yield) as hid and led. If you're intent on using cfls I highly suggest growing autoflowering plants otherwise you'll have issues when it comes time to flower a larger photo period plant with clfs (unless you have a shit load of them, at which point you might as well have upgraded to begin with)