sprinkle some crack on it

well.. cfls are more efficient at lower wattages so say the charts.. that is one reason you could go with 2, also you can move 2 around the plant better for light coverage where 1 is only 1.. if you dont have space.. 1 would be better.. if you got space go more ..
 
they are just ganna be hanging from the top for right now... but I plan on movin em around later on... but ok cool I have an idea now
 
haha ya or just my 80 watt... but they heat up quick... which was my down fall last time and killed my seedlings, still learning how to grow indoors with CFL's Im used to growing outdoors...
 
make sure you have a big vent man.. try to pull in outside air (make it happen) and vent to the outside too. that will be the BIGGEST thing you can do for heat. Then you can use larger bulbs and or more of them.
 
I'm using 3 40W CFLs in my closet right now and have had no heat problems. Check out my blog and good luck!
 
Cannabox said:
make sure you have a big vent man.. try to pull in outside air (make it happen) and vent to the outside too. that will be the BIGGEST thing you can do for heat. Then you can use larger bulbs and or more of them.
Click to expand...

You don't want to bring air in from directly outside. If you do this, your plants are being hit with 30degree air, which is not good. Plus, it just invites all kinds of bugs into your grow.

You can exhaust a 200watt CFL setup with a couple of computer fans. You can get 130cfm computer fans for like $10 each shipped on ebay. Get two of those, run them both for exhaust, and just have passive intakes. Put a small desk fan inside to blow the air around in the cab, and your heat issues are handled.

If you want to add more light, get some 4bulb fixtures for a ceiling fan at wal mart for like $5 each. You just hook these up to an extension cord, screw in your lights, and your ready to go.
 
My 3 40W CFL system is working fine in a pretty enclosed space. I have a cardboard growbox in my closet. All I have is a little fan blowing air into my cardboard box from the bottom... with the top open. The back of the fan is located right by the crack of the door in my closet. This way, a little air from my room gets into the closet. It doesn't get above 80 in there and is usually in the mid 70s.
 
While two is better than one, 20w cfl's really just don't cut it my man. Many folks have tried many types of cfl's and some are ok with 40w and up but time and time and time again so many people give up on cfl within their first flowering period or as soon as they can afford it. You get less growth with cfl and the less intense the lights are the slower that growth is.

Can I give my plant the least light it will grow with? Yea

Should I? No

$20ea plus $14 shipping will get you a 150w hps complete that puts out 15,000 lumens. Your 20w cfl puts out what 1300? A 40w cfl puts out 2600 lumens.

A 1000w hps puts out 150,000 lumens, which equals around 150 20w cfl bulbs in intensity.

Lumens = light intensity = growth rate

At least get two 40's if you won't do the $20 hps, then in a week or two at most you will need two more, so it will end up more expensive than the hps right away.
 
With more light comes heat, so if you do go with that 150watt light, you will need an exhaust fan for sure. That 150 will work a million times better and it will only cost like an extra $4 a month to run.
 
well... right now I have 8 x 20 watt CFL's, 3x 40 watt cfl's and 1 80 watt cfl... I want to grow atleast 3-4 plants and Im pretty sure I can do that with all these lights haha. Ive seen some pretty good grows with CFL's, I agree, Not as good as HPS but still very good smoke. A 150 wont be good enough for 4 plants.

My heating problem is, Where I have the plants growing, there is a vent, a house vent... haha which is blowing out air I believe at about... 70 degree's, but with the lights on, this heat is just to much for the plants and it gets well into the mid to high 80's. but when I close it it gets to about a close 80.
 
MId 80s is not a bad temp to be at. Don't let it get much higher than this.

You can easily grow 4 plants under that 150watt light. And even if you only grew like 2 plants, those 2 will yeild more than the CFLs any day. Pics can be decieving. I can take a pic of some loose, fluffy bud and make it look bomb in a pic.

If you want a decent harvest of decent buds, I would go with the HPS. IF you are just looking to get some experience, go with the CFLs and switch to a better light next time around.
 
I grow with cfl's. I have 4/23 watt, 1/42 watt and 1/UVB 10.0. I have found the UVB to be very effective with trichrome production at 4-6 hours a day, any more and the plants burn. My other lights are 12/12, however may I suggest that you have an active air INTAKE and passive EXHAUST. I tried the other way first and choked my plants to death trying to figure out what deficiency they had when all along it was air. I grow in a cabinet that is about 3x1x5. I now have 2 fans for intake and none for exhaust and things are much better.
 
You are very, very wrong on that Sue. You will have much better results having passive intakes and an "active" exhaust. Why do you think people put their inline fans at the end of a duct run? Why do you think they are sold as "exhaust" fans and not "intake" fans?

You will be much more efficient using an exhaust fan and having passive intakes. The reason your plants are doing better now that you have an "active" intake is because the air inside the cab is being moved more. If you used your intake fan for exhaust, had passive intakes, and had a circulation fan inside the cab, you would be fine.

You are causing more stress on the motor of your fan and not using it to its full potential when you don't use them for exhaust.
 
I have, and have had all along a mini tower fan inside for circulation, Bob. I also had my fans active in the EXHAUST position, my plants were fine until they got to flowering. I started more seeds(same strain) same results, I immediately took them out of the box once I noticed, switched my fans to the bottom of the box and made active INTAKE. My fans were sold as computer cooling fans not exhaust fans they move 65 cfm each. I thought they would work fine the other way, but thats what I get for thinking, everything works so much better now. I will have buds to smoke that I grew. I only know from my experiences.
 
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