Had a question pertaining to a cfl grow. If I purchase a 3'' tent, and have 200-250 watts cfl, what sort of yeilds could I expect, I know this is a broad question. But I was thinking I could fit 3-4 plants, and what do you all think would be the best method of gardening? based on the size and goals
As a cfl grower I think your along way from where you want to be. You need to be looking at a 250 watt or 400 watt hid. Seriously 250 watts of cfl in that space is around 1/3 to 1/4 the power you would need. Not that you couldn't get a decent harvest of 2-4 oz off just 250w. Hell right now I have 250w of cfls on a single plant in 2.5-3 sqf(1.5wX2dt) of space hoping to get that same yeild(2oz). I feel i have maxed cfl power at that size and a hid starts to outweigh cfls lumen to watt beyond that point. So really after all that stoned babbling a hid is your best option or I'd recommend a space no larger then 3sqf. Ill be going to 250w hid very soon myself.
Seriously that was kinda a sinking feeling in my stomach.. What if I had 2 plants in 4 sq feet of area, 36"X20" cause most of the tents I have looked at are about that size. Would i still be able to grow them tall? I rarely smoke, but when i do I <3 it. Just ordered my seeds from attitude. Have some bulbs and a 125watt cfl on the way in the coming weeks. If i harvested 2-4 oz in 4 months, That would have me set for like a year.. LOL
Imo he should try it and see how it turns out. It's a small investment since CFL's are dirt cheap and 2700k flowering cfl's are even dirt cheaper. But just to throw it out there, there are hundreds of grow journal posts made by people in this forums that you can check out to see how theirs turned out instead. But all in all, if you're considering on getting a tent, then it would be much easier for you if you just get HPS and get the cooling you need along with a carbon filter for odor control (Which all connects together from start to finish). All I'm saying is that the products you see on the market today has been revised for many years now and I don't see why you're trying to go off on your own way in a ghetto budget kinda way. Another thing to point out is that it takes like good 4 months to get a product from start to --> finish. Some even longer. You gotta water it ever couple of days and it does take a little amount of work. But in the end, don't short yourself out because you wanna go the cheap way. But like I said though, CFL's are cheap and even if you want to try it out, it's really not a bad investment. But you'll never see a dry nugget (cola) that weighs over an oz. dry or even close to it with CFL's.
My pineapple chunk yielded me just under 2 ounces using seven 26 watt bulbs. Was one plant and I kept it under a foot tall so I think your goal of 2-4 ounces in 4 months is very doable depending on the strain you get.
I find I get around 1-2 ounces per 100watts. For descent bud growth you really want at the very least 60 watts per square foot of canopy, and you have 9 square feet there. More watts is better, 100w per square foot is a good figure, but running 900watts of CFL would be daft in my opinion. Why not just buy a cheap 400w HPS? It will be cheaper and you only have the one bulb so its easier to install. You don't need to keep the lamp so close to the canopy so its a lot more manageable too. If you really wanted CFL then I would probably say 4x of those 125w should just about cover your area, but at £20 per lamp, £20 per reflector and the extra bud you get from a 400w HPS makes the HPS the cheaper option. Plus, if you buy a dimmable ballast you can switch down the power if you find you ever need to