hey so im planning on growing 2 auto plants and a fail safe fem. plant incase one dies (will only have for a week or two after germ.) in a small enclosed box like area. I want to use cfl lights and was guessing that i need at least 200 watts(100 wat per plant). Is that right>? or what do you recommend for two plants? Also i was wondering if i should use blue, black or red lights combined with regular sunlight cfls? Any help would be great
If you're going cfls try and get 45w real power ones. Go for a ratio of 2:1 2700k(red):6500k(blue) and that should cover autos from start to finish. I'd recommend weighing up the costs v a 400w hps. You'll find there's not much in it. An led like this is worth the investment for a small grow if you can afford it http://www.mars-hydro.com/mars-ii-led-grow-light-400w.html Black light doesn't work, and 5500k daylight is neither here nor there for growing...
You don't want to go CFLs...not opinion, fact. Here's why: Light falls off as a function of the square of the distance from source. A 23/100 CFL is compared to a 100 watt incandescent because they both provide around 1600 lumens at the bulb. What this means is that at 18 inches, they provide a mere 4.9 lumens per bulb Sunlight AVERAGES 128,000 lumens A 400 watt HID provides 98 lumens at 18 inches, 32,000 at bulb A 1000 watt HID provides 237 lumens at 18 inches, 92,000 at bulb Fall off is figured PER BULB, not for total wattage/lumens provided in total So 4 1600 lumen bulbs do NOT provide anywhere near the light intensity a single 400 watt HID, or even a 135 true watt LED (which has a similar issue, which causes the "no penetration capability" effect) If your plant is 18" tall, and your lights 18" above that, 4 "100 watt" 23 watt CFLs provides a total of 5 lumens at the base of the plant. a 400 watt HID provides TWENTY five Even if you go for an equivalent "true wattage"...say 18 23 watt CFLs, you only get 87 lumens at 18 inches...with more heat given off and more power drawn, because CFLs are less efficient than HID lamps. Additionally, put a light spectrometer under one...no matter which ones, you'll find the balance of red and blue compared to other wavelengths is sadly lacking, in proportion to sunlight OR HIDs (and FAR lacking from LEDs, which, if rated at 135 watts, are putting out 135 watts of nothing BUT red and blue wavelengths, all useable, with a far more efficient light production (LEDs are close to zero heat light, and this means that more of the energy they use is delivered as light, regardless of fall off issues). To quote the owner of the hydro store I buy most of my gear through, because the way he says it sticks: "Want to know how good your CFL bulb is for growing? Drop it on a sidewalk from 10 feet up. Now it's just as good as it was before you dropped it". Currently, for the price, you STILL can't beat MH/HPS setups. To come CLOSE to matching them, you have to spend 50% again as much, at a minimum.