Well, I'm broke as a joke so I'm literally having to do this in stages, as the time comes. So for now I'm going to start vegging some bag seed just to get a feel for this. Planning on vegging in a rubbermaid. I'm about to order some CFLs from 1000bulbs.com just for vegging now. Is this the best place to get cheap CFLs? It seems like it to me but there might be some obscure places to get from that I haven't found yet. And just to verify, I'm looking to ultimately flower in a box that is about 3 feet tall, 2.5 feet wide, 1.5 feet deep. This is going to keep my plants fairly short. I can LST or SCROG this, i think, to get a little more bud for the space. (please correct me if i'm wrong about any of this.) So according to that space for flowering, I figure 4 plants will be comfortable in there. 6-8 would be SOG status. For this I'm looking at 6-8 CLFs for the flowering box. And 4 CFLs for the veg box. And like I said, this is a slow process because I'm broke, so I'm going to start with just veg. And for that I'm looking at these bulbs: 27 to 28 Watt 6500 Kelvin Compact Fluorescents (the top, cheaper ones). These meet the requirements according to Kamel's CFL guide, 6500k and above 20w, and seem like a good price. Will this work? Is there a cheaper place? Etc... Thanks GC. You guys are all my new best friends!
you can go to home depot and get a 2 pack of those for the same price as the site is charging them individually
I'm using these 42watters (2800 lumens), they seem decent but I haven't really done an exhaustive comparative study [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Feit-Electric-ESL40TN-Fluorescent-High-Wattage/dp/B001AZOV9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1254077831&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Feit Electric ESL40TN/D 42-Watt Compact Fluorescent High-Wattage Bulb, Daylight: Home Improvement[/ame]
oh damn...nice. go figure...i look all over and walmart has the lowest price....ALWAYS. Thanks! so you guys thing 4 of them will work for veg?
not for 4 plants.... it would be enough for 1.... but if you're set on growing 4 plants, you can start with those 4 bulbs and keep picking up more with each paycheck. I have 8 bulbs and i'm only growing 2 plants. The more light you have, the better harvest you wil have.
Wow. I figured for veg, 6 would be the most I would need. I know for flowering I would need more, but didn't figure I would need more than 6 for veg for only 4 plants. So you think 2 bulbs per plant for veg and for flowering?
In the long run, CFLs will cost you more for four plants. Sounds like your grow op is going to be about the same size as my next one, and I figured out I'd get better light and it would be cheaper to just take the dive and get a 250W HPS, rather than 10 fixtures and 16 bulbs.
I'm starting to lean this way too. I've got 8 bulbs, four 42w and four 23w, on two plants (260w total). Though I know that the HPS will create more heat, I'm not exactly sure how much extra and I can't afford a new fan setup.
I was figuring two of these (Portfolio at Lowe's: 3-Light White Traditional Vanity Fixture) with a Y socket on each would be perfect. Cost assessment: two light fixtures : 20 @ 10/ea six Y sockets : 9 @ 1.50/ea twelve bulbs : 48 @ 4/ea other junk : 20 (being generous here. for things like electric cord, tape, hooks, etc) TOTAL: 97 bucks. call it 100. seems like most 250w HPS with a ballast is at least 150. unless i'm missing something here.
I'm impressed with LED's and think a LED/CFL combo is better and can save money. Dunno about the cost in USA but the power per light ratio is less than CFL's plus there's no heat. Consider the power usage to work out the true cost correctly over say 12 weeks.
I don't think you will save $600 in 12 weeks of electrical use when switching to LED. As a matter of fact, a 400 watt HPS vs a 90 watt LED ran at 18 hours a day will only save you electrical costs of around $14 a month. $600 price difference / $14 savings difference = 43 months of use to pay off the difference between LED and HPS.
I was planning on getting... -8x125W equivelant spot lights, 6500K - $80 @ $10/each -8x125W equivelant spot lights, 2700K - $80 @ $10/each -10 socket fixtures - $50 @ $5/each Not even considering other junk like wire, caps, tape. I think $20 is less than generous though, but I'll stick to your number. That put me at $230. By that point I decided to just go with an HPS.
This whole power savings argument for LEDs seems rather flawed. Even the people who say LEDs work great and show them off in comparison tests are comparing equal actual wattage of LEDs vs HIDs. The only people saying that 90 watts of LED is just as good as 400 watts of HPS are the people selling the LEDs. It's like CFL bulbs. Sure, it says 100 watt equivalent, but for growing purposes, it's really only good for the 26 watts it really puts out.
Do some price searching, maybe try ebay. You should be able to get a 250w ballast and hood for not much, if any, more than you have budgeted for the CFLs.