I plan on starting 4 plants in a few days (autoflower) and want to keep them inside for about 2-3 weeks before i move them to their final spots outdoors. What lights would be best for growing seedlings for that amount of time? Im looking for something cheap but efficient Thanks!
I'd say most autoflowers like 20/4 light through the whole grow. Go with CFLs from Home Depot or Lowes.
While their seedlings you could fit 4 party cups under a single CFL. The bigger they get, the more light you need to add to cover them. The 26watters are good enough and easy to find. Basically surround the plants with light so they have bulbs within a couple inches of them. Try to place the plants so one light hits two plants. When I had 4 plants in a closet I had two tubes on top, then CFL's on the side, then two plants, then more CFLs in the middle, then the other two plants, then more CFL's. That way they had lights from pretty much all sides.
You will need to go indoors like they say above and its HPS all the way for me from seedlings to harvest. (growlux sunmaster). One bulb does all and no fucking about changing bulbs mid harvest. Always renew your HPS (dual spectrum bulb) every harvest. Dont waste time with CFL'S an MH bulbs now we have the right grow bulbs for opimum growth. Plants need red to avoid stetch and will grow much faster under HPS.
Grolux Lamps - Buy Grolux Sodium Lamps at Growell Hydroponics Grow Lights > Grow Lamps > Dual Spectrum Grow Lamps
Hence why i bought autoflower seeds lol, wos afghan kush ryder. Plus i live in Texas it stays sunny here till like late october, ill be harvesting (hopefully) before then. I just need lights to keep seedlings alive for about 2 weeks, something cheap and i think im going for cfls
I can only advise you on what i would do. Why not start with a 250W HPS. They are not expensive to run. If you dont have a ballast then just go for CFL'S. Its really up to you as to what you want to produce and spend. You will probably find a 250W HPS is cheaper to run than a shitload of CFL'S and ballasts are not that expensive. Go for a 1000W ballast and you can run any HPS or MH lamp in the lamp not exceeding 1000W (ie 250W/400W/600W HPS and MH bulbs of different wattage (not exceeding your ballasts output 1000W). You dont need a switchable ballast or conversion bulb and this cuts costs.