I already have a grow going on but i want to grow a few in another room. But i only have a $100 budget and I'm really leaning to CFL's, because heat could be a big issue where i want to grow. I really dont want to use those little cfl bulbs. I would be fine with t5 lighting or something like that. My question is, With a $100 budget how many plants should i aim to grow? (im new to cfl) My goal is grow 6 plants, BUT if you guys think i cant buy enough light for 6 plants for under 100 bucks then please let me know lol. My little room im growing in is about 2.5 feet high,5 feet long,3 feet deep.
I got 2 6500k 105 actual cfl watts bulbs, and 2 2700k 105w bulbs for $100 on ebay. I, also have two 65w 2700k I will use during flowering, I think its enough for four or five plants at the most, I have five I just started three weeks ago. I am using the scrogg method and Will be posting my grow on here a little later. good luck
all from homedepot.com 2 pack of 27w 6500k CFL's=7.97 Light socket to 2 prog adapter = 2.09 a pop Belkin 6 outlet 3' cord= 3.27 each You can fit 3 of those lights on 1 power strip. If you try and add more than 1 Y adapter to the mix on the power strip lights start bumping into each other and it just seems you lose potential light penetration. It breaks down to a grand total of 21.50 for each set of 3 lights you set on an outlet strip(each strip is 11 inches long). For 85.98(before taxes to the man mind you) you could have 12 lights at 27 watts output a piece (100w advertised equivillent a piece) for 324 watts total!!! 81 watts of light per strip. Also, if you spent a few bucks over 100 dollars($107.50) you could push your setup to 405 watts. I think for 100 bucks you could do all right. LOL. Ofcourse adding a timer and properly distributing the circuits rather than a long daisy chain from the main power source would add more to the final bill, but you asked for Lighting under a bill. Hope this helps. I've seen people here recommend with cfl's that for 3 plants you should have 200 watt's of light(100w for the first, 50w for each additional), so by that method 405 watts would sustain 6 plants from start to finish.
most cfl ights already have ballasts in them, but read closely I found some at walmart that didnt have internal ballasts. also check lowes, I just found three 65w (actual cfl wattage) bulbs for $15 each.