IV looked all over the forum and on the internet but still a little confused about grow lights I understand the basics about grow lights but, like I have 5 fem. Autos just popped the soil last night. I was planning on running CFLs.. I purchased 1620 Lumen's and I'm using the lamps I purchased from tractor supply. I also have reflective material around my plants once a little bigger. I guess I'm wondering if somebody cared to explain the use of CFL s with cannabis and how to calculate lighting. I really do appreciate any help. Starting out I'll have one light per plant while seedlings. Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Grasscity Forum mobile app
All cfls come with a color rating You want 5500k and 6500K for vegging, you can use both or either or for vegging. 6500K is the recommended Now for flower you want 2700K Cfl lights, you can use the 6500K for flower but best results come from 2700K Also with this being said if you want go ahead and mix the bulbs and use a few of both for flower and veg. Now for wattage you need to look at the ACUTAL WATTAGE not EQUIVALENT. The golden rule is 100w per plant and 50w for each additional plant, but since they are cfls I always recommend putting as many as possible into your grow So let's say you have 3 plants then you want 200+ watts of cfl, doesn't matter if the bulbs are different wattage but the total needs to be 200+ watts Make sense? Also if you need a ton of cfls I say just get an led or hid. You can have the best soil, the best nutes the best tent the best strains but it does not mean shit of you don't have the light power to back it up.
Oh...see I wouldn't aware of the color rating..do more people use clf, led, or hid with their grow. I'm planning g on buying a grow closet I'm just trying to get familiar with growing before I invest in one. Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Most people use hid systems, but I'm looking into led lights due to less heat and power consumption. They're pretty cheap on amazon right now and the reviews are good. Sent from my VS985 4G using Grasscity Forum mobile app
It's all what you can use. Cfls are cheapest and put out less amount of heat, but also they put out the least amount of light Hid require a good ventilation system as they get very hot, also along with that are not good for small spaces but the light output is very high Led you get the best of both worlds. They are very bright and put out less heat but depending on how much you need led can get expensive
So if I rigged up a 3 way socket above each plant and ran the CFL s I currently am using that's 1620x3=4860 Lumen's per plant. I'll have reflecting material around and good fan supply. Does that sound sufficient for 1st indoor grow. Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Just don't let them get very tall cause CFL lights have no power over any real distance. Train those bitches down
Look into lst or scrog training Useable light for the plant from a Cfl is only maybe 6 inch from the bulb after that it almost useless for the plant .
and the fact the leafs will block the light from the lower growth luckily with CFL's you can add them to the side without all too much issue, assuming you have space.... thats how i did it with CLF's... 2 stronger bulbs on top.... 4 smaller on the sides getting light below the top growth and it still only yielded 14 grams but i flowered it asap.
