Alright.. So I been helping out with a church "rummage sale" and came up on some.. "120W Replacement" actually uses 23 watt R40 Reflector style bulbs. The light spectrum is 2700k day time spectrum(flowering) and they output 1300 lumen each. Are they worth even wiring up a fixture for or what? How would the plants act? To only 23 watt electricity actually used or somewhere higher possibly close to their 120w advertised ceiling for replaced incandescent bulbs. I plan on vegging with MH, would the 2700 color spectrum supplement veg at all or would it be wasted electricity?
I don't think it would help much... with CFL's you count the actual wattaGE used, so you'd only be adding 23w... I could be wrong tho
the cfl bulb itself is surrounded by a "reflector" that is supposed to make up the difference...this is visible spectrum to the human eye though i guess... not the plant for photosynthesis? Oh well, with all 4 an extra 100 watts for flowering if nothing else eh
Rule of thumb is 100 watts cfl(actual)for first plant and 50 watts for each plant thereafter. With cfl's you need to keep the light 4-6" above the plant to eliminate some stretching and be able to penetrate into the canopy. If you meet the minimum requirement additional lumens(cfl) will only help as long as you can keep the grow within proper temps.....
This plant is 24 days old. It has been sharing only 156W of CFL with 3 other plants of the same size. 4x 23W is definitely going to add something, but how much, who knows. Don't underestimate CFLs though. Also, I'm currently growing a White Widow under 2700k only from sprout and she is doing just fine.
CFL grow - Stoner Forums here is one URL link to a thread with someone using the same bulbs, but there again like most thead its seems to have been taken quite off topic lol. I believe the style of CFL in the top left corner bottom picture is R40.
Thats what I like to hear I think it should help supplement throughout the life of the plant, Ill certainly keep my eyes out for some cheap 6500 spectrum but most of the cannabis literature I read apart forum opinions tends to indicate 2700k will do something for the entire life cycle of the plant.
You can get a 6 pack of 26W twist CFLs at walmart for $10. They're 2700k, but still. Then they have the light socket adapters (Screw in the bulb and plug it in) for $1 each.