How well to CFL's work in a large cabinet/dresser drawer space? Im thinking about running 4 along each side of the cabinet space, and hanging 4 above the plants for max light penetration. Does this sound like something that would work? Ive never grown with anything but MH/HPS or outdoors before.
i have 8 cfls in the center part of a dresser with the 3 shelves taken out...working beautifly so far
Thanks, thats probably what Im going to do, and maybe make it so I can move the bottom lights up as the plants grow. Im doing my first grow in years in a tent in my closet, and Im trying to think of ways to be creative when I start pulling clones in a few weeks. Do you guys have any pics of your setups? Im growing a Big Bud seed in a bubble bucket, and I also have a White Widow seed and some BlackJack seeds from Nirvana coming this week. Pics to come..
Nice, that looks good. Im either going to use a pc box and do a bonsai, or use this armoire with drawers that has no use at the moment, and do a couple of bonsais. Pics will come for sure. Im probably going to use a BlackJack seed from Nirvana. I cant wait, that strain looks pretty sweet. They should be here any day now. Also, how do you keep the plant from exploding in size and outgrowing the box? If I use the pc box should I put the clone straight to 12/12?
Dude! That's 12 CFLs. Producing as much heat, costing as much or more, and using as much or more electricity than (2) 150w HPS. That would provide even more initial lumens and light penetration for a more potent, tasty and bigger harvest than all those CFLs in a cabinet, armoire or anything of equivalent size. And many mistakenly just multiply initial CFL lumen output by the number of bulbs and conclude they're all providing some total equivalent lumen output to that of a HPS's initial lumen output. Each of those CFLs is still only producing, say, 2500 lumens. This cannot somehow become 20,000 lumens because 8 CFLs are clustered together. The space may appear brighter with more bulbs, but a light meter placed right near the bulbs tells a different story. There's more distribution of avail lumens, but not really more lumens in terms of a direct multiplier factor. This is why even a mass cluster of CFLs doesn't provide the penetration a HID does.
I thought about that too, and I just want to do a grow with cfl lighting. Although, I have found some good deals on 150w mh/hps lights. I found some 300w 6500k CFL bulbs on amazon, but they arent cheap, around $80 each. Im thinking about running 2 red and 2 blue spectrum on the sides, and the 150w on top. Ive been looking into it, and 12 cfl's still wont be pulling as much wattage or generating as much heat as 2 150w mh/hps lights. These are the bulbs im talking about, in all the grow journals ive looked through, nobody has been using these particular lights. Feliz 300 Watt Dual Spectrum Compact Fluorescent Bulb In fact, these bulbs will make it cheaper for me because they are full spectrum. The ones I originally found were 6500k blue and 2700k red, so this saves on having to buy separate bulbs.
Idk. To get at least decent lumen output you'd have to use at least 23 or 26 watt CFLs. X 12 that's either 276 or 312 watts total. While 42 or 55 watt CFL bulbs would perform better in the lumen dept. And I always use the 150w HPS security style lights from McClendons, stripping out the guts and mounting the bulb alone to an adj simple homemade hood with the ballasts mounted behind and outside the cabinet. Thus total heat from my configuration would be considerably less than that produced from 12 26w CFL bulbs. Ultimately even those exotic 300w CFLs won't produce nearly the lumens per watt a HID can. Sorry, I just can't understand why you are leaning toward CFLs when they simply cannot match the results from HPS lamps. Edit: That Feliz link doesn't even list the bulb's lumen output. And the price is not $80, but $87.19, or more like around $90. With tax and shipping that's pretty steep per bulb. While the 150 HPS at our local McClendons is a few dollars cheaper.
Thats true, I think I just want to do a micro grow that way. I do keep thinking I should use a 150w mh/hps too though. CFLs just seem easy because they are low energy and heat, and you can position them right up on the plants. Idk, maybe I should just concentrate on my closet grow for now, and my upcoming outdoor bonsai grow too. Ive got a Big Bud under a 400w mh/hps in a 39 x 39 tent in my closet, and shes only about two weeks old. I also have some bagseeds from a long time ago germinating right now. Five in a wet paper towel, and five soaking in water. Those are going in a undercover veggie garden in my yard. You've pretty much talked me out of using CFLs if I do decide to do a micro grow in my armoire. What about a 2ft 8 bulb T5 HO? Would that work in a 3 plant bonsai grow in my armoire?
A few years ago I converted a relatively small (40"W X 26"D X 64"H) armoire into a bloom cab. I used the twin 150's as described above and it performed well. Two 4" 12v PC fans in the upper corners mounted on the back and 3 1" passive air inlet holes in the back along the botton ventilated the unit effectively. I split the bloom for a perpetual monthly harvest of 6 SOG Hindu Kush plants in each half of the armoire with a tight 7" spacing. With the bushy pheno mother I had, I was getting about 5 zips a month off 6 plants in rotation. My point here is there is no way I could have seen those yields with CFLs, that simply don't provide the range of sustained lumen penetration for gnarly bud development down the colas. Mounted vertically in that small a space and flat white interior the whole area functions like an enclosed hood, and the vert bulbs can be brought down closer to the tops than with a horizontal mount without burning the buds. Don't get me wrong, I'm hardly anti-CFL. I love them for vegging and have used 13 watter's for cloning with good results. And have to admit they do create exceptional bud for flour lights. The T5s are similar. But what I've read on the forums is the 2 footers are not as effective as the 4 foot T5s. And again, though they work well for veg they don't throw enough lumens far enough beyond their footprint or deeper into the canopy beyond 5-6 inches. Edit: Everyone asks about how I dealt with odor without carbon filters. I used 2 Big Blue Air Ball ozone generators (I still employ) that can be easily hidden due to only being the size of a softball, though they don't look very suspicious anyway. Using a simple corona discharge like off an arc welder and running on only 12v as well, they're effective and long lasting for small grows. But they're a little pricey at about $150 ea.
Im giving up on the armoire grow for now. I decided to grow some bagseeds I had from some really good schwag a few years ago. My plant is to grow 1 or 2 plants hidden amongst sunflowers, corn, tomatoes, peas, and green beans. Depending on how good the buds are when it matures, Im more than likely gonna use it all for hash. Either way, between that, and the dro Im growing in my closet, its gonna be a good fall.
Being a perpetual grow fan, I'd turn the armoire into a micro mother, clone and veg unit with CFLs. Thus feeding your 400w HPS closet monthly or so with a few plants as you cycle out each harvest. I've found the monthly cycle balances out well for small or slightly larger perpetual grows. 9 or 10 wk strains are dealt with by moving in the plants from veg a week or two before the month (lunar cycle) is up. They have already had about 2 weeks extra veg time in the clone stage for a month, so the plants still are a decent size and well established before moving into the bloom closet that just stays on 12/12. Even just 2 or 3 good sized plants off every month can easily yield 1/4 lb+ every month. More than enough to keep you and a few friend's stash jar full constantly. You threw me with the schwag comment. "Schwag" is not usually used to describe even remotely good bud. Good luck and happy growing!
Yea, thats my eventual plan. Use the closet part for veg stage plants, and convert the drawers into a space for my clones. That schwag was really good, even if it was schwag. We used to get really good fresh schwag here in texas, but not anymore. Now its filthy ditch weed thats brown, and smells like dirty hay. The seeds I planted came from bud that was danky and nuggy, so maybe it was some good shit grown poorly, cuz it gave a buzz that was just as good as any frosty stanky dank will.
Now I know what you mean by schwag. Way back in 1997 when seed banks were mostly unheard of yet I picked up a half O of some over dried brown nasty tastin' and unimpressive looking bud that also happened to be some pretty damn potent smoke once you got past the harsh and crude taste. I found about 8 seeds deep inside the buds and kept 'em on the off chance they might produce better results indoors under a well tended HPS grow. One of the plants turned out to be an outstanding pheno that to this day I haven't come across anything quite as blast off potent, long lasting and tasty as that plant was. I appropriately named her Atomic Chronic and placed a little lightning bolt hologram sticker on the Seal-A-Meal bags I'd sell. Don't knock the bagseed. It can be every bit as good as what you pay top dollar for thru a breeder/seed bank. Edit: Don't know why the Seal-A-Meal vacuum bags are no longer popular since the mid '80's. They give the package a classy, professional look, make any odor potential in transit or transaction non existent, and the final destination customer feel secure knowing zero sticky fingers have been snagging nugs from their sack in transit.
Yea dude, thats why I kept them. This wasnt normal ditch weed, this stuff was good. The supposed story was that my suppliers supplier got it from a crooked cop that took some from a raid. Idk how true that is, but who cares, it was great bud, and had some beautiful seeds ready to be planted. Two years later, Im hoping I can bring it back. Im going to use all the same nutes I use on my dro grow, except the dro only nutes, and use Fox Farms Ocean Forest & Happy Frog soil. Some of the best herb Ive smoked has been homegrown bagseed weed. Im more excited about this than my hydro grow that takes up way to much of my time.
Hooray for Cuzin Red! One of the few here I've found with a kind word to say about bagseed. "Way back in 1997, Lol!) Sir, I see your 1997 and I raise you a 1977!
Theres nothing wrong with bagseed schwag if its grown properly. Ive smoked indoor hydro grown dank that smelled stinky and looked pretty, and wasnt worth a damn to smoke. Ive also smoked brown ditch weed thats had me stoned out of my melon. Im growing a super skunk plant in a tent, and some schwag plants growing in FFOF in pots in my garden. Im actually more excited about my garden plants than the skunk plant in my closet.