I am a first time grower and was wondering about CFL's. I have read online that by using CFL's you use 60% less energy. What have you guys noticed with these bulbs, I am trying not to get caught by the power company as a house did down the street. Can you use them on a 18/6 schedule. Are there any good CFL threads on this forum? Should I use CFL's or an Aerogarden price is not a probelm on the initial setup?
I have 14 CFL's in my grow room. 2 for each plant. They come in 2 packs at home depot and are like 6 bucks for 2. I would get 2 100 watt equivalentlights for each plant. That means that each plant has a total of around 54 watts which should be OK. The more light the better. Rule of thumb is 100 watts for first plant and 50 for each additional. Also for veg 18/6 should be fine. Buy half Natural light and half cool white and get a socket y splitter. Put one daylight and one cool white over each plant. I was recently in the same stage as you. I have seen my plants flourish in the last 3 days with the above setup. However every strain and grow is different. Plus I'm new to the concept so you might not want to listen to me. . I'm sure there are more experienced people who will help you out soon. Oh and for flowering I would ditch the CFL's.
You could add 100 CFLs to a room, and nobody is gonna get suspicious. Check out Kamel's CFL thread at the beginning of this section. Lots of good info there. CFLs are a great option for smaller areas/boxes.
I have 3 plants....I have 1 100 watt light each on all 3 its been a month and its only 1 foot tall the stim is thick and its getting 18/6 every day now and its a month old is that 2 much light time?
If you want you can go 18/6 or 24/0, either way you want 6500k daylight bulbs during veg and 2700 soft white during flowering. I started out with 2 - 42w over each and added as needed. If you want to save some elec. to ofset change out your regular light for CFLs ( use the cool white otherwise you will feel like your living in a hospital). You can also turn your fridge / freezer down a notch.