Alright, so i have about 9 seedlings right now that i just put under 24/7 floros, and they have been under them for roughly three full days. They're comming along nicely, however, i'm wondering when the right time will be to add some CFLs into the equation. I'm thinking about buying 5 100W (23W) CFLs, along with light stands to clip the lights onto the side of my grow box. My only concern is, will this be enough light? I'm going to wait until the plants start to mature, but i do plan to put them outside, well, all except one or two. Please give me some input if you can
what would be cheeper? a MH, or a HPS fixture? And what amount of watts would i need for each to be efficient?
I would go with the HPS. Fuck CFL's unless you can't afford an HPS at the moment (like me... ) MH for veg but you have floros, the blue light from them works for veg. HPS for flowering.. (red specturm) You'll get sexier buds. not sure about wattage or price though I'm sure someone else will post
The most efficient is a 600, but you don't need one that big, or maybe you do. It all depends on your grow specs. If you're buying 1 ballast, get a dual ballast that works with both hps or mh. If you have to pick just 1, get the hps. It can be used for veg and flowering, but mh is only for veg and supplemental lighting during flowering a 250 will do 12 1 gallon bags veg'ed for 30 days. Some don't do as well on the outsides, but its still better than cfl's
Well, i don't have a lot of money, and you see, the way i built my grow box, if i put a HPS light into my floro fixture, it wouldn't help my situation at all cause my plants would be hitting the top of the fixture when they are only a foot tall. Which is why i need to either invest in light fixture (like CFLs that hook onto the side of the grow box (its an open grow box.)) Or, get a MH fixture and put it close to the plants just on the ground. I don't know what to use for veg and what to use for flowering, (i'm still researching a lot.) but i think i have a general idea of what i'm doing.
Red spectrum for flowering HPS or 3000k t5 blue for veg MH or 7000k t5 if you don't have space you probably have to go with t5's or whatever will fit. You can also look into getting the tiny hps bulbs used for aquariums. I've seen 2 inside a computer case or a mini fridge on this forum.
Personally, I think CFL are fine. not as good as the big boys but still fine. The thing is, numbers. IF you are growing two or three plants then you can use CFL effectively. You get lower heat and they are cheap. You need 4x 26watt CFLs per plant. So if you are gonna turn 9 seedlings into 9 harvestable plants then you are gonna need 36 Lights. 36 lights at 26 watt is 936 watts or 823 watts since your using 23 watt lights instead of 26. That gets expensive and starts to get warm. you would be much better off in every way to just get some HPS lights.
Only one or two of my plants will be inside, as for the rest of them they're going outside. And either way, i wouldn't go out and buy 36 lights, which would mean 36 fixtues, which would get expencive fast.
well man u need CFL´s 2400k or 2700k k=color temperature u need to find cfls with warm light its easier than light day i think GOod Flowering to your grow|
CFLs come in 2400 and 2700k? I thought that was only for higher temerature bulbs.. i didn't think CFLs could be bought in that temerature.
of course ! have a look on this site Discount CFL Compact Fluorescent Grow Lights for Plants from ACF Greenhouses
I don't know if that's really cost effective though. 3 fixtures and you could have a 250w hps. CFL's will work, don't get me wrong. You can probably get some good results, but my 6 24" phillips t5 system was a good 10-15% less potent than my 250 hps, which in a cool tube, ran 3 degrees cooler in the box. I spent less money and got better results on a dual bulb lumatek balast, and a home built cool tube, than I did on my t5 kit. Thats not factoring the t5 bulbs. The hyrdo shop gave me a set of each color for free. additionally the t5 grow was staggered and I did a much better job of growing them. It was still weaker.
The thing with that is, i want to buy the tubed lights, like a t8 or t12 system, but the way my grow box was put together i can only hang my ballast probably a foot and a half or so above my plants, which will eventually become to tall for that to have much of an effect. Thats why my second choice was to either buy a ground fixture, like for a MH, or use hanging fixtures (which i already have one) for CFL lights.
if it can't be avoided then it is a very reasonable solution, but its better to tailor 1 grow to your lights, than sacrifice better lighting for all your grows IMO if you cans still low stress train it would be better. My box the hight of a kitchen counter. I ripped out the floor to gain 4 inches, and with a SOG or SCROGG an hps cool tube still works, but my stains max out at 48" and I only veg for 30 days. My light can't get any higher. It's 2 inches from the lid, but the plants won't get much higher. I'll be pushing 10" clearance to the bottom of the cool tube at week 11 (aka harvest) It should only burn the very tips. That's if i'm lazy and don't tie them down. You can do a lot with just 4 feet. Fix the light, adjust the plants. That's my current method. I had a taller box with lots of light travel and i'm going to yield more this way. You can always go with 35 or 50 watt hps kits if your handy enough to make your own cool tubes for them. dryer duct aluminum tape and a 1/8 inch glass worked for me. (all from lowes) High Pressure Sodium Ballast Kits All i'm saying is that if your work with your setup, you can usually make an hps work and it is always better. (unless its to hot, which again, can be overcome) cfl's will work though, and work pretty well.
Ok, so i considered what you said and thought overall it would be best to try and do it. I have a double either t8 or t12 system, (i can't tell but i know its not a t5.) I have two F40s in it right now, but i know that my plants won't sustain life on that for very long..the highest its hung is 20 inches above the base. Since i'll only be keeping like one or two plants inside, i'll just add on a couple CFLs later in season for flowering. When i buy either MH or HPS, what would i want to look for? more towards the 50s or 100Ws?
if you are in a confined space, you need to come up with a design first. How you want the lights to hang, where you vents will be etc. You need to figure out how to cool them properly. Computer fans, tornado lamp glass, and dryer duct would probably do well. t8's and t12' do not carry light at distance. It's the entire reason the T5 was developed. A bulb that can push lumens at a distance without being HID. I believe the lightbulb style cfl's do ok, but people buy t5's because they are better than those. Whatever direction you go, buy nice bulbs if you can afford to.
I've already thought about my space and its capabilitys so i think i should be ok. I also got a fairly large fan that i can put anywhere and it will keep my plants cool. Thanks for the input, and i'll keep an eye out for t5s when i'm out buying. One question though, whats HID? Thanks.
high intensity discharge aka High pressure sodium, metal halide, and others not applicable to what we do.
CFL's work just fine if you have a limited budget and heat constraints. I am using 1 125w 6500k Sunleaves Vitalume grow light for veg. I got the light and the reflector for about $85 at a local store but they are available online. Ive been vegging just 2 plants under this light and they are doing amazing! They also sell the 2700k spectrum for flowering...also these lights are internally ballasted so thats one less thing to get