I'm growing 4 plants out of a stealth dwc setup. I'll be using cfl's so I was wondering how many I should use total to provide a sufficient light source. I would also like to maximize yield. Any other suggestions are welcome.
Hey man, and congrats on your first grow op! Im about a week and a half ahead of you, so I can tell you what others have told me. Ok, to answer your cfl question. There is no exact answer here. The more cfl's you have on each plant, the better, and the larger yield. Also, pot size has alot to do with yield as well. Your roots need plenty of room, so if you germinate in a solo cup, be sure to transplant when your roots need more room! Anyways, I have 2 65 watt cfl's on each of my plants, as well as 3 24 watt cfl's per plant, and a 400 watt HPS. If your going all cfl lights, i would recommend these. They are the largest wattage cfl I could find, and they are about 20 bucks a peice. Make sure that they are the daylight bulbs. 6500k spec. not the 2700k. Use 2700 for flowering. Just start buying as many cfl's as you can bro, because the more light your plant has, the better its gonna do. For the first 2 weeks, you could prob suffice with 1 65 watt per plant, or u could always pick up a 40 dollar 4 ft flouresant with 4 bulbs (2 warm, 2 cool). Flouresants and cfl's go well together when talking about a baby plant. Also, keeping a good temp (between 75-80 degree's) also plays a key factor in yield size. Focus as much attention as you can on proper lighting, room temp/humidity, light cycle, and water. If you do, the plant will grow itself. I read a quote somewhere that made a lot of sense. It said, "Cannabis crops want to grow, its your job to get out of its way and let it". Or something to that effect. Anyways, I hope this helped man, make sure you read the stickies. There is hours and hours of amazing reading to be done on there!
Yah thanks man, I actually have been looking at an hps lamp to put in there as well as the cfl's. I'm trying to yield a pretty decent amount. Can the hps be used throughout the life cycle or just for vegetative? I've found some pretty cheap hps setups on the internet. Thanks for the help man, good luck with the grow.
Hey man, yeah hps can be used for the entire life cycle. There are many discussions on the forums about how well it works, but from my experiences so far, i find a mix of hps and cfl's work best. My golden rule for myself is the more light my plant gets, the bigger my harvest will be. So im always finding cfl's and whatnot to throw somewhere around my mother. Just make sure when purchasing lights, because i screwed this up myself, that you get 6500k spectum cfl's for vegging, and 2700k for flowering. Also, HTG garden supply offers a 400 watt hps system for 138 dollars shipped to your door. (119.00 plus shipping). I got one, and im so glad i did. My HPS with cfl's really seems to be finally doing the trick for my SuperLemonHaze grow. Everyone wants to grow as much bud, for as cheap as they can find. I recommend investing in getting your lights set up the best way you can, and make sure that you have proper temps, and good airflow. Hope this helps man. I woulda fallen flat on my face if it wasnt for the awesome help and support of this community. The people on here really know there stuff.
I found a Mh/hps compatible setup for pretty cheap on ebay. I'm also looking into a multi-parameter water tester. I agree with you man, most people are very knowledgible on this site. How much of a yeild do you think would come out of this with a four plant setup in a standard closet? Appreciate the help.
Man thats a hard question to answer. Its one I have asked many of times. I can tell you this much tho. With the proper lighting, lighting cycles, temp, humidity, and watering, you can yield some amazing weights per plant. I would say if you do everything right, you can maybe expect 1/4 lb to 1/2 a lb per plant. so 4 plants would be around 1-2 lbs. it also depends on nutes, strain of cannabis, vegging length, flowering length, ect ect. I would definatly recommend picking up some humbolt county "Big UP" nutes. I had these recommended to me, and they are easy to use, and very effective!