Ok. I have some flouro lights. I have a big huge I think 48 inch long one that has a 40 watt "cool white" bulb in it. It's the biggest one I got. Then I have another one that is probley about half its size that has not one but two "cool white" bulbs in it. In order for it to work tho only one bulb comes on. it comes on completely tho which is good but whats bad is the other bulb doesn't..it just gets a little juice like its going to turn on if you tap it but it doesn't. I can see that some wires look loose or something but for right now I can't afford to lose the light all together so I'm not gonna try fixing it unless I know I can. Then I have like a 8 or maybe 12 inch light that I don't know what the bulb is called but it is way more "red" then the other ones that say "cool white". I bought it from home depot for 8 bucks. Finally I have a metal table lamp, the kind that have a neck that can bend anyway you want it to...it has a swirly CFL bulb that looks like its sorta towards the "red" spectrum too. My question is......are "cool whites" good for flowering? I always hear that you have to get "daylight" but whats the difference between "daylight" and "cool white"? What type of lights are the ones that I have that look more red than the cool whites? are those daylight? are those better for vegging or for flowering? my guess is the red ones are more ideal for flowering because in the fall the light from the sun looks more red, and also a HPS, which is used for flowering is sort of red in color and is used for flowering, while a mh light is more white in light and used for vegging. thats my guess, but i need to be totally informed about lighting. just let me know anything you can. please don't tell me to do a search because I have and i can't find a specific answer to the differences between cool white, daylight, and whatever the funk my table lamp and home depot flouro light has...they look more red than the cool whites. and i want to know if cool white is good or ideal for flowering?? thanks alot i appreciate it by the way i also have two, 50 watt HPS bulbs. but the junk store i got them from doesn't know what they have. they just have random junk everwhere and i found a box of 50 watt bulbs of HPS's. They have fixtures of all kinds that you most of the time have to wire up, but if they have a fixture that i can use i don't care i will take the time to wire it up ya know. but my concern is not blowing up or burning my house down, so i need to know how to identify a hps ballast or fixture, whatever its called. i'm about to go up there and look at what they have. please someone inform me about how to read labels, and eyeball lights and help me figure out how to find a hps fixture as opposed to just a regular fixture. i've heard you CAN NOT put a HPS bulb in just any fixture. so this is important. THANK YOU SO MUCH
Look cool white got around 4100 K , Day light's gots 6500 K or more So Daylights better for veg, and cool white ...better for veg. to i think...cuz for flowering range is 1200-3500 k... So best is : Flowering: 2700 K[very warm] Vegetive: 6500 K[day light] ---------------------------- List with Kelvin's standarts: 2700 K-Very Warm[flow.] 4100 K-Cool White[flow.-2700k better] 5000 K-Full Spectrum[veg.6500k better] 6500 K-Day Light[veg.]
Warm White=> 2700K =>reddest best for flowering Cool White=> ~4100K => full spectrum Least useful Daylight=> ~6000K =>Bluest best for vegging check out Kamel's CFL guide in the stickies at the top of this page
Ok I just got back from the junk store... They had a tube that said 'warm white"...i should have got it. Because that is the best for flowering right? I believe so...right now I have "cool white" so I should go back tomorrow and get that bulb I think. But here's something else that I found that I ALMOST got but was not sure about... They had a box full of these lights inside of a heavy fixture that said "150 lumamax" I think it was it said. I could be wrong on the lumamax name but it was luma-something. the back of it had a label that said...120 volts i think and it did say it was a HID fixture. it didn't say if it was MH or HPS tho. I was trying so hard to figure out what it was I had in my hands. Alot of them had bulbs that looked like they were almost black. I don't know if the bulbs glass was purposely that shade or if alot of them were burnt out. The one I had was a clear bulb. it had three wires sticking out so I'm guessing I could wire it to a extension cord and use it. I was just so worried that the light wouldn't work, or even worse what if its a fire hazard. I was like I could probley buy this and if I'm lucky its a 150 HPS light! I would be STOKED. so happy if so. I would just have to wire it. My question is....what kind of light do you think this is? Is it worth picking up? Do you think it could be a fire hazard in any way? they look like lights that came from a office building that fit in the ceiling. The back said it was HID light but then it had the word HALO on it so i hope that didn't mean halogen light??? you can't use a halogen light for growing i think right? but maybe that word HALO was just a brand name or meant something else?? the bulb looked just like the 50 watt HPS i found in a box nearby but like a centimeter in length bigger...i'm talking very small different but there was a difference in size compaired to a 50 watt. but the bulbs looked very much the same. so thats why i was like this must be a HPS light and it is probley 150 watt since it was that on the top just didnt say what type of bulb... someone help me out. I can go back to this place in the mourning so if you can reply to this fast enough i can hopefully figure this all out! thanks alot
Oh yea SORRY if i'm asking questions that have already been answered or asking too much but someone please... what is the difference between COOL WHITE, WARM WHITE, AND SOFT WHITE? i forgot to ask about SOFT WHITE! i know cool white is midrange full spectrum (4700k)..which is decent but not ideal for flowering. WARM WHITE is ideal for flowering from what i've learned from this site(2700K)...but what is soft white(?)?? once again sorry if i ask too much it's just when your at home depot you can easily look at the pacakge and get all the info you need...but when looking thru your garage, basement, or some random junk store you have to go on your own knowledge so I'm asking you guys to help me out so I know from now on!
I think i figured it out on my own..."soft", "warm", and "bright" white are all in the 2700-3500K range which is great for flowering... the "cool white" is in the 4000k range and is decent but not optimal for flowering. "Daylight" is in the 6000k range and is optimal for vegetative growth. I believe all that info is right..correct me if I'm wrong anyone Now that I got the florescent lights question out of the way(thank god it all makes sense now) I just need someone to help me figure out the HPS light at the junk store question so I can hopefully come back with a 150 watt HPS! please help me out if anyone has any info I appreciate your help!
Okay, you have to understand what the light manufacurers are trying to sell. All fluorescents are peaky. They all have peaks in various spectra. Cool white is the cheapest because they are the cheapest to produce. Mostly in the blue area. Medium (or natural) fluorescents are peaky all over the place. They add a fluoresence in the green area (our natural response area). That makes them look more 'natural', but doesn't do anything for plant growth. The warm whites choose a different phospher to embellish the red end of the spectrum. Unless you have a spectral response curve from the manufacturer, you don't have a clue what kind of response curve they have. And if you were manufacturing lights, you would cut your own throat if you published the response curve. Other manufacterors would jump your ass if you tried to 'show your colors'. So be it. [edit: manufacterors? sry, i meant people who build things occasionally.]
To make it clear and easy: cool white or soft white are used for flowering. Bright white or daylight are used for veg. The spectrum of warm white may be in between the two but can be used for flowering also.