Went to home d today and could not find grow lites in the place wasnt about to ask anyone what to buy what bulbs are the best to get for entire grow ? from seed to harvest ?
If Home depot is your only source you will have to do cfl's or T5's. I know that they just started carrying 2' T5 strip lights. Cool for veg, warm for flower. I don't know much about cfl's, but that is probably your best bet. If you want the best get an HID setup. You will not find one at HD though. I am sure someone will chime in with more info on the cfl's for you.
I am veggin with cfl's right now Im useing 23 energy energy used in watts kinda new to these cfl's the package says they are putting out 1600 light output in lumens not sure if thats good or not but they are growing well under them. I got a few that are going into flowering and these just arent enough.
I once went to home depot to buy some outlets, well while browsing this young guy asks the home depot employee if they had "4 foot T5 high out put bulbs in a spectrum best for plants." Ii laughed inside, the employee said he was not sure and made a call to ask a manager. They guy was looking real nervous, I wanted to tell him there is a grow show less than a mile away, I said nothing. The guy said the web site said they carried them and the employee eventual said they didn't have them in the store. He then left. I never ask employees for help, most time they just end up looking up and down isles just like I would.
Todd I didnt ask anyone either you know how that stuff is. I came here to ask cause I didnt want them in my business. Do they carry the lights I need ? If so what kind of lights would I need ? And does home d carry the right ones normally ?
I know that they have all the cfl's you need, but like I said I don't know shit about cfl lighting. Check out the lighting section of Grass City, and you should get the info you are looking for there. I know you want like 2300K, or 6500K, but I don't know which is for flower, and which is for veg.
Spunkymonkey, I get a lot of my supplies from Home Depot and Lowe's. They carry everything you need. This is what i get, maybe it will help you out. For veg, clones and mothers i use the following. Mother cabinet- 4, 4 foot t12 florescent lights. These can be found in the light section and cost about $ 15.00 to $20.00 for each set up. Each set up holds 2 bulbs. These are just your normal shop lights like you would find in a garage hanging over a bench or something. They are all ready to plug in so no wiring. just have to buy the bulbs. The bulbs you will need are t12 bulbs unless you buy a system that uses t8 bulbs. I use bulbs labeled Daylight or cool white, They produce enough light to sustain good growth for a max of 4 to 6 full grown mother plants. Just ask someone who works there where they keep the plug in shop lights for a garage and no one will every know what you want them for. For clones I use the same thing except they are 18 inch lights. For vegging 8 plants I double the amount of light fixtures. For a total of 4 light set ups and 8 4 foot bulbs. For flowering I use a 600 watt HPS system,( you cant beat one of these if you can afford it) but you can use CFL's as well. you will have issues with heat because it will take a lot of bulbs to flower a good amount per plant. You want Daylight or cool white bulbs to veg, clone or maintain mother plants. You want warm white bulbs to flower. For flowering, if using CFL's i suggest a mixture of warm white and cool white bulbs. Because you want both red and blue spectrum's of lighting. For every 2 warm white use 1 cool white. All boxes are labeled. If you have a question just ask me and i will even look it up on line for you. I don't mind. I love helping new growers. I think everyone should grow. 6500k would be a cool white bulb. Daylight bulbs are a bit brighter. These are the kind that you would see in a kitchen or hospital. I'm referring to the 4 foot floro tubes. The 2300 or 2500k bulbs are the warm white. these are found in bathrooms and such in homes. They give off a light with a slightly red tent.. Like i said, i will be glad to pass on my experience and help you build a system that i know works, form personal experience. I use them. and harvest about 1/2 a pound to 1 pound every 90 days.
^ good info. I run hid lighting so that's why I say I don't know much about cfl's. Thanks though. This should be useful to Spunkymonkey though.
Wifey is insisting I remove my CFL veg setup, they are quite hazardous. I have to agree with her after doing some research. I think the banning of incandesent is a plot to poison us with increased EMF's and Mercury, to ultimatley find its way into our ground water (lets face it, many wont be recyled and end up in landfill). Didnt help that one blew up in our faces I dunno I think the extra energy used is a lesser evil, then these deathdevices.
I was at home depot yesterday and I saw with my own eyes a T5 light. It has two 2 foot T5 bulbs. I don't know wattage but you can get T5 setup. I forgot to check price sorry. You can also get a good selection of CFL bulbs that are good for growing plants.