hey all I was wondering if i have a box that is 2x2x5 feet high...how many four foot fluros should i run in there?? would 2 be enough on the sides and maybe a 1-2 foot one across the top?? And should i just use cool white tubes or a special plant growing one?? I know it aint as good as HPS but i got a 400watt HPS but box that small needs heaps on ventilation and light escapes and my dad is gettiing back from overseas so need to use fluros to stop light leaks and shit so yeah any help on fluro lighting ould be much appreciated Thanks
Here is the deal spelled out for you bro. You can use floros and get a great grow but... if you do the same thing with a HPS it would be better. with that being said lets take a look at your situation. You can use 4 florex lamps (available at lowes, Homedepot, menards) whatever hardware store you have (around 35 bucks each I would suggest 1 per plant minimum). they are 65 watts rated to equivilant of 500 watts of incendecent.(kind of expensive) they would work for a 2x2 growspace. and could grow 4 plants but dont expect too much yeild from each of them. a single HPS lamp (even rated at 250 watts) would be more effective for a 4 plants. the florex lamps would cost about 140 dollars kind of spendy but hey with the space its kind of nice having really tight consentrated light. Edit: this would give you 260 watts of floro light. If you had 4 feet you could use shoplights that are cheap (like 10 bux each) and use 2 sets of them to give you a total of 160 watts. for a cost of about 30 dollars total It depends on alot of factors on which light meathod you use. To tell you the truth HPS is the best option for the money its allittle more to buy but hella cheap to operate (in comparison) there is many different options availble to you as a home grower. you have to choose which route to go
right now i have 3 plants growing in a 2x4x4 space ... with only about 180 watts of fluro ... they are doing very good so far ... a month into veg ... if i were u ... i would buy a few CF .. and dangle them from the top... and maybe put a shop light sideways along side your plants... but i also heard that it is good to concentrate light above the plant.. its makes em bushier .... i also heard its good to have a 50/50 combo of cool white and special growers lamps ... the cool white are better for veggin since they have more of the blue spectrum ... and the growers lamps are better for flowring since they have more of the red spectrum ... u could also just a 75/25 cool white for vegging... then change to 75/25 growers for flowering since they dont cost much anyways...
hey that soundz like a good idea....so do you think that that the two 4foott shop lights will be enough? one other question sorry what do u mean by CF lights?? Thanks for any help Later
While doing my normal window shoppw\ing at our local Monster Hardware store I came across aquarium lighting that is super suitable for growing. They state they are heavy in the red and blue spectrums. I have used their normal grow tubes for veggy stage but these look like they can handle flower if I get enough of them. I am planning on 8 tubes and will see what i get. They do tend to run cool which is a plus. I took this from www.sylvania.com Product Number: 24671 Order Abbreviation: F40/GRO/AQ/WS/RP General Description: 40W, T12 rapid start fluorescent lamp, GRO-LUX Wide spectrum phosphor for plant growth, aquarium and meat case applications, 3400K color temperature, 89 CRI, retail pack Product Information Abbrev. With Packaging Info. F40GROAQWSRP 6/CS 1/SKU Actual Length (in) 47.78 Actual Length (mm) 1213.6 Average Rated Life (hr) 20000 Base Medium Bipin Bulb T12 Color Rendering Index (CRI) 89 Color Temperature/CCT (K) 3400 Diameter (in) 1.59 Diameter (mm) 40.4 Industry Standards ANSI C78.1 - 1991 Initial Lumens at 25C 1700 Nominal Length (in) 48 Nominal Wattage (W) 40.00
Hey Smokedogg CF = compact floro 2 shoplights will work but as far as yeild goes you might be disappointed. If you do use the shoplights keep um close to your girlies because they dont penetrate the canopy and in to the plant.
Has anyone tryied circlelines. They are the round florecents and can be gotten at 16-20 round. I woonder how they would work out if you saturated flors all around and IN the bush. Although I must say: HPS did explode my plants. I took them from 160 Watts of grolux into 600 watts of HPS and they are leaping at the rate of 6" and better a "DAY" I have several HPS so I get coverage all over the plant - above below sides and interior. One thing I noticed and am happy about is I recently had a plant confirmed MALE (sniffle) but the experience was interesting to fatc that this GUY did grow alot quicker then the others and it gave me the impression that when they grow slower at first they have a better chacne of being a girly, not to say the lighting had anything to do with it. Just the learning curve. Now I got one of the same strain that appears to be growing a little shorter and kicked into gear only after I put to flower. From 12" to 20" in 2 days. WOW