How should I hang CFL's in my Grow Tent?

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by Kerbs, Mar 26, 2012.

  1. Hi grasscity. So I have a 2x2x4 grow tent, and I was planning to use a 150 hps and a 6in inline fan but due to my budget at the moment I cant afford that. So ive decided to temporarely use the CFLs I already have from a previous grow. I had a very good grow out of them so im fine with using them again for a bit longer.

    Ive seen many journals and what not, where they have cfls hanging from chords that wrap around the top bars of their grow tent. This is exactly what I want to do, I dont want to make my own DIY fixture, I just want to hang them.

    Since I dont know what this product is or where to find it, il describe it and hope someone can tell me where i can get it.

    I need something that i can screw a cfl into, that has a long chord on it that plugs into my power strip. Is there a single product like this or do i need to do some wiring myself with an actual extension chord in order to do this?

    Im a noob.
     
  2. Sorry I don't have an answer for you I'm interested to know too.
     
  3. A pic would be nice?
    There are 2 main camps with CFL's, one camp says they hang horizontally, the other across the river,... hangs vertically, I'm with the latter, and believe hanging vertically the plats get ALL 360 Degrees of available light otherwise if you hang horizontally you loose 50% light (not shining on the plant) but enclose it to some box with a reflector that kicks back a percentage of that light to the plant, that at best perhaps up to 25% reflected light.....so it them vertically .

    1: Get an extension cord cut of one end
    2: Install lamp fixture/ light batton to the cord
    3: Plug cord to power strip
    4: plug in bulb/s
    5: Hang the cord to the desired position/ place
    6: Turn on



    peace
    "V"
     
  4. I thought of doing that but the thing is I need multiple ones to hang multiple cfls. I was hoping for one single product I could buy for this instead of wiring something together myself.

    Is there any product at all like that or no?

    Or is there any better way of having cfls in a grow tent?
     
  5. Here is a picture of EXACTLY what I need! I knew it exhisted somewhere!

    Anyone know where I can find this?
     

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  6. Kush: most hydro stores sell a package of two ratcheting cords with S hooks on both ends that will clip onto your overhead cross bars and connect to your light fixture for about $7 to $15.

    If you really want to go on the cheap you can buy link chain hook together to adjust from The Home Depot of Lowe's for about 50 cents a foot. Two lengths four feet long will cost you about $4.

    I think the ratcheting cord is better because it's easier to adjust. I hope that helps. Hank
     
  7. #7 Hank Alvarez, Mar 28, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 28, 2012
    Kush: I've been thinking about your dilema. Have you tried Ace Hardware? If they don't have it they can probably get it for you, which unfortunately I can't say about other outlets.

    You should also be able to get a separate cord, a male wall plug and lamp socket from The Home Depot or Lowe's and connect it yourself, maybe with some help if necessary. But for a tent I'd suggest a rack of T-5's.

    Unless you like a lot of cords hanging down and getting in your way, I don't think you can't beat the simplicity and neatness of a T'5 fixture. Just one cord and a lot of light, but make sure you get one big enough to cover your whole grow area. In a tent, or any confined space, you can't beat T-5's. They put out a lot of light and they emit very little heat. And you can hang them on the hooks and cords I described above. I hope that helps. Hank
     
  8. Get a power strip and ziptie it to something reflective and get some wall outlets to buib outlet fixture ( I'm not sure of the exact name.) but that what I did.
     
  9. Go to home depot and buy a basic light holder for around ten bucks,they come with a reflector attached.Its basically a wire that connects to your wall,and leads to a bulb surrounded by a reflector.Depending on the size of your light bulbs connect port or whatever tf its called,you might need to buy an adapter.
     
  10. Hey go to home depot and look for incandescent clamp lights. The bad thing is that they're about 6 bucks each but you can take off the metal reflector so all ur left with is a light socket with a powercord already attached. If you dont want to spend a fortune on these you can buy the 2 socket splitters as well. That's what I did and it works nicely. Just go to homedepot.com and search clamp light to see what I'm talking about. Good luck!
     
  11. Thank u all so much. Huge help. I'm going to go to my local grow shop and look at some options, I already went to home depot but I'll try lowes too.

    And I would love to get T 5's but I'm on a budget right now and that's the only reason I want to use cfls. If I wasn't on the budget I would just have my 150w hps already
     
  12. Wal mart the reflectors on the little clamp lights unscrews or in the small electrical dept in hardware its called a bottle lamp kit
     
  13. #13 Maikmyday, Feb 12, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 12, 2015
    I've used a few things at first I was a bit cheap and picked up PowerPoint light holders and plugged then in to an extension Cord. They're really easy to use and usually have 12inch or what ever size you want necking that's bendable and compact helping position it around the plant and reptile lamps with the cord taken out for about $9 of eBay and are made to handle 400w+ And have and off/on switch about 1.5-2m of cord and are exactly the same as some made for hydroponics
    ~maik~
     
  14. I'm currently using a Y splitter. You can get the single bulb cord from home depot. Around 6.50 a piece. Y splitter let's you screw in 2 bulbs per cord. Also home depot. 2.50ish a piece.
     

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  15. Still using cfl? Look into these photography bulbs @85 Watts on a 4 way socket. Great for veg stage. 1029170955a.jpg 1029170955b.jpg
     

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