Is it possible to use 2700k CFL's for the whole lifespan of an autoflower plant? I'm wanting get a cycle of 2 plants going without adding another grow area. Would like to start a 2nd plant when the first is starting to flower. So when I harvest the 1st, the 2nd is flowering, start a new one, and so on. Kind of a revolving cycle of growing and harvesting nonstop.
Would like to try using only 42w 2700k CFL's from sprout to harvest if it would work without killing the yield majorly. I use 6 for flowering now, I would probably almost double that if I were to do 2 at a time.
Right now I'm I've got a grow going, the right way using both spectrums. Just wondering if anyone has tried this and what the outcome was. If it was to only kill the yield by 25% I think it would still be worth doing if I have 2 plants at different stages compared to just 1 plant.
10-12 42w CFL's wouldn't be enough for 2 plants? Especially when 1 is in veg and the other is in flower. Guess I'm still trying to find out if this has been done before. I realize it's better to have 6500k for veg and 2700k for flower, but can I do it with just 2700k for the whole grow or should I have both spectrums the grow?
I havent sorry i used a greenhouse outdoor and an indoor grow tent with an led that is full spectrum. Take away alot of guessing game when it comes to giving them different spectrums i dont know
Good work finding 42w bulbs, there aren't many available usually. My minimum recommendation for a closet grow would be 5x these bulbs over 2 plants, covering roughly 1'x2' area, LST to fill that space with canopy, including pots about 2-2.5 feet high. I've done that grow a couple of times, it's slow but it yields much better than people would assume. 10x bulbs would be plenty for 2 plants grown a bit larger, but by the time you're using 400w on CFLs, you could get a LOT more light (like 10x more lumens) out of a 400w HPS bulb, and it might be a lot less hassle than 10x light fittings. They will still generate nearly as much heat as a HPS especially in an enclosed space. I think most people just grow with one HPS bulb, which is the "red" spectrum. The plants do grow a little differently with "blue" spectrum (6500k CFLs, or HID lamps), they tend to be shorter and bushier during veg and if you use it during flower they might not stretch as much. Typically you get more bang for your buck with "warm" lights though, the same wattage bulb tends to give more lumens than the "blue" ones. It might be "ideal" to grow using two different bulbs, or to use two different ones the whole grow, but it's not a problem if you don't. It's not "ideal" to grow a plant without sunlight, but everyone's already doing that pretty well
Appreciate the reply. Definitely more of what I've been looking for. Haven't had any problems with finding the 42w bulbs, I'm in a decent sized town with a couple big box stores. I'm gonna stick with CFL's considering I have everything I need, minus a few more bulbs. Mainly a money issue at the moment. Wouldn't mind getting a few more grows under my belt before buying bigger purchases. So maybe use half 6500k and half 2700k bulbs the entire grow for the plants?
Check out amazon they have single 125 watt cfl but 4 and call it a day check iut my jounrnal if cpst about20 bucks per light
Kelvin temperature really isn't very important when it comes to CFLs. Given the choice I'd have a few 6400k ones dotted in there, but if you can't get hold of them, or already bought your 2700k bulbs then you will be fine. I've grown exclusively with 2700k bulbs in the past and used 6400k for vegging too, and there was no real difference as far as I could tell If you're using more than 200watts of CFLs you would be so much better off with HPS instead. Watt for watt you get twice the yield and its so much less work with just the one bulb
Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely take everything into consideration when I decide to mix things up.