Lighting for vegatative and flowering stages

2700K. 12/12 lighting.

 

I wouldn't flower with anything other than HPS... If you don't have the money for a proper grow it usually isn't worth the time.

 

teqnik is being a snob.  Plenty of very good grows are done under fluorescent lighting.  Obviously they would have been better under an HPS or LED, but to say that anything less than HPS is not worth doing is.... very anti... snobbery.  I say better to be growing than not growing.... and improvements to your equipment can come gradually.
 
Here's a link to Kamel's CFL guide, should tell you all you need to know about setting up a quality CFL grow: http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/122824-kamels-cfl-guide.html
 
Here's a link to the grow journal of a pretty inspiring old head named PsychedelicSam.  He's on his third generation with just CFLs and halogen bulbs.  He flies in the face of what people say works and what doesn't, and he keeps things super-budget, and still gets good results.  http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1166306-but-what-do-i-know.html/page-36
 
If you do want to get HPS, it will depend on the size of your grow room, but expect to spend at least $100.  And it will require ventilation.

 

I would get at least a 150 watt hps, which is about 70 bucks for a combination ballast/bulb/reflector. It would be ideal if you could get a 400 watt combination set up for about 160. The reason the 400 watt set up is so cool is because most of them will run either mh or hps.
 
Gandalf_the_Green... I understand that it is possible to grow plants inside with other type of bulbs than mh and hps, however time and time again mh and hps have proved to be the best light source indoors. When you're growing you have to consider time and cost. Is it worth spending 3 months to get hopefully a half an ounce of cured cannabis using cfl bulbs? I don't believe so. If I spend 3+ months growing a plant I want to make sure it's worth my time and money. That is why the ideal grow set up will produce .5 - 1+ gram per watt. I feel like if your not getting .5 gram per watt it's kind of a waste of time and money. Could have just went and purchased some cannabis...

 

CFL, T5, LED... All awesome for starting seeds and keeping the seedling growing for 2-3 weeks max. After that it's time to pull out higher lumen light sources.

 

 
What do you mean by spending 3 months? It's not like I have to be unemployed, or constantly at the plants' beck and call.  They only need intermittent attention.  Even if on the nugget produced you break even monetarily when all costs are considered (which is pretty rare), you get to make tinctures and edibles out of the trim, you get the experience under your belt for future grows when you might have better equipment, you get the satisfaction of caring for and succeeding and raising living things, you get the fun of an awesome hobby.  And let's not forget, you get bud that you know hasn't been coated with pesticides, stricken by mold, harvested way too soon, improperly cured, or (and probably most importantly) washed with butane or some other solvent to remove THC and make the commercial grower some hash before selling it.
 
You can hate on CFL and T5 for flower... they are admittedly less powerful (though workable).  But LED can be just as powerful and in some ways superior to HPS for flower.  This dude, jrsaw, will show you the light: http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-medical-marijuana-growing/1229301-complete-led-setup.html    I use HPS, but after reading his posts, I was a bit envious of LED.  You can definitely produce insane quality bud under LED.

 

I dig what you're saying but why do it if it's not worth it? Experience is good, but that is different experience. It's a great hobby, but is it a healthy hobby if you put in more than you get out? I definitely agree with the "pesticides, stricken by mold, harvested way too soon, improperly cured, or (and probably most importantly) washed with butane or some other solvent to remove THC and make the commercial grower some hash before selling it." part.

LED = Too expensive. The equivalent of a 1000 watt hps set using led is $1,500+

Grow however you want. Ask a real grower like Ed Rosenthal. I bet he will tell you some things you won't want to hear, and you might get hurt and disagree... But when you get 2-4+ pounds per light with some cheap ass grass city forum advice on how to grow with cheap equipment than hit me up.

 

 
But what I get out of it can't be quantified that way.  What I get out is satisfaction and fun.  If you just look at it mathematically, you're not getting the whole picture.  I have plenty of hobbies that I put more money into than I get out (often I get no money out of my hobbies).  But I get non-monetary benefits.
 
Now, I did make the choice to invest in HPS, but that's because I had the capital.  If someone doesn't have $150 spare bucks, but they do have $30.... they can buy a decent CFL setup.  And many people don't pay for their electricity use, or can better afford the extra $10/month, than they can $150 all up front at once.  And definitely, they won't get pounds.  But they'll get something, it will be fun, and they will learn something (even if that something is that they want to buy HPS and invest more in this hobby).
 
LED doesn't have to be too expensive.  That thread I posted above about LEDs, he sold his three 1000w HPS Phantoms and was able to buy five LED Mars II 700s with the money.  And he's very happy he did it.  He admits the top name brand (he said BlackDog) costs 3x more, but he claims the Mars II from lgledsolutions is just as quality, for 1/3 the price.
 
Nothing that Ed Rosenthal or you can say will hurt me, because I simply don't take this forum that seriously lol.  It's not like I invented LEDs or CFLs, so I don't take criticism of them personally (I don't even use either of them).  And I will certainly never harvest 2+ pounds ever, because I grow for personal use.  But that doesn't make me incapable of doing some good online research and finding highly effective ways to grow cannabis that differ from your preferred method.

 

Well good luck with all that

 

I bought my 150 watt hps for 60 on ebay.
 
You can also find a 400 watt with a switchable ballast for 120.