Alright well my question is can you use lighting that isnt 400 watts and up? like just get some floruscent lights goin? Also if thats possible how many watts will i need for around 5 plants?
The most Basic Easy Readily available Lighting Option would be CFL, they are available at any lowes, home depot, wal mart, target, ive even found them at dollar stores. They fit in a standard socket, produce low heat. Usually at the stores i mentioned they will be in a variety of 13w,18w,23w,26w and occasionally a 42w. Depending on how many plants you want to grow, its recommended to have at least 100watts for a plant, and 50w for additional plants, though i would consider that the bare minimum. To make a fixture with these lights i would recommend some basic things ill list. 2-3 surge protectors, socket adapters that have a 2 prong plug, Y adapters, zip ties, chains and hooks. and a 2x2 piece of wood, and probably a couple extension cords. All of that probably wont even run you 40$ as a rough estimate, and walmart has 8 packs of 23 watt bulbs for 8 dollars, so if you got 2 of those boxes youd be more than set to grow like 3 healthy plants. Its important to remember though that if your not doing a scrog or hardcore lst then your going to need side lighting. good luck and +rep for starting to grow. edit forgot to add example:
Thanks HerbalRemedies and Knee Deep. Both of you were very helpful and i now have my answer. + rep for both ya
Knee Deep, the 12 CFL's you have in the surge protectors, are those the 23w bulbs? And if so are all the lights in the picture the same?