Lighting recommendations for small grow?

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by pemo, May 26, 2012.

  1. #1 pemo, May 26, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: May 26, 2012
    Hey guys and gals.

    I have seven sprouts growing and i know soon enough they'll be veging and needing 18 hours of light a day. At the moment I only have a 10W fluorescent over my sprouts (I think it's only 10W).

    This is only a small home setup, nothing commercial, but i'd like a nice yield :)

    So i need to know, whats the minimum lighting i could have on 5 - 6 plants for a good veg cycle? and whats the minimum lighting i could have on 2 - 3 plants for a good flowering cycle so i can get a decent amount of smokeable bud?

    Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks :)

     

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  2. I would say 2 45w cfl's per plant if you want a mediocre yield, without HID lighting its just hard to get a nice yield.
     
  3. Thanks for the advice :)

    what size yield would i be looking at if i had 2 warm white and 2 cool white 45W CFL's per plant?
     
  4. [quote name='"pemo"']Thanks for the advice :)

    what size yield would i be looking at if i had 2 warm white and 2 cool white 45W CFL's per plant?[/quote]

    What kind of genetics? Pot size? Soil? Growing conditions? All that needs to be taken into account.
     
  5. No idea about the genetics, I can't even tell if it's indica or sativa ): (bag seed)

    yeah they're in soil, in cups at the moment (transplanting when they get bigger)

    and the grow environment is well. . . makeshift xD
     
  6. If you are worried about yield, ditch the cfls and invest in a little air cooled hps light. How big is your space? A 250 watt or 400 watt hps would be perfect for 2 flowering plants depending on your area, and you will get drastically better results than with cfls.
     
  7. You want a six hundred watt hps they go for 150 from hg for a digital ballast a bulb and the reflector and the sleeve or whatever try call the gray part you screw the bulb into. The reason I say a six is because it's not really about the amount of plants well it is but it's more about how well they will develope under it. Your gonna get an oz per plant with cfls and with a six hundred hps those same one oz plants are gonna be five oz per plant AFTER ITS ALL DRIED. Go for the bigger light you will not regret it. Cfls are just not gonna cut it , don't get me wrong they'll grow but not nearly as well or fully
     
  8. You could actually veg them with cfls but I'd advise a four hundred mh or hps either of those will grow thicker plants faster. Honestly I'd say the only way you'd wanna go cfl is if you can't afford a larger light. I have a five by four room and I have two six hundred watt hps lamps it costs me about fifty bucks extra a month to run em twenty four seven. Add the pumps fans and a space heater in the winter and it all adds close to a c note to my bill.
     
  9. What kind of soil? How good are they ventilated?

    You probably will yield between 10-18g's per plant if you use nutrients correctly and have them in a good size container.

    Want my advice? Use this one to learn, try out different techniques such as LST. Just get a good grip on growing, learn to transplant, learn how often plants like water, etc.

    Next grow get expensive lighting and then worry about yield.
     
  10. My first grow under cfl gave me just over an ounce from one plant. I had 8 26w bulbs. Use daylight bulbs for veg and warm white for flower. I highly recommend LST as it opens up the canopy. It makes up for the poor penetration of the cfl lights. And keep the lights close. 2-3 inches is about right.
     

  11. The plants are doing alright. . . but I've bought some warm white 20W CFL's and I want to put them over my plants, but i'm no electrician, and I can't wire up 4 light sockets, are there adapters or something else i can use?

    thanks :)
     
  12. If you look through my thread history you can see my old micro.

    Anyways at Wal-Mart they should have these sockets that you can plug into a normal socket and the other end you can plug a lightbulb in, they're like 99 cents or something.

    Get those and connect them to power strips, and you'll have lighting!

    If you have some money to blow look up LED's, you could grow much better bud and still do it in a small space.
     

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