First Grow. The Strain is Feminized Big Bud. Planning on Fox Farm Ocean Forest & Supplements. Will use Reverse Osmosis water (Fluoride is fucked). With Mylar. This is a closet Grow with 3 X 130 Watt 6400K CFLs each with an Aluminium Reflector, also 2700K lights for later stages. I just need to know what would be the ideal number of plants I should try to grow to maximize yield with the resources I have. Also I am not adverse to obtaining another 130 Watt cfl if propositioned with greater yield success, so I question getting a fourth CFL..apparently each 130 Watt CFL produces 8000 Lumens. If anyone has anything beneficial to respond I'd appreciate it, as of two weeks ago I didn't know shit about Lumens, Color Bands, Mylar and I am flying on purely internet research. Thank you for reading
If you want to maximize your yield, ditch the cfls and get some big boy lights in there.....max yields and CFLs dont mix.
Nothing wrong with cfls, but the OP is wanting to maximize yield with his space.....with a closet grow, you can easily pull 5-10x the weight with HIDs vs CFL as long as you have sufficient cooling/airflow.
8000 lumens on 130w? My 600w HPS pushes 90,000 lumens, so for similar power you'd get 1/3 the output real yields come from powerful light, you're not gonna get it with cfl
Nope, you can use em for both. I use a dimmable/switchable ballast and run 400 MH for veg and then 600 w HPS for flower. You can veg with cfls just fine but you will get much faster and explosive growth with MH
Light = primary source of energy for your plants. More energy (light) in= more bud. Cfl = light fluffy buds, low yield....their main advantages are their low cost and low heat output. HID = much more intense light = more energy to plants = tighter, heavier, and more buds. They put out tons of heat and require proper ventilation to cool them
And that is with all my fans and such....my entire grow only adds $25 to my power bill. Considering the amount I produce and save myself from having to purchase, it's a no-brainer. Growing is a lot of work..... If im putting in 3-4 months of work for a crop, im not doing it for an ounce or two of fluffy cfl buds, thats for sure. My time and effort is worth more than that.
hps spectrum is better for flowering, mh is best for veg that reminds me, gotta swap my bulb out, I kept my MH in for the first 2 weeks of flower. shoulda done it when I was watering last nite. oh well, next time.
Yeah, the MH and HPS setups sound great, but I have limited grow space, experience, and budget. A 600W producing 90 000 Lumens sounds mad.. but I only have room for about 3 plants max...and you guys are probably producing a lot more than just 3 plants under say the ideal 100K Lumen grow room. I had decided to go ahead with CFLs...4 X 130 Watt / with flowering and growth lights in a package all for about $270. I figure to dedicate 2 lights to 2 plants which should be okay for them. I'll probably purchase more lights for the flowering stage and keep one vegetative light on each plant throughout their flowering. So I have about 15000 to 16000 Lumens per plant (dedicated), which I think is pretty good. 10K being the average clear sky day. I just wonder how many plants growers usually put under say a 100K Lumen setup.. and think maybe my set up (hopefully) won't be so disappointing for a CFL one due to getting more Lumen coverage to each plant. I need at least a couple months to study airflow to make a MH and HPS setup feasible...but yeah..space issues..maybe gonna need a bigger closet for the MH and HPS beasts. I'll definitely research MH and HPS more, as you guys make it sound more legit for growers. Thanks for all the input.
Actually, 400 or 600w MH/HPS setups are perfect for 3-4 plants, and can be bought in packaged with ballasts, bulbs, and hood for less than what you spend on those cfl grow lights. A 400w light is perfect for 3'x3' area and 600w is perfect for 4'x4'.....so you dont need a huge space for these, just a air cooled hood and a good fan to keep temps down. Also, no need to spend months studying air flow, its not rocket science at all.....really simple to set up and get going. Lots of pics and tutorials in journals, mine included. To answer your question, 100 actual watts per plant is the minimum you want....the issue with cfls is that the lights have to be within a couple of inches to be effective so you have to constantly move them, and when plants get bigger its impossible to get good light coverage which results in airy buds and lower yields. If you really want to max out your space's potential, i would consider returning the cfls and looking at a little 400w mh/hps kit in your closet. You can find them for less than $200 online, and will just need to invest and extra 60-70 on a decent fan to keep it cool. It would be well worth it....for $50-100 more in start up costs, and the same amount of work, you will easily get 5x more (and higher quality) smoke. A no-brainer IMO.