Hello everyone... Here's the story... I have only attempted to grow one time before... A few years ago... And it was a closet situation... I didn't have professional lights... I used a basic household light that I was able to get my hands on... The plant appeared to be doing great... When it was probably about 6/8 " tall, someone who claimed to know about growing who was at my house told me it needed to be "topped"... And took a pair of scissors to the plant... And in the dopey dumbass attempt to top the plant, the person cut it in half... After that, I never made another attempt to grow... ... ...I am now going to attempt to do a closet type grow again... I need to know what kind of bulbs to get that are REASONABLE... basically, the bare minimal... Cost is an extreme factor... I currently have 2 light sets that were origonally light fixtures for a custom made fishtank... I would like to put the correct kind of bulbs in these 2 fixtures and use them... I have a tall box that will probably hold 2 planter pots... And I could rig the lights from the top of the box... I need as much info as I can get before tomorrow morning... I am going to Wal-Mart to see what kind of bulbs they have there... Could any experienced indoor grower tell me what kind of bulbs I should get? Keep in mind, bare minimal that will do the job... And cost is a big factor... Could you also include the exact specs of the bulbs possibly even a good brand? I know nothing whatsoever about lighting and bulbs etc... I plan to learn from experience and hopefully from some of you kind people here... I will check the post up until I leave to go look... Once I know what kind of bulbs I need, and get them... I will then seek guidance on the other steps... thank you in advance to anyone willing to help...
The only lights of any use ,,bought at wal-mart would be 4' flourescent fixtures,,despite popular belief,do not buy "shop lite" fixture,,I know they are cheap,,but the ballast in them is only for 25w shop lite tubes,,get a good fixture that will operate 40w tubes,,,then buy cool white and warm white 40w tubes to use with it....and a heavy duty timer....that should get you started......
that's too much(fixtures and tube bulbs)... I blew a whoppin' $8.68 on two 150watt indoor/outdoor floodlight bulbs, a 2 bulb split socket, and 37 1/2 feet of aluminum foil... the help wasn't very detailed... None of the bulbs say "flourescent" on them... So I couldn't find them anyways... And I don't have 4' of space to deal with... not really even 2'... it's going to be a large(tall) box in a small closet... I don't know what to do cause I totally don't have money to set up a professional growing facility nor do I need one... I just want to grow one or two plants successfully... And if it works out, and the experience is a disaster free one, I will figure out a way to get a better setup... I dunno... HELP?! Give me some web links to pages with info on what I need and pictures etc... The cheapest possible way... I know NOTHING about lights... The only bulbs I have ever dealt with are household lightbulbs... And what really is there to know about those? You screw it in and the light comes on... Not much info there... I have no clue if what I bought will work... Maybe someone can let me know... :/
Sorry but those lights are junk for growing,,you have to open the wallet a little in the right areas to get a grow of any worth,,not much education in attempting the hard way first either....read other posts,,general growing is loaded with info,,and the other grow forums as well are starting to improve..but hey,,,you still can't grow a descent plant without proper lighting,and the willingness to try. Don't want to use 2' or 4' tube flourescent due to your area limits...take the bulbs you just got ,,back to wal- mart,and at least get a 200w compact flourescent reader light,or two or three,screw it into a standard socket,,you will not get any bud,,but the leaves will grow..... good luck...have fun
http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/UltraLux-Ballast.htm for anyone else looking... cheapest price i've found so far...
Why wouldn't a bulb similar to this work?: Not necessarily that exact one... But one like that which plugs into a normal household lightbulb socket... From your earlier post, you said "Don't want to use 2' or 4' tube flourescent due to your area limits...take the bulbs you just got ,,back to wal- mart,and at least get a 200w compact flourescent reader light,or two or three,screw it into a standard socket,,you will not get any bud,,but the leaves will grow....." ... So you're saying a bulb like that will make the leaves grow but not any buds? If so, why? Isn't it the same light source just on a compact area instead of a stretched out(tube) area? Help me out... I want to learn...
The lumen output on all those lights is way too low. Fluorescent lights do not save you money. Although they are cheaper to buy, they are much less efficient at converting electricity to light. The full amount that you spend on light is the total of the cost of the equipment plus the cost of power. On this basis, fluorescent lights are much more expensive than HPS or MH lamps. Fluorescents can be used to grow a crop, but they don’t produce a good yield because the plants don’t receive intense light. Not only are fluorescents inefficient as compared with HPS lamps, but they are low wattage. Four 4 ft. fluorescents use a total of 160 watts. This is only 40% of the electricity of a 400 w. HPS.
Sorry bout that...what I meant to say was..that you won't get much bud,,but the leaves will grow well... what vatoloco...said,,is true...completely...I have done flouro grows for years in the past,,but even those were power twist ,or power groove 6' tubes with vho,and ho ballasts,,which were expensive to buy,and operate,,,,,It has,and can be done,,we still use flouros for clones/seedstarts/mother plant...but as far as producing buds,,,I was happy as hell when MH, and HPS came into play...and so is anyone else who grows anything,,,not just cannabis. As far as the compact flouros go ,,,I have been testing ,these for awhile now,in cabinet setups,all types,,for growing,,,,they are nothing compared to the tubes,,yes the high watt CF's work,and are good for a few things ,,but overall tubes are better due to the surface area of the glass tube,as well as the gas composition pertaining to color spectrum..clones/seedlings did much better in every case with the tubes,,than theCF's... Do what you feel may work for you,,and learn that way if you wish.....but remember....we tried to tell ya,,,,,
<center><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td> <font face="Courier New, Courier, mono" size="4"><font color="#3399FF" size="5"> </font></font><font color="#0000FF"><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono" size="4"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono" size="4"><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#3399FF"> </font></font></font></font></font><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><font color="#000000">· Current Mood: </font></font></td></tr></table><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><font color="#FFFFFF"> <font color="#000000">· Post Message:</font></font></font></td></tr></table><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><div align="center"><font color="#000000"> <font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">...thank you vatoloco... and thank you NdicaBud... I am still pretty confused... You guys talk in all the abbreviation stuff like "HPS" and "MH" and "CF"... I don't know what any of that means... I guess I should just give up on doing it indoor and try to find someplace outdoors to do it... Which is difficult... Maybe you can give me just a little more info before I decide to do that... Just basic answer... What light source which can be used to grow bud is the cheapest... I will find prices and see if it is within my range... My seeds are almost done germinating... I have probably 1 day... maybe 2... and they will need to be planted... So I need to figure out what method i'm gonna use... thanks in advance... </font></font><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono" color="#FFFFFF"> </font> </td></tr></table><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td> </td></tr></table> </td></tr></table></div></center>
Dude, have you noticed the links at the bottom of both NdicaBud's and vatoloco's posts? Great info. Check out these links for basic questions. HPS means high pressure sodium, the best light for budding. MH means metal halide, the best light for growing. CF means compact flourescent, the best light for general household energy-conscious lighting -- not growing bud. Keep reading, asking questions and chill, lol.