I'm looking for some cheap light source with the least heat, and consume low electricity for 2-3 plants (not even began yet) I found 1 that apparently someone already used but its way too expensive http://www.growlightsled.co.uk/hydroponic-lamp-225-led-grow-lights-panel-board-bulb-kit-p-35.html I need it to be both cheap and use low watts as possible please. what if I were to make a box with shiny reflective material covered all around it to increase and give more light and use a 20w CFL bulb?
One 20W CFL isn't nearly enough for one plant, let alone 2 or 3...it would probably grow, but you wouldn't be able to get anything decent from it in flower... You may want to check this section out... http://forum.grasscity.com/lighting/ Check out the stickies to familiarize yourself with some of the basics of lighting...
Just buy a 90w UFO for like 60$ and grow one small guy, or a 180w will get you away with 2 maaaaybe 3
what about this? will one of these work? http://www.growlightsled.co.uk/hydroponic-lamp-225-led-grow-lights-panel-board-bulb-kit-p-35.html
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MarsHydro-180W-UFO-LED-Grow-Light-3W-Real-IR-Full-spectrum-Hydroponic-LED-/321468332486?pt=UK_Baby_Baby_Feeding_Bottle_Warmers_Coolers_LE&hash=item4ad90179c6 This. I have 2 plants going strong under it
15W...no...maybe 7-10 of them but then the footprint of your lights would probably be too big unless you could build a fancy focused array... You should shoot for 100W (actual) for the first plant, and a minimum of 50W per additional plant after that...situations will vary, but I've had my best results with more than that... You really should try looking at those stickies...knowledge is power...try to stick to basic guidelines for your first grow, then you can fine-tune from there once you have a better feel... ...or you could look around at a few of the proven setups people here have tried and have proven results from... Call me old fashioned, but I like tried and true...trying a whole bunch of new things at once (as in on a first grow) complicates things unnecessarily...
wtf 180w?? wayyyyy too much, but this dude is growing it with 2-3 x 14 w? check this thread http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/970910-my-first-225-14w-led-grow.html
Well the 180w and the 14w are the same price, need I go further?... a 3w LED will have way better penetration than a 0.064w, more than 10x the output for the same price, a built in fan, the 180w has a larger spectrum...
Cfls but it makes more sense to just get a 250w hps. You're gonna need about 250-300w of draw power anyways no matter which way you go, and 300w of cfl bulbs will come out to at least 100 or more. You could score a 250w hid system for around the same price and get way better light penetration. One 250 with ventilation wont draw nowhere near enough electricity to really be noticeable man. Regular house electric heaters can pull 1500w alone..
nah the link I sent was just for demonstration I can get the same light for half price or even less, plus my main problem is cost of electricity not the equipment. well my gaming pc uses 570w so I guess its either growing weed or playing games not both.
I use roughly about 1.88 US Dollar of electricity per day and more on weekends, and that seems a lot to me, I don't work either I'm a student.
Cut back on the games then haha you're in college... The weed will help you through better Back to the question though, don't use the 14w LED panel....
You can only get out what you put in. The cheapest set up will be CFLs for sure. For every 100w you can yield about an oz. And for every square foot of area you will need at the very least 50w. A 20w CFL costs about £2 so buy 10 of them and suitable fittings. This will cover about a 2-4 square foot area and you can grow 1 or 2 small plants and get a couple of oz. Your biggest investment is the 3-4 months it takes to grow the plants. This time will be the same if you grow an oz or a pound so keep that in mind
How long daily will I need to run the lights? run me through the start to finish process, also once the picking season arrives what kind of plants are these? do they die after harvest ? are they like trees or they would need to be replanted? also can I use the heat from the lights to heat up my room/house and save on gas bills also to make up for it?, also do the bulbs get so hot that they would need rest or potential chance of overheating and exploding?
1) ideally between 18 and 24 hours per day to keep the plant growing and to stop it from flowering. Once it is of the desired size you change the light cycle to 12 hours on and 12 hours in unbroken darkness. 2) I'm not sure how much detail you need on this but you veg the plants for a few weeks and change to 12/12 to make it flower. Flowering is usually about 9 weeks but can be a lot longer depending on strain. 3) marijuana plants. 4) they usually die after harvest but you can regenerate the plants by putting them on a vegetative light cycle. It can take several weeks for the plant to revert back to vegging so it's almost always better to just start new seeds or cut a clone before you flower the plant. 5) see above. 6) you would need to run at least 400 watts to make any real amount of heat. I have a 600w HPS running through the night in my bedroom and I don't need the heating on through the night but it's not going to heat any more than the one room. 7) some bulbs get very hot, CFLs generally stay pretty cool. I run 125w CFLs and I can touch the surface without hurting my hands, but I wouldn't want to hold on to it for long. But all bulbs suitable for growing can be run continually as long as you have adequate ventilation. What is your budget? How much room do you have to dedicate to the grow? How much bud do you need per month?