1200 Lumen Enough?

I am doing Easy Bud auto Fem from Royal Queen Seeds. My grow space is emm, about 4x4ft Just now my seedling is only 3 days old and at present Im just using a small halogen lamp but that shit gives of the heat rather than the light. So today in the shop I see a nice cheap CFL that gives of 1200 Lumens will that be enough? How many lumens should I use, remember its an Automatic flowering and a dwarf so should 1200 be enough or will I need even more for vegging?
 

BostonGardenahh

Well-Known Member
there are lots of ppl on here that grow cfl and i see good results but if i remember right i think they use like 100w/plant i think your 1200 lumen is only like 20w but 5 of them would still be way cooler then that halogen.. but like i said there are lots of cfl growers that can hook you up
 
Yeah it is just 1 plant. I read somewhere it is recommended 3000 lums per square feet so maybe I can push it with just that since it is just one plant. Of course If I buy 2 or more then even better. I think just now since she is only 3 days old 1200 might be enough. Anyway I will wait for more experienced Auto guys to give me more advice. Thanks for your replay mate.
 

fanofpanic

Well-Known Member
I think your lumens are a little off, but I think you should first consider the type of cfl you're using. You need to make sure that the cfl will help in both veg and flowering, so you need to first look at the kelvins. The general rule of thumb is that a 6500K is for veg and a 2700K is for flowering. The difference has to due with the light spectrums that they put out.

You would probably need a daylight/bright white for veg and a warm white for flowering. Even though it's an autoflower, it uses certain spectrums for certain parts of its life. The advantage of an auto is that the amount of light it gets is irrelevant. The auto will start to flower when its genetics say so. But if you want to get the most and not just a joint's worth, you need to feed it the right light during it's life...the sun doesn't have this problem, cause it has all the spectrums ;-)

You'll probably have to change the lights during the grow, which won't be that bad, but you should start out with the bright white for the veg..you'll see when she decides to start flowering and at that point, you could change to the warm whites...remember that the more lights the better...you could make a reflector hood out of a disposable aluminum pan if needed, but the more you can reflect the light the better.

Or, if it seems too complicated, then look for an agro bulb which has all of the spectrums (more blue for the flowering that red for the growth). I find they work best on autos and I am using one at the moment for two autos...it's a 200w bulb 2100K which puts out about 10300 lumen. I use it in both phases and it works well...

Obviously hps and mh will yield more but for an economical grow cfls are the way to go...

I hope this helps and sorry for being so long winded!!!
 
I am looking for the cheapest and most energy efficient Lighting. I do not want to splash out in lots of money. I think CFL's are the cheapest and most energy efficient way to go rite?
 

fanofpanic

Well-Known Member
I am looking for the cheapest and most energy efficient Lighting. I do not want to splash out in lots of money. I think CFL's are the cheapest and most energy efficient way to go rite?
Yeah definitely cause you don't have to worry as much about heat, but you still need to have a couple of different ones for maximum coverage. Also, you see that cfls have different light outputs...those affect your plants, so you'll need to change them or have a couple of different lights running at the same time...you're going to need at least 2 or three to get any type of result...just get 'em at different angles as close to the plant as you feel comfortable...she'll grow and she'll produce as long as you treat her well...start off with two cfls and see how it goes...

also, with the seedling, you shouldn't be putting direct light on her! Do you have some indirect source of light like a window sill or something?
 
I do have a windowsill but the light and weather at this time of year here is crap so I got her under a small halogen for now and when I say small I mean 20 Watts man. There is also an energy saving bulb running next to her also not really for her just as a light. The main reason I'm using that halogen just now is because I wanted to get both light and heat onto her without having to worry too much about the bills. She does honestly seem to be doing fine she is only 3 days old and is going pretty nicely with her 2 serrated leafs at about half a centimeter in length. One thing about her leafs is they are reaching up towards the light. I have the small hal lamp right above her so they she is getting light from directly above and the light is covering all the pot (just a small pot). I will attach a photo later. I presume the leafs are bending up is because the light is directly above. Maybe i need to change the angle but at the same time cast no shadows or what not.
 

InnDickUhh

Member
Yeah definitely cause you don't have to worry as much about heat, but you still need to have a couple of different ones for maximum coverage. Also, you see that cfls have different light outputs...those affect your plants, so you'll need to change them or have a couple of different lights running at the same time...you're going to need at least 2 or three to get any type of result...just get 'em at different angles as close to the plant as you feel comfortable...she'll grow and she'll produce as long as you treat her well...start off with two cfls and see how it goes...

also, with the seedling, you shouldn't be putting direct light on her! Do you have some indirect source of light like a window sill or something?
I don't mean to thread jack but why do seedlings need indirect lighting? I have 2 seedlings within inches of 4 CFLs and they seem to be doing fine..
 
I don't mean to thread jack but why do seedlings need indirect lighting? I have 2 seedlings within inches of 4 CFLs and they seem to be doing fine..
I wonder the same mine have been under this small direct light since they popped out the soil with a break of about 8 hours during the night to help the photo proccess but she is doing fine. Pics soon.
 

diet coke

Active Member
Dont get the small cfl twist. Try to get 55w - 85w much easier to set up and you will get better bud.

I have a mix of light run from start to finish. 2700k and 6000k plants are loving the light.
 

InnDickUhh

Member
I wonder the same mine have been under this small direct light since they popped out the soil with a break of about 8 hours during the night to help the photo proccess but she is doing fine. Pics soon.
Hmm now its got me thinking.. Anyways that's good your plant is already sprouting! Im not really sure if an 8 hour break is recommended but I'm on my first grow as well so don't take my word for it. If you want you can check it out @ https://www.rollitup.org/auto-flowering-strains/732580-x2-blue-mystic-af-grow.html
Their only seedlings like yours so maybe we could do a side by side grow!
 
Hmm now its got me thinking.. Anyways that's good your plant is already sprouting! Im not really sure if an 8 hour break is recommended but I'm on my first grow as well so don't take my word for it. If you want you can check it out @ https://www.rollitup.org/auto-flowering-strains/732580-x2-blue-mystic-af-grow.html
Their only seedlings like yours so maybe we could do a side by side grow!
Yeah I had a look at yer thread I will post in it soon and yes we should do side by side comparisons through the grow. Thanks.
 

tekdc911

Well-Known Member
I am looking for the cheapest and most energy efficient Lighting. I do not want to splash out in lots of money. I think CFL's are the cheapest and most energy efficient way to go rite?
ill say it like this IF you really want to save money you have to spend it
CFL's start to lose there kick after a couple months /grow then rapidly drop off power/lumen wise
led's would be the way to go spend $80-100 on a 5-7 band UFO led
lst the plant flat and use cfl side lights
 

BostonGardenahh

Well-Known Member
Do you think this Lightbulb will be ok [30 Watt Daylight Energy Saving CFL From Amazon]?
you want a light like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-125w-Hydroponics-Grow-Light/dp/B009WO0S1Q/ref=pd_sim_sbs_light_1 if you are gunna cfl and don't want to use a bunch of them But why would you want to buy that when you can buy http://www.ebay.com/itm/JoyHydroGrow-UFO-180W-10band-Full-Spectrum-Medical-Flower-Plant-LED-Grow-Light-/111158167548?pt=US_Hydroponics&hash=item19e18b07fc your spending $100.. you know how many times the LED will pay for itself with a life span of over 60,000 hrs
 

qwizoking

Well-Known Member
I believe 2100 lumens is required to sustain photosynthesis...seedlings can take all the light you can give it, I mean they take the sun just fine in nature right after popping the soil.....I use cfls 750 watts.. and a 600 cool tube... the cfl cab always produces better bud. Even if its a bit fluffier
 

BostonGardenahh

Well-Known Member
Dude all that for one plant, seems a bit much in my price range for one dwarf plant.
you need 100w per plant that bulb you showed 30w replaces 150w but you need 100w of actual power not the wattage it replaces.. if you used that bulb you would need three/four of them.. i use 300w of LED per two plants.... i mean you can use what ever you want.. you can use one of the old style light bulbs.. it's what is it going to yield...the difference between spending a little $$ up front or just using what ever is cheapest is a yield that was worth your time/effort/electricity...you can look around for those 125w cfls i've seen them as cheap as 65$
 
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