HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
Oh, okay. I just checked your fridge grow. That thing is bad ass and has so much potential. I would go crazy with that thing, engineering wise.
144 Watt CFL Grow
- Thread starter HazednConfused
- Start date
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Good fun and an easy grow so far.
HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
Some more cola pics. I decided to snip off a premature secondary cola and hang dry it to see what's to come with fully mature bud. It's from the lower part of the plant so it's not very dense, and is a dwarf compared to the main colas.
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ELAC1nc
Active Member
Plants are looking good bro those are some fat ass colas and you have a nice setup, my setup is extremely diy I threw thins together to make it work on a low budget. I've got money now to build a too legitimate to quit setup. I would suggest foliar feeds with kelp extracts not much in the way of ferts go strength wise but I have noticed how dense and fat they are getting.
This is my first grow. I will be using kelp throughout my next grow which will be DWC With CFLs and 3 watt Led down lighters
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ELAC1nc
Active Member
I'm on day 50
Lucky Luke
Well-Known Member
Lookin nice man.
HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
Thanks man. Mine's all diy also. Yeah, yours is a pretty unique diy setup lol, but if it works, fuck it. What I would recommend is creating some sort of hood for your current lights because you're getting tons of light loss. This could be as simple as putting some foil over the top of the lights. Also, looks like you're using too much cool bulbs and not enough warm ones (2700k) which better support flowering. I might try foliar feeding with my fox farm nutes and see if anything happens. Since you got the money now, you should say fuck it and go full led on your next grow, especially if you're wanting to go hydro.
HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
Nice plants man. You see your current day 50 plants, wait until you see how day 50 looks during your second grow! Once you've learned some shit and correct issues you've had during this grow, you'll see you're plants the second time around will be beasts!
ELAC1nc
Active Member
Hahahaha sweet bro thanks yeah it's been a fun journey with my seedlings that were in pots on the balcony, half eaten by my cat haha check what I just built, 50% progress. Going to SCROG in DWC for this month, went and got some supplies for my flowering chamber, going all out.
I've seen some very decent grows done with CFLs, I think I could pull it off for now, but LEDs are definitely on the cards for the future, yeah I definitely do have too many cool whites Couldn't find any decent warms and at the time I had read that you can use cool whites throughout Just makes it a little more leafy which is exactly what happened haha, was on a tight budget and didn't know much about much but got the first one under my belt I know what to do now, can't wait to harvest
I've seen some very decent grows done with CFLs, I think I could pull it off for now, but LEDs are definitely on the cards for the future, yeah I definitely do have too many cool whites Couldn't find any decent warms and at the time I had read that you can use cool whites throughout Just makes it a little more leafy which is exactly what happened haha, was on a tight budget and didn't know much about much but got the first one under my belt I know what to do now, can't wait to harvest
HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
Lol hell yeah, possibilities will be endless with the construction and design of that thing!
HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
That's cool man. Yeah, I'm sure you'll be fine using all cfls; that's all I've ever used. I would say if you want to do cfls then hit up home depot, or other hardware/big box stores for the 4-pack boxes of 2700k warm cfls. They should be 23 watts/1600 lumens each. Get a few pack of those for $10 a pop and you'll be set, bulb wise. Get some y-adapters to split the bulbs and make a decent setup. Hoods/reflectors are pretty much a must for cfl grows though. Hell yeah! Once you get that first one out of the way, the following grows should keep getting better and better. My first harvest was a complete flop because I couldn't let my plants finish, and I pulled MAYBE 25 grams off of two thin mint plants. So disappointing. Good luck bro!
whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
I grow with t5. With any kind of floros you can tweak the spectrum.
Add one or two reptile CFLs and make them come on 15 minutes on every hour.
That really makes for good bud.
ELAC1nc
Active Member
Haha it's been an exciting journey my construction 90% completed. Going to do 3 autos in DWC buckets I've installed the mesh and plan on having 16 CFLs on some 4 way adapters, I plan on using baking Tins as reflectors I also plan to pull at least 1.2 kgs as a minimum yield off of 3 plants of I get any less I will be disappointed. Everything is completely adjustable from height of mesh below plants to the chains hanging for my light fixture, the design is 1,5m2 I will wall the back and roof with some Masonite/chipboard to mount t5s for a later stage and the roof will house extractors
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HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
Sounds good man! 90% complete!? There aren't even any lights yet! Lol jp man. So, on your second grow ever you are expecting to pull 1.2 Kg minimum, which is over two pounds, from 3 autoflowers that are going to finish in 2 months with only 16 cfls? Wooooooo if you pull that off they will need to find a spot for you in the weed hall of fame haha. Shoot for the moon!
HandyGringo
Well-Known Member
Hey man just checked out your grow. Why don't you invest in a few big CFL's instead of those tiny ones? Perhaps with reflectors etc? Much better light, still very cheap.
HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
Thus is for ELAC1nc, correct?Hey man just checked out your grow. Why don't you invest in a few big CFL's instead of those tiny ones? Perhaps with reflectors etc? Much better light, still very cheap.
HandyGringo
Well-Known Member
No for you. Instead of those 10 coil CFL's you could replace with 1 big bulb. Unless you changed something in your grow already..
HazednConfused
Well-Known Member
Why replace something that is working for something that wouldn't do as good of a job? Especially after I took the time to construct a pretty legit hood for them? One big cfl isn't going to give you the same light coverage as 10 smaller ones spread out all over the plant. Plus those big bulbs get super hot. I don't intend on growing with cfls for too much longer, besides in my grow bucket that I have constructed, https://www.rollitup.org/t/spacebucket.918351/#post-12909347 . I'll be switching over to COB lighting for future grows.No for you. Instead of those 10 coil CFL's you could replace with 1 big bulb. Unless you changed something in your grow already..
mauricem00
Well-Known Member
I have been growing with T5s for 3 years and have no desire to "upgrade" to 40 year old technology. tried COBS and was not impressed with the performance and HIDs produce way too much heat for a closet grow. there is an old saying. "you can have speed, quantity or quality. pick two". if you want to add LEDs to get more red for flowering this might be a cheap way to do that: http://www.ebay.com/itm/351405859538?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=620500954247&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT I have replaced CFLs in my home with these and they work great for lighting rooms. very bright and much more efficient than CFLs with a longer life expectancy. if you are looking for the best spectrum for plants than you can't beat florescent or the new LEC (CHM) high pressure ceramics. LEDs simply can not produce violet (430nm) or blue (470nm) light efficiently and HPS produce a lot of light plants can't use. florescents and LECs give a much more balance spectrumso I bought 24 CFLs... at um 6 bucks a pack of six? 4x$6=$24... clamps lamps: $4x12, $48... splitters (so I could put two bulbs in one lamp: I forget, less than $10 for 12.. total cost ~$82 for ~480 Watts. I haven't seen much in HPS 400w for under $150... (maybe $130 at the lowest?).
Of course there's the quality of light situation... but for the cost CFLs have done great for me... Vegged 12 plants under that 480 (actually I sprouted them under 2x24w CFLs and slowly grew to the 24 for the 480 by the end of veg) and they're pretty nice looking (all other factors considered). But I also have a small cab 3x4x4, any HID would be too hot and intense for those conditions, I think... I got down to 8 plants by flower and switched to LED, with a couple of CFLs for additional... the temp is just right like that. Again, doing great.
Being able to stretch the cost over time was helpful. The fact tat all I bought is reusable and will in fact see a lot of use from me for other thins is also a big bonus.
I've consistently had CFLs outlive HID bulbs and ballasts (due to their higher intensity)... and then you have the actual added running cost (since you need to cool... it's bulb wattage plus watts for the vent fan to cool the bulb...
CFL are definitely , at the very least, a good way to get into growing.and as you said, the saving they provide can help someone save for their next step.