Advice on CFLs in the UK

Hi to all you growers out there, i am in the uk. Startig to grow now put need to find out wot to look for on the bulb boxes in the DIY shops PLEASE!! I know u need two bulbs during the grow one for veg and one for flower. Just got a few bulbs from my mum the other day they are Philips 20watt energy and 100watt light. On the box its got 230-240v ~ 50-60Hz B22 BC 15000h 1200 lumen 140mA. Dont Kniw wot all that means well maybe the lumens part. But wot confuses me is that on the box it says Light output measured according to IEC 969 standard, compared to a 1000hr soft colour bulb of similar light output. So does that meen that the bulb is soft colour. Sorry for all this just learning but i no more now. I read Weed Word,HighTimes, and Red eye mags, also got the indoor bible by Jorge Cervantes and been reading now for a year and want to put it all in to practice as thats the best way to learn. So any help or info would be great.

is there a k reading on there? e.g 6500k or 2400k.
This will determine the spectrum.
The soft color you mentioned insnt conclusive. the red spectrum 2400k is sometimes referred to as warm light bulbs.The blue sometimes soft.
Easiest way to tell is to turn it on. and see what tint it produces a blueish light or a reddish one.
You want the blue kind 6500k ish for vegging.
You want the red kind 2400k ish for flowering.

Cheers for that the only thing about these bulbs in the uk they dont have the k`s on the boxes, does that k mean kelvin. Thanks again

Yeah it is. If you can get to a local hydro shop you will have a better selection. Mine have the k reading on the box and the bulb 125w enviro's

well I got philips ones that said equivlant to 1000watts and have had them for all of vegging and am going to use them for flowering as well, but I think for flowering there are better light sources. Best to get going with lots of the 1000watt ones for the moment

Greengo82 said:

Cheers for that the only thing about these bulbs in the uk they dont have the k`s on the boxes, does that k mean kelvin. Thanks again

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Hiya Greengo82

I'm from the UK too and share your frustration with the light bulb makers not putting the Kelvin colour temperature on the sides of the boxes! In my experience now, if a low wattage CFL doesn't have a Kelvin rating it will be a 'soft white' bulb. These are typically 2,700k degrees kelvin and are described as just that 'soft white' bulbs.

The two Kelvin colour temperatures you want to be interested in are the 6,400k blue-white 'daylight' colour spectrum and the 2,700k warm white or amber/red colour spectrum. The 6,400k is for vegeative growth and the 2,700k for flowering.

So to start your plants ideally you need a 6,400k blue-white spectrum CFL - good luck finding one of those in a DIY store in the UK - I haven't! If you can't get a low wattage 6,400k cfl for veg, start them off for the first week or two under a 2,700k bulb but keep it fairly close the red spectrum will make them stretch a little but for the first two weeks not that much. Then find a 125w or 200w Blue Envirolite for the veg stage. The 125w should do you fine - they're 20 quid from specialist hydro shops.

lucy said:

well I got philips ones that said equivlant to 1000watts and have had them for all of vegging and am going to use them for flowering as well, but I think for flowering there are better light sources. Best to get going with lots of the 1000watt ones for the moment

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What's the 'actual' wattage of those bulbs? Are they compact flourescents (cfls)? What's the kelvin colour temperature of them?

im in uk also..got 2 envirolites 125w blue and red both off ebay 26 quid each with postage.....

They are 100watts babygro

Hi Crompy cheers for the info will be needing someone` for help during this grow is it ok to put u in my buddy list.

u can m8 but i just like u on my first grow still learning all the time from all these guys they are the problem solvers ov growing.....

Like the man says Envirolites-EBay- 6400k blue for vegging and 2700k red for flowering-can't go wrong and they only cost 30pence each per day to run. You will not find a more cost effective lighting solution in uk mate.

All the best

M0r1arty

i didnt see any envirolites on ebay

eBay.co.uk: ENVIROLITE 2 x 125w Grow Lamps & Reflector Growing Kit (item 300115706881 end time 06-Jun-07 21:55:13 BST)
here you go just found this quickly, glad to help anyone in the uk as i know its a bit harder to find bits over here unlike our lucky american friends who seem spoilt for choice

cheers Bifter

i live in uk too - i went to homebase when i started growing those philips 20w/100w cfl for vegging ended up with 6 in end (i know could of bought envirolight for total cost but noob mistake) the plants took off no problem- or you can use GE extra mini energy saving cfls as well

Cheers Lucy pal. Keep me informed on how things go and i will do the same.

The energy saving bulb hasnt really got going here in merry ole england yet, howevery nlites and envirolite both have outlets here in the uk.

If you can stretch the funds getting yourself some of those enviros off ebay wouldnt be bad, at least one for flowering.