Newcflgrower
Well-Known Member
Hey everyone im a new grower and I am going all cfl for my low cost stealth grow and would like to know what y'all think about cdl growing don't care about mh are hps just cfl
Cfl growing it is!
- Thread starter Newcflgrower
- Start date
Comatoke
Active Member
i dont mind cfl's ive went start to finish with them once and even made a guide to cfl growing at low cost, its more of an absolute beginners guide tho, and im not sure if its on the site, but ya dont expect a big harvest, or dense budz, i mean itl be decent, but dont expect anything crazy other than that its a great way to grow 
Unlimited One
Active Member
I have two babies indoor on 8 23w(100w) 6500k cfls and so far, 18 days into veggin they are looking pretty nice and healthy. I nute burned them a bit but they are fully recovered and growing. I plan on veggin them all the way with the 8 cfls, probably will add one or two 2' 5t tubes, but im thinking of switching to a 400w hps/mh light to flower them. I will probably have the cfls and the 400w hps for flowering. The more light the better right? Different spectrum is good also. Here they are, northern lights and harlequin. Ladies say high to everyone...
Newcflgrower
Well-Known Member
Yeah man tht would be great. Wat do you think about growing with a 125 watt cfl and 4 26 watt cfl's how much more will I needto grow four plants in a 2×3 area
Unlimited One
Active Member
Check out this info I found online. It will come in handy.
To most accurately ascertain the proper amount of lighting needed for your space, there are several things that you have to know. At this point, a couple of definitions are in order.
Lumens - one lumen is equal to the amount of light emitted by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface one foot away.
Watts – A measure of the amount of electricity flowing through a wire. Watt hours measure the amount of watts used in one hour. A kilowatt/hour (KWH) is 1000 watt/hours.
Light Spectrum – In simplest terms – Blue (425nm – 460nm, think a 6500k CFL or MH) & Red (630 – 660nm 2700k CFL or HPS). Blue wavelengths are associated with vegetative growth, and reds with rooting & blooming.
To determine how many lumens per square foot you have:
Find out the square footage of your space.
Width x Depth = Square feet. Divide the lumens available by your square footage.
This will give you lumens per square foot.
Example: Say your space is 3 feet deep by 4 feet wide, 12 square feet. The total lumens available from your light(s) is 45000 lumens. 45000/12 = 3750 lumens per square foot.
What if you want to determine how much light you need in watts?
The general rule of thumb for providing light for an area is a minimum of 30 watts per square foot. 50+ watts per square foot is optimal. You can determine the proper lighting for your area by using this formula:
50 watts (or the total watts you are using) x (your square footage). Example: You have an area of 10 sq. ft. – 50w x 10 s.f. = 500watts/sq.ft minimum or 50 watts x 10 s.f. = 500 watts/sq. ft. (optimal). Also, remember that fluorescent’s are weaker and emit less light than an HID. This means you will need 5 times the amount of wattage to equal the output of an HID. So, 30 watts of HID would equal 150 watts of fluorescent’s. This is why it is advised to provide a minimum of 30 watts per square foot for HID lights and aminimum of 150 watts per square foot for fluorescent’s.
Hope this helps to answer your question.
To most accurately ascertain the proper amount of lighting needed for your space, there are several things that you have to know. At this point, a couple of definitions are in order.
Lumens - one lumen is equal to the amount of light emitted by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface one foot away.
Watts – A measure of the amount of electricity flowing through a wire. Watt hours measure the amount of watts used in one hour. A kilowatt/hour (KWH) is 1000 watt/hours.
Light Spectrum – In simplest terms – Blue (425nm – 460nm, think a 6500k CFL or MH) & Red (630 – 660nm 2700k CFL or HPS). Blue wavelengths are associated with vegetative growth, and reds with rooting & blooming.
To determine how many lumens per square foot you have:
Find out the square footage of your space.
Width x Depth = Square feet. Divide the lumens available by your square footage.
This will give you lumens per square foot.
Example: Say your space is 3 feet deep by 4 feet wide, 12 square feet. The total lumens available from your light(s) is 45000 lumens. 45000/12 = 3750 lumens per square foot.
What if you want to determine how much light you need in watts?
The general rule of thumb for providing light for an area is a minimum of 30 watts per square foot. 50+ watts per square foot is optimal. You can determine the proper lighting for your area by using this formula:
50 watts (or the total watts you are using) x (your square footage). Example: You have an area of 10 sq. ft. – 50w x 10 s.f. = 500watts/sq.ft minimum or 50 watts x 10 s.f. = 500 watts/sq. ft. (optimal). Also, remember that fluorescent’s are weaker and emit less light than an HID. This means you will need 5 times the amount of wattage to equal the output of an HID. So, 30 watts of HID would equal 150 watts of fluorescent’s. This is why it is advised to provide a minimum of 30 watts per square foot for HID lights and aminimum of 150 watts per square foot for fluorescent’s.
Hope this helps to answer your question.
Unlimited One
Active Member
Nice! So did you stop using the cfls for flowering altogether or do you have the mh AND the cfls?lookin good dude, ya i personally wouldnt flower under cfl's anymore but thats because i splurged on a 400w MH now i need an hps to complete my lighting package muwhahahahahahahahahahaah
stay hi
RollupRick
Active Member
CFL's can be awesome, or they can be crap, it all depends on your setup. I'm a CFL fan, and although I recently got a 400w metal halide, I'll always use the CFL's I have for supplementary or main lighting, depending on the state of the crop.
The biggest mistake I think people make with CFL's is they do it softly or use the low wattage household ones. Online you can buy 125w CFL's in the correct spectrums, and they are worth the money. In the UK I pay around £20 per 125w bulb.
My nugs are satisfyingly dense, and 90% of my current grow was done with 4 of these CFL bulbs, the MH has only been added in the last few weeks. The MH is a pain in the ass compared to the CFL's as the importance of ventilation and air circulation has increased exponentially (makes sense), and despite the MH the plants are still turning towards the CFL's. I have no doubts that the MH has a positive effect overall, but its made me appreciate CFL more. They're often talked down around here, which I understand, but trust me when I say if you're going the CFL route, don't fart around with little 20w bulbs, go for the 125w+, especially if you're planning on vegging AND flowering with them from start to finish.
Check the link in my sig to see how I'm getting on with a predominantly CFL setup.
The biggest mistake I think people make with CFL's is they do it softly or use the low wattage household ones. Online you can buy 125w CFL's in the correct spectrums, and they are worth the money. In the UK I pay around £20 per 125w bulb.
My nugs are satisfyingly dense, and 90% of my current grow was done with 4 of these CFL bulbs, the MH has only been added in the last few weeks. The MH is a pain in the ass compared to the CFL's as the importance of ventilation and air circulation has increased exponentially (makes sense), and despite the MH the plants are still turning towards the CFL's. I have no doubts that the MH has a positive effect overall, but its made me appreciate CFL more. They're often talked down around here, which I understand, but trust me when I say if you're going the CFL route, don't fart around with little 20w bulbs, go for the 125w+, especially if you're planning on vegging AND flowering with them from start to finish.
Check the link in my sig to see how I'm getting on with a predominantly CFL setup.
intenseneal
Well-Known Member
I went with T5 instead of CFL, their output per watt is much higher than CFL, only using all T5 HO for veg though.
Comatoke
Active Member
I use my CFL's to get my lil ones strong enough to handle my MH's power and my aero's pressure, but that is not to say that CFL's wont work, they are great for supplumental light, seed/small veg grow cabs, and if you want to really screw with lumens, 6500k -2000k light spectrums and what not you can work a decent harvest, just not as good as an MH obvi, but like i said i do want an hps eventually for some flowering but i still got a decent amount of time before its needed
Comatoke
Active Member
ya im a cfl fan also, just takes a little work. and yes ESPECIALLY if space is a problem 400w MH's can get HOT AS F***. keep er cool and good luck broski
Unlimited One
Active Member
Nice! Yea I plant to use a 400w hps/mh(it comes with both bulbs) and all my cfls to flower my girls. So when you say you plan on getting a hps, are you talking about the bulb only so you can switch bulbs depending on veg/flowering or do you mean a whole separate 400w light kit?I use my CFL's to get my lil ones strong enough to handle my MH's power and my aero's pressure, but that is not to say that CFL's wont work, they are great for supplumental light, seed/small veg grow cabs, and if you want to really screw with lumens, 6500k -2000k light spectrums and what not you can work a decent harvest, just not as good as an MH obvi, but like i said i do want an hps eventually for some flowering but i still got a decent amount of time before its needed
Comatoke
Active Member
i just mean im getting the bulb, i only have one fixture right now for that kind of bulb and i dont think a can go over 400w at the moment either, but thats ok as there is much planning and evolution that needs to be done before im at a spot i want to be in, if u can feel me
but ya i have an analog switch for MH/HPS on my fixture. and ill use a small amount of cfl's for supplemental light around the sides and bottom. im just waiting til my little ones are strong enough to take the switch from a grow box, to an aero kit with my 400 w'er.KushMaster
Well-Known Member
Me personally I use and love cfls never had a mh or hps. I plan on getting one but if you use cfl the more watts the better I'm currenty setting up a setup with 4 5u 105w(400w equiv) bulds with huds and about 8 or 10 23w-26w bulbs.
You can purchase 100w-200w bulbs at www.1000bulbs.com. I recommend the 5u bulbs works great with ahud.
You can purchase 100w-200w bulbs at www.1000bulbs.com. I recommend the 5u bulbs works great with ahud.