puertorrican diesel
Well-Known Member
Im waiting for sex i hope all 3 girls fingers cross===~~~
Cfl Proximity To Foliage
- Thread starter Garden Knowm
- Start date
mahlon21
Member
Hey Knowm, so i think what he’s trying to say is make sure your CFL light is sitting just above the top of your plants... However you have to be very careful in doing this because CFL’s typically put out more heat then LEDS and can easily BURN your plants. I know because I’m dealing with this as we speak!
My leaves were wilting up and curling over, not by much but i was trying to figure out why i was having this problem, and then if figured it out, it was attributed to the lights being way too close. Now if you insert a couple smaller fans blowing up toward the lights this will help alleviate some of this hot air!
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mahlon21
Member
Garden Knowm hasn't been around for along time.....but thanks for sharing and welcome to RIU
Oh wow, ok... Well your most welcome; and thanks for having me. My very first grow; Just thought this may help someone like myself
Mahlon
thomasforrest
Member
Walmart has a pack of 4 65w 300w output 6500k color pure white light bulbs for 30$ free shipping. I'm going to see how they veg these bag seeds pick the 8 best females and then after veg put em' under my 1000w hps full enchanced spectrum.
cannakis
Well-Known Member
hahahahaha! i Love This!!!so basically you want so many fucking cfls that you realize you just spent enough money on cfls that you could have had a 600hps and had 4x the useful light as you have now.
cannakis
Well-Known Member
do have any pictures of your cfl grows? i Would love to get a hid, but need mobility at the moment. Did you ever switch or are you still using cfls?
Buddabuilder
Member
What size bulbs are in this picture mate?
Buddabuilder
Member
May I post a picture of my grow set up here so I can get some pointers?
B166ER420
Well-Known Member
Those look like 42w cfl to meGarden Knowm hasn't been around for along time.....but thanks for sharing and welcome to RIU
Buddabuilder
Member
Thanx Bi66ER... You def know your stuff mate... You never got back to me in the other thread... I know you got that extravagant set up mate..Those look like 42w cfl to me
kupihea
Well-Known Member
Yup that helps a lot, Thanks. Im just starting a lab after mostly outdoor Hawaii growing. (tiny house and yard now with prying eyes)
B166ER420
Well-Known Member
Stankx
Well-Known Member
I'm not so sure i agree with you on the 1 inch distance. That may be true if your using one CFL per plant or something, but I've been growing semi big plants with CFL's for almost 6 years.
I can tell you that if your grow room is reflective and you've got enough light the bulbs, they can be 1 foot away with great if not awesome results. The key it to use powerful cfl grow lights and a lot of light. I normally use 2 2000w units with 3 105/400w bulbs in between them to grow 6 plants in 5-7 gallon pots. My average yield per plant is always in the 3 - 4 1/2 once range. I get anywhere from 1/2 lb to 3/4ths lb per light with those pots and 1 1/2 months in Veg. Not the best but certainly not the worst, but the quality is top notch and I'm pretty sure I'm in line cost wise with HPS growers when electrical and bulb replacement costs are calculated.
I also have grown more plants in smaller pots (1 gallon 9 per light). The yield per light was slightly higher, (average 28 - 38 grams each plant, 3 week veg) but not enough for me to justify the extra time it takes trimming 18 little plants VS 6 semi big ones! Plus all the extra work in the veg & bloom cycles. Literally three times as much work as the bigger plants for not much more.
My best yields in quantity and quality with both methods came with the lights raised at least 6 inches to a foot from the tops. (Also the big plants were better than the small plants in quality) Doing this really helped my plants grow during the first couple weeks in flower, and with the lights a bit further away there is less shadowing. One more thing, I lollipop, and stress the f*** out of my plants so there is almost ZERO Undergrowth. I suggest everyone learn (20 minutes on youtube) how to train their plants properly before using CFL's to grow with. "Christmas tree's" don't yield much with CFL's.
Lastly, I just built a 34 gallon supercrop hydro system for big plants with a 1 gallon net. Testing the first one out now. She vegged for 2 months from clone and its over 4 1/2 feet wide sitting under a 2000 cfl unit. The goal is 1 lb+ per big hydro pot with just one 2000k light fixture. I'll keep you guys posted. Also I'll send in a picture of that plant and hydro pot I built.
Stankx
Well-Known Member
It all depends on what type of cfl light setup your using. I keep my plants pretty far away and still grow good buds. See my earlier post. Notice the undergrowth still great smoke from cfls, without a scrogg in the flicks. I'm using some modified (added a few extra splitters and a 105/400w on the ends for spread) old old fixtures from cfl-growlight.com, but notice how far the lights are from the plants. Some of my plants never get withing a foot and the buds are still hard and danky. The yields could be better but I don't spend much time on my plants cropping or scrogging much, but when I do I can double the yield. If I throw in some Co2? ... Double again? The key is how much cfl light your using over your plants. With both fixtures I'm using about 1100 actual watts with a stated equivalent of about 3k watts.
Here's a few pictures of what I'm talking about below.
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B166ER420
Well-Known Member
You guys crack me up!....Those two dudes have NOT been online in a long time...
It's my opinion that nobody's gonna buy a light like that or mine.They'd be better off with DIY or investing in an led/hps.Most with cfls are doing small/micro,2 or 3 plant grows.
....and btw that's not a light,this is a light.....
Now i know i'm biased BUT i think the fixtures i made are the best looking and are the most effective way to use cf light.
On the subject of cfls proximity to foliage.....I've been using cfls for 3yrs now and a lot factors are strain dependant!Some stretch like crazy,some don't.
My two most important tips are......
KEEP YOUR LIGHTS AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE,WITHOUT BURNING
HAVE PLENTY OF AIRFLOW AND AIR EXCHANGE.
Peace.
It's my opinion that nobody's gonna buy a light like that or mine.They'd be better off with DIY or investing in an led/hps.Most with cfls are doing small/micro,2 or 3 plant grows.
....and btw that's not a light,this is a light
..... Now i know i'm biased BUT i think the fixtures i made are the best looking and are the most effective way to use cf light.
On the subject of cfls proximity to foliage.....I've been using cfls for 3yrs now and a lot factors are strain dependant!Some stretch like crazy,some don't.
My two most important tips are......
KEEP YOUR LIGHTS AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE,WITHOUT BURNING
HAVE PLENTY OF AIRFLOW AND AIR EXCHANGE.
Peace.
Stankx
Well-Known Member
Lol, now your in it too.You guys crack me up!....Those two dudes have NOT been online in a long time...
It's my opinion that nobody's gonna buy a light like that or mine.They'd be better off with DIY or investing in an led/hps.Most with cfls are doing small/micro,2 or 3 plant grows.
....and btw that's not a light,this is a light
View attachment 3295419 View attachment 3295415 View attachment 3295416
View attachment 3295421
View attachment 3295433 View attachment 3295435
View attachment 3295437
Now i know i'm biased BUT i think the fixtures i made are the best looking and are the most effective way to use cf light.
On the subject of cfls proximity to foliage.....I've been using cfls for 3yrs now and a lot factors are strain dependant!Some stretch like crazy,some don't.
My two most important tips are......
KEEP YOUR LIGHTS AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE,WITHOUT BURNING
HAVE PLENTY OF AIRFLOW AND AIR EXCHANGE.
Peace.
Not bad lights you've got there, except the one with the cfl's placed horizontally. They put out about 10% less light each in that position, but the other fixture is cool. Not sure you really need the fan instead of more light in the center but I live in Oregon so heat really isn't a big issue, even in the summer for me. I just use an osculating fan set on low in my room with good ventilation and I'm good.
I wasn't bragging about the fixtures in the pictures I have at all. This thread was about light distance from your plants. I also have another room with much nicer looking 2k cfl units. The units in my pictures are over 5 years old. Some of the bulbs are also at least two years old. I showed that because even though I hardly spend any time on my plants, and I'm using my beat up & oldest fixtures, I'm able keep my lights up off the plants for a bigger light spread AND grow OK flowers.
Like you and most of us I'm biased too. I've done it both ways, and for most growers I agree with keeping your cfl lights as close as you can, but if you've got enough cfl light that doesn't necessarily hold true. You can raise them up some for a larger spread. The light from my light overlaps each other. I can put my plants anyplace in that room and they are good at least according to my super cheap light meter.
Kudos to you and your DiY build, I like it and it looks like it works well. Just another example of how flexible cfl's can be.
Stankx
Well-Known Member
Oh I love your plants too! Nice lollipop job! keep up the good growing!Lol, now your in it too.
Not bad lights you've got there, except the one with the cfl's placed horizontally. They put out about 10% less light each in that position, but the other fixture is cool. Not sure you really need the fan instead of more light in the center but I live in Oregon so heat really isn't a big issue, even in the summer for me. I just use an osculating fan set on low in my room with good ventilation and I'm good.
I wasn't bragging about the fixtures in the pictures I have at all. This thread was about light distance from your plants. I also have another room with much nicer looking 2k cfl units. The units in my pictures are over 5 years old. Some of the bulbs are also at least two years old. I showed that because even though I hardly spend any time on my plants, and I'm using my beat up & oldest fixtures, I'm able keep my lights up off the plants for a bigger light spread AND grow OK flowers.
Like you and most of us I'm biased too. I've done it both ways, and for most growers I agree with keeping your cfl lights as close as you can, but if you've got enough cfl light that doesn't necessarily hold true. You can raise them up some for a larger spread. The light from my light overlaps each other. I can put my plants anyplace in that room and they are good at least according to my super cheap light meter.
Kudos to you and your DiY build, I like it and it looks like it works well. Just another example of how flexible cfl's can be.