Combining CFL's with HID lights?
- Thread starter eag
- Start date
Fluff Up
Well-Known Member
CFL's shouldn't be instantly dismissed, it'll help for some supplementary lighting while in flower, the more lumens the better but if the tent is too small for side lighting then forget it, really though the bigger & betterer the lights the better the grow
can you divide in to 2 grow area's? 1 for veg and 1 for flower? I flower in a tent but veg in a small closet as the lighting, air flow/cooling & de-stankification are requirements are lower
can you divide in to 2 grow area's? 1 for veg and 1 for flower? I flower in a tent but veg in a small closet as the lighting, air flow/cooling & de-stankification are requirements are lower
Hello rkymtnman! Based on my budget and what I've read about CFL's, I consider keeping them atleast for side lightning since as Fluff Up said more lumens the better, though I understand very well why you don't prefer them. When it comes to my grow space it is a 120cm x 110cm wide closet with a height of 2,5m.
Hello Fluff Up Thanks for your answer aswell!
I agree with using the CFL's for flowering too, as I mentioned in my reply to rkymtnman. Unfortanetly I cannot divide into 2 grow area's, since im doing a stealth grow and cannot afford a tent at the moment, maybe in the future. How big is your tent?
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
not that i don't like them. for side lighting, i'd go with T5's vs CFL's for the more even coverage you get of a long tube vs a small bulb. i keep my plants short (1m or less) and my light penetrates all the way to the bottom buds so don't need side lights.
your space is about the same as mine. 3ft x 4 ft (non metric). i went with a 600 HPS for it and i have liked teh results so far. i had a 400 CMH before and it didn't cover the area properly. i use a 400 watt LED in my veg tent.
Thanks for the information. What do you think about these? Would the 400w be good enough for flower?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VIVOSUN-Horticulture-400w-600w-1000w-Watt-MH-HPS-Grow-Light-Bulb-HID-Lamp-/131531603915?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item1e9fe4ffcb
I have a decent fan on continuously and it works pretty well. The room temperature stays at about 25 celsius, what do you think the temperature would be with a 600W HID if I would remove the CFL's?
Yeah I keep the plants in the center and have a 110W blue spectrum and a 23w violet grow light in the middle (which was quite expensive for its low wattage). On the sides of each plant I have 2x 23W.
By the way here's a picture of my two plants. Picture was taken about a week ago
http://rollitup.org/t/2x-master-kush-nirvana-feminized-seeds-80-days-veg.878234/
http://rollitup.org/t/2x-master-kush-nirvana-feminized-seeds-80-days-veg.878234/
rkymtnman
Well-Known Member
so about 200 watts cfl now?
i'm not familiar with the violet bulb? can you post some specs?
in that space, i'd suggest an air cooled reflector. for either a 400 or 600 HID. if not, you'll be fighting temp issues i think.
your temp right now is perfect. you don't want to go much over 80F 27C. hard to say if you take out cfls and add HID. probably go up a few degrees at least.
what is your budget like?
Yes around 215 watts and 20k~ lumens.
Since I borrowed it from a friend who doesn't remember the company that the lights were made by, I unfortanetly cannot give any specs. He mentioned it did cost a little over 70 euros back in the days and claimed it to be decent.
Here's a couple pictures instead if it gives you any idea of what im talking about:
http://tinypic.com/r/2lv0pk6/8
http://tinypic.com/r/2nbvksi/8
Alright I see. Im still a little confused of what lights I should use since if HID's are too hot and requires an aircooled reflector. My budget is very small, I doubt it will be more than 80 euros that will say 88~ US dollars.
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Fluff Up
Well-Known Member
I'm not using an air-cooled reflector, you get away with it but it's a bitch in peak summer but if you're northern europe like me that's 6 weeks of the year where heating will be a bitch and the rest of the year you mostly just need an open window to bring in some cool air i.e. it's currently 10C outside here and my tent is at 29C and cooling from the real day
400w is something your space will cope with and as we're coming in to winter heating isn't the biggest issue you'll face and should have the funds together to get a cooled reflector by March/April next year
IMO get a 400W HPS, supplement with the CFL's you have and plan to upgrade to an air cooled hood and some strip lighting i.e. rkymtnman's plan on longer time scale
400w is something your space will cope with and as we're coming in to winter heating isn't the biggest issue you'll face and should have the funds together to get a cooled reflector by March/April next year
IMO get a 400W HPS, supplement with the CFL's you have and plan to upgrade to an air cooled hood and some strip lighting i.e. rkymtnman's plan on longer time scale
cc2012
Well-Known Member
Hello eag Nice Looking Plants.
You could maybe do with getting them CFL Bulbs a little closer though(at max 3-4" away) and turn em on their side for better light spread(tips are pretty much dead spots) also i don't think adding the Lumens together is how it works(could be wrong) but think each is to its own, so IF say you have 5 or 10 x 30w CFL @ 2000L then you have 5 or 10 Light sources at 2000L(which gets less with distance) Fluros do give a better spread from what I've read, Though not used so can't say.. but I have used plenty of CFLS Small and Big - 30w > 200w(tha Giant ones) plenty of people DO flower with CFL and are happy with the Results.. But it won't be in tha same League as Mh/Hps.. tend to be fluffier with CFL though with tha right setup and strain...with Practice you can get really Good results from a small CFL setup..idk? down to budget and Heat Levels in tha Grow Room. Sometimes, better to save and buy better though than to buy twice.
atb
You could maybe do with getting them CFL Bulbs a little closer though(at max 3-4" away) and turn em on their side for better light spread(tips are pretty much dead spots) also i don't think adding the Lumens together is how it works(could be wrong) but think each is to its own, so IF say you have 5 or 10 x 30w CFL @ 2000L then you have 5 or 10 Light sources at 2000L(which gets less with distance) Fluros do give a better spread from what I've read, Though not used so can't say.. but I have used plenty of CFLS Small and Big - 30w > 200w(tha Giant ones) plenty of people DO flower with CFL and are happy with the Results.. But it won't be in tha same League as Mh/Hps.. tend to be fluffier with CFL though with tha right setup and strain...with Practice you can get really Good results from a small CFL setup..idk? down to budget and Heat Levels in tha Grow Room. Sometimes, better to save and buy better though than to buy twice.
atb
Fluff Up
Well-Known Member
@cc2012 you're right, looked in to it a bit and I'm describing lux not lumens, lux is the amount of light on an area, lumens are the amount of light a source puts out, so what I should have been saying is the CFLs will increase the lux in the grow area but it's not a 2+2=4 thing with the lumens it's more 2+2=3.33 but more input will always be more output.
Didn't mention that having the 6500K CFLs in with the 2700K HPS will also make the plant happier, in nature they do get some of that spectrum during flower & we are aiming to replicate the best parts of nature in our tents
Didn't mention that having the 6500K CFLs in with the 2700K HPS will also make the plant happier, in nature they do get some of that spectrum during flower & we are aiming to replicate the best parts of nature in our tents