Go Bigger Or Keep It Small?

i have 2 choices on my hands...
i have 13 cfl bulbs that put out over 300 actual watts..
planning an SOG perpetual grow.
first room is a 30 site hydro tent that is 2ftX4ftX2ft..
other room is a 1 1/2X2 1/2X3 room..
equipped with an 8 site flood n drain table...
question is:
will i get more off of the smaller 8 site cab, with less room and more focused light??
or will the 30 site be fine with that much cfl's?
planning on running just 20 in the bigger room, 10 each row, use only 2 rows and have lighting in between the rows....
your positive input is much appreciated!!

with those lights , two short plants at the most.

keep it small with those lights...

sog and keep the lights really close

If you want to expand or want bigger plants, you really need a HPS with some penetration power... 200 little CFLs DO NOT add up to one big ass HID light...

thanks for the feedback!
really im just looking for single cola plants.. nothing too big. whatever ecceeds 15 inches will be thrown outside...
i understand that cfl's dnt match hps bt im on a budget here (including power bill!)
ive had succesful grows with just 3 68 watt cfl's, 4 plants.. sooo im pretty sure i can work with the 8 plant setup...

speaking of saving power, a HPS will convert more electricity into usable light for the plants

if your pulling 300 watts in cfls, a 250 HPS would not only save power but feed the plants a lot more

oh yeah i forgot bout that!
bt getting even a 150watt ballast is hard here, and no plastic to order... or cash!
i took the cfl route cuz ive had good grows with it..
n my climates verrrry hotttt throuought the year, so cooling that hps will give me probs....

Plebscrubber said:

speaking of saving power, a HPS will convert more electricity into usable light for the plants

if your pulling 300 watts in cfls, a 250 HPS would not only save power but feed the plants a lot more

Click to expand...

So true. Your heat issues are gonna be outta control with that much CFL going on in there.
Buy a cheap 250, or even a 150 for $69 from HTG Supply with a detachable ballast and watch it do more work then the CFL's ever could.
If you do end up getting a small watt HPS system, maximize the shit outta the lumen output, and throw a couple CFL's around the sides to aide in full plant/light ratio.

Check out my journal.
I use a 150w HPS in a 2ft wide, 2ft long, 5ft high closet in my bathroom with extra CFL power and get anywhere between 4-7oz each harvest from 4 clones depending on strain, veg time



Edit: Get a money order or send a check. Plastic isn't your only option. Even checkout Ebay products that accept PayPal. The 150's don't produce much heat when you having a fan blowing directly on them to cool them down.

C'mon guys... this isn't an HPS v. CFL thread. If it were me, I'd stick with the smaller of the two since you are using CFL after all. I'm running 6 26w bulbs for a single plant and it's in a 12x12 area... I've never attempted to grow more than just a plant at a time... but I'd imagine quality/yield would decrease dramatically when adding more space for CFLs to handle. I'm not sure how clear this sounds to you... but just my thoughts

dhg734 said:

C'mon guys... this isn't an HPS v. CFL thread. If it were me, I'd stick with the smaller of the two since you are using CFL after all. I'm running 6 26w bulbs for a single plant and it's in a 12x12 area... I've never attempted to grow more than just a plant at a time... but I'd imagine quality/yield would decrease dramatically when adding more space for CFLs to handle. I'm not sure how clear this sounds to you... but just my thoughts

Click to expand...

haha it seemed like all the HPS guys were on my thread!
dhg hows your yields with that setup??
i do have 2 150w bulbs laying around, but no ballasts...
and according to my wallet, 45 bucks worth of CFL's beats ordering any HPS from a website... shipping rapes my wallet!

if you must go cfl, make sure its a proper grow CFL with a wattage no less than 130...

a heap of little cfls wont yeild shit, especially if they are standard household bulbs and not grow spectrum

but if you kids want to play grow room with your little bulbs, whatever, your better off going outdoors and using the sun