Question about Flourescents

I've been searching around and cant seem to find alot of info about using flourescent for growing. I havent heard anything about different wattages to use. I heard something about not to use cool white and then another guy said use both cool white and warm. are there more kinds than just cool white and warm?

Can i use the same type of lights you would find in a school or office? or do i have to find 300w flouros?

I would say as long as you are vegatating normal cool/warm whites will be fine. They have some high output flouresence that you could probably use to bud but I have never tried them. I just use a mh or hps light. Those lights make more light per watt and you have tighter bigger buds, and thc glands are like a natural sun block so the brighter the better.

Hello 8568..

The 150 watt CFL lights that are sold at HOME DEPOT and WALMART for 8-12 dollars are great lights for growing.

The package may say 42/150 watt on it.
Here is a link to the home depot sight.

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1028948811.1156053026@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccjaddiimkklfhcgelceffdfgidgnk.0&CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc/searchResults.jsp&MID=9876&N=2984+4233&pos=n12

It will look like this bulb, but it will be more watts..

ONE of these bulbs is adequate for seedlings and clones..

If you surround a plant with 3-6 of these bulbs you can harvest 2-3 ounces per plant.

iloveyou

Thanks. yeah i saw those bulbs in home depot yesterday but thought since it was 150w incandescent equivalent it wouldnt be any good. I just bought 4 2ft 20w tubes to hang overhead. ill go pick up a couple of those bulbs too.

8568...

The CFLs are incredible. the key is to keep them less than 1 inch from the foilage... you will need to set them up so that you can adjust them easily... since cannabis plants grow so quickly...

You should (ideally) hang the CFLs so that they are NEXT to your plant (as oppsed to OVER your plant) so that more surface area of the light is closer to more surface area of your plant...

cheers

i was thinking of using 2 150 cfl's overhead since i already set up a little pulley. and i was gonna put the 2ft strips vertical on the walls. maybe ill add a 150w hps later for flowering.

is this enough for 3 plants? im only growing 3 until i can figure out whats what and pull males. say they're all females and i wanted to keep them, could this work -

4 20w 2ft flouro's
1 150w flouro
1 150w HPS

Also im still having a big problem with heat. Switching from incandescent dropped it from around 115 to 90-95. I have one of those 2x2ft fans blowing across the plants and out the door. Even though theyre only about 1 1/2inches they seem to be doing fine. They look nice and healthy. Mind you im growing in a 2x3x6ft space.

YES THAT WILL WORK..

iloveyou

the key is.. keep lights as close to the planst as possible.. if you do bring in HPS lighting, you iwll need to make sure you have adequate air flow..
ie - fans, exhaust..

You will want to flower your plants when they are 6-12 inches tall.. do not let them get taller than that before you switch to 12/12..

the more CFLs the BETTER!!

: )

iloveyou

i went out today and picked up 2 150w cfl's and what a difference. i didnt realize the tubes i was using only put out 800lumens. the cfl's are 2600 each and im gonna pick up a few more when the plant gets a bit bigger.

also now i can get the light super close to the plant since its a different fixture.

is it ok to grow start to finish just on flourescents or will i need a hps later?

8568

CFL's can produce nice quality buds and are great for beginners and veterans alike..

when kept close to the foilage (less than 1 inch) they can produce 12-20 gram BUDS!!

HPS BULBs create a lot of HEAT.. A lot of heat.. and produce TONS of ganja when used correctly...

It is not even worth getting HIDs (hps/mh) bulbs until ONE is commited to quality exhaust and temperature control..

And once you get the heat issues under control and you can get an HID 4-10 inches from your canopy, the skys the limit!!

BLING BLING

iloveyou

try to get 8 - 150 watt CFLs and keep them VERYVERY close to your plants.. you will be amazed!!!

iloveyou

i have 2 now as the plants are very small still. i plan on getting at least 2 or 3 more.

i was thinking of using 2 or 3 around the top of the plant and another 3 or so along the height of the plant to get lights to the bottom leaves.

unfortunatly even though i live on my own, its a house my father owns and he occasionally stops by. he doesnt care that i smoke weed (i am 21 so its not like he can say anything about it) and he knows im growing it, but to him seeing a closet with 10 effin lights and some exhaust system, it would freak him out a bit.

now i can only really grow the plant to be about 5ft - 5-1/2 ft AFTER flowering, so at what time do you think i should begin to flower? ive heard mj can double in height during flowering? true or not?

Sounds SMART.. : )

You will want to flower it when it is about 12 inches tall.

No TALLER than 12 inches!!

Fluorescent have zero penetration..there is no reason to grow he plant big... unless you have MASSIVE AMOUNT OF LIGHTS..

: )

Yes, it will double/triple in size when you switch the light cycle to 12/12.

cheers
: )

and i can still get a few ounces of a 1ft plant?

who carries the 150W CFL's? i have a 23 and a 26 but only one socket so... running weak at the moment.

the HD by my house has 300w cfl's for 15 bucks each i think 4800 lumens each