WHich CFL to get?

So I am growing a lowrider autoflowering tomato plant and I want to do it with CFLS. The problem is that I dont know which ones to get or even to look for. Any tips. Websites. Suggestions on wattage and setups. Whatever it is, I need to be descrete and keep the setup small. So maybe a few larger bulbs would work?

u want 6500k for veg and 2750- 3000 for flower if i did one plant i would run 150-200 watts and i mean actual wattage not the incand. equivalent
but first have you grown before and if u have was it just outdoors in any case u need to start doing a bunch of reading like the grow facts and sticky post in every forum that applies to what u r doing then when u have done all that keep reading

but if u get stumped by something pm me and i will try to help and they have a search button here too or use google

Thanks for the reply. I had a 150W HPS setup and a 400HPS/MH digital ballast with cooltube setup before. I only got a few somewhat finished crops done. But for the most part I know what Im doing. Except when it comes to CFLs.

Should smell be a factor with only 2 lowriders that should last only 2 months from seed to harvest? What should I get to power the bulb?

fabfun said:

u want 6500k for veg and 2750- 3000 for flower if i did one plant i would run 150-200 watts and i mean actual wattage not the incand. equivalent
but first have you grown before and if u have was it just outdoors in any case u need to start doing a bunch of reading like the grow facts and sticky post in every forum that applies to what u r doing then when u have done all that keep reading

but if u get stumped by something pm me and i will try to help and they have a search button here too or use google

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yes u got to control odor
and go to indoor growing they have a cfl sub forum and a tutorial that should help u out
and why are u not using your other lights
is it heat or stealth that is the reason?

some CFL tips,
Cant really have to many cfls/too much wattage so go crazy
You want the bulbs to be 2-3in from the leaves or else you will get stretch
Other than that not much

Good luck sir keep us posted

Oh and on odor get some carbon filters and maybe some of that ona odor absorbing gel

^^ Yah HPS generally give better results (or even better HPS+CFL :O)

I think it is great how when someone asks about which light to use on this site people just throw 6500k and 2700k at them. Way to help.

im using a blue spec 125w cfl for veg and a red version of that bulb for flowering i just stuck it on flowerin last night so we shall see how it goes, 1st grow but its going well check my journal!

bigv1976 said:

I think it is great how when someone asks about which light to use on this site people just throw 6500k and 2700k at them. Way to help.

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But that's what you should be looking for. What else do you want, daylight and soft white? Anywho, take a look at my setup. I'm growing with CFLs, seems to be working pretty well for me.

Yeah but the guy didnt ask what spectrum he asked what type and any tips regarding set up etc. I am pretty sure spectrum is covered seeing how it is in about every thread.

Well for type, I have 1 big 105 watt and some smaller 32 watt bulbs on the side. This set up is perfect if you top and LST. No one can really tell you how to set up your lights though. Plant growth differs. The great thing about CFLs is that you can get light to pretty much ANY budsite, just move one of your bulbs or add another. Play around with them, I've moved my bulbs dozens of times throughout my grow.

the main thing I found with CFLs is that you have to move them daily. I moved mine minimum onve a day and I think I repositioned them 4 times at most in one day constantly trying to get light to key places.

I'm considering switching to a hps/mh set up

OK... I'm growing with CFL's my first time around.... What do you mean by actual wattage? For instance, a 13w CFL has (X?) amount of actual wattage... Well what does a 43w CFL put out in actual wattage? Would appreciate it if someone that truly knows broke it down for me.

43w = 150w actual light power. Actual wattage means what its putting out as far as light power, but its only taking 43w of energy to run it. make sense ?

That is the equivelent wattage incandescent bulb which doesnt mean shit.

In the forums when people say they have *900w of CFL lighting, what their refering to is the incandecent equivilant of nine 100w lights.

When they say they have 13w CFLs and 43w CFLs for a total of 56w those numbers refer to the actual ammount of electricity used by the lights or Actual watts.

A good CFL grow has 150+ actual watts or roughly 3-9 lights per plant comming from all different angles to get the most lighting coverage which is why with the CFLs you have to constantly reposition the lights.


(this is an oversimplified answer but it answers your question)

kush714 said:

43w = 150w actual light power. Actual wattage means what its putting out as far as light power, but its only taking 43w of energy to run it. make sense ?

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Wrong, a 43 watt CFL put out 43 watts and only uses 43 watts. The incandescent equivalent means nothing, like bigv said.

Check this out, this is how you want to have it. multiple Cfl's covering a decent amount of the plants, + a couple on the sides... so with that being said, you would want to go with a bunch of 42 watters, they sell em everywhere, wal-mart , home depo, ect... use a bunch of 42 watters and a few 26 watters for ur lower growth and you will see a great improvement on the bud growth and yeild, over a single or 2 x 150 watters ...

Lights dont put out watts they make lumens.

The comparison they use between actual watts and equivalent watts is for an old lady changing the bulbs in her living room not for growing dope so why discuss it here?

but watts = lum's, 42 watt cfl's = 2700 lum's 26 watt cfl = 1600 lum's