CFL? HPS? Which for ScrOG?

So I've posted on the site asking different questions about setups, seeds, types of growing, etc. I have been met with many a good answer so for one, I would like to thank the ENTIRE site for being able to produce information to complete noobs like myself.

Now my questions are about lighting

I've been researching through books on growing, looking through guides on-line, taking down notes on other people's DIY grow kits/boxes/containers, etc. and I've pretty come up with the same answer every time but I want to know WHICH one is the best for ScrOG indoor growing: CFL or HPS

The specs of our soon to be set up set-up (lulz) is a 31 gallon DIY Rubbermaid tub with a lid and we are ScrOG'in it on our first grow ever. We are planing on putting one plant in a pot (also what's a good size pot for a plant?) and are going to have 2x 120mm computer fans going out while 2 elbowed PVC pipe pieces are letting air come in (I've read fresh air is the key to great rH so I added another intake). I am planning on putting the exhausts on top in the lid and the intake PVC at the bottom on the side (like all the other kits). We are either painting the inside white/outside black or we're using mylar.

As far as lighting, I've read that we'll need to get 2x 18" light fixtures with three sockets per fixture for lights. The lights that are supposed to go in them are General Electric 47709 Compact Fluorescent Lamp, 26 Watt Pkg of 6 (that's what I found on Google shopping and am planning on getting). My roommate suggested we use 2 power strips and use those individual Y plug-in light adapters with the same bulbs (simply to avoid having to strip and reconnect the wiring from both an extension cord and the light fixtures. Instead we are going to use velcro strips up and down the container and put a velcro strip on the back of each one of the power strips to be able to adjust the height of the light)

Now can someone explain to me how this whole "lighting system" is supposed to work? I'm looking at it like this: I have 6x 26w CFL light bulbs that are providing light to one plant. That's a combo of 156W (overall) and a total of 10,200 lumens. So then I look at the HPS and people are talking about using 400w+ HPS lights and so on.

Now in a book I've also read that they say use Metal Halide(MH) lights for both vegging AND flowering states.


So which is it? One CFL lightbulb is 26W at 1700 Lumens whereas a single HPS can be 150w but push out over 16,000 Lumens and then a MH says a 600W pushes over 60,000 lumens, provides the best light spectrum for plants (blue/indigo) and the temp is around 4200K. I've read that Lumens are ESSENTIAL to your plant's growth but people in their kits are using mostly CFL. And how much is too many lumens?


Why? I know there's a science behind the lighting but I dont understand it. Can someone explain it better?
 

Catchin22

Well-Known Member
HPS and MH will always be better than CFL. Usually CFLs are used for Affordability or small grows where you don't actually WANT that much light or heat, or just for convenience and privacy.

If none of those are an issue you want the HPS/MH. Check the link in my sig for an HPS/MH combo, comes with both bulbs. MH is used for veg it is 6400k, HPS is used for Flowering it is 2100k

You can get away with vegging with your CFLs using 6500k bulbs and then switch to flower with your HPS. This will save you money and you will still get good dense buds and nice veg growth with the CFLs. You can grow all the way through with CFLs, lots of people do but you wont get the same results as you would with a HPS.

To summarize, if you can afford to go HPS/MH DO IT and don't bother wasting money on the CFLs. It may seem cheap but gets expensive fast adding all the Y connectors and yadda yadda. Remember with the HPS you're going to have heat, and you will need some good venting and air circulation!
 
Ok. So I'm only gonna do one plant for now (because its my first grow for 1 and 2, trying to keep it discreet and a low cost). But I'm trying to keep it all CFL. So whats the recommended Kalvin and Lumens rating I need for the flowering stage using CFL's?

Also, I noticed that Catchin22 said to use 6500K CFL bulbs for vegging. I know the lumens are at 1700 a bulb and I'm using 6x 26W CFL bulbs. I tried finding the K rating for these but cant. Does anyone know? And if so, Do I add all of my K together between all of the bulbs to get an overall number?
 

Catchin22

Well-Known Member
No the K is just the kelvin rating, adding lights does not change it, it's the color of the light. You can google the part number on the bulb to find out. 6500k is going to be blue or "cool" and 2700k will be more orange / yellow and "warm" The bulbs may say "warm/soft" or "cool/daylight" on them instead of the kelvin. You should try to get around 100w per plant at min.
 
I heard you get more heat though from HPS. Should I worry about that inside of the tubberware container? cause if one HPS wont cause more problems than 6x 26w then ill be set I guess. I was just using that many to make sure light got everywhere as well
 

silverserf

Well-Known Member
I just got a 150w HPS light from rona, it's a security light. Tried one plant under if for the first grow and she turned out about 5 feet tall....

This leads me to believe that putting a 150 W HPS in a rubbermaid is not going to be a good idea...your going to start a fire or burn out a retina or something.....

I use a rubbermaid for clones and veg with one 23w cfl, they don't grow great but i don't really want them to in there..cause there is no room...

So maybe the question should be how much space do you have?

Cheers,
SilverSerf
 
The roommate and I just finished building our rubbermaid kit today (minus the actual plant and a few other things. I think we've agreed to use a 125w CFL 6500K AND a 125W CFL 2700K at the same time throughout the whole plant's life.
 
I just got a 150w HPS light from rona, it's a security light. Tried one plant under if for the first grow and she turned out about 5 feet tall....

This leads me to believe that putting a 150 W HPS in a rubbermaid is not going to be a good idea...your going to start a fire or burn out a retina or something.....

I use a rubbermaid for clones and veg with one 23w cfl, they don't grow great but i don't really want them to in there..cause there is no room...

So maybe the question should be how much space do you have?

Cheers,
SilverSerf
We're working with 31"x17"x19"
 
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