Cfl Proximity To Foliage

Depleted

Depleted

Member
I've been thinking about CFL growing for a while now and i'm planning on assembling in my grow box for a Indica breed of weed, a stacking system which will let me adjust each lights position as the plants grow.

One stack in each corner and on every side, the sides will hold two lights, both at 7000K. The corners will hold one 7000k and one 2700k and the top will be a platform i can raise or lower which will hold four 7000k's, and of course every inch will be covered in Mylar.

However if the bottom of the plants seem to need more light i'll buy an extra two/four 7000k's on angled platforms with AoE disks.
 
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wizzer

Active Member
I put my CFL 2 inches above my plant last time and ot got completely fried overnight.

It is 250W 6400k blue light.

I have 5 plants 3 weeks old, is this sufficient for vegging these babies or do i need more?

I have the light about 8-12 inches above the tops of the plants now as i'm scared of cooking them like last time.
 
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ADizzle

Member
Cyphen said:
FYI for any other broke CFL growers, if you're looking to maximize your $, buy the 30w bulbs from 1000bulbs.com. At 2000 lumens output, for about $3 a bulb, it's the absolute best $ to lumen ratio amongst their CFL's.

I bought 10 bulbs from them to start my girls on, picked up 10 light sockets from this site for about $.70 since a piece:
Lamp Sockets with Leads

This gives me a total of 20,000 lumens for an overall investment of about $60.
This breaks down to a cost of $.003 per lumen. For comparison, a 400w HPS purchased through htgsupply.com will cost $150.00 after shipping and will provide 50-55,000 lumens. Using 50,000 as the production mark, this breaks down to $.003.

While the HPS is much more cost effective in the long run, providing 2.5 X the output at only 1.33 X the input, the CFL's have the advantage of being extremely customizable in size and cost of the system as well as the placement and color spectrum of each individual bulb.
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Great info and links. Thank you.
 
N

nikkelz

New Member
wizzer said:
I put my CFL 2 inches above my plant last time and ot got completely fried overnight.

It is 250W 6400k blue light.

I have 5 plants 3 weeks old, is this sufficient for vegging these babies or do i need more?

I have the light about 8-12 inches above the tops of the plants now as i'm scared of cooking them like last time.
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hey wizz....i know exactly what light you have....try keeping it at least 5- 8 inches from the plants for maximum coverage and to minimize burning....dont let people steer you wrong bro that 250 watter is more than enough to veg 2 maybe 3 plants to about 13-14 inches then you put em on 12-12 and add about (3) 42 watters 2700k to the sides for some side light and youre gonna love the results....i have the same light but in dual spectrum i added it to my existing 5 high output 64 watt cfls (3 2700k and 2 6400k) and my results are damn good so far....i need about a week before i karate chop these ho's and let em dry and cure for about another 2 to 3 weeks after that...and i'll show yall the finished product to give you a better understanding....peace and smoke on


nikkz
 
I

im high right now

Member
im using cfls right now. i have one cfl in the center the is an 84 watt (=400 watt) bulb that was from some big ass work lamp. then surrounding it i have 12 26watt(=100watt) bulbs and it puts out 25,000 lumens total. i have them all around the top and not around the sides. my plants are doing very well. forsure not the same as an hps but i think i like them better. the plants seem to stay short and very bushy with the cfls. after my veg period my plants are only 1.5ft tall. im in day 8 of flowering and all have shown gender. dont know about bud quality or quantity yet since this is my first cfl grow. if that helps you any
 
FLOWERMASTER

FLOWERMASTER

Active Member
If your growing a bush (short with a lot of top's) instead of a tree (tall with one or two tops) do you really have to surround ur plant?... look here is what i mean:



what do you think?...do u need to surround you plant or grow ur plant differently? i dont use cfl's i that idear just pop into my head....
 

Attachments

breakneck

breakneck

Calyx LED
Do you apply this rule of thumb even for new seedlings? I would think 300w or so of CFL would hurt a small plant being that close? My setup gets pretty hot when the reflector with 5 bulbs in it is a few inches over my seedling.
 
tonydash

tonydash

Well-Known Member
TeaTreeOil said:
400W HPS is maximally 20% more effective at RED spectrum(vs 6500k). And 10% less effective at BLUE spectrum(vs 6500k). 2700k CFLs stomp HPS(in RED and BLUE). HPS peak around 560nm. Not good for shit.

HPS emit a bunch of yellow-green(500-600nm) light. Humans see this light as whiter(more intense). Plants basically ignore it (~26% average utilization). The high pressure broadens this spectrum, but is still not ideal.
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If this is true, I love you :D
 
bushy.beast420

bushy.beast420

Member
I just harvested a plant I was growing with cfls. But my buds came out really fluffy with not too much crystals. Can anyone tell me why the buds were so light and fluffy instead of thick and heavy? This is my first plant ever, Im happy with the results but I know I can do better. Any input will be helpful.
 
HoLE

HoLE

Well-Known Member
Garden Knowm said:
yes!!! sort of...

lol

But this does not rule out, that CFLS can be great lights.. especially for small spaces, beginners, clones, small grows, hobbiest, people who don't want to go to the hydro shop and many more reasons...

cfls are cool :)
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I agree,,there cool,,but I have only used them to veg,,but I hooked up an employee of mine with a wack of cfl's,,an a Afgan Mafia seedling,,and a lil knowledge,,and he's doin good so far,,,he's about to go to 12 12 lighting after 6 weeks of mild growth and were gonna see what sex it shows,,I have only seen pics of the plant on a phone,,,but it looks short and stout and real green,,anyway,,cfl's are cool
 
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