First time grower. Enough light??

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Endorium

Member
Hi

This is my first time growing so please be gentle!
I am growing in a space that is W70cmxD45xH150cm so it is a small grow.
I am doing hydroponics(NFT System) and plan to do 2 - 3 plants at most.
At the moment I have a 90W LED UFO light. Its the latest gen and seems to put out a lot of light!! Its triple spectrum(red,Blue and or yellow).They are 1 watt LED's.
Been a small grow area(covered in top quailty MYLAR) is this enough? Its a wide angle light so I presume I should keep it very close to the plants.
If its not enough would this help for flowering
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ONE-RED-SPECTRUM-250W-8U-E40-CFL-Grow-Light-Bulb-/330479676453?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item4cf21fac25

thanks for any help you can give me
 
Btrja

Btrja

Member
Min. of 100watts per plant. 'The more the better' generously applies here. Plus 1 watters don't have a hole lot of penetration. Get more light.
 
Bonzi Lighthouse

Bonzi Lighthouse

Well-Known Member
Start your seedlings under a 125w 6500K (blue). Then switch to the 250w 2700K (red). Add the led if you already bought it, otherwise save your money and try bleeding edge lights after you have a few grows under your belt.

250w CFL is plenty for 2 -3 plants.

This is 8 plants under a single 250w CFL, key is they were very mature clones of clones.

DSCF3243.jpg
 
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Endorium

Member
Thanks for the replys. Nice plants Bonzi.

I will invest in the 250w CFL as its cheap and you say will make a difference. I had heard my LED was good for vegative growth but terrible for flowering!
Trying to keep the setup fairly quiet. Its only a very small setup. Any suggestions on a extractor/fan for when things get smelly(Ipresume I will only need a very small one). Cheaper the better (obviously!)
Also how can I introduce an extraction fan without light leaking out? At the moment it is all contained in a mylar/light out lined warddrobe
 
MrJones86

MrJones86

Active Member
Endorium said:
Thanks for the replys. Nice plants Bonzi.

I will invest in the 250w CFL as its cheap and you say will make a difference. I had heard my LED was good for vegative growth but terrible for flowering!
Trying to keep the setup fairly quiet. Its only a very small setup. Any suggestions on a extractor/fan for when things get smelly(Ipresume I will only need a very small one). Cheaper the better (obviously!)
Also how can I introduce an extraction fan without light leaking out? At the moment it is all contained in a mylar/light out lined warddrobe
Click to expand...
https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/101248-best-diy-ez-walmart-carbon.html

Takes care of light and smell in one package.

Or you could build a light trap. Here's a ghetto looking video I stumbled across a while back when I was going to do a micro grow.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/user/rjcw2#p/u/25/-uzzFCDpmkU[/video]
 
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Endorium

Member
Thanks for all the info. That DIY carbon filter is a great idea!!!Making one tomorrow.
I am using La diva(delicous seeds) auto flowering. From what I see this will start to flower in 12-16 days form start.
Returned LED light and am now using a 250w cfl 6400k blue spectrum for grow stage and will use 250w cfl 2700k red spectrum for flowering.
I think this would be enough for 2 - 3 plants in my size enclosure?
This strain is meant to have compact buds. Would this be enough light to avoid getting wooly buds and a decent crop?
I realise lights have to be quite close to the plants
 
Bonzi Lighthouse

Bonzi Lighthouse

Well-Known Member
I think you will be very happy, just keep them as short as possible as the CFL, IME, does not have the penatration of HID or coverage and flexability of mulitpal smaller CFLs.

2 - 3 plants you should be fine.
 
E

Endorium

Member
did think about smaller CFL's and more of them but to much hassle hanging them and wiring.
Got a LED due to cheap electric bills. How does a 250w CFL compare with a 90W LED as far as electric use goes?
Thanks for the help so far everyone
 
Bonzi Lighthouse

Bonzi Lighthouse

Well-Known Member
Endorium said:
did think about smaller CFL's and more of them but to much hassle hanging them and wiring.
Got a LED due to cheap electric bills. How does a 250w CFL compare with a 90W LED as far as electric use goes?
Thanks for the help so far everyone
Click to expand...
90w running 24/0 will run $6.57/mth @ $.1/kWh, $3.39 @ 12/12, 250w running 24/0 will run $18.25/mth @ $.1/kWh, $9.24 @ 12/12.

So riddle me this batman, how long till you break even CFL Vs LED, what the life span of a 90w LED? 250w CFL?
 
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Endorium

Member
CFL is more to run then. From what I have read I will get a lot more crop from the 250w CFL than a 90 LED so I imagine it shows its benifit from my first crop using CFL.
Amazed at how fast they are growiing even in the original stages
 
Bonzi Lighthouse

Bonzi Lighthouse

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure how the PAR value of a 90w LED compares to a 250w CFL. Some say LED produces the plant usable light more efficiently so theoretically the yield could be greater on a per watt basis.
 
E

Endorium

Member
Only problem is 250w of decent LED light will set me back 300 - 400 pounds!
Maybe in a year when prices drop and they bring out 3 - 7 watt LED's
 
E

Endorium

Member
You mention using several small CFL instead of one large. The area is covered in the best quality Mylar I could find and it reflects the light round very well. Would this go some way to making up for the fact I only have one big CFL?
 
Bonzi Lighthouse

Bonzi Lighthouse

Well-Known Member
I tried 12 23w CFL and they were unmanageable. FWIW I don't think running a single 250w CFL is inferior to multiples as long as you keep the plants short, mature clones work well.
 
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Endorium

Member
cheers Bonzai. You have ben a great help.
Also as far as C02 goes. Does it make a big difference?
I have done mixing yeast and sugar with water in a 2 litre coke bottle. Reaction creates C02.
Would not mind getting a small proper c02 setup if it makes much difference?
 
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