Lighting? Im stumped :(

Whats your POs on lighting guys? CFL, HID, HPS, MH? Im currently using 245w of CFL. I was thinking of getting a 250w HPS with a cooltube Would i b better of spending the £114 for the cooltube? Or on a few more CFLs? I dunno what to do guys :/ I read loads about how HPS is much better but then people say they can pull the same yeild from CFLs? I wanna b getting like an oz+ per plant How do you guys get that? Thats what ive got atm. Saafe guys.

Up to you man, if you plan to keep enlarging your grow, for sure invest some money to make money.
But if you only plan to do one or two plants at a time, in a small area, CFL's will work.
I pulled 2.7 oz. off this, with 1 month veg under 98w, and the last month of flower had 305w. total.

Well a number of factors determin what light is most suitable for your space.

What are the dimensions of your grow space?

What is the average temp in this space?

Bakatare666 said:

But if you only plan to do one or two plants at a time, in a small area, CFL's will work...
....

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How tall was that thing?

And how long was it in flowering?

1.2(W) 60cm(D) 1.6(H) Average temp is 28c with a 400w on & off (Totaling 3 hours a day) It was lest than a foot, 1 month veg, 10 week flower. I did go through alot of stress though :/ So with what ive got i could pull an oz per plant with these plants? (Plants in the first pic) Saafe

At the present time, HID is the most efficient growing light when you factor in the variables.

There have been big advancement in both LED and Plasma (gavita) lights and I fully expect either or both to surpass HID (consistently)
in the near future. At this point there are still too many kinks/variables they are working out to consider it to be worth the investment.

Flourescent- CFL/T5,8,12 etc. are the cheapest viable lights. They are not going to give you the same as any of the above lights though.
It is very rare for someone who grows with HID to go back to CFL/flourescent.

Cool tube has the advantage of lowering air temps round plants which means you need less air circulation which makes Co2 enrichment that much cheaper/easier.

just my two cent.

Jubag420 said:

1.2(W) 60cm(D) 1.6(H) Average temp is 28c with a 400w on & off (Totaling 3 hours a day) It was lest than a foot, 1 month veg, 10 week flower. I did go through alot of stress though :/ So with what ive got i could pull an oz per plant with these plants? (Plants in the first pic) Saafe

Click to expand...

I don’t see why you wouldn't get an ounce per plant.

Give them a nice veg, let them grow to half the height you want them to be (indica) a Sativa strain can tipple in height so be careful, then flip them to 12/12.

Your space is kinda tight so CFL's might be your best bet.

Ok guys, if i stick with CFL i'd buy 2 more 125w Giants Soo id b totaling 375w (Real watts) My last plant was fucked but the plants ive got now are 20-30cm, I flipped them last week buh kinda want to veg abit more :/ Revert back? What do you guys think? Saafe

375w of cfl with never equal the equivalent in hps.

I use 400w hps and generally get 4oz per plant with 4x2ft tall plants.

I use an open adjust a wing reflector with a 6" RVK150E2-A1 480m3/h fan on a temperature sensored fan speed controller and CANLITE 6" filter. Passive intakes.



My vote is if you can keep your room cool enough and exchange the air correctly then get yourself hps.


My last cheese harvest was 439g dry from my 400w lumatek setup.



J

250W HPS is better for flowering than 250W fluorescent any day. 400W HPS is even better than 250W HPS! I've been stubborn before and tried 500W fluorescent and got low yield that took forever to finish. There's no point in upping your CFL wattage if you're going over 250W.

250W HPS is good for 5sqft to 6sqft
400W HPS is good for 8sqft to 10sqft

Anything else and you're just playing around (cfl) or experimenting (led).

Use the cfls for a mother/clone box.

Also, you don't need a cooltube for such a small setup. 400W of HPS is going to generate just as much heat as 400W fluorescent anyway, just keep the area ventilated.

He may need a cool tube in such a small space.

Well with the set up ive got now i have to keep the door open all day otherwise temps would hit 38-40c :/

Bakatarre has great results from using cfls. But most gardeners don't see near the bud production that he does from cfl.

Jondamon and I both run 400W. Unless you kill your plants you should see great results from MH/HPS.

I have a 2'X3' grow closet and a 400w MH/HPS in a cool tube. My first grow was over 2.3 oz per plant, I had four plants in there!

HID = HEAT

Add some budget dollars for evacuating the heat generated from these lamps. They are hot!

New technologies are being developed but IMO, are not there yet...LEDs are showing promise but are cost prohibitive at this point compared to HIDs.

400W HPS will work wonders if you can keep the heat down.