Lighting question

i was gonna run a bunch of 23 watters but im starting to think maybe going with a 42 watter with 2800 lumans bc i also heard 2500 lumens per plant is ideal.. if i ran 2x42 watters equaling 5600 lumens per plant. would that suffice with a good reflectant?

Also im growing an autoflower idk if it makes a difference bc i know they dont get big

how many plants are you gonna grow... 2500 lumens is not enough light for a plant... u need to push much more than that...

oh k thanks. i must of read it wrong. im growin 5 autoflowers. was thinkn 2 or 3 42 watters per plant. and a 23 watter on each side of the plant.

if i go with 3 42 watters. ill have 3 42 waters and 2 23 watters per plant. that good? or more?

well if you're set on using cfl/fluorescent lighting (which i wouldn't be personally) i would consider getting a 4ft x 4 or 6 bulb fluorescent lighting fixture (home depot has them) and hang that above your plants. now this kind of lighting is not very strong at penetrating through a canopy as cfl/fluoroscent has low lumenage... so you can use a little trick like they do in BC canada (but they do it with 1000 watt HPS lamps with no reflector) and hang a few of those 23 watt cfls vertically right inbetween your plants (hang at half the plants height) to help the lower growth out as much as possible. also a little note, by hanging those cfls inbetween your plant they are throwing off 360 degrees of light (rather than trying to aim it in a direction which would be straight down) so you are being more efficient with your light that way... also make sure you are rotating your plants 90 degrees every other day or so for even growth

so now with the 4ft 4 or 6 banger fluoros you have a good strong fixture above your plants, and those little bulbs hanging vertically in between them will help out the lower sections. if you would like a diagram just let me know and i'll try and make one for you

now if it were me... i would say you'd be better off just getting a 250 watt MH/HPS lamp (interchangable)... they're inexpensive and only cost around 15-20$ a month to run and you will increase your yield significantly (i've harvested a 1/2 lb off 4 plants on a 250watt HPS) and i'm not claiming to be a professional by any means

the problem with the cfl.fluorescent lighting is that it tends to produce more leaf in and around the buds rather than the buds nugging up so to say... that's just a thought though... i would prefer to smoke more bud than leaf

ya i was thinkn about just going with a 4 bulb t5 fixture. as for the HPS when using one of those.. if a chopper would go over my house.. would they pick up a 250 watt HPS and bust me? thats y i was thinkn cfls or T5's would be a great idea. just wanna grow some personal without gettn busted.

i really wouldnt be worried about it... when they're looking they're not lookin 1 light bulb... that could be anything from your hot water tank to your oven being on... all kinds of stuff... i grew with my 250 for 3 years... never a problem. now when they are looking with a chopper, they are looking for an odd "hot room" in your house... hot roof spots... or if you have a lot of HPS lamps they'll see that you have them "placed" particularly evenly spaced apart...

but just one HPS i would not worry a bit, one hot spot isnt enough to conclude that you for sure are growing lol... just make sure you keep your room temps under control.. and that 250 watt doesnt put off a lot of heat... so u dont need a big fan to pull the air out of your room, anything around 150 cfm will do you fine, and the better your grow is sealed up, the better your fan will exchange the air

Geezy: have you thought about a fixture of T-5's? There are a lot of different lighting options now but most increase the ambient temperature enough to be a problem. You ought to at least consider it. HSA

right on bro. thanks. i will prolly go with it. i always wantd to grow with CFLs bc of the concept and its cheap. but now that i calculate it. i was gonna run 750 watts of cfls. lol y not just run 1 250 watter. now there is a high times about 30 min away. should i go there to snag one? or would the homedepot HPS fixtures work. there only 70 watts. but i could run 2 of them maybe 3. like how much are these 250 watters? u gotta good site u bought urs from? or is it not safe to purchase lights like that online?

HSA i hve thought about.. runnin 4 t5s with a couple CFLs. but if i can snag a HPS for pretty much the same amount. ill prolly roll with an HPS 2bhonest

i added it up if i run 4 t5s and 5 cfls for 5 plants. ill be around 250 watts.. y not just run a 250 hps.. if were only talking 50$ difference to go HPS. ill cut down to 1 coffee a day ill save that by the time my autoflower buds r ready. lol. kidding obviously.

and shluby do i need to get an interchangable for autoflower? or could i just roll a HPS from seed to flower?

When you start crossing the 250 to 400 watt range, all the connections/adapters/plugs you need to run CFLs make them not as "Cost" efficient. A lot of people still use them probably up to 400 watts or more, just b/c they can add a few CFL every week or so and "Amortize" the cost of the lighting. Heat/ventilation also makes CFL a better choice over MH/HPS at the 250 to 400W range. As for the 42W bulbs vs. the 23 to 25W bulbs, I just priced online and in Big Box stores, and you can get about 100W of CFL with four X 25W bulb for $10 to $12. Since 42W bulbs are b/t $10 to $13 each, you are getting almost 2.5 times the wattage for the same cost with the 25Watters. But like I said earlier, the fittings/connecters/plugs start getting annoying/expensive with CFL. All in all, it probably balances out with the 25 and 42W bulbs, if you figure in extra plugs/cords/fixtures needed for the 25W bulbs.

If you want 250 to 400W of light instantly, go HPS/MH. If you do not mind all the extra hassle of CFL lights, then that works as well. Finally, what I think happens a lot with personal growers, is they can start with just 50 to 100W of CFL to get plants vegged up to maybe 3 to 4 weeks (talking only 1 or 2 plants). Then they can either keep going with CFL, or then have 3 to 4 weeks of research/thinking time to decide if MH/HPS is the better choice for flowering and future grows.

Just a little 2 cents for thought.

Geezy101 said:

HSA i hve thought about.. runnin 4 t5s with a couple CFLs. but if i can snag a HPS for pretty much the same amount. ill prolly roll with an HPS 2bhonest

Click to expand...

its a good move... you're buds will be happier with the hps light over the cfl. dont buy hps from home depot... and for this matter when it comes to growing cannabis, no matter what size your set up is... spending the extra money on something nicer is always going to benefit you in the long run... cheap things are cheap because that's what they are made of... cheap materials. Do yourself a favor and go to htgsupply.com or your favorite hydro site and just look around at the conventional (HPS) lighting. they have lights of all sizes and it will give you an idea of what you need to be looking for. I would recommend upgrading your hood to the 6" coolmax as you can hook up a duct from your lamp hood to your exhaust fan for direct cooling because there is a piece of glass that seals off your hood from the plants below... meaning you can keep your light closer to your plants and get bigger buds winner winner chicken dinner... the 250watt will be perfect for 5 plants in 2 gallon pots

great laydown bro. exactly what i was thinkn. i was sold on the cfls but like u said if ur gonna run 250-400 watts of cfl. y not just throw out a few more bucks with less connections and snag a 250 hps. aslong as i feel its not heat for the cops. im game for the hps no doubt

I agree with the above poster that 250 to 400W HPS will definitely not bring the attention of any chopper or Utility comp (especially if it is in an interior portion of the house). The absolute biggest thing for getting busted is to make sure closet/cabinet is completely stealth as you can get it with proper vent/light dampening. And DO NOT TELL A SOUL THAT YOU ARE GROWING! Not even your best bud or mom.

That is where a lot of people FUBAR themselves, is bragging/telling friends that you got some good bud coming.

theres a HIgh times like 40 min away from me. i just called em. he said pop in hill match any online price or price around the area.. for a 250 watt HPS. anyone know a cheap site for 250 watters?? link em up that would b straight solid! im a search as well..

thanks to everybody for ur help. Greatly appreciated! stoners helping stoners. wouldnt want it any other way!

Geezy101 said:

and shluby do i need to get an interchangable for autoflower? or could i just roll a HPS from seed to flower?

Click to expand...

i have no experience with auto flower plants... i would assume they're just HPS dependent since they start flowering immediately... but im sure someone will chime in on here to help you out that's what this place is for!

to be safe though i would get an interchangable one anyway... because that way you can keep your options open for growing different strains should you chose do to so, you wont be limited to just autoflower (even though you can veg under HPS or MH growers tend to lean towards HPS for flowering)

also if you can buy a digital ballast over the magnet and coil style ballast... save a little $ on the hydro bill

wait noah what do u mean when u say stealth closet and light damper?? im a run a 250 hps for 5 plants would i need that?
also im a keep my closet doors open. its a 2 x 9 closet with 2 sliding doors.. basically a big walkin closet in an upstairs bedroom. ill be growin autoflowers on a 20/4 cycle

NoahEbin said:

I agree with the above poster that 250 to 400W HPS will definitely not bring the attention of any chopper or Utility comp (especially if it is in an interior portion of the house). The absolute biggest thing for getting busted is to make sure closet/cabinet is completely stealth as you can get it with proper vent/light dampening. And DO NOT TELL A SOUL THAT YOU ARE GROWING! Not even your best bud or mom.

That is where a lot of people FUBAR themselves, is bragging/telling friends that you got some good bud coming.

Click to expand...

AMEN buddy