# CFL "how many"



## canibanol cannonball (Aug 2, 2008)

my flower room is 3.5feet x 2 x 6 (length,width, height). I'll be only flowering 3 plants in 3 stages (newbie, 1 month, 2month). How many CFL bulbs would be enough? I have a 4 socket ballast but was thinking of getting another. Ive read alot but cant seem to find a plant=bulb ratio.


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## Melissa (Aug 2, 2008)

*hi you will need a minimum of 5000lumens per sqft :48:*


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## canibanol cannonball (Aug 2, 2008)

ok, math hurts my brain. So 3.5x2x6=42 sq ft. 42x5000=210000 divided by lights lumen (1600)
210000/1600=131.25 CFL's? 
131, that dont sound good. Is my math off?


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## Melissa (Aug 2, 2008)

*erm not sure maths isnt my strong point i got it 2 beabout 35000 lumens you needed 
hopefully somebody else will put us to shame and correctly answer*


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## ChatNoir (Aug 2, 2008)

35,000 lumen you need. Divide 35,000 to lumen per bulb to see how many bulbs are needed.


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## slowmo77 (Aug 2, 2008)

alot of people say 3000 to 5000 lumens per square foot, but melissa hit it. with cfls the more the merrier. i run 17 cfls in a 2x2x4 flowering box and could get away with less. you could get 12 42watt cfls. but you don't need them all at once. buy some cheap 23watt cfls to start with you can get them for 2 dollars a piece at some stores just look around. if you go with all 23watt bulbs you'll need 21 but thats only about 45$ worth of lights were the 42 watters are 9$ each. hope this helps.good luck


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## Growdude (Aug 2, 2008)

slowmo77 said:
			
		

> alot of people say 3000 to 5000 lumens per square foot, but melissa hit it. with cfls the more the merrier. i run 17 cfls in a 2x2x4 flowering box and could get away with less. you could get 12 42watt cfls. but you don't need them all at once. buy some cheap 23watt cfls to start with you can get them for 2 dollars a piece at some stores just look around. if you go with all 23watt bulbs you'll need 21 but thats only about 45$ worth of lights were the 42 watters are 9$ each. hope this helps.good luck


 
I think with CFL's you get to a point its not worth it.
12 - 42 watt CFL's = 504 watts and put out less lumens and more heat than a 400 HPS.


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## 4u2sm0ke (Aug 2, 2008)

Hey Growdude...what about those that start with a few cfl's..then keep adding as they can afford it...then they have so much into it they can't throw it out ..just my thaughts

alsojust read a thread by cyberquest on the compaison between cfl and HID..I dont know how to link it here sorry..


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## slowmo77 (Aug 2, 2008)

the thing that people don't realize is that a hps might produce 50,000 lumens or whatever but since it has to be placed further away then the amount of lumens your plant recieves isn't what your light puts out. the cfls can produce the same lumens and be placed closer to the plant without burning you plants. heres a link that explains it better than i can.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8581


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## Growdude (Aug 2, 2008)

slowmo77 said:
			
		

> the thing that people don't realize is that a hps might produce 50,000 lumens or whatever but since it has to be placed further away then the amount of lumens your plant recieves isn't what your light puts out. the cfls can produce the same lumens and be placed closer to the plant without burning you plants. heres a link that explains it better than i can.
> 
> http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8581


 
Perhaps but CFL'S never produce what HPS will.


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## slowmo77 (Aug 2, 2008)

no i agree. for large indoor grows HPS is the only way to go. but if your doing a small 3 or 4 plant low budget stealth grow for personal smoke cfls work great. you just have to keep'em short.


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## King Bud (Aug 2, 2008)

> ok, math hurts my brain. So 3.5x2x6=42 *cubic *ft. 42x5000=210000 divided by lights lumen (1600)
> 210000/1600=131.25 CFL's?
> 131, that dont sound good. Is my math off?


Your math is off .. you should calculate the square feet, not the cubic.

3.5 ft * 2 ft * 3000 lumen/square ft = 21000lumens
3.5 ft * 2 ft * 5000 lumen/square ft = 35000lumens

Say you buy the best of the best of the fluorescents.. which are T5s, as far as I know. Two foot T5s (the 4 foot won't fit) give off about 2000 lumens, at 28 watts. Meaning you would need atleast 10 of these, if you were to flower with them. They cost about 50$ each (where I live).. and sometimes they charge you extra for the flowering bulbs.. so that's a lot $$.

Also, based on my experience, it's a waste to get the plants taller than two feet with T5s. The lower buds come out scraggly. So that 6 ft of height will go to waste.

I think, for the money, and the space you have, you're better off with an HID. Probably a 400watt HPS, but I'm inexperienced with HPS.


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## liermam (Aug 2, 2008)

Heres my exact reccomendation:

9 42w CFL's total.

6 Warm white, 2700k temp.

3 Cool white, 5600k or 6000k.

Position 2 warms and 1 cool around each plant throughout veg. The cools over top, and the warms on either side of the plants.

Assuming you have one male after flower, you're now down to two plants. Position the lights closely around each of them, and you should have suffecient lighting to carry them through flower.


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## Megatron (Aug 3, 2008)

slowmo77 said:
			
		

> the thing that people don't realize is that a hps might produce 50,000 lumens or whatever but since it has to be placed further away then the amount of lumens your plant recieves isn't what your light puts out. the cfls can produce the same lumens and be placed closer to the plant without burning you plants. heres a link that explains it better than i can.
> 
> http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8581



My 1k's are 6 inches from my plants..


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## slowmo77 (Aug 3, 2008)

Growdude said:
			
		

> I think with CFL's you get to a point its not worth it.
> 12 - 42 watt CFL's = 504 watts and put out less lumens and more heat than a 400 HPS.


 
ya you can sink alot of money into cfls quick.

but i disagree with the heat issues. i have 17 42watt cfls and they are about an inch above the tops of my plants i've even had tops between light on the board less than an inch away. i've never had any problems with heat unless the plant touchs the bulb, my temps stay in the 80's most of the time with one fan blowing fresh air in.

i think that if you have the money to buy an hps and the things you need to cool it right then thats the way to go. 
but if your low on cash and just wanna grow a stash then you can do it with cfls and be happy with what you got. im not saying cfls are better than an hps by any means. but they are under estimated.


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## slowmo77 (Aug 3, 2008)

Megatron said:
			
		

> My 1k's are 6 inches from my plants..


 
if you have them cooled properly i don't think its a problem. its just alot of folks can afford a setup like that. im just saying for the money they work very well.


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## canibanol cannonball (Aug 4, 2008)

thx for replys ive been away. I cannot use a hps. I know there better but there's no room in my micro-gro. looks like ill be runnin 16 cfls. Last Q- what brand sells "warm white" i can only find cool soft.


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## KGB30 (Aug 4, 2008)

by cyberquest 

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8581&highlight=cyberquest


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## slowmo77 (Aug 4, 2008)

as far as i know home depot is the best place to find the right spectrum cfls. they have a color system red, blue, and green. i don't know what color means what anymore but its on the package. hope this helps good luck


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## MysticMan84 (Aug 15, 2008)

slowmo77 said:
			
		

> if you have them cooled properly i don't think its a problem. its just alot of folks can afford a setup like that. im just saying for the money they work very well.


 
So with HPS you have to buy a cooling system but with fluorescents you don't?


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## canibanol cannonball (Aug 16, 2008)

cfl's still get hot if there together-you need ventilation no matter what


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## TheChosenOne (Aug 18, 2008)

cfls i think would be a good grow if u have many cfls to reach up to 600watts of power or lumens
wont really need a fan on 24/7 cause it doesnt give of many heat
any one tried flowering with lots of clfs?


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## mistisrising (Aug 18, 2008)

slowmo77 said:
			
		

> as far as i know home depot is the best place to find the right spectrum cfls. they have a color system red, blue, and green. i don't know what color means what anymore but its on the package. hope this helps good luck



I was at home depot last night, they had a 150w fluorex cfl there. It only fit in the 150w fixture, but the whole thing wasn't a hundred bucks. They also had a 65w and an 85w, with the same connection. In with the regular bulbs there was a bunch up to 42w.


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