# flourecent lighting



## jstive (Feb 22, 2010)

I will be getting my medical marijuana card here in Mi. soon.  So I am reading as much as I can about growing my own medicine.  I have a friend that grew a strain of pot for about 20years (wish he didn't have to quit) anyway I talked to him the other day on lighting and what he used when he was growing.  This is what he told me.  First of all he grew his plants in the basement on waterbed heaters to keep the roots warm.  He also grew in soil. (which I want to go to hyrdroponics or areoponics) but for lighting he built a 3x4 foot frame out of 1x2s and took regular shop lite fixtures apart and  took the light sockets and ballast out and glued them on the frame he used two fixtures per frame.  He added 4 f40cw bulbs and hung them close to the young plants.  He moved the first light frame up 12inch along with the vegitive growth of the plants. There he left the light frame.  He then took another light frame and hung it above the first one as the plants grew past it.  He claimed with the low heat of the bulbs it didn't hurt the plants at all.  And as they grew above the bulb the fixture added needed light at the lower end of the plant.  He did this with three fixtures in the vegetive stage and when they got 2/3 the heighth (sp) of the room he had, he added a 4th fixture and started the flowering stage all in the same space with just flourecents.  Let me tell you we are both old time smokers and he grew some of the finest erb that I have had the pleasure of smoking.  It was a sativa plant and he did tell me it took a long time to flower.  Does this make sense to anyone else and is it wise to try this with flourecents?  I want to try and grow a strain called white widow for my medicene and want to keep everything as cost effective as I can and yet be successful with it.  Any advise sure would be appreceated.  Thanks, Jim


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## pcduck (Feb 22, 2010)

:ciao: :welcome: To the only Place :ciao::bolt::bong2:


We have a wonderful resource center here a MariP that should answer most your questions. Click here for grow light info.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 22, 2010)

Welcome to MP.

Here is what I can tell you about fluoros..

Lumen for lumen, fluoros cost more to purchase initially, cost more in electricity to run every single month, put out as much heat and produce _substantially less bud_ than a HPS.

I use T5 HO tubes for vegging, but for flowering, nothing beats a HPS.  How many watts was he running?  How large was the room?  I would recommend that you do some more reading on lighting.


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## kaotik (Feb 22, 2010)

i'm sure it _would_ work, but it definatly wouldn't be the most productive way.
if the budget allows, i highly recommend you get a HID light.


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## jstive (Feb 22, 2010)

I don't know for sure the size of the room.  I do know that it was kind of small cause I think he only had 3-4 plants.  If I figure it right he has 4 f40cw bulbs so would that be 160watts with 40w per bulb and by the time you are finished you would be running four frames times 160watts = 640watts (wow)  I see what you mean. Thanks for the info and I will do somemore reading as I want the best possible lighting I can get.  Do you need supplemental lighting for the lower part of the plants if you use hps?  Does hps get all the way down under the top leaves to other parts of the plant?  Thanks again.  Jim


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## pcduck (Feb 22, 2010)

Your answers all depend on the type of grow you are trying to accomplish. Some growers LST, some lollipop, some add vertical lighting, some just use these popcorn buds for bubble hash.


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## PUFF MONKEY (Feb 22, 2010)

$160 w/bulbs...500w-45,000 lumens...easy to build...all parts from home depot


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## jstive (Feb 22, 2010)

what I want to do is grow maybe 6 plants through budding stage and have 6 plants behind the first crop to keep it going.  The Mich. law says for medical use a person can have 12 plants and 2.5 oz. of finished product. I don't know how they can say you can have 12 plants and only posess 2.5 oz but that is for another discussion.  Can you tell me what size lights you would use for veggie state and flowering state and space size for this type of operation?  I have my whole basement so size is not an issue.  I do of course want to stay in the parameters of the law as not to draw any heat on me what so ever.  Thanks, Jim


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## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 22, 2010)

Well, people who have restrictions on the number of plants they can grow generally grow large plants.  What kind of budget do you have for this project?


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## jstive (Feb 22, 2010)

I really haven't set a budget.  I am not made of money of course but if there is something that I must have for the system I will somehow get it.  I want to keep everything within reason yet I don't want to skimp on quality where I will be disapointed in the product.  I also want to build it myself I do not want to buy a turn key system.  I am retired so I have the time to do this.  Thanks, Jim


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