# How many CFL's to Veg?



## JS58272938 (Dec 5, 2009)

I obviously cant get this straight, this is my first time grow. I'm growing (2) skunk #1 feminized seeds for my personal use. I'm not a dealer. Right now my girls are about 16-17 inches high. They were orginally under 3 48in cfl's. I gave up on those because from what everyone told me tubes were less effective then the self ballast spiral cfl's. So i got rid of the tubes and bought two 10.5in metal domes (you know the type that clamp onto things?) then put two 32w 6500k cfls in them and have them about 4in from the plants. How many of these 32w cfls do i need to veg? I dont want MH or HPS because of heat issues and the large power consumption.


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## ozzydiodude (Dec 5, 2009)

these bulbs have 2100 lumens you need 2 per 1 square foot(ft2) (1ft x 1 ft area) this gives you 4200 lumens for vegging you will need 2.5 bulb per ft2 for flowering.

figure out how many lights you will need by taking the area of grow multipy by 3000 lumens for veg and 5000 lumens for flowering then divided by the # of lumens the bulb you want to use has this will give you total number of light bulbs needed.

Example a 1' x 4 ' area = 4 ft2
                 4ft2 x 3000 lumens(veg)=12,000 lumens
                 4ft2 x 5000 lumens(flowering)= 20,000 lumens
                 12,000 lumens(Veg)/2100lumens(bulb choice)=5.7 bulbs round up to 6 bulbs
                 20,000 lumens(flowering)/2100 lumens(bulb choice)= 9.5 bulbs round up to 10 bulbs 

Veg= 6 bulbs x 32 watts = 192 watts of electric
Flowering= 10 bulbs x 32 watts = 320 watts
A 250 watt HPS will give you 22000 lumens and not give off as much heat as 10-32watt bulbs by the time you buy the fixtures to hold the bulbs and the bulbs you will have more in the CFL lighting than a 250 watt HPS light.


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## LEFTHAND (Dec 6, 2009)

ozzydiodude said:
			
		

> these bulbs have 2100 lumens you need 2 per 1 square foot(ft2) (1ft x 1 ft area) this gives you 4200 lumens for vegging you will need 2.5 bulb per ft2 for flowering.
> 
> figure out how many lights you will need by taking the area of grow multipy by 3000 lumens for veg and 5000 lumens for flowering then divided by the # of lumens the bulb you want to use has this will give you total number of light bulbs needed.
> 
> ...


 
*HMMMMM:yeahthat: ...*
*IMHO.......*
*Sit down think and re-look your design.... say hmmmm i could throw a HPS in there same amount of power... less heat... more lumens... thats what im looking for and needing.. and what i want... take a look at this.. *
*

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30891
*
*theres ways to control the heat if your worried about that man. the power.. unless your running a huge op.. with 1k lights and the wrks dont worrie about it..*
*i run a 400whps. 200cfm fan,630cfm, smaller 70w hps for my hosts.. pumps.. 32$ is the highest ive seen the jump of power... sweet dink all...*
*... growing is problem solving... you have encounered your first problem.. now figure a way to run an op smoothly/cheaply but get product out of it..*
*just my thoughts dude.. wasted alot of time doing it 1/2 azzed.... now that i stopped took the time did er right.. way happier... lol *
*take care play safe... its all up to you man..*
*LH*


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## The Hemp Goddess (Dec 6, 2009)

JS58272938 said:
			
		

> I obviously cant get this straight, this is my first time grow. I'm growing (2) skunk #1 feminized seeds for my personal use. I'm not a dealer. Right now my girls are about 16-17 inches high. They were orginally under 3 48in cfl's. I gave up on those because from what everyone told me tubes were less effective then the self ballast spiral cfl's. So i got rid of the tubes and bought two 10.5in metal domes (you know the type that clamp onto things?) then put two 32w 6500k cfls in them and have them about 4in from the plants. How many of these 32w cfls do i need to veg? I dont want MH or HPS because of heat issues and the large power consumption.



It is a common misconception that CFLs run cooler and are cheaper to run than a HPS, but this is NOT the case.  Lumen for lumen, CFLS cost more to purchase initially, cost more to operate every single month, put out more heat, and produce significantly less bud.  As Ozzy has pointed out, 10 32W CFLs use 320W and put out 20,000 lumens.  A 250W HPS uses a little over 250W and will give you 28000 lumens.


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## leafminer (Dec 10, 2009)

People buy CFLs because they feel it's quick and easy, no messing with ballasts, blah blah . . . I can understand that; I use CFLs to augment my HPS lamps, and fill-in dim corners. I have 4 of those 32W CFLs in a cluster between my twin HPS and the cluster does a decent job. The buds under it are a little smaller than those under the HPS, but seem to be tighter, more solid.
For two plants you could probably do a decent veg with 4 of those 32W CFLs in decent reflectors. Do not forget to use reflector boards around the plants to contain the 'spilt light' and reflect it back on to the plants.


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## the chef (Dec 10, 2009)

Adding 2 more wouldn't hurt.


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