# Finish HPS flowering only with CFL?



## maystor (Jun 1, 2011)

Hey all,

I'm in my 7th week since 12/12. Trichs are more than 90% cloudy, rest are clear. No signs of amber yet (indica strain). For some reasons I must get rid of my 150W HPS and finish only with cfl's. Currently I have this 150w HPS + 4x26W CFL's (2x2700k and 2x6400k). Grow space is 3sq ft. Do u think it's ok to add 4 more cfl's and finish with them for another week? May this lead to some major yield or potency loss?


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## SensiStarFan (Jun 1, 2011)

It depends on how much longer they have togo.  If they go 10+ weeks then yes you will see yield loss.  If they are only going 8 or 9 weeks it would be less.  Regardless you can finish with the CFL's, just temper expectations.

-SSF-


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## 4u2sm0ke (Jun 1, 2011)

less lumens..and tops may cone..makeing for airy bud...JMO...stay with the HPS...why do ya need get rid of?..$$$$


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jun 1, 2011)

:yeahthat:   I'm with 4U--it is hard to imagine any scenario where you would have to get rid of a small HPS, but be able to add more CFLS??????


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## Locked (Jun 1, 2011)

Yeah if you can add more cfl's then why drop the HPS in the first place? It is the only light you hve going with decent penetrating power. Wldnt 4 cfl's draw about the same power and put off at least as much heat as a 150w HPS or more?


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## hps (Jun 16, 2011)

CFL does not give much light. PAR, lm etc...
150W hps lamp characteristics http://150whqi.com/hps.html


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## AlkaloidContent (Jun 17, 2011)

hps said:
			
		

> CFL does not give much light. PAR, lm etc...


 
CFLs are not going to give you what you would see with an HPS. You just wont.

However CFL can and will finish the job. The trick is to keep plenty of light up top but you must also get lights within inches of your (healthy) big fan leaves. What this does is give the proper intensity where the plant needs it for both the buds and to continue with intense photosynthesis.

Your leaves up to on your plant wont grab as much light to use as they leaves further down. I would also think about maybe giving in and cropping your plants on the lower half just to shoot the energy up to your cola buds.

Switching this close to harvest is gonna be a pain and may be more expensive than you think. If you just light up the tops of your plants with CFL the lower plant wont get intense light and yeild will suffer in comparison, but if you do get CFLs make sure you use the plant to its own benefit.

Trim the lower half but leave behind plenty of good fan leaves get some intense light on at least one of these leaves for each plant (meaning a bulb glowing within an inch to it. Also get some lights within inches of the tops. Just make sure as they get taller you adjust your lighting.

Hope this helps!


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## The Hemp Goddess (Jun 17, 2011)

Do not trim any anything (but dead leaves) this far into flowering.


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## WeedHopper (Jun 17, 2011)

:yeahthat:


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## AlkaloidContent (Jun 17, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> Do not trim any anything (but dead leaves) this far into flowering.


 
Well some people dont like to cut away at their babies. 

Yes trimming your plants CAN stunt growth, shock em, stress em, and all of the above. But if your going from HPS to CFL you can pretty much gaurantee that they will go through stress one in the same. Adding to it doesnt sound smart, but switching the lights is going to cut into yield the most. Why not go ahead and do something that may reverse this, even if it causes a few nanners or makes you wait another 1-2 weeks until harvest, you can pick off the nanners and the bud will still be there for you.

Just make sure you dont go crazy on em, just trim whats dead of course, and maybe a little something extra where the plant is more leaf than anything else. Please make sure when you go to trim that they have just been fed, watered, and they will have plenty of daylight hours left. You shouldnt water 5 hrs before light off as a rule anyway, but if your this far into the grow Im sure you know this.

This helps ease the added shock.

Its like this....

With hps you can just let em grow, its the most convenient(arguable the most economical, matter of opinion mostly) way of doing it that provide what they want.

With CFL you have to change up the whole idea of the grow, this is why CFL is the most controversal way of growing things are done to maximize yield and densify bud sites that growers from the days of HID dont understand because they have never done it personally.

Its kinda like the diff between Vinyl DJing and MIDI/CDJ Djing. They both have their perks and qwerks, both do the same thing, but the style and technique is changed. Vinyl DJs will murder those who speak of CDJs and CDJ users will argue that times have changed and this new equipment allows them to do just what they want and more.

Ultimately its up to you what you do. Keep the HPS and let them finish.

Or go get your CFL lighting setup, get it set up, trim to shoot growth where you want it, get the light super close and see what happens.


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## Hick (Jun 17, 2011)

I'm with thg and her decades of experience here as well.
Do NOT trim the bud factories (the leaves) They need those leaves to metabolize. Removing them serves NO beneficial purpose.


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## Hushpuppy (Jun 17, 2011)

But my question fall in line with this same situation of trimming during flower. Mine are under HPS but they are up against the lights and I have done as much LST as I can but am just out of room to move away anything else. :doh: The question is, if there are fan leaves close to the tops of several stems that are directly under and against the lights (which there were last week) would I have been better off to leave them or cut them so that the rest of the lower fans can get better light? (as I did) It looked like those few upper leaves were shading everybody else and they would soon burn up from being so close to the light anyway. Whatcha think?


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## Hick (Jun 17, 2011)

IMO, if they were 'healthy' leaves, you probably didn't do 'em any 'good'. But by removing dead or damaged leaves, that are 'not' performing their task, that's slightly different.


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## AlkaloidContent (Jun 17, 2011)

Hushpuppy said:
			
		

> But my question fall in line with this same situation of trimming during flower. Mine are under HPS but they are up against the lights and I have done as much LST as I can but am just out of room to move away anything else. :doh: The question is, if there are fan leaves close to the tops of several stems that are directly under and against the lights (which there were last week) would I have been better off to leave them or cut them so that the rest of the lower fans can get better light? (as I did) It looked like those few upper leaves were shading everybody else and they would soon burn up from being so close to the light anyway. Whatcha think?


 
:yeahthat:


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## ozzydiodude (Jun 17, 2011)

maystor said:
			
		

> Hey all,
> 
> I'm in my 7th week since 12/12. Trichs are more than 90% cloudy, rest are clear. No signs of amber yet (indica strain). For some reasons I must get rid of my 150W HPS and finish only with cfl's.* Currently I have this 150w HPS + 4x26W CFL's (2x2700k and 2x6400k). Grow space is 3sq ft. Do u think it's ok to add 4 more cfl's and finish with them for another week?* May this lead to some major yield or potency loss?


 
If you are adding light strength(4 more cfl's) this late IMO you would not get more growth maybe a little more trich development. More light would give the plant more energy and as long as you still have plent of sun leaves to convert the light to energy for growth it should give the plant a boost.

 The down side I see is you will have to place the cfl's so close that the radient heat might hurt the triches and that would be a real :doh: .


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## AlkaloidContent (Jun 17, 2011)

ozzydiodude said:
			
		

> If you are adding light strength(4 more cfl's) this late IMO you would not get more growth maybe a little more trich development. More light would give the plant more energy and as long as you still have plent of sun leaves to convert the light to energy for growth it should give the plant a boost.
> 
> The down side I see is you will have to place the cfl's so close that the radient heat might hurt the triches and that would be a real :doh: .


 
This is also a good argument about the issue. Granted the heat/intensity from a close CFL wouldnt automatically make it burn simply because its closer. This is why one has to keep em real close but keep a close eye on em, raise the lights a 1/2 inch a day in the morning hours so they can grow up a little. They have to stay nice and close though so they kick out the intensity the plants love.


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## Growdude (Jun 18, 2011)

AlkaloidContent said:
			
		

> This is also a good argument about the issue. Granted the heat/intensity from a close CFL wouldnt automatically make it burn simply because its closer. This is why one has to keep em real close but keep a close eye on em, raise the lights a 1/2 inch a day in the morning hours so they can grow up a little. They have to stay nice and close though so they kick out the intensity the plants love.


 

This is true but the problem with this is when adding the CFL's to a HPS system is that they will block the "real" light.

Adding CFL's to the sides or far corners can have some benifit.


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## AlkaloidContent (Jun 18, 2011)

We're discussing replacing an HPS setup with CFLs. But what you say about CFL/HPS setups is true, if you have an HPS and just want CFL to kick some extra lumens, keep em to the sides and let them hit the lower level growth and sides of the grow.


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