CFL lighting 101

[benajmin1137]

r these any good ?

http://store3-store.stores.yahoo.net/energy-saving-light-bulb.html

 

[Viracocha711]

You want to look for "Daylight" Cool daylight bulbs 6500K...I am 85% sure "soft light" will be in between warm light and cool light...Maybe somewhere around 5000K?

 

[cyberquest]

i have 10 2700k cfl's and 2 6500k cfl's in my veg room, so far that room has produced 14 out of 15 females so i am not changing anything. i wanted more 6500k bulbs but there is that saying "dont fix it if it isnt broke!"

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

interesting because I was reading another thread on how to boost female to male ratios with normal seeds and it said you have better resuslts with more 6500k bulbs. Are you using feminized seeds?

 

[cyberquest]

no, i have more 2700k bulbs, and only two 6500k bulbs. they say that the more blue light you have the more female producing, and the 6500k is the blue spectrum light and the 2700k are more a redish and more appropriate for flowering really.

thats where i am baffled at, i have more red light then blue lights and have a 14 to 15 female ratio out of this first batch. another key factor they say are enviormental conditions, my CFL veg room stays a calm cool 72 degrees all the time. so i think that might have played a roll in the outcome.

and i am growing from all bagseed, just random seeds we have over the past year or so, no feminized seeds, or no store bought seeds, just ones we have.

and things didnt turn out bad at all if you ask me.

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

Did you flower under the cfls also?

 

[cyberquest]

yes, i flowered with CFL's and HPS, we had 6 under the HPS and 8 under the CFL's.

now the HPS light plants did produce much larger and more buds then the ones flowered under the CFL, BUT the CFL room is only 19,600 lumens, and the HPS room is 53,000 lumens of light, so there is a HUGE difference in the amount of light thats being put out.

the thing that i like about the CFLS is that temps are much easier to maintain, it stays a cool 72 degrees in the CFL room and the HPS room is anywhere from 80 degrees up to 95 degrees on some days. the HPS room temp goes up and down, some days its in the 90's and somedays its in the 80's. the cfl room stays the same temp ALL the time.

we did harvest one of the CFL room plants, and we very very happy with the smoke quality of the buds, but the buds were much smaller.

so it is totally possibale from start to finish to use cfl's for your entire grow, we still want to add some more lumens to the CFL room and maybe give it another shot at flowering. but for this next batch of plants we just want some monster plants so we are still going to be using the HPS for flowering, but are going to use scrogging.

here is one of the HPS plants that was harvested tonight. pretty nice top bud!

 

[HydrO PasSiOn]

cyberquest i give you mad props on posting this thread bro. good job on helpin people out bro

 

[cyberquest]

brouli, thats a bagseed bud!

one of these days we will get around to ordering some good seeds, but we want to use up these 50 or so seeds we have left first.

 

[absynth]

This is what I have. Do you think I need to buy something additional? I'm worried that it won't be enough. ( i plan to get a better light when my space increases)
The room is a small closet maybe 4X2. I plan to grow 3 plants.
Single T5 Fluorescent Fixture with Tube, 48 inches
T5 fluorescent bulb
6400K tube
Oh , i also have a reflector on it
thanks!

 

[Viracocha711]

I love CFL's!!!...And yes, thank you cyberquest for this thread, it is very good...And I personally think CFL's and then LED's are the future of indoor growing...I hope anyway?

 

[Nelson Mutz]

I love CFL's!!!...And yes, thank you cyberquest for this thread, it is very good...And I personally think CFL's and then LED's are the future of indoor growing...I hope anyway?

I'm with you on this one, Viracocha...

The technology for CFL's and LED's continue to be at the front of the lighting industry, in terms of development. The more I read about both, the more I think that it IS the future, and will make cultivation much better.

I thanked you earlier in the thread, cyberquest, but, what the hell....................................thanks again!! :yay:


Nelson

 

[Hazebie]

i love this thread, please keep the info coming.

 

[cyberquest]

thanks everyone !

i am glad so many people are finding this post useful, i didnt knotice that anyone else had done any research on the CFL's so i started doing my homework and put this post together.

i am 110% happy with the product that my CFL's put out, they are great VEG lights and dont do a bad job of flowering either.

 

[Viracocha711]

Do you know where I could find a Dual 125 watt CFL reflcetor that is sold from a USA website?

I know there are some euro websites selling them but I can't get a reply on shipping cost from them so I figure it is not cheap...

Again, thanks for this thread!

 

[cyberquest]

try ebay, just search for grow lights or cfl grow lights and it will pop up about 300 of them, and it will tell you exactly how much it would cost to ship it.

 

[HydrO PasSiOn]

hey guys if i had a grow space of 2 feet by 2 feet how many lumens would i need?

 

[SmokinMom]

Great thread, you rock!!

 

[cyberquest]

hey guys if i had a grow space of 2 feet by 2 feet how many lumens would i need?

its easy math man.

you have a 2x2 room, thats 4 sq ft.

they say optimal light for veg growth is 3000-4000 lumens per square ft. of canopy for optimal growth, and 5000-6000 lumens per sq ft for flowering for optimal growth.

so if you have 15,000 lumens in your closet, divide that by 4 and you have, 3000 lumens per sq ft. what ever your total number of lumens is, by the sqare ft. of your grow space.

the only problem i see for you is that 2x2 isnt a very large space at all and i would think the plants would very quickly outgrow that space. you have to take account for the space the bulbs hang down, and the space whatever pot its in takes up. if your bulb hangs down 6 inches, and your pots are 6 inches tall, you just lost half your grow space!

 

[HydrO PasSiOn]

hey cyber. No bro. my hydro kit is 1foot tall. its 20 inches long by 14.inches wide. my grow height is 5'3''. my lights hang down 14inches also so im at around 3feet grow height before they touch the lights. im trying to keep them aat 2 and a half or so. any more advice? thanks man