will do i topped her a while ago to help increase yields because i heard cfls lights give only a few ounces in yield is that true?
Nice man! Awesome choice to top her. She will love you even more for doing so.
As for "cfl's only yielding a few ounces of medicine", that can be true, and that can also be the biggest wash of non-truth as well.
What determines the yield of a plant are, and not limited to, and I hope more people add to this,
- Genetics
- Root Development/Health
- Good Medium (whether you choose to do hydro, soil based, soil less or a living customized super soil)
- Good Water
- Proper air flow/circulation/extraction and co2 levels
- and yes, quality and amount of light do contribute as well
I know there is a lot more to what helps overall yield, and again I hope more people add to this.
With Cfl's, and I have three cultivations of experience with them, you can yield a QP per plant if you do it all right, I got over 5 ounces off of one of my SourOg girls from a cutting using all cfl (and just a 90w led that was in in the top back right corner of the tent and placed over one plant and only one plant, and it was not the plant that yielded over 5oz, so most all of the light in the tent was cfl.
People might say that yields are going to be low with CFL lighting, because they choose not to enlighten themselves to the actual reality of it all, CFL's while maybe not as high output as a Metal Halide, or High Pressure Sodium, still provide suitable, and possibly even more focused specific spectrum of lighting, than they are presented to. Most people bashing on CFLs just do so cause of what they have heard, read, or had a less than enjoyable experience themselves from, which is most likely due to not doing it in the way the CFLs are meant to used.
When used in the most efficient ways, CFL lights can successfully help a plant grow through its entire life cycle. As long as you have enough true watts for the amount of plants you are cultivating, and you keep the environment that the plant is in relatively within healthy conditions (68-78 degrees f, and 30-70% humidity, I prefer 70f/70% all the way through the plants life, and have experienced improvements in yield from maintaining these conditions.
When using CFL's, make sure that the tops of your plant(s) are receiving the most intensity that they can, which means, lets say you have 5 bulbs to make your 250 watts, 50w bulbs a piece, I would take at least three of them and fix them directly a top your canopy, of course at the appropriate distance from the canopy to keep the temperature and room conditions in range, much like you would any other type of cultivation light. The remaining two I would position in such a way that the emitted light would best reach/cover any part of the plant that is not receiving much light intensity.
Another option is to just fix all your lighting a top the canopy, and eventually invest in some smaller cfl's or the same size, for side lighting. This will help the side and lower shoots to fully develop and flower out. It also depends on plant size, the taller/bigger the plant, the more light/bulbs you will need to cover the area she takes up.
In summary, as long as you have ample intensity of light hitting the tops (at least 150 true watts of output for the first plant, and I like to say add 75-100watts up top for any additional plant after) and a few side lights, or just some sort of light output that reaches where the lights up top don't quite shine as bright, you will be fine.
People have successfully cultivated plants with far fewer watts than you are currently running, so you are good to keep on growing bro. Just know, the more light you add, the more the plant can photosynthesize, and the more the plants develops its shoots and nodes, means the more places for buds to fruit and bloom.