CFL Veg Room Question

[homegrownwhore]

Hey, I'm planning to build a small veg box (probably 1.5'deepx5'widex4'tall)with CFL lighting for 4-6 plants. I'm wondering about the placement of the lighting.
Since CFL's have a low distance of light penetration, I was wondering where I should place the bulbs to get optimal growth. I heard you should have at least 100w per plant when using CFLs. so 4x 26 watt bulbs. per mature plant is what I'm aiming for.

Would it be better to take two y-sockets and put all 4 bulbs above each plant or I was thinking of putting a y-socket on the left side of the box, then a plant next to it, and then two y-sockets on the back wall and the front wall of the box, then another plant, then two more y-sockets and then another plant and one more y-socket on the right wall of the box.
(attaching a crudely drawn paint diagram to explain what I mean if I'm not clear.)

Which would be better? Do you think my idea with the y sockets in between the plants would be better than normal lighting if I added a 4ft long T5 light fixture (2x54watt tubes) above the plants as well as the y-sockets in between them?
EDIT: thinking of trying to do a kind-of vertical grow with CFLs.

 

[Joven Agricultor]

Best bet would be to ditch the cfls. Of uou really want to go flouro, use the tubes. Instarted with cfl 168 actual watts per plant, it took me a month to get what I get in 2 weeks with a 400w hid. Cfls suck, I hear the tubes are more efficient though.

 

[homegrownwhore]

Yeah, I don't really want to use CFL's but I want to get a couple of mother plants going as soon as possible. I narrowed down all my grow costs to the bare minimum and plan to use two y-sockets above each plant(4x26w total 104 actual watts), total of 8 CFLs.
For soil i'm just going to buy an inert base potting soil and a bag of perlite to add extra drainage. (est cost: $40)
Miracle Grow 24-8-16 All Purpose Nutrients (using these as I read a 3-1-2 N-P-K ratio is optimal for vegetative growth) ($10)
A PH Up/Down Set. ($30)
PH Meter - ($15)
PH Calibration Fluid ($10-$20 depending on bottle size available here.)
Humidity+Temp meter; records highest and lowest humidity and temp($15 on amazon)
4 x Y-Sockets ($2.50/ea. $10total)
2 x Basic Lamp Fixtures with wiring. ($5 each. $10 total.)
Light Timer (Saw one at the store for $10. Didn't check it's ratings though. doubt I'll ever need more than 2 even if I expand the number of CFLs. so $20)
I need 8 CFL bulbs, they have 6 packs of 26w's for 15 each. so $30 for bulbs and I have a couple replacements.
6'' x 8' duct work. ($10) (for a DIY reflective hood.)
I already have plant box, I already have wood and tools to build framing/housing for the lights and plants, so that won't cost anything.
I dont know what I want to use for a bloom fert yet so I'll put away extra for that
Added altogether I should be able to start my mothers with about $210.
I'm going to save up $300 and I'll have enough to get some good seeds and start 2 mothers.
By the time I'm ready to start cloning my mothers I'll have saved up enough for a 150 or 175w MH and then by the time those clones are ready to flower I'll have the money for my HPS light. I only want to use 150-175w HiDs because I only want to grow a couple ounces a month. Just enough to cover what I smoke, plus maybe a couple grams extra to cover the running costs.

 

[TheYokel]

Yeah, I don't really want to use CFL's but I want to get a couple of mother plants going as soon as possible. I narrowed down all my grow costs to the bare minimum and plan to use two y-sockets above each plant(4x26w total 104 actual watts), total of 8 CFLs.
For soil i'm just going to buy an inert base potting soil and a bag of perlite to add extra drainage. (est cost: $40)
Miracle Grow 24-8-16 All Purpose Nutrients (using these as I read a 3-1-2 N-P-K ratio is optimal for vegetative growth) ($10)
A PH Up/Down Set. ($30)
PH Meter - ($15)
PH Calibration Fluid ($10-$20 depending on bottle size available here.)
Humidity+Temp meter; records highest and lowest humidity and temp($15 on amazon)
4 x Y-Sockets ($2.50/ea. $10total)
2 x Basic Lamp Fixtures with wiring. ($5 each. $10 total.)
Light Timer (Saw one at the store for $10. Didn't check it's ratings though. doubt I'll ever need more than 2 even if I expand the number of CFLs. so $20)
I need 8 CFL bulbs, they have 6 packs of 26w's for 15 each. so $30 for bulbs and I have a couple replacements.
6'' x 8' duct work. ($10) (for a DIY reflective hood.)
I already have plant box, I already have wood and tools to build framing/housing for the lights and plants, so that won't cost anything.
I dont know what I want to use for a bloom fert yet so I'll put away extra for that
Added altogether I should be able to start my mothers with about $210.
I'm going to save up $300 and I'll have enough to get some good seeds and start 2 mothers.
By the time I'm ready to start cloning my mothers I'll have saved up enough for a 150 or 175w MH and then by the time those clones are ready to flower I'll have the money for my HPS light. I only want to use 150-175w HiDs because I only want to grow a couple ounces a month. Just enough to cover what I smoke, plus maybe a couple grams extra to cover the running costs.

Skip the 175w and just save for the 600w you want. You can even use the 100w of CFL to flower out one of two plants while you save up and still pull 20g-30g or so.

It doesn't get much more ghetto than my tent while I am waiting for the holidays for my 600w... but I still pull 14g-18g per plant and I grow two girls under each 100w fixture.

Just saying, you might think about skipping the 175w and investing the money somewhere else.

Edit: Or do you mean eventually use the 175w to veg and use the HPS you are talking about to flower? I'm confused...

 

[Joven Agricultor]

Lay the Y's on thier aide, dont hang them vertical. the lumens are put
out on the aides of the bulb not the tip. I'll gake a picture if my DIY cfl hood and post it here. It's 2'x2' holds 8 42 actual watt bulbs up top and drops 4 bulbs to the sides of yhe plant. All together it holds 12 bulbs. Those damn bulbs were $10 a piece, such a waste, I now have a 400w mh and a 1k hps, i only used the cfl's for a few weeks. Shoulda went straight to the 400.

2 oz. a month is 6oz. Per harvest ( unless you're perpetual) i doubt you will get close to that with cfls. I'd say you may get 1/4 of a gram per watt, 6 oz. is 168 grams. I think you'rw going to need over 600 actual watts of cfl to hit 168 grams. But hey, good luck!

 

[TheYokel]

Lay the Y's on thier aide, dont hang them vertical. the lumens are put
out on the aides of the bulb not the tip. I'll gake a picture if my DIY cfl hood and post it here. It's 2'x2' holds 8 42 actual watt bulbs up top and drops 4 bulbs to the sides of yhe plant. All together it holds 12 bulbs. Those damn bulbs were $10 a piece, such a waste, I now have a 400w mh and a 1k hps, i only used the cfl's for a few weeks. Shoulda went straight to the 400.

2 oz. a month is 6oz. Per harvest ( unless you're perpetual) i doubt you will get close to that with cfls. I'd say you may get 1/4 of a gram per watt, 6 oz. is 168 grams. I think you'rw going to need over 600 actual watts of cfl to hit 168 grams. But hey, good luck!

I run 300w and I get 14-18g per plant, 6-7 plants at a time, out of a CFL perpetual. And why are you buying $10 a piece CFLs? The 26w's I buy are a four-pack for $10 at Home Depot. 300w's cost me $30 plus the $1 chords and $.50 socket-to-plug adapters.

I get about 100-125g every 6 weeks...

 

[Joven Agricultor]

There it is, I'll still pull it out of the rafters and take a better oictur of it. 8 bulbs laying flat on top and 4 bullbs droped down for side lighting. Pvc pipe, 90's, T's, glue, hoseclamps and wire. Oh and 4' x 8" duct, cut, bent, riveted and bottoms covered in mylar to make reflectors.

 

[Joven Agricultor]

Slooooooooow growth!

 

[TheYokel]

Dude you are trying to build a Ferrari out of legos...

My ghetto ass grow tent...

And again... 100-125g every 6 weeks.

CFLs are fine if you know what you are getting into.

 

[Joven Agricultor]

42 actual watts, says 200equiv but it's really 150 equiv. just under $10 a pop. $100 for 420 actual watts.

And here is the veg cab with the 400w mh
Right, cfls are fine, if you don't mind settling for less. I'd rather not settle and have great lighting my 400 will be a 600 after the first of the year.

Again, lat them flat and as close as possible to you're babies.

 

[TheYokel]

Oh I'm not arguing that there aren't expensive CFLs out there...

Like you said, you spent $100 in 400 actual watts.

I only had to spend $30 for 300 actual watts. I'm wondering why you chose to go that route.

And I'm not arguing by any means that HIDs aren't an improvement. I already said in my earlier post that a 600w is the first thing on my christmas list to myself this year, lol.

 

[Joven Agricultor]

I didn't want 26's, I wanted 42's so that I could have more watts with less bulbs. No one stocks the 42's in 6500k by where I live, I had no choice but to order them. The $1 store has bulbstar 42 actual watt, 2700k, and walmart has 150 actual watt 2700k, no one around me has anything bigger than 26w in 6500k. I was planning to do the whole grow with 13-16 42's. I bought 8 to start, 2 weeks later I bought 5 more, a week later I bought my 400. Now I'll use the cfls for clones. The 400 is going in a stealth can for a friend when I get my 600.

I give props to the guy who can spend $100 and grow 2-3 ounces of weed, very impressive. I had to spend thousands to make the perfect (pretty damn good) environment for my girls, otherwise I would fail and they would die. I'm gonna follow homegrowns cabinet build and first grow as long as he is still posting. I want to watch a full cfl grow in real time. Good luck!

 

[homegrownwhore]

I appreciate the comments guys, it's all helpful information. My initial plan was to have a 150-175 watt Metal Halide light for my original mother's and then a 150-250w HPS watt to flower 2 plants at a time, and then I was going to have a veg area built of CFLs with spots to have 3 sets of clones at different stages of veg in the room. My plan was to have a semi-perpetual harvest. (every 35-45 days. depending on which harvest cycle it was)
Cycle 1: Harvest 2 clones, plant 2 new mothers. (35 days)
Cycle 2: Harvest 2 clones, Harvest 2 mothers. (45)

But now what I'm thinking is I'll probably just chuck $100 into either a T4/T5 fluoro fixture or put it into a few CFLs and y-sockets n such and keep my mothers under that, and then by the time the mothers are mature enough to get good cuttings off of them I should have the money for a 150w Metal Halide, and then by the time those clones have vegged for long enough I'll have the money for a 150-250w HPS for flowering.
The reason I only plan on getting 150-250w HiDs is because I don't plan on having a very big grow. I just plan on having small harvests every month or so. If I can get 150 grams every 45 days then I'll be happy.

 

[TheYokel]

You aren't going to get 150g every 45 days out of a 150w HPS with only 2 plants.

I'll go ahead and burst that bubble before it floats too far...

 

[bradburry]

Hey, I'm planning to build a small veg box (probably 1.5'deepx5'widex4'tall)with CFL lighting for 4-6 plants. I'm wondering about the placement of the lighting.
Since CFL's have a low distance of light penetration, I was wondering where I should place the bulbs to get optimal growth. I heard you should have at least 100w per plant when using CFLs. so 4x 26 watt bulbs. per mature plant is what I'm aiming for.

Would it be better to take two y-sockets and put all 4 bulbs above each plant or I was thinking of putting a y-socket on the left side of the box, then a plant next to it, and then two y-sockets on the back wall and the front wall of the box, then another plant, then two more y-sockets and then another plant and one more y-socket on the right wall of the box.
(attaching a crudely drawn paint diagram to explain what I mean if I'm not clear.)

Which would be better? Do you think my idea with the y sockets in between the plants would be better than normal lighting if I added a 4ft long T5 light fixture (2x54watt tubes) above the plants as well as the y-sockets in between them?
EDIT: thinking of trying to do a kind-of vertical grow with CFLs.

well iv learnt that 600 w of cfl is the same to run in electric as a 600w hps . but a cfl light greatly weakens if not non existant after a 12" ( and thats without canopy to penitrate).

when i first started growing way back in the 1960's indian jungle i wish id have just bought hps ( there was no sun back in the 60's just love ..ha)


aleast they'll make good xmas tree decorations..lol.

to finish on a positve note i went for a check up at the dentist today .....and my teeth are fine.... <<<<<i couldnt find anything positive to say about cfl's