Virgin grower – CFLs

C

crappygecko

Active Member
Hey guys, First post and first grow...!! Right now this is on a shoe-string budget my first go, before I invest...

I have 4 seeds of AK-47 germinating since yesterday. Doing well, tap roots came quick. I have a small hydro set up for my closet based from this video:
YouTube - Grow Cannabis hydroponically By Eatspam & Raven
The 4 net pots are close together in about 4 square feet...

My main question (TODAY) has to do with lighting. I know I want to use CFLs for now until I reach flowering. How many and what wattage? I get a bit confused on using the "real" wattage v. wattage equivalent... are there any rules of thumb for CFLs per plant, square foot, etc???

Thanks guys, looking forward to the experiment
 
Sexypenguin41

Sexypenguin41

Active Member
if you're going cfl's (i do, they're cheap, easy to cool and they work) for the veg it's best to use the daylight bulbs, and soft white for flowering. On my set up i use a few daylight to begin and soft white for flowering, and i throw in a few bright white all through out because they have both red and blue spectrum. I'd say have no less than two bulbs per plant (and that's bare minimum) i would suggest an average of three to four bulbs and you should do great. I know the 30 watt bright whites put out 2000 lumens and the 23 watt soft whites put out 1600 lumens. It takes at least 3000 lumens to grow a plant typically so aim higher than that. the more light the better.
 
Greendude

Greendude

Well-Known Member
I have 5 nice plants in the same DWC your using , I'm using 6 , 42watt 2700 lumens and my plants look great . My wife cant believe how big they have gotten in just 3 weeks . I need to post some pics .
 
C

crappygecko

Active Member
la9 said:
It's cheaper just to buy this 150 watt hps instead of CFL's.

http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=7&FGNumber=E-MT6H151G

If you must go CFL I'd go with 40 watt and higher daylight bulbs and I'd use 6 - 10 of them.

If you are confused it will be the bulbs that say they are 40 watts or comparable to 200watt incandescent.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I did want HPS but couldn't find any under $100 or so. Will this one light work for flowering also??

And thanks for the CFL info also... I might rig something up today (with CFLs from the house) to get my seedlings under light now until I get the HPS. Sound right? Or would my seedlings be okay with just sunlight for now??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top