250 Watt HPS or 375 Watts of CFL

[kingtut676]

What would be better for a 2'x2'x4' tall grow box i built? This 250 watt hps system (about 28000 lumens) or 3 of these 125 watt CFLs (about 21000 lumens total) arranged horizontally with reflectors. I will have 9 small plants flowering in this area that were cloned and veged for 2 weeks.
What would be cheaper to run? is wattage all that will factor in to the electic cost? will i have to heat the box if i use the CFLs or will there be enough ambient heat to raise the grow box temp from 17*C to 20*C? Will the HPS system raise the temp too much for my 4" inline duct fan to be effective?

Thanks for any imput.

 

[bigbudjohn420]

well of CFL's 100 watt is really only 23watts so i would say HPS for a larger yeild but CFLS for cheaper bill and they cost less... i like using the CFLs

 

[kingtut676]

well of CFL's 100 watt is really only 23watts so i would say HPS for a larger yeild but CFLS for cheaper bill and they cost less... i like using the CFLs

The CFLs are 125Watts. not 125 watt equivelents. I put in links

 

[racerboy71]

the 250 won't raise temps to much for your box to handle.. this is a toughy though, cuz i like the idea of three different bulbs, that way you can control where the light goes a lil better than if you used just one single bulb.
and yes.. wattage is what determines your electricity costs.. its only like 7k difference between the two options, which is a good amount of lumens, man this is tough, lol.. i would say try the cfls out, and see if you like your results, if not, you could always step up to the hps.. i have seen some pretty impressive results using cfls, so don't sell them short..
which ever way you go, good luck with your grow, and have fun..

 

[kingtut676]

the 250 won't raise temps to much for your box to handle.. this is a toughy though, cuz i like the idea of three different bulbs, that way you can control where the light goes a lil better than if you used just one single bulb.
and yes.. wattage is what determines your electricity costs.. its only like 7k difference between the two options, which is a good amount of lumens, man this is tough, lol.. i would say try the cfls out, and see if you like your results, if not, you could always step up to the hps.. i have seen some pretty impressive results using cfls, so don't sell them short..
which ever way you go, good luck with your grow, and have fun..

Thanks man. I was leaning toward the cfls as well. If i buy em on ebay they say i can pick em locally saving like $30+ on shipping costs. i'm just very indecisive. and also not currently working so i'm trying to get the bes bang for buck yaheard

 

[Forzaitaly1]

Thanks man. I was leaning toward the cfls as well. If i buy em on ebay they say i can pick em locally saving like $30+ on shipping costs. i'm just very indecisive. and also not currently working so i'm trying to get the bes bang for buck yaheard

I had my plants Unders 6 (75 or 100) CFLs and they were doing fine, but once I got the HPS/MH 400wtt, I could easily see the difference. That MH bulb made them grow much faster than CFLs alone PLUS now I have 1600 wtt worth of HPS and man my grow room is bright as hell but I havent seen my bill yet. On craigslist you can find HPS setup for cheap.(400 around 100 and 250 wtt around 50 to 80) Good Luck

 

[kingtut676]

I had my plants Unders 6 (75 or 100) CFLs and they were doing fine, but once I got the HPS/MH 400wtt, I could easily see the difference. That MH bulb made them grow much faster than CFLs alone PLUS now I have 1600 wtt worth of HPS and man my grow room is bright as hell but I havent seen my bill yet. On craigslist you can find HPS setup for cheap.(400 around 100 and 250 wtt around 50 to 80) Good Luck

Cool. I'm goin with the 3 125s tho. What type of results should i expect for my frrist grow? haha. i've read through this forum once around and read "the bible" through a coiuple times. I got high hopes. What's the biggest problem for most first timers? i'm thinkin nutes

 

[Forzaitaly1]

Wut Strain U got? If you have sativa make sure you wont let them grow too tall before flowering. Did you top them when they where 3-5 inches tall and leave the major branches? How big is your pot? when they get about 8 inches or so try to bent the beanches down a little bit, that'll help them out to grow more branches from where bent. your grow room is only 4ft tall so don't flowerem when they're 3 ft tall, do it erlier. First time growers?hmmmm, my first grow I used to over water but since it was outdoor nothing major happened. U usually overdo everthing the first time but if you get the right nutes they'll have the directions and amounts on the lable. Get those CLFs as close as you can but don't let them touch the leaves. I still recommend to go with HPS if you can, atleast for flowering period but again PLANTS FLOWER UNDER CFLs TOO.

 

[growcheese]

I budded under 4 150w cfls and 2 100w cfls. then got a 400w hps for budding it kills the cfls in budding but cfls are great for veg

 

[kingtut676]

lol. the strains are white widow and the other is a local strain that from what i'm told is relatively new. In my flower box i'm letting cool air from a window slowly enter through the bottom, underneath the plants through a 4" duct. My plants are about 6" off the ground on a metal "cage" type of set up. Is this a good idea? I know clones want the soil to be warm, but will this stunt my girls during flowering? it's only a couple degrees cooler under them. i'v ebeen considering putting a foam pad i cut up that used to be a mattress pad, but it'ss restict the steady flow of air up and out of my box.

 

[Forzaitaly1]

lol. the strains are white widow and the other is a local strain that from what i'm told is relatively new. In my flower box i'm letting cool air from a window slowly enter through the bottom, underneath the plants through a 4" duct. My plants are about 6" off the ground on a metal "cage" type of set up. Is this a good idea? I know clones want the soil to be warm, but will this stunt my girls during flowering? it's only a couple degrees cooler under them. i'v ebeen considering putting a foam pad i cut up that used to be a mattress pad, but it'ss restict the steady flow of air up and out of my box.

Clones want the soil to be warm????? what they use is a heating pad or they call it "seed warming mat" but that is usually for seedlings, once they grow enough and long roots that they can be put in soil, after plating them you wait a few days for them to grow in the soil, from there you don't have to be too worry about the temp, of course you don't want to freeze them up. If you're in a place like COLORADO or other cold states that may be an issue but 60-65 degree moving air wont do any harms to your roots. Again you have them in soil and the soil will be protecting them up to a certain point. It's wut they get used to and as long as you don't shock them with really hot or cold air temp they be fine. My outdoor plants(ended up becoming trees) were outside even when the temp went down to low 50s. they didn't flower in winter but nothin happened to them. So keep the temp in growbox about 64-65 up to 85-87 and as you may know if you can keep it at 72 to 78 thats the perfect temp for them. Let the temp go down a few degrees at night but when you start flowering you can have a consistent 75 degree in the box and get awesome results.