Many Small vs. a few Large CFLs?

C.Indica

Well-Known Member
they were mocking you, didnt you see the laughing face?
Here is the answer I was looking for.
3. High Light - yes, it’s true, you can give our faves too much light. Cannabis does not receive full sun from sunrise to sunset in its natural state. It is shaded or given reduced light levels because of adjacent plant material, cloudy conditions, rain, debris and dust collection on the leaf surface, twilight periods of early morning and late afternoon, and light intensity changes caused by a change in the seasons. Too much light mainly serves to bleach out and destroy chlorophyll as opposed to causing leaf cupping, but it often goes hand-in-hand with high heat for indoor growers. Again, back off on the light and concentrate on developing/maintaining an efficient and robust root system. Keep in mind that all but equatorial material receive less light during flowering than during the vegetative stage.
 

Dogwap

Member
OK, to end the shit fight, let me say I've purchased my lights, and am not currently soliciting more suggestions. Not that I know very much at all. It's just that at this point I got what I got, and have not the dough to buy more.

So this is what I've learned about CFLs...

CFLs in the 23-42 watt range are more efficient that the larger lights in terms of l/w. But it is a fact that two 20 watt lights will not penetrate as deep as one 40 watter. So, is effeciency or penetration more important? If you can surround your plants with light, then the small lights may work better. If your light mounting options are limitted, then a smaller number of stronger lights may work better. Bottom line is that a shotgun works great when fighting zombies at close range, but a rifle is better for killing larger monsters at a distance.

BTW, the most efficiant CFLs I found are 4-pin 42 watters which yield 80+ l/w. The problem is that you need a ballest for each light, making them not very cost effective. that makes them almost twice as efficient as some of the 105 bulbs.
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
Sorry about that original poster, we probably did go a bit too far arguing wise. I'll be quiet after this one, lol.

Uncle ben was one of the people who really taught me the more advanced aspects of growing and the technical reasons behind those things. It's sad he left the site, he was a great guy. Anyway though, He was talking about how with indoor growing how the having too much light problem like bleaching goes hand in hand with high tempetures and that growers should not be afraid to keep their lights further away from the plant so not to burn it. That stuff about nature and not getting the same intensity all the time is true, but thats him explaining why keeping the light further away is ok by comparing it to what happens in nature.
 

chasmtz

Active Member
they say that the lumens per watt depreciate as the wattage of the cfl goes up. For a small space, I would use the ~23 watt lights. you can always do a variety. i say pack the lights tight. I have my babies like 1-2 inches from my cfl's. they dont need all of them right away so add them as the grow goes on. my 2 cents
 
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