Is 2600 Lumens Enough Light To Grow The Magical Herb?

ScarletteSky

Well-Known Member
I Have A Regular Walgreens Plant Bulb Which Is 900 Lumens= 60 Watts. My Two Cfls Are 13 Watts Each And Are 850 Lumens A Piece, That Is All The Lighting I Have.
Go to wal-mart and buy those big cfl that are like 42 watts, it will put out atleast 2500 lumens, it was one of the bulbs I started with. So, then should get you 25,000 lumens. The minimum lumen output per square feet shoule be atleast 10,000. Good growing.
 

FrostickZero

Well-Known Member
Go to wal-mart and buy those big cfl that are like 42 watts, it will put out atleast 2500 lumens, it was one of the bulbs I started with. So, then should get you 25,000 lumens. The minimum lumen output per square feet shoule be atleast 10,000. Good growing.
here a 42w CFL puts out 2,700 but i gess it all depends on the Country
 

homegrownboy

Well-Known Member
You guys need to go back and see what I wrote about lumens...actually i'll just say it again.

If your using a bulb that's out put is 1700 lumen's...that's ALL your going to get. Adding more bulbs does not increase lumen output.
 

ScarletteSky

Well-Known Member
here a 42w CFL puts out 2,700 but i gess it all depends on the Country
You are right, I couldn't remember exactly. But I knew it was in the range of 2500 lumens. I started by seedlings with CFL's, and I am flowering with cfl's, but most people just call them T5 HO Lamps *shrugs* technically they are CFL's though.....
 

ScarletteSky

Well-Known Member
You guys need to go back and see what I wrote about lumens...actually i'll just say it again.

If your using a bulb that's out put is 1700 lumen's...that's ALL your going to get. Adding more bulbs does not increase lumen output.
You are wrong, yes it does. Let me explain. Lumen is a measurment of light output: One lumen is equal to the amount of light emitted by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface located one foot away from one candle. Lumens emitted are only part of the equation, lumens recieved by the plant are much more important.

If you used a 42w cfl with 2700 lumens, then having two would double the lumens, therefore doubling the light output.


If you don't believe me ask Jorge Cervantes, he's the one who wrote the book I am getting my info from. "Marijuana Horticulture: the indoor/outdoor medical grower's bible"
 

FrostickZero

Well-Known Member
You are wrong, yes it does. Let me explain. Lumen is a measurment of light output: One lumen is equal to the amount of light emitted by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface located one foot away from one candle. Lumens emitted are only part of the equation, lumens recieved by the plant are much more important.

If you used a 42w cfl with 2700 lumens, then having two would double the lumens, therefore doubling the light output.


If you don't believe me ask Jorge Cervantes, he's the one who wrote the book I am getting my info from. "Marijuana Horticulture: the indoor/outdoor medical grower's bible"
that's actuly true because the more lights I add then the happier my plants get
 

ScarletteSky

Well-Known Member
This is an awesome book, I recommend it to everyone who grows/loves weed. It's very imformative. Like I was just reading that by simply moving your lights closer to your plants you increase the light output/lumens. Neat huh? Now add reflectivity and we have a sexy party!
 

FrostickZero

Well-Known Member
This is an awesome book, I recommend it to everyone who grows/loves weed. It's very imformative. Like I was just reading that by simply moving your lights closer to your plants you increase the light output/lumens. Neat huh? Now add reflectivity and we have a sexy party!
that's why I have my veg area set up the way it is right now
 

homegrownboy

Well-Known Member
Well believe or not...i KNOW your wrong...and while your at it...ask the guy who actually proved it on this website...i'll try to find the post...cause there alot more info there to back up my facts.
 

homegrownboy

Well-Known Member
Ok well...here it goes...you don't actually increase your lummen output by adding more bulbs together...what ever your highest rated lumen bulb is will be the max you get...YOU CAN NOT ADD LUMEN'S together...get a light meter and see for yourself..it HAS been proven numerous times. What your atually doing is just providing your plant with more lux, more light=more lux not lumen's.
 

Elk Boy

Active Member
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

One CFL that produces 3000 lumens is has good has 10 Cfl's. I presently was thinking of outfiting myself with 10 set of 2 bulbs=20 bulbs, Now all I need is 1(this don't make sence to me). I don't understand so I will have to do more reasearch.:-?
 

fatowl

Active Member
DUDE WHERE CAN I BUY BIGGER CFL'S HOW MUCH DO THEY COST? i only got two 13 watt cfls of which i got from my girlfriends dad lightbulb stash and a plant grow bulb which i got from walgreens, i did buy a good spot gro sylvania grow bulb for 8 bucks but it blew out last night. i dont have much money so i use wat i get my hands on i do have a 250 halogen light but it gets so dam hotttt!!!
I recently just went to target and purchased several 26w GE CFL's and they were about $15 for 4 (think 3500k or 2700k) and the 26w 6500k daylight were 2 for $9.

Hope this helps.
 

GrowingPassion420

Well-Known Member
well thankyou that was a huge debate on lumens and adding them, can u or can u not add lumens? whos right? cfls are cheap i have 0.00 to my name right now but i start work ttommarow but im bout to go look round the house n see i have anything that can help, keep the suggestions coming,. thankyou
 

ScarletteSky

Well-Known Member

It looks to me like the person who posted that is ADDING lumens together from the 32-40watt CFLs, and then dividing them by the dimensions of the room to get lumens per square foot.


Having a light meter would be great, but not applicable to this because a light meter measures in lux and foot-candles, both scales measure light to which the human eye can "see". They do not measure photosynthetic response to light in PAR watts.

You should go check out the "Things to know about lighting" section in the General Marijuana Growing forum.
 

ScarletteSky

Well-Known Member
The Inverse Square Law:
The relationship between light emitted from a point source (bulb) and distance are defined by the inverse square law. This law affirms the the intensity of light changes in inverse proportion to the square of the distance. The equation goes like this: I=L/D^2 Where Intensity=light output divided by distance squared. I'll use my own lights as an example, I have 4 t5 HO lamps at 5000 lumens a piece, in order to solve this equation I must first ADD my lumens together.

4 bulbs X 5000 lumens each = 20,000 lumens!!! Now I am going to plug it,

I=20,000/2^2 (this is applied for a 2x2foot grow area)(2^2 just means it is 2 squared)
squaring the 2^2 will give us 4 total square feet for a 2 foot by 2 foot area.
I=20,000/4
Divide this and voila!
I= 5000 lumens PER SQUARE FOOT. We now have the average lumens per square foot that is provided for the garden, because light spreads I'm sure as we all know.
 

ScarletteSky

Well-Known Member
This application works for all gardens. People who grow with HID are more likely to just have one bulb to calculate. But since CFL growers use significantly more bulbs, you will have to add the lumens before you calculate the light intensity of a garden.
 
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