How many cfl's

bobhoop

bobhoop

Active Member
Hi guys,
I know its been asked to death, but i keep missing the answer.
Ill be trying to grow a couple of 60 day wonders in a small short
closet, I understand for the vegitation stage i need 6500 lumnes.
can i just daisy chain like 10 cheep 750 lumnes bulbs? and when i switch to the 2700
how many of those do i use?
appreciate any info on doing this as inexpensive as possible.
I have not had any pot for the last 25 years, due to occupation and drug testing.
I will be retiring in 20 months and would like to build up a stash.
My wife and I will be going to amsterdam for our retirement trip YEAAA:-P
Last Question, is it cool to buy seeds overseas and have them shipped
to your address with adifferent name on the seeds and is it worth the
effort to send a westerunion money order instead a debit card to the single seed company?
thankyou for answering my newbie questions, but i dont want to have to depend on some
15 year old on the street corner to buy pot

thanks again
 
Humbleservantoftheplant

Humbleservantoftheplant

Active Member
There's a lot going on here... Let me see if I can help.

I'll go ahead and assume you've read up a little bit on CFLs, since you at least know that there are two different types of spectrums, and you have them in the right order as far as vegging and flowering... :)

So, to answer your first question, yes. You can daisy chain a string of cheap bulbs. I have seen people take vanities from bathrooms, you know the type that have 4 or 6 bulbs in a row to hang above your mirror? They'll just go pick one of those up at a Re-Store or Home Depot. It's already wired to run multiple bulbs, and then you can mix and match. For example, you could have six bulbs in a line and put two blue spectrum (bright white light) CFLs on the outside and 4 red spectrum (warm white light) CFLs in the middle. Then your flowering plants would get a nice mix of some blue, and mostly the red spectrum that they need.

As far as how many CFLs to use, this is a personal decision. How much space will you have, how much can you wire up, and how you arrange everything will all affect the number of bulbs you choose to use.

Finally, regarding seeds, yes, you can purchase them from overseas. They will send them to you as a "souvenir" in a discrete package. If they get caught at customs, that's another matter... I am a medical patient in a medical state and I deal only with clones. If you have connections to clones, I would recommend that route. You are guaranteed only female plants, you can continue to clone them, giving you a limitless supply, and you don't have to wait for them to mature to sex them out!

I have no idea about how you go about paying for seeds or anything else. Sorry that I can't be of more help on this matter... Happy growing!
 
B

BOARDASFUK

New Member
about 10 bulbs for 2 plants if thats your plan is great use same amout or more for flower as for seeds have them shipped to someone other then where u grow is best and go to a store and buy a prepaid card to pay for seeds
need anymore ? answered?
 
wheels619

wheels619

Well-Known Member
bobhoop said:
Hi guys,
I know its been asked to death, but i keep missing the answer.
Ill be trying to grow a couple of 60 day wonders in a small short
closet, I understand for the vegitation stage i need 6500 lumnes.
can i just daisy chain like 10 cheep 750 lumnes bulbs? and when i switch to the 2700
how many of those do i use?
appreciate any info on doing this as inexpensive as possible.
I have not had any pot for the last 25 years, due to occupation and drug testing.
I will be retiring in 20 months and would like to build up a stash.
My wife and I will be going to amsterdam for our retirement trip YEAAA:-P
Last Question, is it cool to buy seeds overseas and have them shipped
to your address with adifferent name on the seeds and is it worth the
effort to send a westerunion money order instead a debit card to the single seed company?
thankyou for answering my newbie questions, but i dont want to have to depend on some
15 year old on the street corner to buy pot

thanks again
Click to expand...
u ever consider using cfls for veg and an hps for flower? even a 150 hps is 16000 lumens for flower. a 250 would be even better. 32000 lumens if i remember correctly. so why run ten bulbs at 240 watts when u can rock one bulb and increase ur yields exponentially. a good 150 is about 75 buck on ebay. or even a 250 for about a hundred bucks. plus veg bulbs for such small wattages are pretty cheap compared to 600 and 1000 watt bulbs. plus ur results will be better with an hid lamp by far.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sun-System-HPS-150-Grow-Light-150-Watt-HPS-Bulb-/250660262859?pt=COMP_EN_Routers&hash=item3a5c8413cb

or even this would be better becuz it comes with both veg and flower bulbs.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250W-Digital-Ballast-HPS-MH-Grow-Light-System-/370565911702?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5647731496#ht_3669wt_1185

perfect for beginners.
 
G

growman27

Member
At the moment i have some plants that are in a maricle grow mix. I have been told that is not that good. also a wek or so i noticed on the bag it said not for use in pots. I am so very lost. They look healthy as can be and are growing great. I'm not sure if i should just leave them or take the chances of actually hurting them when i move them... defenitly looking for some insite on this matter. I am also currently running 6 26w CFL's (= to 100 a piece). Is that enough? Also when it comes to flowering can i use a different spectrum CFL and wich ones and how many. I had them on a 24h cycle the first week. there in their second week and now they'r on 18/6. Was it bad to change it, if so is it a problem to change it back? looking forward to hearing feed back
 
Quitekeen

Quitekeen

Active Member
bobhoop said:
Last Question, is it cool to buy seeds overseas and have them shipped
to your address with adifferent name on the seeds and is it worth the
effort to send a westerunion money order instead a debit card to the single seed company?
thankyou for answering my newbie questions, but i dont want to have to depend on some
15 year old on the street corner to buy pot

thanks again
Click to expand...
i have ordered from www.nirvanashop.com two times. Both times the seeds came, I used a mastercard gift card (dbl check it can be used for int'l purchases), u can get them at wal-mart, or walmart.com. using the gift card means no paper trail to you, you can deny having ordered them if customs has anything to say (which if u keep it below 15 seeds they likely wont).
 
sso

sso

Well-Known Member
id not use any less than 23w cfls

and if i were using so small cfls, id surround each plant with as many of those cfls as i could fit (and keep cool)

using as many of those cfls "twice" as i could (one side shines on one plant, the other sides shines on the other plant)

keeping those cfls as close as i could (its ok if they touch leaves bit , as long as they dont touch the buds (since the closer proximity and therefore intensity will make up for the slight burn to the leaves (unless you got unusually hot cfls, in which case id have them almost touching (barely an inch away)

then put a rotating fan blowing on the whole shebang to keep the air flowing. (though since the cfls are hanging in this scenario, it would be better to have the fan underneath, though not so easily implemented)
 
sso

sso

Well-Known Member
but if you are in the u.s

you could probably make a much better grow with perhaps as little as 200 bux.

or for less.

even a 70w hps is better than cfls (Aside from the larger wattages of cfls (150w or more))

and could perhaps be gotten cheaply.

though id shoot for at least 150w hps.
 
bobhoop

bobhoop

Active Member
Hey Wheels,
Thanks for your suggestion, I really like the 250 watt ebay Light..prehaps you could help me with a couple little concerns? The reason I was going with cfls is cuz im going to have to hide my plants in a small room under the stairs behind a false wall. (limiting my access until my 17 and 20 year old are at work and school). Becuase of my profession for the last 33 years im a little concerned about excessive heat in such a confined space. So I was wondering a couple of things. Do you know what kind of heat these things put out, and are the fans on the ballast and lights completly quite? In the summer even with the ac own it will be around 85 degrees in this room before the lights are on. I was also wondering, will a little fan blowing in this room create enough co2 and ventilation.
thanks again....I would love to use these real lights, but am really worried about how safe and quite they are...So what do you think?

wheels619 said:
u ever consider using cfls for veg and an hps for flower? even a 150 hps is 16000 lumens for flower. a 250 would be even better. 32000 lumens if i remember correctly. so why run ten bulbs at 240 watts when u can rock one bulb and increase ur yields exponentially. a good 150 is about 75 buck on ebay. or even a 250 for about a hundred bucks. plus veg bulbs for such small wattages are pretty cheap compared to 600 and 1000 watt bulbs. plus ur results will be better with an hid lamp by far.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sun-System-HPS-150-Grow-Light-150-Watt-HPS-Bulb-/250660262859?pt=COMP_EN_Routers&hash=item3a5c8413cb

or even this would be better becuz it comes with both veg and flower bulbs.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250W-Digital-Ballast-HPS-MH-Grow-Light-System-/370565911702?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5647731496#ht_3669wt_1185

perfect for beginners.
Click to expand...
 
wheels619

wheels619

Well-Known Member
bobhoop said:
Hey Wheels,
Thanks for your suggestion, I really like the 250 watt ebay Light..prehaps you could help me with a couple little concerns? The reason I was going with cfls is cuz im going to have to hide my plants in a small room under the stairs behind a false wall. (limiting my access until my 17 and 20 year old are at work and school). Becuase of my profession for the last 33 years im a little concerned about excessive heat in such a confined space. So I was wondering a couple of things. Do you know what kind of heat these things put out, and are the fans on the ballast and lights completly quite? In the summer even with the ac own it will be around 85 degrees in this room before the lights are on. I was also wondering, will a little fan blowing in this room create enough co2 and ventilation.
thanks again....I would love to use these real lights, but am really worried about how safe and quite they are...So what do you think?
Click to expand...

how many square feet is the room? u will probably have to vent it somehow if the temps are already at 85. but even 12 cfls in my 2x2x4 box outside in 70 degree weather it still got it above 95 degrees and i had to vent it. do u have any idea if u can cut a couple 4 inch or one 6 inch hole to vent out to? in all honesty with a 250 even just a small hole somewhere up high with a good fan will do it. do u have any pics of the room?

um radio shack sells 4 inch pc fans that are rated to 120cfm each for about 10 bucks a piece, but i would recommend rocking some sort of can fan. more efficient and longer life span the pc fans.

these below are all just things u should probably look into. u dont have to but since u have heat issues its probably ur best bet. cuz heat will lower yields, stunt growth and effect potency. everything u will need is down below. just get a vented hood and a digital ballast that way u get away from all the heat sources. cfls will be cheaper but u hurt ur yield dramatically compaired to the hps and they still will heat up a room in numbers.

something like this would work best for ur setup. last u forever too. u have plenty of options.

this light set becuz its digital and the ballast can be touched when its running. doesnt really heat up. the cool tube will help get rid of the heat. oh and the ballast is quiet. no fans on this one. they have other options on vented hoods if u dont like the cool tube, u just gotta look.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250-WATT-HPS-DIGITAL-GROW-LIGHT-6-AIR-COOLED-COOL-TUBE-/140585553569?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20bb8d4ea1#ht_3868wt_1139

the fan will help get all the heat out. its more than u need honestly but the less cfm fan was only 4 bucks cheaper and it leaves u open to options later. a fan speed controller would be nice but not mandatory but it will help u drop the cfm from 450 to about the 200-250 cfm u will need. a speed controller will help u quiet the fan down since u can slow it down.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Inch-Inline-Duct-Fan-452-CFM-high-quality-hydroponics-exhaust-blower-vent-/230742178982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b94e3ca6#ht_500wt_1202

and the ducting to get it to where u want it to go.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-x-16-Ft-Flexible-Foil-Ducting-Venting-Ventilation-Inline-Fan-Blower-Duct-6-/380399994596?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58919b46e4#ht_2954wt_1185

options for speed controllers. anyone of which will work but not necessary.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=inline+fan+controller&_sacat=0&LH_BIN=1&_sop=15&_odkw=inline+fan&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313
 
bobhoop

bobhoop

Active Member
Thanks Wheels..........I decided to buy my herb from the 15 year old on the Corner,,,Hehe...just kidding. Thank you for all your effort, wow.
I think in all honesty the only options im going to have is to try and germ a couple of seeds and get one 42 watt cfl, at least for awhile, to
work a little. Its imperative that I produce zero noise in that little space under the stairs. I have a 17 year old daughter who is really nosey.
The space is small, around 4' x 4' with descening spiral stairs overhead. that creates around 5' of height for a 1' x3' area (1x3x5). The only
place I could put vent holes could be in the front of the townhouse or though the side stucco wall. Both would be really obvious.
So these lights with the big holes in the sides are for the fan and duck? Would that be enough to remove most of the heat?
My daughter goes off to school in Aug and I could make a little more noise. But I would have to vent it out of the front of my house and put some
kind of false wall or something in front of it..............So If I can pull it off you still suggest the 250 watt system? It will only be for my wife and I.
Thanks again for you time and effort...........
 
wheels619

wheels619

Well-Known Member
yeah a 250 is perfect for a little personal grow. that fan would remove most if not all of the heat from that room. they make cool dryer vents in 6 inch that arent obvious at all once they are placed in a wall. even cfls will make that room warm but not ungrowable. in all honesty the only thing that would make noise in that room would be the canfan. and they make duct silencers for them. cfls work. i did it. but hids are the way to go. good luck man. would love to see some pics when u get everything up and running even with the cfls. :)
 
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