which is better?

hihibye7

hihibye7

Active Member
hey guys simple question it might be stupid but im not sure i have a 26watt cfl and a 50 watt grow bulb ik it has more watts butt isnt as bright but plants dont have eyes so is it the watts or brightnesss that matters thanks
 
Matchbox

Matchbox

Well-Known Member
It's actually PAR that determines how 'good' or efficient a bulb is. But I wont go into that because it's not commonly labelled on boxes...

Lumens are what most people go on, though it is a measurement of brightness and as you said plants don't have eyes. The approximate Lumens per square foot of growing area is about 1000+ Lumens psft at the absolute least (if memory serves).

What spectra are they both? you want 6500k colour temperature for Veg and 2400k for Flower but you can use both temps for both cycles mixed spectrums work very well. As for the wattage, the more the merrier, but your going to want more than 1 x 26w bulb and 1 x 50w bulb.

Oh and make sure your reading the "Actual Watts" not the "Equivalent Watts".
 
Matchbox

Matchbox

Well-Known Member
yes they will be labelled on the boxes as 2700k or 6500k or on the stem of the bulb sometimes.
 
hihibye7

hihibye7

Active Member
the cfl says 26w,120vac,60hz,370mA and the grow just says 50w aw,120v the cfl has less watt but is almost triple the size but from this info what light would you choose
 
Matchbox

Matchbox

Well-Known Member
I'd go for the grow light... but then I'd go down to the shop and buy a proper light setup with more CFL's (at least 3-6, 25w 6500k and 3-6, 2700k) that I know are the correct spectrum, if I'm honest
 
hihibye7

hihibye7

Active Member
yea im planning on getting more lights but im in a closet and im just trying to get a light set up with under 4 lights dont have to be cfls mh or hps would be good just
 
Matchbox

Matchbox

Well-Known Member
they're quite cheap to run about the same as 250w of CFL but with twice the lumen output... a proper 250w hps system will only cost between £60 and £100
 
hihibye7

hihibye7

Active Member
so i went to my hardware store today to try and get the hps but i couldnt find it i even looked for mh but i couldnt find any, it should be labeled on the box right? instead i just got 4 65 watt 3900 lumens 6500k 4 U-shaped tube cfls and it is much brighter then before so i think i should be good for some time now
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
If you can I would order online. Physical stores have more overhead and will often charge more for things. I bought a 2pk of 42w CFLs at home depot for like 12 bucks. I looked online and found a seller on ebay that was selling 6 for $20. Needless to say I returned them to the store the next day. It's a lot cheaper to house something in a warehouse than in a store. Shipping is usually free on a lot of websites with purchases of $100 or more. If you find something on amazon and have plastic(credit or debit card) sign up for a amazon prime membership trial for 6 months. For certain manufactures you will get 2 day shipping for free. Near the end of the 6 months simply cancel the trial, bam you just got 2 day shipping for free. Newegg has a similar program, but they go through "shoprunner." You can sign up for their trial too, but it's only 30 days. It's still 2 day shipping though.
 
Matchbox

Matchbox

Well-Known Member
hihibye7 said:
so i went to my hardware store today to try and get the hps but i couldnt find it i even looked for mh but i couldnt find any, it should be labeled on the box right? instead i just got 4 65 watt 3900 lumens 6500k 4 U-shaped tube cfls and it is much brighter then before so i think i should be good for some time now
Click to expand...
They'll get you through veg :) just need to get the 2700k's when you switch to flower and you'll be sorted!
 
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