300w cfl enough?

[trying2growmyown]

5 plants, 1.5" tall in a 2.5' x 2.5' x 8', well ventilated. blood meal and bone meal in soil........
i had to kinda ghetto rig my lights, i have 3 100w cfl hanging 5" from plants.

IS THAT ENOUGH LIGHT?? much thanx

 

[Stockpicker]

How many lumens are the bulbs?

Are they 100w equivalent or actaully use 100w?

 

[trying2growmyown]

1600 lumens a piece, equivalency of 100w, 3 of them

 

[ORECAL]

the more the better man......

 

[gangjababy]

your bulbs are actually 23 watts each you are looking at the incandescent equivalent. So you actually only have 69 watts.

 

[Dfunk]

I have heard a good rule of thumb is about 2500 lumens at least per plant. You could either add tube fluros or a couple more CFLs. That would probably get it done at the least out of pocket cost. This was my approach.

 

[Dfunk]

I have about 13,500 lumens in my set up with a combo of fluros & CFLs. Cost me about $50 to set up.

 

[Dfunk]

You also want to have the lights within just a couple inches of the plant from what I've read - this helps with light penetration as fluoresents light lose their lumen output at further distances.

 

[BigBudBalls]

your bulbs are actually 23 watts each you are looking at the incandescent equivalent. So you actually only have 69 watts.

Now thats 69watts of electricity converted to power. Has *nothing* to do with light output. Light is never measured in watts.

 

[Ecldazed]

jus get the 42 watt (150 watt) 2 to 3 inches away from the top at all times.. the more the better tho

 

[gangjababy]

Now thats 69watts of electricity converted to power. Has *nothing* to do with light output. Light is never measured in watts.

How many watts is proportional to lumen output. IF he did have 300 actual watts the bulbs would be putting out around 19,200 lumens a opposed to only 4,800 lumens. I understand lights are measured by lumen output but they are also classified by watts/spectrum

 

[sTOKEd]

3x23w CFLs for 5 plants is nowhere near enough - it's barely enough for one plant to be honest.

I wouldn't bother with the 23w lights - i'd go for the 42 or 46w ones and have 4 PER PLANT (obviously you can get away with one or 2 when the plants are small).

have 2 on top and one either side of the plant - this will ensure the light is being distributed evenly onto the plant.

I know that seems like a lot of light but with CFLs you need it - especially during flowering.

You don't *have* to have all those globes in there from day 1 - you can add them as the plant grows, but it's prob a hassel to add lights while you've got plants in there - better to have them already setup and just plug them in when you think the plants need them.