Bright lights

Hey,
Finally registered after lots of research as a guest. The knowledge on this site is awesome.
I would like some help with lighting/setup if possible. I have a 3x3x6 tent with a 180watt tri band led, 200 watt cfl, 300cfm exhaust with passive intake running 24/7. Also have a 6inch clip on fan running during light cycle to muscle the foundation up. 2 x mystery strain in soil/perlite mix. The cfl seems to be smoking the led at this point and I was wondering whether to phuck the led off and get another 200watt cfl? I am only 2weeks in at this stage but don't wanna waste too much time. I am growing both plants scrog method in 8 inch pots (once established). This is my first indoor grow. Am I on the right track? Not to keen on using mh bulbs. Stoked if anyone can tell me if I am wasting my time (and money) with this setup or if it will ( should) work with some success.
Cheers lads/ladies

hmmm .. sounds like you have every thing in order, tho I don't know that LED light or any LED light for that matter, but tell me, what Kelvin is the LED and the CLF ?

Kelvin = light color/spectrum

as plants in Veg mostly use high Kelvin/colors (blue) and flowering plant need more red/yellow spectrum (3000K or less)

my best guess with out knowing (need more info and maybe some pics) is that the LED is mostly Red light and suitable for flowering wile your CLF is either 6500K or 5000K and do best in veg.

As you know from endless nights of reading the post on this site (awsome info) that some people like cfls some dont. It only makes sense that a hps and mh which is pretty exspensive are probably the best choice. Some say the colas are airy and not to dense and they burn to shit when you hit um wit a lighter with cfls. some say they can grow dense nuggs. What i do is read read read and the best way to figure shit out is trial and era. I am also trying a cfl as this is my first grow and so far so good but i herd cfls are good for veg and a lot of people switch when flowering.This is my first grow as this is all new to me also so i an keeping it simple no topping no nutes except for when i bought my soil i bought some "happy frog fruit and flower and mixed the whole bag with one cup of that shit.(advice from the garden store i use as he is a grower also) here are some progress pics of my girls (hopefully bagseed) and stuff i am using

elac1980 said:

As you know from endless nights of reading the post on this site (awsome info) that some people like cfls some dont. It only makes sense that a hps and mh which is pretty exspensive are probably the best choice. Some say the colas are airy and not to dense and they burn to shit when you hit um wit a lighter with cfls. some say they can grow dense nuggs. What i do is read read read and the best way to figure shit out is trial and era. I am also trying a cfl as this is my first grow and so far so good but i herd cfls are good for veg and a lot of people switch when flowering.This is my first grow as this is all new to me also so i an keeping it simple no topping no nutes except for when i bought my soil i bought some "happy frog fruit and flower and mixed the whole bag with one cup of that shit.(advice from the garden store i use as he is a grower also) here are some progress pics of my girls (hopefully bagseed) and stuff i am using

Click to expand...

in short, plant`s in Veg. only need 1/3 of the light as a plant in flowering (3-5K per Sq. Ft. instead of +10K in flowering)

plus the fact that flowering plant are bigger and CLF/Tube and other fluorescent light don't provide much light penetrations, so in order to grow nice Bud`s with fluorescent light you need to train your plant`s to keep the Bud sites with in 2-10 Inch`s from the light, my light meter only show good output at 2-4" under my T5HO tubes and after 12" I don't even get a reading

also, flowering plants need more of a yellow/red light to copy summer/fall so to speak as the sun stand low on the sky and the angle allow most of that spectrum in (remember its a liveing thing we deal with and what we have to do is copy nature, inside, as close to optimal for the plant we grow)

so in Veg a Blu color/spectrum is what the plant use most of (spring, where the sun stand high in the sky and let most blu light in) tho plant use all colors all grow, just more blue (5000-6500K) in Veg and more yellow/red (2000-3000K) in flowering ..

also why it make send to use a HPS in flowering, as they provide the right spectrum (mine do 2100K) and give you great light penetration (my 600W show more then 3x the light out put 15" away then my T5HO tubes do 2" away !)

Hi slipon, ta for the reply. The veg light is 6400k and I have a 2700k for flower. The led is RED 630nm*,Blue 460nm*,Orange 610nm. 48 red 6 blue 6 orange. You are spot on it has much more red so it might be useful come flowering??

Andyroo said:

Hey,
Finally registered after lots of research as a guest. The knowledge on this site is awesome.
I would like some help with lighting/setup if possible. I have a 3x3x6 tent with a 180watt tri band led, 200 watt cfl, 300cfm exhaust with passive intake running 24/7. Also have a 6inch clip on fan running during light cycle to muscle the foundation up. 2 x mystery strain in soil/perlite mix. The cfl seems to be smoking the led at this point and I was wondering whether to phuck the led off and get another 200watt cfl? I am only 2weeks in at this stage but don't wanna waste too much time. I am growing both plants scrog method in 8 inch pots (once established). This is my first indoor grow. Am I on the right track? Not to keen on using mh bulbs. Stoked if anyone can tell me if I am wasting my time (and money) with this setup or if it will ( should) work with some success.
Cheers lads/ladies

Click to expand...

If it were me, I would shit can the LED, and get several smaller (23w) CFL's. That way, you have more, that you can position all around and above your plant, rather than just light emanating from one place. (Similar to the way the sun rises, goes overhead, then sets.)
But, I think to veg 2 plants, one 200w is more than enough.
You might consider leaving your fan on 24/0 though, instead of just when your lights are on.
Like Slip mentioned though, try to make most of your veg bulbs 5000k or 6500k, and your flowering bulbs 2700k.
You can mix n match if you have an abundance of nulbs, it will not hurt, but those numbers are what the plants like for each stage.

Thanks elac! Looking good mate. Hope it turns out well for you! Lots to learn but I am addicted to the process already.

have any pics man

I'll post some pics shortly. Not much to see at this stage but you can see the setup

Thanks Chucky I will take that advise and get rid of the led and replace with smaller cfl's. Appreciate the help brother. Cheers