Cfl 12-12 from seed thread

E

East Coast Pro

Active Member
I'm wanting to grow some plants 12-12 from seed using CFLs because you can use so many and not really add on to the light bill. Anyone have any experience doing this? I would like to be able to do one plant at a time, and yield 1-2oz. So far I have 4-5 65w 2700k CFLS bulbs..i know they'll be good for flowering, will they veg too? If not, since I'll be flowering 12-12fs I guess I need mostly 2700k bulbs, and maybe just a couple 6500k bulbs directly over the plant?
 
$waGgEr

$waGgEr

Active Member
i know its a big new trend to go 12-12 from flower..but... its better for the plant to have a light cycle like 20-4 18-6 or just 24 hours on...that would be best... im not saying plants wont grow 12-12 from start to finish ideally you want to allow roots to develope and they flip to 12-12... you could rly flower with only 65K or only veg with 27K what color the light is isnt as important as the photoperiod...but an even balence will product the best crops...you ddnt rly ask but the rule of thumb /w clfs is the mosre the better..how many plants are u gana run?...
 
E

East Coast Pro

Active Member
Swag probably one at a time, trying to figure out what lights I need to yield the most..aiming for 2oz or more..i thought I read that 6500 were best for veg, and 2700 were best for flowering?
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
I would advise against very large CFLs. They are less efficient lumen/w and provide very little light to plants further than 5" away and are extremely expensive $/w or $/lumen. You are much better off with many cheap 23w bulbs. I highly recommend cheap bathroom vanity light fixtures like this - http://www.lightingdirect.com/maxim-990015pb-four-light-bathroom-fixture-from-the-maxim-collection/p860557 4 bulb fixture for $4. Add some Y splitters and some 23w $0.50 bulbs and that's 184w of CFL for ~$15

Here's my typical generic CFL blurb, hope it helps to a degree.

I was pulling an oz a week with 388w of CFL here - First CFL Grow - Help appreciated

I would recommend a 3:1 of 6500K:2700K for veg and the opposite for flower.



Keep them small! CFLs don't do nearly as well with large plants unless you keep a clean scrog or LST. I started flowering at this size -



Dropping bulb between plants maximizes plant absorption without the loss of restrike like you would have with a reflector. I tried to cover the canopy in smaller bulbs and submerge larger bulbs between plants.



I would yield ~ 1oz per plant. With 6 in full flower at a time and two others just rotating into the flower box I was able to harvest a plant per week.



This took place in a 2x3x3.5' area of a small closet.
​

Oh, and spiral CFLs have a directional downward cast pattern so you are actually better off not hangin them horizontally, against common thought.


.

 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Envirolight is a $100+ CFL; 250w with alternating tubes of 6500k and 2700k. I don't meant to be harsh or mean but they are absolutely absurd imo for most all applications aside from perhaps a computer box grow. And I own and have used the larger wattage CFLs, and will never use them again:



Would take bathroom vanity lights with 23w CFLs over those all day long. 1/10th the price, varaible wattage, better more even coverage, more efficient lumen/watt...

Using smaller CFLs is great because you can greatly vary the wattage you use for veg. I started them all out in a 1.2x1.2x2.5' veg box first under a single 23w, then two, then four, then I moved them to the closet pictured and added bulbs as they grew and were repotted into larger containers. 388w is the maxium i used at the end and it raised my bill by about $~16/month at $0.12/kWh.
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Envirolight is a $100+ CFL; 250w with alternating tubes of 6500k and 2700k. I don't meant to be harsh or meant but they are absolutely absurd imo for most all applications aside from perhaps a computer box grow. And I own and have used the larger wattage CFLs, and will never use them again. I'd recommend a MH over them anyday.



Would take bathroom vanity lights with 23w CFLs over those all day long. Used them for a single veg and benched them.

Using smaller CFLs is great because you can greatly vary the wattage you use for veg. I started them all out in a 1.2x1.2x2.5' veg box first under a single 23w, then two, then four, then I moved them to the closet pictured and added bulbs as they grew and were repotted into larger containers.
 
yeps420

yeps420

Active Member
East Coast Pro said:
I'm wanting to grow some plants 12-12 from seed using CFLs because you can use so many and not really add on to the light bill. Anyone have any experience doing this? I would like to be able to do one plant at a time, and yield 1-2oz. So far I have 4-5 65w 2700k CFLS bulbs..i know they'll be good for flowering, will they veg too? If not, since I'll be flowering 12-12fs I guess I need mostly 2700k bulbs, and maybe just a couple 6500k bulbs directly over the plant?
Click to expand...

YEP CFL's rock bro.
Pros and cons to( size /. Lums).
The 65w are great because you dont need 3 sockets
for the Lums. 26w are the bomb for mixing 2700k/6500k/3500k

I would suggest :
Try to use at least 3 kinds of bulbs 2700/3500/6500 through out both Veg/Flower.
Veg use ( 80% 2700k, 10% 3500k, 10% 6500k )
Flower ( 70% 6500k, 20% 3500k, 10% 2700k )

Check out my journal Chit loads of pics... Hope it help. Yep__ Subd,+ rep for ya bro.. PeAcE out..
:joint:

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/513468-yeps-cfl-946-true-watt.html
 
E

East Coast Pro

Active Member
Gastanker all I want to be able to do is veg a plant for a week or two, then 12-12 and get a couple ounces from it..
If I vegged it for 1-2 weeks under 23w 6500K, then started 12-12 under the 68w 2700K..how many 68w should I use on 1 plant to pull couple ounces?
 
Mister Black

Mister Black

Active Member
Small lights are fine but it is nice to have some larger 65w ones pumping out 4200 lumens. I now buy the smaller 26w ones now as I can get 5 of those for less than the price of one 65w one. The smaller 26w ones are about 1485 lumens each.

That is about 7425 lumens for less than the price of 4200 lumens. Also you get to spread those lumens into specific areas (buds) that need them.

However if you are growing say 3 plants then in flower you will want at least 30k lumens in your cab. You will also need your cab to be quite confined as CFL's don't seem to penetrate very far.

It can get a bit finickity having 20 or more CFL's in such a small space which is why a lot of people like to buy a few bigger 65w CFL's then use the smaler ones to supplement them in awkward areas.
 
E

East Coast Pro

Active Member
Mister Black I've decided to go with one plant at a time in a 2-3gal pot..
4 65w 2700K
2 above the plant, 1 on each side..

Think I could pull couple ounces or more with that? 260 watts total
 
Rottedroots

Rottedroots

Well-Known Member
East Coast my friend I love you like were both from the east coast but you are not going to get a couple oz's from a plant that only vegged "a week or two". I sure wish you the best but I'm not sure even a botanical wizard could pull that off. I'll tell you I wish to hell I wrong and if I am someone will let us know. I just wrapped up a cfl grow with 4 plants under 450 watts made up of 18 25 watt bulbs. I flowered 8 weeks and next time I will cut that time in half. I think my yield would have been about the same which ended up only being about 1.25 oz's per plant. (Still very happy)
I'll be watching and it will be cool to see what you come up with. If you get the kind of yield your hoping for I'm gonna be following you like a puppy for pointers. Rock On!!:D

 
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