Kolchak420
Active Member
I want to keep 2 mother plants of moderate size (indicas) in a box that measures 18" x 27" x 40". Would a 125 watt CFL be strong enough for them over the long term?
CFL for Mother Plants?
- Thread starter Kolchak420
- Start date
Mother's Finest
Well-Known Member
125w actual or incandescent equivalent?
Kolchak420
Active Member
A Hydrofarm 125w actual.
sk8disgruntled
Well-Known Member
just use a bunch of 26 watt cfls multi spectrums, on y splitters.
sk8disgruntled
Well-Known Member
oh sorry dude just reread. you will need a little more than the 125 for 2 plants once they get bigger. is this actual or equivalent?
Kolchak420
Active Member
What would you suggest? A 250 watt MH, or maybe some T5's?
DocGreenThumb
Well-Known Member
I keep 4 moms in a 4'x2'x5' under a 250 watt MH and they grow vigorously. HTGSupply's $117 250watt Magnetic ballast grow setup with reflector, socket, cord and bulb. I upgraded the bulb and keep their bulb for a spare. T5's work well I've heard but I've never used them. CFL's will work. If your going to take a lot of cuttings frequently like me then I would recommend the 250 MH.
Happy Growing!
Happy Growing!
sk8disgruntled
Well-Known Member
i also use the htg supply 250 mh. works great. i dont use it for mothers though. t5s would probably work fine. they have some nice t5 setups at htg also
DocGreenThumb
Well-Known Member
Reading over this again with a better buzz LOL In your small space there HID lighting would be out of the question for mothers even with ventilation.
Yeah I haven't had mine long. I have a 600watt digital greenhouse hps/mh that works very well. My 250 MH bulb blew about a week ago now. Replaced under warranty. I'll keep it for a spare. The new bulb I have is the fat type of MH the one they sent me was in the shape of my 600HPS.
If your power goes out you have to kill that HTG ballast and turn it back on, I learned this last night after the storm. I thought the brand new bulb blew.
Go with CFL's the 125watt or about half a dozen 23 watters.
Yeah I haven't had mine long. I have a 600watt digital greenhouse hps/mh that works very well. My 250 MH bulb blew about a week ago now. Replaced under warranty. I'll keep it for a spare. The new bulb I have is the fat type of MH the one they sent me was in the shape of my 600HPS.
If your power goes out you have to kill that HTG ballast and turn it back on, I learned this last night after the storm. I thought the brand new bulb blew.
Go with CFL's the 125watt or about half a dozen 23 watters.
sk8disgruntled
Well-Known Member
i have a 250 mh and 5 26 watt cfls in my 2x3 feet closet. my temps are at a nice cool 74 last time i checked. about 5 degrees hotter than my bedroom id say.
Mother's Finest
Well-Known Member
That's plenty of light for two small-medium mothers. The biggest benefit of fewer, higher wattage bulbs over more, lower wattage bulbs is penetration. Adding more bulbs of the same wattage doesn't really increase how far the light reaches, but increasing the wattage does.
One of the factors used to control the size of mother plants is light. You try to give them just enough of it to maintain a certain size. They'll still grow, of course, but it'll help keep them that size, especially when combined with other techniques.
Mylar
Well-Known Member
Peep this hope it helps. https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/66077-anyone-here-use-t5-grow.html And I would roll with this - http://www.amazon.com/T5-Fluorescent-Grow-Light-Designer/dp/B002TJS85Y Peace Good Luck
daisy2687
Well-Known Member
BTW the 125w will outperform any # of 23w cfls unless you position those 23w ones all over the place. Lumens don't add... so 10 23w (1200 lumen or something) still equals 1200 lumens...
Anywho dont mean to hijack but I plan on keeping 4 mothers in a 1.7'x1.7' area under a 150w HPS... will i be disappointed? Definately going to upgrade in a few months to a 400w MH but hoping I can get a decent amount of cuttings till then
Anywho dont mean to hijack but I plan on keeping 4 mothers in a 1.7'x1.7' area under a 150w HPS... will i be disappointed? Definately going to upgrade in a few months to a 400w MH but hoping I can get a decent amount of cuttings till then
DocGreenThumb
Well-Known Member
My 4 mom's grow great under the 250MH with 5' of height I just topped one of my RBC's to replace the one I stuck in the flower room. Check out my current grow in my signature.
CHUCKTYLAH
Active Member
Yes 125w actual is perfect for 2 mother plants there is absolutley no need what so ever for using any HID for clone production.
Corbat420
Well-Known Member
this is a better idea, its also what i do....... it will alow you to posision the lights around the plant and get the best node growth possible, therefor the most clones possible
125 actual watts is NOT enough to sustain 2 mothers for long term. your going to need @ least 250 watts.
theres never a NEED to use HID lighting, its just proven to work better............
i just have to say something here since you people are misinforming this man.......
The gerneral rule of thumb is 50 watts per square foot 2 will only be enough for a 2'x3' area and that is still pushing it! therefor 1 125 watts is NOT enough to sustain 2 mothers. they need MORE LUMENS.
DocGreenThumb
Well-Known Member
Yeah a 250 watt CFL would be more ideal or I would agree with above a bunch of low watt CFL's can make your own fixtures pretty easy and inexpensive. I hear the 250watt $60+ bulbs do not last very long. Just what I have heard from people that use them, I myself have never used any CFL's above 23 actual watts.