Is 1LB of one plant possible using only CFL
- Thread starter Never grown before
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Never grown before
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one plant i know lol
CLOSETGROWTH
Well-Known Member
If i was living in an apartment, and didnt have this house.. I would consider a cfl grow.. Seriously.
Its amazing what they have done with flourescent lighting in the past 5 years..
Its amazing what they have done with flourescent lighting in the past 5 years..
Never grown before
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I've started my grow with one 125w CFL bulb its looking good so far
RedHairs
Active Member
This is true. But CFLs have a long way to go still to get 1lb out of a single plant.... without a totatly ridiculous CFL setup. Probably as expensive as a HID setup; and obviously tons more work.
But hey, if no one ever dreamed it, it would never happen.
Never grown before
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Thats very true im dreaming it can be done im hoping to get a few more of the 125w or 150w cfl bulbs
Calculating at 2000 lumens per bulb isn't the way to think about it, I'm afraid. Growing with CFLs the light calcs are different due to the shorter falloff combined with the proximity of the bulbs you can get.
A large 250w bulb puts out a hell of a lot of lumens (not able to give precise numbers here, so I'll give none) in the first instance, but nowhere near HPS levels, however due to the inverse square falloff of light over distance it is possible to use CFL lighting to get the same, if not higher intensity at the plant itself. There is a post around somewhere showing lightmeter falloff diagrams in 3d graph format with a variety of different output sources and is a great reference for setting up a lighting rig that should maximise the light your plants are receiving.
Personally I use a 250w, with 2x85w forming a cross, which gives me 420w output less than 6" from the tops. I'm making no claims of being able to trump a HPS grow or anything like that, just saying that clever can sometimes be as good as strong.
This is Betty at about 4 weeks, she mostly had just 250w, but upped to the 420w later on. I think she looks pretty well considering she's never seen sodium, is grown organically in soil and is my first grow. I love CFL growing personally
A large 250w bulb puts out a hell of a lot of lumens (not able to give precise numbers here, so I'll give none) in the first instance, but nowhere near HPS levels, however due to the inverse square falloff of light over distance it is possible to use CFL lighting to get the same, if not higher intensity at the plant itself. There is a post around somewhere showing lightmeter falloff diagrams in 3d graph format with a variety of different output sources and is a great reference for setting up a lighting rig that should maximise the light your plants are receiving.
Personally I use a 250w, with 2x85w forming a cross, which gives me 420w output less than 6" from the tops. I'm making no claims of being able to trump a HPS grow or anything like that, just saying that clever can sometimes be as good as strong.
This is Betty at about 4 weeks, she mostly had just 250w, but upped to the 420w later on. I think she looks pretty well considering she's never seen sodium, is grown organically in soil and is my first grow. I love CFL growing personally
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Yeah, however because there is less energy conversion to heat with CFLs there is a lower ambient rise. Personally my outer air temp is relatively low, with the airflow being directed under the lighting and across the canopy, to send the warmer air onto the plants and keep them at a comfortable 27c constantly.
Heat is the reason I switched to CFLs, simply a different kind of world where heat from bulbs is your friend, not your enemy
Heat is the reason I switched to CFLs, simply a different kind of world where heat from bulbs is your friend, not your enemy
Never grown before
Active Member
Calculating at 2000 lumens per bulb isn't the way to think about it, I'm afraid. Growing with CFLs the light calcs are different due to the shorter falloff combined with the proximity of the bulbs you can get.
A large 250w bulb puts out a hell of a lot of lumens (not able to give precise numbers here, so I'll give none) in the first instance, but nowhere near HPS levels, however due to the inverse square falloff of light over distance it is possible to use CFL lighting to get the same, if not higher intensity at the plant itself. There is a post around somewhere showing lightmeter falloff diagrams in 3d graph format with a variety of different output sources and is a great reference for setting up a lighting rig that should maximise the light your plants are receiving.
Personally I use a 250w, with 2x85w forming a cross, which gives me 420w output less than 6" from the tops. I'm making no claims of being able to trump a HPS grow or anything like that, just saying that clever can sometimes be as good as strong.
This is Betty at about 4 weeks, she mostly had just 250w, but upped to the 420w later on. I think she looks pretty well considering she's never seen sodium, is grown organically in soil and is my first grow. I love CFL growing personally
wow
looking good how long did you veg for?
CLOSETGROWTH
Well-Known Member
Calculating at 2000 lumens per bulb isn't the way to think about it, I'm afraid. Growing with CFLs the light calcs are different due to the shorter falloff combined with the proximity of the bulbs you can get.
A large 250w bulb puts out a hell of a lot of lumens (not able to give precise numbers here, so I'll give none) in the first instance, but nowhere near HPS levels, however due to the inverse square falloff of light over distance it is possible to use CFL lighting to get the same, if not higher intensity at the plant itself. There is a post around somewhere showing lightmeter falloff diagrams in 3d graph format with a variety of different output sources and is a great reference for setting up a lighting rig that should maximise the light your plants are receiving.
Personally I use a 250w, with 2x85w forming a cross, which gives me 420w output less than 6" from the tops. I'm making no claims of being able to trump a HPS grow or anything like that, just saying that clever can sometimes be as good as strong.
This is Betty at about 4 weeks, she mostly had just 250w, but upped to the 420w later on. I think she looks pretty well considering she's never seen sodium, is grown organically in soil and is my first grow. I love CFL growing personally
You did a kick ass job with that plant.. +rep!! WOW!!!
Cheers for the kind words, I'm really pleased and hit week 6 today. Can't wait to see what I get in the end.
The whole question of CFL vs MH/HPS fascinates me and while I've already done a lot of reading I'm still prepared to do more
@Never grown before: She was taken as a clone on 28/2/10, had 7 days in a propagator and went into a small pot on 7/3/10, I changed to 12/12 on 26/3, so about 3 weeks of veg. I count my date for flowering starting as 03/04 (8 days after photoperiod change), as that was the first day I confirmed buds.
@Closetgrowth: Thanks, it really means alot to hear that from you, I read your grow and not only do you grow great plants but you are just among the friendliest people I've encountered, really like your attitude
The whole question of CFL vs MH/HPS fascinates me and while I've already done a lot of reading I'm still prepared to do more
@Never grown before: She was taken as a clone on 28/2/10, had 7 days in a propagator and went into a small pot on 7/3/10, I changed to 12/12 on 26/3, so about 3 weeks of veg. I count my date for flowering starting as 03/04 (8 days after photoperiod change), as that was the first day I confirmed buds.
@Closetgrowth: Thanks, it really means alot to hear that from you, I read your grow and not only do you grow great plants but you are just among the friendliest people I've encountered, really like your attitude
Never grown before
Active Member
Cheers for the kind words, I'm really pleased and hit week 6 today. Can't wait to see what I get in the end.
The whole question of CFL vs MH/HPS fascinates me and while I've already done a lot of reading I'm still prepared to do more
@Never grown before: She was taken as a clone on 28/2/10, had 7 days in a propagator and went into a small pot on 7/3/10, I changed to 12/12 on 26/3, so about 3 weeks of veg. I count my date for flowering starting as 03/04 (8 days after photoperiod change), as that was the first day I confirmed buds.
@Closetgrowth: Thanks, it really means alot to hear that from you, I read your grow and not only do you grow great plants but you are just among the friendliest people I've encountered, really like your attitude
Spindles i hope your plant give u as much as u need they look fantasic CFL does make plants look stronger in veg thats defo true
SHOSHON3N8TV
Active Member
Very nice, I'm gonna add some of those 150 watt cfls, I'm using 43 watt cfls and leds at the moment, about 150 watts of led and 50 watts of led. I spent 90 bones on an 18 watt LED spotgrow...and its the loudest...louder than my 120 mm fans lol wtf. Oh yeah for those impatient noobs, if you want some fast growin bud, get the autoflowering (lowryder)strains...done in 2 months compared to the sativaz that will take TWICE as long if not longer to complete. Keep it green!
Never grown before
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Cheers for the advise the big cfl seem to work grt
Never grown before
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i thing 6 250w big bulb CFL might work
I'm sure it's possible to get that much off 1 plant with CFLs, but it's no where near practical. You would need a big space, a bunch and I mean a bunch of CFLs, then ventilation that can handle it. For all the money it would cost to set that up you could buy a much more professional set up. Getting huge harvests off one plant inside isn't very practical anyway, you are looking at an extended veg period when you could simply do 2 or 3 plants in the same space in less time.
Never grown before
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but you could do a sea of green type setup and veg long after the setup time it will be a regular bud im planning every 2 weeks