Is 400w Cfl Enough! ((PICS))

i got 3 plants growing just put into flowering. My question is do you think thts enough light and can i raise my lights to maybe 5,6 inches above plant for
better light for the whole plant..Now i keep my cfls about an 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches away but by havin so many tops i want them all to have good light using what i have already..

the more the better... 400w cfl for 3 plants aint bad tho jus keep lights within a few inches not 5-6 and ull b fine. maybe try a lil LST? tie doen those tops so new ones form instead of just focusing on the ones that r there.

drdavegreenthumb said:

the more the better... 400w cfl for 3 plants aint bad tho jus keep lights within a few inches not 5-6 and ull b fine. maybe try a lil LST? tie doen those tops so new ones form instead of just focusing on the ones that r there.

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lst is a good ideal.. ima try one next time

The plants will grow a lot once into flowering, an lst may be a good idea.
Although it does look like you may have a good amount of space above the plants for them to grow still?

What kind of light bulbs are those, like actual watt? I see you only have 2 lights in there, from what i can tell at least. I use 23-27 true watts, and a bunch of them. Just use Y splitters, found mine easily at Home Depot. I'd think that would distribute the light to all your plants, rather then have just 2 bulbs. That's just me tho, and it works for me . Good luck with them tho, they look great so far .

yea is it actual watts ? is it two 200W bulbs ? and what color/kelvin ?

and 2-4 inches away from the tops is about right .. more then 10 and you wont get much light out of em .. so keep em low and spread em out .. LST and/or a sea of green in ther .. maybe with one more bulb in another Kelvin then the other two ??????

more info please ..

four 100w, two in each hood
6700k daylights
THANKS for all the feedback guys
Just added a 300w soft white(yellow) 2700k and put in flowering ill post sum pics of tht set up

thegreatindoors said:

four 100w, two in each hood
6700k daylights
THANKS for all the feedback guys
Just added a 300w soft white(yellow) 2700k and put in flowering ill post sum pics of tht set up

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I suspect those are not actual wattage, but wattage equivalant. the "100w" are mosy likely 23-27w a piece, and a "300w" 2700k is really like 65 watts. Did you get them from home depot? They are self ballasted CFL's?

As far as I know there is 68, 85, 125, 150watt cfls I think Meta is right u probably mean the 23 or 25w that says equals 100w. Easiest way to know, how much did u pay for ur 100w bulbs cause the 105w I've seen is around $25 a bulb and the 23w is like $6-8.

the cfl always confuse me and walkin into home depot makes me dizzy i got black domina seeds that call for cfl but i don't know what to buy from lowes cuz it has lumens huh? and warm and cool then watts

Metasynth said:

I suspect those are not actual wattage, but wattage equivalant. the "100w" are mosy likely 23-27w a piece, and a "300w" 2700k is really like 65 watts. Did you get them from home depot? They are self ballasted CFL's?

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yup your right on all that nd yes home depot

New pics....

You're gonna need a LOT more bulbs. Like 6 per plant. So if you buy the 23-27w CFLs, and you have 18 of them, that's about 450w actual. Should be better. also, don't waste your money on those 300w(65w actual) bulbs, probably better off sticking to 23-27w bulbs, they give you the best lumen/wattage ratio for your buck.

I grew some dank with CFL's a while back...Turned out pretty good.

[video=youtube;uk_QbqMnl7Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk_QbqMnl7Q[/video]

Metasynth said:

You're gonna need a LOT more bulbs. Like 6 per plant. So if you buy the 23-27w CFLs, and you have 18 of them, that's about 450w actual. Should be better. also, don't waste your money on those 300w(65w actual) bulbs, probably better off sticking to 23-27w bulbs, they give you the best lumen/wattage ratio for your buck.

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so what it equals for ex. 23w=100w does not matter its only as god as a 23w ima kinda confused.
its pulling 23w and pushing out 100w so wouldnt you count what its putting out?

metasynth said:

i grew some dank with cfl's a while back...turned out pretty good.

[video=youtube;uk_qbqmnl7q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk_qbqmnl7q[/video]

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nice buds!!!

thegreatindoors said:

so what it equals for ex. 23w=100w does not matter its only as god as a 23w ima kinda confused.
its pulling 23w and pushing out 100w so wouldnt you count what its putting out?

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No, it's not pulling 23w and pushing 100w...That is the incandescent equivalent number. You only go by the actual wattage, and they are 23w a piece. It's not turning 23w into 100w worth of light, these bulbs are just more efficient than regular old school incandescent bulbs, which tend to put off more energy in the form of heat than light.

thegreatindoors said:

nice buds!!!

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Thanks, I checked out most recent the pics of your plants...You need a lot more light, and since they're so tall(for CFL grown plants), you're gonna need to supplement them with side lighting since the penetration capability of CFL light is limited. Meaning your bulbs won't do much good for the middle and lower buds if they're all at the tops of the plants. Get ssome bulbs lighting the sides of those plants.

And trust me on the wattage thing, only go by ACTUAL wattage, ignore the equivalent numbers.

Metasynth said:

No, it's not pulling 23w and pushing 100w...That is the incandescent equivalent number. You only go by the actual wattage, and they are 23w a piece. It's not turning 23w into 100w worth of light, these bulbs are just more efficient than regular old school incandescent bulbs, which tend to put off more energy in the form of heat than light.

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+1.
OP, don't confuse equivalent with actual. The sales pitch of CFL is that they use less energy than an equivalent incandescent bulb. A 23watt bulb does not produce 100watts....it is 23 watts but the light output is equivalent to a 100 watt bulb (incandescent).

You're gonna need more lights, especially when you go into flowering. 3 CFL are not gonna fly for 3 flowering plants. You're gonna need 6-9 lights per plant.

Metasynth is spot on, your stretching them because of lack of light and this will really show when it comes to flowering. The more you can give them while still controlling your temps the better. The more you put = the more you get out. Try side lighting, and maybe get some good reflective lining for your space to make the most of what you've got.

A lot of folks I know won't grow under less than 200w of actual light per plant (not equivalent as has been explained to you) as its frustrating to see buds be small and loose on the stalk.

But don't worry - its all practice, and we have all been at the stage when we haven't got quite got enough equipment. In fact i don't think it ever stops! Its better to learn why everything is important in stages than to buy shit loads of top quality equipment and not have a clue what your doing with it!!!

For what you've got running, you should be proud!