Lighting advice please

Hi all, just about to harvest my first grow in the next few days just waiting for a few more trichomes to turn amber. I've grown 2 Northern lights with cfls, plants have stayed nice and healthy throughout the entire grow my only problem is yield. I washoping an ounce or more from each plant but looking at it I will probs be lucky to get an ounce from both. I'm almost certain this is due to inadequate lighting as I've only had 3cfls per plant.

So I'm looking to upgrade lighting and instead of having several more cfls I'd light to try something different. I've done a lot of searching round but just can't decide which type would be best. The led panels have caught my eye because I think Hps and others alike will give off too much heat as I'm only working with a small space with enough room for 2 plants max.

So any advice one what type of lights and any certain brands would be much appreciated, as I said not looking to spend ridiculous amount of money just something for 1-2 plants that will increase my yields.

Thanks in advance

Any ideas anyone?

It all comes down to how much coin your willing to spend.
I went with the LED's because of a small closet grow.
T5HO's will do a lot better than just CFL's.
What is your budget ?

I'm a first time grower with just 1 plant in a 4x4 tent. I have a 270 watt led off ebay that I only dropped 180 bucks on. I am 1week into flowering northern lights x skunk. I have a 12 inch tall plant that is insanely bushy with like 1 inch internodes. My stalk is VERY well developed and the branches are extremely sturdy.

I am using a model that has 90 3 watt diodes and my only gripe is penetration...but she's so bUshy I'm not sure anything could get through. I will definitely LST and possibly tie this strain down next time to allow more light to the lower growth...but these are the newb things we learn I suppose. As for the light its bright as hell, will blind you if you look directly into it. My temps never breach 84 degrees.

I'll let you know as flower progresses but for veg I'll say even the China made LEDs are great for it.

With only two plants in a very small area you could get away with as small as a 100 watt MH/HPS. I use one in my starter closet (18" x 24") with great results. I've even taken one plant to maturity in there and got a 5 oz yield off of it. Mind you, it was probably a heavily Sativa strain but the results do speak for themselves. Even with all of the new lighting technology out there HID (MH/HPS) is still king.

PS> I use a 400 watt in my main closet (2' x 4') with two, two tube T8s and my temps stay between 74°F and 80°F, and I'm using no hood or special ventilation.

SaucyAussie said:

With only two plants in a very small area you could get away with as small as a 100 watt MH/HPS. I use one in my starter closet (18" x 24") with great results. I've even taken one plant to maturity in there and got a 5 oz yield off of it. Mind you, it was probably a heavily Sativa strain but the results do speak for themselves. Even with all of the new lighting technology out there HID (MH/HPS) is still king.

PS> I use a 400 watt in my main closet (2' x 4') with two, two tube T8s and my temps stay between 74°F and 80°F, and I'm using no hood or special ventilation.

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5 oz from one plant that would be amazing! Was that with the 100watt from start to finish?
Being as I have no clue how hot they actually get do you think a 150watt Hps would be too hot for a 2x2x6ft space? All I have to keep temps down at the minute is a 6 inch fan. But it's not too much of a problem I'm in the UK so it's never exactly hot here

If there's proper airflow, 150W is just fine, in fact you can increase your wattage as long as you can exaust the hot air out of your grow space. Pulling in cold air from a window, crawl space or attic will replace the exhausted hot air with cool "fresh" air. This will ensure you're plants will get at least the minimal amount of co2 they need as well. Also remember, the higher the wattage, the more expensive your power bill be. My 1000w system increased my power bill $120/month. Where I live though, the power is billed in tiers, so the more power I use, the higher the price per watt. Tier 1 is 12 cents a watt, I'm now tier 4 which is 41 cents a watt. Food for thought.