Lighting in the uk

Ston3r

Ston3r

Member
Hey all

Looking at doing my first grow and it's going to be a very small stealth grow similar to a pc case grow except i think i might use a wooden cabinet i have.

I was just wondering what cfl's people are using in the uk as we not got walmart here and i can't find many decent bulbs in my local store.

At the moment i am looking at the envirolites and am tempted by them so i just basically wanted to know what cfl's people in the uk are using.

Thanks in advance.
 
v12xjs

v12xjs

Well-Known Member
Hey Ston3r
I use a 125w envirolite and it's fine for a pc grow. In such a small space I find it best to just go 12/12 from seed so the 2700k bulb is good for that.
The vast majority of bulbs on sale are 2700k so you should be ok if you plan 12/12 yourself. I've added a single 12w 6500k light as it seems to balance out the spectrum a bit and I got that from Focus DIY. They only do 1 bulb at that colour temp and you'll find it at the very top right corner of their display, but they are £5 each and I had no real problems before I added mine so may be best to stick with the 2700k's if money is a problem.
Screwfix have a decent range too if you have one nearby.
 
Ston3r

Ston3r

Member
Thankyou very much v12jxs i was actually looking at that exact thing as was gonna to ask how people found it.

And synik4l the stores over here don't seem to stock like what walmart do and nearly every bulb now is the energy saver one's with equivalent wattage ratings.

How big was your pc case then mate i am looking at doing it in a wooden bedside cabinet which is as follows

H - 21 inches
w - 13 and half inches
d - 15 inches

was planning on getting that envirolite and using 3 pc fans i have inside.

do you think i could pull it off with them dimensions and equipment?

And would you defo go with the 12/12 from seed then as i was going to get the veg and flower envirolite bulbs and do a 18/6 veg just for a little while.

Thanks for all the help guys it's really appreciated.
 
lozac123

lozac123

Well-Known Member
if you go into hombase, they sometimes have the phillips tornado cfls on offer, theyre a great wattage, on offer, theyre like a £1 each.

just make sure you get the cool glow for vegging and warm for flowering.
 
lozac123

lozac123

Well-Known Member
oh, just so you know ALL energy saver light bulbs are cfls, i didnt realise that for a goo while.
 
Ston3r

Ston3r

Member
Thanks for the advise lozac123 i think i remember seeing the tornados although tempted to go for the envirolite as i know it's no hps or metal halide but i believe the 125watt one is 9,000 lumens and i would need quite a few tornados to get that i think.
 
Twistyman

Twistyman

Well-Known Member
Some UK friend told me..whats it called B & O stores , or something like that...
Sorry..forgot to write it down..
 
lozac123

lozac123

Well-Known Member
thats pretty good. i know the tornado i use in my room is 32w and its 1250 lumens, so if u had ten of them, ud be well over the lumen output.

oh, and twisty man, its B&Q.
 
Ston3r

Ston3r

Member
Well i doubt i would get 10 in my small cabinet so i think the 125watt envirolite looks my best bet.

Am i right in thinking just one plant with them 9,000 lumens should be fine?
 
v12xjs

v12xjs

Well-Known Member
Hey Ston3r
Those dimensions are pretty similar to mine. I think I've got 21(H)x18(D)x8(W).
Once you knock off the height of the pots and the loss of headroom caused by fitting the light you are down to maybe 12 inches of actual growspace for the plants, so vegging isn't really an option IMHO.
The plants will veg for a few weeks anyway under 12/12 as they need a certain level of maturity before they are capable of flowering. My use of the small 6500k light just covers their vegging needs while they are in that phase of growth.
If you are really keen on covering both spectrums then you could check out the 125w dual spectrum lights on ebay. I haven't used them but they should be ok in that space too.
Personally I have 4 plants on the go at any one time but I have them at different stages in a perpetual setup. You should be fine with 2 plants in there and 3 is possible with a bit of LST.
 
Ston3r

Ston3r

Member
Thanks for your reply v12xjs.

So if you were me what would ya do just go for the 125watt red spectrum envirolite and go straight to 12/12.
 
v12xjs

v12xjs

Well-Known Member
It works well and is easy enough to crop from until you get more experience & skill.
Hang fire on the purchase though. Your box may not accomodate a bulb in it's socket. I'll measure up mine & let you know.
 
v12xjs

v12xjs

Well-Known Member
You should just about make it, but I think it will need to be mounted diagonally from corner to corner. My fitting is 16" long from the back of the reflector to the end of the bulb.
 
T

Tamzi

Well-Known Member
high: 19 inch
length: 15 inch
width:15 inch

i used 3x 20w 1100 lum warm compacts. plant was from seed and 12/12 right away. temps hit 80c max with 1 single expelling pc fan and a small intake. pot was a largish pato contatiner square in shape and pre holed for LST ties.

it took roughly a month for flowering too show from seed. LST was started two weeks after seed popped.

3+ months trics appeared plant had taken all space and cola's needed too be pulled down towards soil to stop burning of tips. LST'ing was nearly every day. leaf thinning was needed because of space requirements and the bushyness of plant.

sadly 3 weeks before mature plant HAD too be culled fullstop. it is possible to grow small but your yield wont be much at all. in all the whole stem measured 4 ft packed into a roughly 1ft square space.

It is not easy Lst'ing in a small area, you will realy need to be able too get too every side of plant.

plant type: Indica /lowryder are the best there natural ground hugging helps with your small growing space, bagseed is a big no. most of my bag seed was big stavia way too much growth for a small confined space.

HEAT: this is your main problem. small 80mm pc fans wont cut the mustard im sorry too say. there noisey hum is a give away and the 25 cubic metre an hour air flow is fairly low. personaly 120mm fans would be a better idea and the very low running noise and the large upto 90cmf airflow would shift heat quicker. without my fan running my max temps hit 90 easy with fan on 24/7 i could pull that down by 10. heat is your main problem and space your second. but it is possible
 
cerebralvibrator

cerebralvibrator

Active Member
You wont go wrong following V12's advice when it comes to PC case grows :-)

Can I just also add that you can use standard 'low energy' bulbs if youre tight on space (2700k and 6400k I use, get the 2700's from any supermarket or DIY store, the 6400's you will get from a specialist electrical supplier if you want to add one). They're far smaller BUt you need 5 x 22 watt bulbs to give you that same 125 watts from the envirolight, advantage is with the smaller bulbs I find is that you can spread the light around the buds far easier when the time comes BUT I guess its down to space in a PC case.

CFL's in action!!
 
v12xjs

v12xjs

Well-Known Member
That's very similar to my kit Ston3r. Half way down that page are 4 pics together. 2nd pic is that reflector again. 3rd pic is the same thing with some heat vents above the lamp. If I was buying another one that is the one I'd get.
Just check with the supplier for the end to end measurement and check your space to be certain. I'll tell you how to make the reflector wings work if you get it.
If it won't fit then check out cerebralvibrators grow for top tips on doing the same thing with smaller lights.

And thanks CV.
 
v12xjs

v12xjs

Well-Known Member
Tamzi said:
high: 19 inch
length: 15 inch
width:15 inch

i used 3x 20w 1100 lum warm compacts. plant was from seed and 12/12 right away. temps hit 80c max with 1 single expelling pc fan and a small intake. pot was a largish pato contatiner square in shape and pre holed for LST ties.

it took roughly a month for flowering too show from seed. LST was started two weeks after seed popped.

3+ months trics appeared plant had taken all space and cola's needed too be pulled down towards soil to stop burning of tips. LST'ing was nearly every day. leaf thinning was needed because of space requirements and the bushyness of plant.

sadly 3 weeks before mature plant HAD too be culled fullstop. it is possible to grow small but your yield wont be much at all. in all the whole stem measured 4 ft packed into a roughly 1ft square space.

It is not easy Lst'ing in a small area, you will realy need to be able too get too every side of plant.

plant type: Indica /lowryder are the best there natural ground hugging helps with your small growing space, bagseed is a big no. most of my bag seed was big stavia way too much growth for a small confined space.

HEAT: this is your main problem. small 80mm pc fans wont cut the mustard im sorry too say. there noisey hum is a give away and the 25 cubic metre an hour air flow is fairly low. personaly 120mm fans would be a better idea and the very low running noise and the large upto 90cmf airflow would shift heat quicker. without my fan running my max temps hit 90 easy with fan on 24/7 i could pull that down by 10. heat is your main problem and space your second. but it is possible
Click to expand...
Hey Tamzi

Got to take issue with some of your points there.
It sounds to me that a plant taking 8 weeks+ to go from preflower to showing trichs is heavily sativa based. Not a plant to grow in a small space. 3k lumens is a third of a 125w envirolite and is very low, which will cause the sativa to stretch even more than usual for more light. Once the plant filled your space up there is no path for air to flow so cooling becomes nonexistant and yet still you managed to get within 3 weeks of a harvest.
With all due respect, a little more thought on genetics would have made a big difference to your opinion and I still think what you have written gives a good clue to what is achievable in a small space.
You didn't miss by a mile despite some huge obstacles. Try again and I think you will have a different outlook.
 
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