more cfl watts or more cfl bulbs?
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SHAWTYBANGBANG
Well-Known Member
if you have 50$ to spend just get a 150w hps
whiterhyno420
Well-Known Member
buy the packages (cheaper) and get alot of bulbs. i use 8 for each plant plus side lighting
lemonjellow
Well-Known Member
lumens not watts or bulbs . you want as many lumens as you can get out of as little watts possable. less watts + more lumens = more efficient. 6500k for veg 2700k for flower. hope that helps .
whiterhyno420
Well-Known Member
daylight cfls 65k
crazykoolaid
Active Member
so is that a 27 watt per plant =100w or is it a 100 watt cfl
KushMastuhhr
Member
hes saying get one for top and get the smaller wattage ones around the plant
Check my grow!!
KushMastuhhr
crazykoolaid
Active Member
ok that is what i have just wonderng thanks
The 26 watt and 42 watt are the most cost effective. And it's much better to tune the efficiency of the rest of your grow than to just jam more bulbs in. Make sure your ventilation, soil, reflectivity, pH, humidity, feeding regimie, etc are all at 100% before you start sticking in more bulbs. Also, training your plants is an extremely good way to improve the usage of the lumens you already have, especially under CFLs. LST, Topping, FIMing, ScrOG, whatever. All of these options should be pursued before you get more bulbs.
If everything else is 100%, it should only take about 100 true watts of CFLs to grow 1 quailty plant.
If everything else is 100%, it should only take about 100 true watts of CFLs to grow 1 quailty plant.
I
Illegal Smile
Guest
You can get 40 watt cfls, but only in 2700k, at Amazon.com for just over $4 each. You have to buy six and you have to buy one other item to get free shipping. But that's a steal. 6500k are more.
I think cfls over 42 watts are a waste but sometimes the 23w are a great buy and easier to position. Here's the amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Earthmate-EP4052AE-40-Watt-Spiral-6-Pack/dp/B001WAL1P0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1249501396&sr=8-3
I think cfls over 42 watts are a waste but sometimes the 23w are a great buy and easier to position. Here's the amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Earthmate-EP4052AE-40-Watt-Spiral-6-Pack/dp/B001WAL1P0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1249501396&sr=8-3
lemonjellow
Well-Known Member
at 42w you will get more lumens per watt
NOWitall
Active Member
ok first off
heres a link to the official ge lamp specs
http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/images/t04/0000000/r00016v-1.pdf
6500k for veg
2700k for flower
i also use the 3000+ lumes per sq foot.
2 ge 26w 6500k bulbs at 1700 lumens each gives you 3400 lumen and three gives you 5100 lumen.
also where do you live, my wal mart has 2 packs of those ge 26w bulbs for like 6 bucks.
highly reflective walls help a great deal
heres a link to the official ge lamp specs
http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/images/t04/0000000/r00016v-1.pdf
6500k for veg
2700k for flower
i also use the 3000+ lumes per sq foot.
2 ge 26w 6500k bulbs at 1700 lumens each gives you 3400 lumen and three gives you 5100 lumen.
also where do you live, my wal mart has 2 packs of those ge 26w bulbs for like 6 bucks.
highly reflective walls help a great deal
Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
Best answer I've seen.
The bottom bare minimum is 3000 lumens per sq ft to keep it alive, and 5000 will thrive. The sun provides 10,000 lumens per sq ft.
Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
Let me tell you about CFLs.
From Ed Rosenthal:
In the new Skunk Magazine there was a question in the "Ask Ed" section that just made my night last night when reading it...
The question was:
I intend to grow a single cannabis plant in a space 1' x 2'. What light would you recommend? I was think of using four 30-watt compact fluorescent lamps. Will this be enough? Cost isn't an issue but I am deterred from getting a high pressure sodium [light] because of the amount of heat the bulb produces.
Answer:
As you mentioned, you have several lighting systems to choose from, including compact fluorescents and high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps. Among HPS lamps you have a choice between a single 100-watt lamp which uses a total of about 120-watts and emits about 8,800 lumens(73 lumens per watt) or a 150-watt lamp, which uses about 180 watts and emits almost double that-15,800 lumens (87 lumens per watt).
A 42-watt compact fluorescent (CFL) emits about 2700 lumens(64 lumens per watt). Four 42 watt CFLs use 168 watts and emit 10,800 lumens. Other size CFLs have a similar efficiency.
However, that is only part of the story. Plants use mostly red and blue light. Yellow and green light is of little use to them, so light that is emitted in these spectrums is wasted energy. Most of the light emitted by HPS lamps is in the yellow spectrum. Only a small amount of the emitted light is is in the orange or red spectrums, which plants use efficiently. Warm white fluorescents (2700 Kelvin) emit a greater portion in the red and orange sectors.
Although fluorescents produce only about 75% of the light per watt that the HPS does, the amount of light usable by the plant is equal or probably higher with the fluorescents. You may wish to experiment to see if adding a single cool white CFL to replace one warm white results in shorter, stouter stems and more vigorous growth. The reasoning is that warm whites don't emit much blue light, which the plants use for photosynthesis and to regulate their growth. The cool white bulb supplies the blue light.
My call for your unit would be to use several (three to five) CFLs with a total input of between 120-160 watts. Although the 150 watt HPS is a bit more efficient that the CFLs in total output, watt for watt the fluorescents provide as much useful light as the HPS lamp. Heat is another consideration. The HPS runs much hotter and emits more heat than the fluoescents.
Make sure to use reflective material around the garden so that any light escaping the garden is reflected back to the plants. Any light that doesn't get to the plant leaves is wasted.
Look at a lumen/watt ration of various CFL's. The higher the wattage of CFLs, the lower the lumen/watt ratio. This chart was submitted by Jerry Garcia, of RIU and edited for typos.
For example...
the 200w listed at 9250 lumens for a lumens/watt ratio of 9250/200=46.25
the 150w is listed at 7500 lumens for a l/w ratio of 7500/150=50
the 125w is listed at 6500 lumens for a l/w ratio of 6500/125=52
the 42w are listed for 2700 lumens, l/w ratio of 2700/42=64.28
I have some 26w that give off 1700 lumens for a l/w ratio of 1700/26=65.38
GE lists some 13w that give off 825 lumens for a l/w ratio of 825/13=63.46
So, according to these numbers the most efficient bulbs for growing are the 26w that emit 1700 lumens. If you used 8 26w bulbs (208 watts total) you'd be getting 13,600 lumens...4,350 more lumens than a single 200 watt cfl.
From Ed Rosenthal:
In the new Skunk Magazine there was a question in the "Ask Ed" section that just made my night last night when reading it...
The question was:
I intend to grow a single cannabis plant in a space 1' x 2'. What light would you recommend? I was think of using four 30-watt compact fluorescent lamps. Will this be enough? Cost isn't an issue but I am deterred from getting a high pressure sodium [light] because of the amount of heat the bulb produces.
Answer:
As you mentioned, you have several lighting systems to choose from, including compact fluorescents and high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps. Among HPS lamps you have a choice between a single 100-watt lamp which uses a total of about 120-watts and emits about 8,800 lumens(73 lumens per watt) or a 150-watt lamp, which uses about 180 watts and emits almost double that-15,800 lumens (87 lumens per watt).
A 42-watt compact fluorescent (CFL) emits about 2700 lumens(64 lumens per watt). Four 42 watt CFLs use 168 watts and emit 10,800 lumens. Other size CFLs have a similar efficiency.
However, that is only part of the story. Plants use mostly red and blue light. Yellow and green light is of little use to them, so light that is emitted in these spectrums is wasted energy. Most of the light emitted by HPS lamps is in the yellow spectrum. Only a small amount of the emitted light is is in the orange or red spectrums, which plants use efficiently. Warm white fluorescents (2700 Kelvin) emit a greater portion in the red and orange sectors.
Although fluorescents produce only about 75% of the light per watt that the HPS does, the amount of light usable by the plant is equal or probably higher with the fluorescents. You may wish to experiment to see if adding a single cool white CFL to replace one warm white results in shorter, stouter stems and more vigorous growth. The reasoning is that warm whites don't emit much blue light, which the plants use for photosynthesis and to regulate their growth. The cool white bulb supplies the blue light.
My call for your unit would be to use several (three to five) CFLs with a total input of between 120-160 watts. Although the 150 watt HPS is a bit more efficient that the CFLs in total output, watt for watt the fluorescents provide as much useful light as the HPS lamp. Heat is another consideration. The HPS runs much hotter and emits more heat than the fluoescents.
Make sure to use reflective material around the garden so that any light escaping the garden is reflected back to the plants. Any light that doesn't get to the plant leaves is wasted.
Look at a lumen/watt ration of various CFL's. The higher the wattage of CFLs, the lower the lumen/watt ratio. This chart was submitted by Jerry Garcia, of RIU and edited for typos.
For example...
the 200w listed at 9250 lumens for a lumens/watt ratio of 9250/200=46.25
the 150w is listed at 7500 lumens for a l/w ratio of 7500/150=50
the 125w is listed at 6500 lumens for a l/w ratio of 6500/125=52
the 42w are listed for 2700 lumens, l/w ratio of 2700/42=64.28
I have some 26w that give off 1700 lumens for a l/w ratio of 1700/26=65.38
GE lists some 13w that give off 825 lumens for a l/w ratio of 825/13=63.46
So, according to these numbers the most efficient bulbs for growing are the 26w that emit 1700 lumens. If you used 8 26w bulbs (208 watts total) you'd be getting 13,600 lumens...4,350 more lumens than a single 200 watt cfl.
