need opinions and suggestions, new and growing

I am trying to understand the color spectrum right now I am using a 5000 K CFL my plants are growing good and the buds are decent but I want my buds thicker and bigger more dense what does the color spectrum mean as to the K of the light.is this incorrect a 5000k bulb for the education a 2700 k bulb for flowering?

for flower you need more of a red spectrum,think about putting in some uvb bulbs and yes you are correct 5 for veg 27 to 3 k flower but the uvb addsthe uv ray of the sun in the room,you have to move them around a bit but friends of mine swear by them. i use 2 400 watt hps in my grow room for a 7x7 room and they do just fine for me ,i only grow for my medicine so all that yeild shit doesnt matter to me

5000k is day light light yellow light blue mix... 6500k is where you wanna be for veg more blue... flower you want 3500k its more red. your production just won't ever be amazing with CFL grows.

2700k is still in the spectrum but your getting more useless light that low... try to be in the 3000-3500 you still want a very slight mixture of blue into it.. you can't see the blue with your eyes but the wavelength is in that range still... plus theres flower promoting wavelengths in the 3500 range you want.

look up the kelvin to WV nanometer scale and then start understanding wavelengths more and how they effect the plant and not kelvin ratings... the wave lengths you get out of the kelvin rating are what you want to know about.

If you can cool it I would get an HPS light for flowering

GrowHydro2193 said:

If you can cool it I would get an HPS light for flowering

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yeah totally agree EVEN AT WORST get a 70 watter.... your production will be more than any cfl...

other options are t5 lights with proper spectrum but they are like cfl you'll get fluffy buds... no doubt id never personally flower under 1000W.. but i wouldn't really wanna flower under a 400W HPS anything less is just almost pointless.... but thats my opinion.... i know theres CFL guys out there..just not one of them!

why dont you try a 300w duel spectrum cfl works for both veg and flower or even a 300w led grow light both have full spectrum
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectrum-Hydroponics-Energy-Flower-Pendant/dp/B00KW640RG for 300w cfl
led version
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Galaxyhydro-Light-Greenhouse-light-Flower/dp/B00ROTTOGQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1430326177&sr=1-6&keywords=300w+led+grow+light

ukmrgreen said:

why dont you try a 300w duel spectrum cfl works for both veg and flower or even a 300w led grow light both have full spectrum
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectrum-Hydroponics-Energy-Flower-Pendant/dp/B00KW640RG for 300w cfl
led version
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Galaxyhydro-Light-Greenhouse-light-Flower/dp/B00ROTTOGQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1430326177&sr=1-6&keywords=300w led grow light

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theres a lot of down sides to led's unless your buying the absolute best...

a 300w led still only produces limited lumens.. same with any CFL bulb the lumens just aren't there.. you need to have a high lumen count..

don't get me wrong they work but i guess I've just seen them at their worst and to me its not worth it.

so you stick with hps then I was thinking of going led but changing mind now with what you said maybe there just not as advanced as ppl thing with led lighting

Some LEDs are better than others.

There is one called the SPYDR which produces a much higher gram per watt than HPS as shown in some youtube tests. Its $1500 but if you plan to sell some of your stuff it would probably be worth it

GrowHydro2193 said:

Some LEDs are better than others.

There is one called the SPYDR which produces a much higher gram per watt than HPS as shown in some youtube tests. Its $1500 but if you plan to sell some of your stuff it would probably be worth it

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yeah he's right i know a guy that has one.. not suer the name but it was ALOT of fucking money.... aside from me being able to touch the lights.... there was no benefit.. did it work and did the plant flower properly yes.. but the colas were not getting nearly as large as they would have under a HPS... some LED companies also have their lights on one or two circa boards so if one board burns up you loose half your lighting... and i know years ago you could never replace just a single bulb in the setups.. if one or two little bulbs burned out your fucked..that may ave changed.. but i would never suggest anything other than HPS for flower... there is a lot of talk about the new plasmas but i haven't ran them... i do know they produce more heat than HPS