parabear
Member
Ok first thing is first...
DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THIS UNLESS YOU ARE MECHANICALLY ADEPT AND UNDERSTAND ABOUT ELECTRICITY, AND THE BASICS OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING!!! I WILL BE USING (ELECTRICAL)INDUSTRY TECH TERMS, SO IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THEM, DO NOT EVEN TRY THEM!!!!! DO NOT ATTEMPT UNLESS YOU ARE CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITIES TO WORK WITH ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT! BASICALLY IF YOU CAN FIX A STEREO OR VCR, OR OTHER BROKEN ELECTRONIC DEVICE, THEN THIS SHOULD BE CAKE... IF YOU ARE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO HAS TROUBLE PUTTING A COMPUTER TOGETHER... THEN PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS... AS I DISCLAIM ANY LIABILITY FOR THE STUPIDITY OF OTHER'S!!!
That said, if you understand what cathode, anode, polarization, flux, wicking, peak energy usage, amperage, series, and parallel mean in electric terms, than this shit will be easy....
Basic electrical equipment safety rules should always be in place when working with anything electrical (including ESD hazards and the like).
What you need to make a 'String of Pearls' or SoP for short:
Wire- at least 20 AWG... when dealing with electricity, the higher the current, the thicker the wire you need. I refuse to explain the terms, as you should know WTF I am talking about if you are to this point... there is a basic industry guideline for wattage, voltage, ohmage of equipment, and the MINIMUM gauge of wire that is safely usable... but hey, once again, if you are this far, you know all this already... wire can be any type of copper cored wire, tinned or untinned. Untinned will be MUCH cheaper... I have access to fully tinned wire through industry contacts, cheaper than what you can buy bulk wire at from any hardware store or electrical supply house... I pay wholesale baby!!!! Only difference tinned wire makes... it lasts much longer, as it does not readily oxidize, thus the Ohm rating stays constant... typical none tinned wire that has poor insulation, or that the insulation is degraded, will oxidize, increasing the rated resistance, thus increasing heat, and further oxidation. My apartment I have fully rewired using tinned wire, of a much higher gauge than the 16 AWG that is pretty much standard in construction. I use 14 AWG wire, and have since also upgraded all my breakers to 20 AMP, and have everything certified and properly rated. I also have the 20 AMP outlets installed, as before two rooms were splitting 10 amp breakers... which meant if I was using the microwave in the kitchen, i would have to make sure that no lights were on in the living/dining room area... a total PITA...
CFL bulbs- I use half daylight and half warm white (5700k and 2700k respectively) and I only use 20W or above... though a local shop has 23W with the state paying a portion and CA Edison thus they run 50 cents each when I stock up on them. These bulbs may not also be 'instant on' bulbs (which have more mercury content) but that is not a huge issue. Light output is. Most 20W CFLs have an output from 1100-1400 lumens per bulb, and 23 W have an output from about 1450-1800 depending on manufacturer. my 23W CFLs all have a rated output of 1600 lumens. I have some 20W bulbs I use for the mother plants and clone box, as they do not create as much heat per watt as the 23W bulbs, and have a great thermal efficiency for enclosed areas. CFLs thermal efficiency decreases exponentially as the wattage increases, as does the overall efficiency.
Solder- Sn/Pb, 60/40-80/20, rosin core. You don't want too thick of solder, or too thin of solder. The cheap radio shack electrical solder is perfect... one pound of solder, costs about $12-20 depending on brand, concentration, and flux type. DO NOT USE ACID CORE!!! ROSIN CORE FLUX ONLY!!!! Would even be good to pick up some extra flux, or make your own.
Solder Iron- This can easily be improvised for those on a budget, though a cheap $10 radio shack soldering iron will work. I personally have a very high end digital soldering Iron, with a wide gamut of tips, and adjustable temps from 300-1200 degrees!!! Though when it comes to SoPs, I prefer to use a blow torch and a wood handled screw driver, as it is much quicker.
Typical Electrical work tools- NO DUH!!!! wire cutters, strippers recommended... do not try to 'melt' off insulation, unless you have a proper thermal wire stripper.
Ok, now there are two ways to do the wire. You can do windows, or you can do inline splices, using the bulbs as a splice point. I have tried many various methods, and each has their own advantage, including havine a main wire, and each bulb connected via individual leads off the main wire. It all depends on where and how you want to hang them, and where you want them to hang. I tend to use some lights hanging on the sides parallel to the plants direction of growth to give some light to the under growth, where I use individual leads to the bulbs. Some bulbs I hang horizontally above the plant. Since CFLs put out ~75% of their light to the sides, it is best to have CFLs sides pointing towards the plants. one can have it a bit 'bulb tip heavy', that is the tip of the CFL pointing slightly towards the plant. I have matte white 98% light reflective paint on the walls, and all working surfaces, and also have mylar sheets supported by coat hangers along the sides and above. I have a 6500 BTU AC to provide thermal control, as it has an automatic thermostat and is set at 75 degrees, and blows directly on the plants, keeping the heat beat away... it runs no more than 10 minutes an hour, and keeps the huge closet (closet alone is almost 1000 cubic feet) and the room nice and cool.
Liquid electrical insulation/sealant- sold at most auto parts stores, and some electric supply places. Can also be found in some pool supply stores, as it is often used with in pool lighting. Also requires solders to be cleaned properly**** as this won't form a proper seal over flux, and flux left will also oxidize/corrode electrical contacts and wire if not properly cleaned!!!! One could use electrical tape, HOWEVER, keep in mind, electrical tape is not meant to be a permanent solution. I solder all my wire splices to ensure no seperation, and prefer the brush on electrical sealant (aka liquid electrical tape) as it stays in place very well, has better thermal properties, and does handles handling much better than tape. Tape CAN be used, but I do not recommend using tape and actually would argue against it. Good thick heavy latex paint can do the same thing, but requires several good heavy coats, with 12 hours between coats, and 48 hours final dry time... a 8 oz can of liquid E-tape runs about $6.99 and lasts a long long time... only downside to it... contains VOCs, and should be use in a well ventilated area only!!!
Solder cleaner- High % IPA or denatured alcohol work perfect. the higher the %age the better. One can pick up solder cleaning brushes cheaply at radio shack, or online.
OPTIONAL* item- proper fuse for your SoP. Industry standards apply per fuze type/size... make sure the voltage is proper (110/120 or 220/240 whatever it is where you are at...) and that the fuse's burnout is at an appropriate level (2.5-3 Amp inline would be easily a popular choice... it would allow for up to 8x 23 watt bulbs, and could handle the startup surge easily (for instant on bulbs, surge is abut 1.5x rated wattage.... higher for the higher wattages, but this is controlled by the built in electronic ballasts on typical CFLs (edison base types) and should not be a worry, however your fusing should always follow industry minimum standards. You should never have a fuse protecting a line running greater than 75% the fuse capacity... and never greater than the capacity of a surge protector, or any other surge limiting/tripping switch, as the fuse won't do a thing. The fuse prevents fires, and electrocution should an accident happen, and if built properly, is safer than even handling a new lamp as the fuse will prevent any serious injuries (unless you have a pacemaker or brain implant) or fires in the case of a short... though these should be next to impossible if built right.
Directions on making a SoP....
Take wire, with plug (dipolar is all that is needed, no way to really ground it out as the lights once burnt out/broken are no longer conductive with cathode and anode entirely seperate within the CFL) and take the free wire end. Giving enough lead length (from plug to first bulb) split the end about 3-5" down. One can even use two seperate pieces of wire... ensuring that eitehr they are color coded, or as long as polarity is ensured for maximum efficiency and safety!!! With the anode of each bulb (the bottom center portion... which 99.9% of standard household bulbs of ALL types use either a tin-lead mixture, or a lead free tin-copper mixture. Some older bulbs may even have a copper or brass button on the base instead, this is very very uncommon among CFLs, and I have only seen it on CFL floodlight substitutes, as they get much hotter than any tin based button can handle. Take your LIVE wire side (hot wire, + wire, you say po-tot-o I say Po-tate-o) and solder into the Anode. Just takes a little solder to get your wire lead firmly soldered into the bulb anode. Some bulbs may take more solder than others, depending on specific construction. If it uses lead free construction (will say lead free on packaging) use lead free electrical solder, and proper flux... though I have found these bulbs not only rare, but also much more expensive than the $2 a box of 4 kind. With the Cathode (aka the screw base), I find it best if just making a straight series of bulbs, to make windows and just wrap/twist and solder the twist so it is permanent. I do this with anywhere from 3-8 bulbs, keeping polarity in line, then clean my solders, and then apply the liquid E-tape*. The wires are essentially permanently attached to the bulbs, and won't slip with incidental touching/bumping. The liquid E-tape enures sealed insulation, making the bulbs safe to touch, maneuver. The solder points will hold against more force than the bulb itself can handle, so no need to worry about them failing (if done properly!!! ANODE solder should cover the entire wire, with no visible wire strands showing... Cathode twist only needs enough solder to hold it firmly in place, and ensure constant contact.). The last bulb in the string should also terminate the wire set, with the ends simply planted in the anode, and twisted/soldered around the cathode. no need for an end line termination diode like with some other lighting sources such as placing some types of LEDs on a board. No Diodes are necessary for doing shorter smaller strings, but recommended if pulling over 2 amps per string. Also I attach an inline fuse before the first bulb, on the live wire side. I use a 2.5 amp for up to 5 bulbs, and a 3 amp fuse for up to 10 (10 is the most I did... and was done in combat while deployed to Ass-crack-a-stan, and used no fuse... we used it as a diversion hooked up on a timer, to draw some Al-Qaeda/taliban forces into our kill zone... killing terrorists is my fave pass time after pot... but another story another time... I also left the solders uncovered, as it was a hasty improvised devious little trick I came up with upon receiving word of approaching enemy combatants, but due to local populace, no air support... so a string of bulbs on a wire, on a timer, set up an ambush sight, and set teh timer so the lights come on about the time enemy is in the area, and they go 'check it out', little do they know the bldg was filled with 12 claymores---> remote daisy chain det. plus a fire team with 2x M240s... oh yeah... die terrorists die!!!!
)
The SoP is great for many purposes, other than just growing. It is also useful as a hasty way to light larger rooms for as little $$$ as possible. Also great for running directly off a generator, when you need to prevent electric waste and make every watt count. The uses of the SoP are limitless. I even know one fellow former SOF operator who used the SoP to make a hasty FLS in Iraq back in 2003. Like I said, the SoP is a great method for many uses, and is a very economical way to setup CFLs to supplement lighting in your grow operation. I use this to provide side lighting for my main grow space, which has a 4x T5 HO primary light source, half daylight half warm white, and 3/4 of the CFLs as warm white, the other 1/4 being daylight. for my veg booth, and the mother box it is 3/4 daylight with 1/4 warm white, and all CFLs. My clone box is half and half, with one 20w bulb per clone and a T12 x2 40w one daylight one warm white on top. I was considering buying a couple 400 watt HPS lights for the main grow area, expanding it to ~12 plants, but i have found in comparison to friends who use 800W of lighting, that I am getting just about as good as harvests using about 150 watts less power. Sure I don't get the huge giant coffe cup size nugs on the main center Colas, however I do get several uniform size/quality colas of dense bud, as the light is more evenly distributed. Overall yield is about the same per plant as with the HPS setups I have seen... and for the most part, the energy used is comparable.
The only downside I have seen is that my CFL and T5 setup is less thermally efficient and just slightly less energy efficient (mainly due to lower thermal efficiency) thus requiring more cooling, to which I use a 6500 BTU thermostat controlled AC unit set at 75 degrees. It runs on average 10 minutes of every hour, and keeps my room, and grow space nice and cool. I also collect all the water of the condenser to use for watering the plants (recycling the water really... as most of the humidity is coming directly from the plants' themselves...) as it is truly distilled pure water. I only end up using about 1 gallon of outside water a week, as the AC condenses about a quart a day in the closet. I grow in a 50/50 soil/soil less mix, and use fox farms organic nutrients. I refuse to do hydro, because I prefer the taste, and smoothness of some good ol' dirt grown herb. The half half mix provides the best of soil based mediums, with that of soil free growth mediums. The soil portion also reduces the necessity of needing to add macro-nutrients to the mix, as the potting soil I use contains enough to last one growing cycle. Used soil mix gets used for my outdoor gardening (actual fruits and veggies) where I mix it with topsoil. I first mix the 'expended' soil in with the compost heap I have setup, and the end result is some great outdoor gardening soil. My soil mix is too light to use outdoors alone, as it would easily wash away in rain, replaced by heavier local soil. the composted soil could theoretically be used again for indoor grows, but the compost process makes it a tad... stinky... for indoor use. i would also grow outdoors, however I am limited to indoor growing only, as the backyard is shared between two other units as well as mine. Plus not to mention that I fear that the plants would get pollinated by stray wild male plants....
So stoned rambling aside, that is my CFL supplemental lighting trick, building an easy to use very cost effective setup, that you can customize to your very need.
Oh and do not try this stoned... only do it sober... trust me, your hands will appreciate not being burnt by soldering stoned... lol...
Oh and lastly... when soldering the wire to the anode, do not overheat it, or you will cause the lead to seperate from the ceramic insulation (sometimes plastic). Never apply the soldering iron directly to the Anode... apply the heat to the wire, and touch the solder to the wire after several seconds, until the solder covers the wire, and it just starts to melt into the anode, appearing homogenous. Remove the heat as soon as you see that. If the anode contact comes off the bulb (you will see a thin monofilamentous copper wire if this happens) when you solder the wire to it, this can be easily fixed with a drop of super glue. Also when a bulb burns out, one could easily desolder the old one out, and replace it, or just cut it out, and splice the wire together, and add a new bulb at the end of the string (latter being my preference, as it is much quicker/easier to do...)
* Note, you may need to use a bit of sand paper on some solder for proper adhesion... if you pooled too much solder on... and also on some wire jacketing material... especially if teflon coated wire!!!! Though most cheap wire uses vinyl based insulation and teflon is primarily used in specialty wire... again, depends on all what you have/have access to...
DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THIS UNLESS YOU ARE MECHANICALLY ADEPT AND UNDERSTAND ABOUT ELECTRICITY, AND THE BASICS OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING!!! I WILL BE USING (ELECTRICAL)INDUSTRY TECH TERMS, SO IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THEM, DO NOT EVEN TRY THEM!!!!! DO NOT ATTEMPT UNLESS YOU ARE CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITIES TO WORK WITH ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT! BASICALLY IF YOU CAN FIX A STEREO OR VCR, OR OTHER BROKEN ELECTRONIC DEVICE, THEN THIS SHOULD BE CAKE... IF YOU ARE THE KIND OF PERSON WHO HAS TROUBLE PUTTING A COMPUTER TOGETHER... THEN PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS... AS I DISCLAIM ANY LIABILITY FOR THE STUPIDITY OF OTHER'S!!!
That said, if you understand what cathode, anode, polarization, flux, wicking, peak energy usage, amperage, series, and parallel mean in electric terms, than this shit will be easy....
Basic electrical equipment safety rules should always be in place when working with anything electrical (including ESD hazards and the like).
What you need to make a 'String of Pearls' or SoP for short:
Wire- at least 20 AWG... when dealing with electricity, the higher the current, the thicker the wire you need. I refuse to explain the terms, as you should know WTF I am talking about if you are to this point... there is a basic industry guideline for wattage, voltage, ohmage of equipment, and the MINIMUM gauge of wire that is safely usable... but hey, once again, if you are this far, you know all this already... wire can be any type of copper cored wire, tinned or untinned. Untinned will be MUCH cheaper... I have access to fully tinned wire through industry contacts, cheaper than what you can buy bulk wire at from any hardware store or electrical supply house... I pay wholesale baby!!!! Only difference tinned wire makes... it lasts much longer, as it does not readily oxidize, thus the Ohm rating stays constant... typical none tinned wire that has poor insulation, or that the insulation is degraded, will oxidize, increasing the rated resistance, thus increasing heat, and further oxidation. My apartment I have fully rewired using tinned wire, of a much higher gauge than the 16 AWG that is pretty much standard in construction. I use 14 AWG wire, and have since also upgraded all my breakers to 20 AMP, and have everything certified and properly rated. I also have the 20 AMP outlets installed, as before two rooms were splitting 10 amp breakers... which meant if I was using the microwave in the kitchen, i would have to make sure that no lights were on in the living/dining room area... a total PITA...
CFL bulbs- I use half daylight and half warm white (5700k and 2700k respectively) and I only use 20W or above... though a local shop has 23W with the state paying a portion and CA Edison thus they run 50 cents each when I stock up on them. These bulbs may not also be 'instant on' bulbs (which have more mercury content) but that is not a huge issue. Light output is. Most 20W CFLs have an output from 1100-1400 lumens per bulb, and 23 W have an output from about 1450-1800 depending on manufacturer. my 23W CFLs all have a rated output of 1600 lumens. I have some 20W bulbs I use for the mother plants and clone box, as they do not create as much heat per watt as the 23W bulbs, and have a great thermal efficiency for enclosed areas. CFLs thermal efficiency decreases exponentially as the wattage increases, as does the overall efficiency.
Solder- Sn/Pb, 60/40-80/20, rosin core. You don't want too thick of solder, or too thin of solder. The cheap radio shack electrical solder is perfect... one pound of solder, costs about $12-20 depending on brand, concentration, and flux type. DO NOT USE ACID CORE!!! ROSIN CORE FLUX ONLY!!!! Would even be good to pick up some extra flux, or make your own.
Solder Iron- This can easily be improvised for those on a budget, though a cheap $10 radio shack soldering iron will work. I personally have a very high end digital soldering Iron, with a wide gamut of tips, and adjustable temps from 300-1200 degrees!!! Though when it comes to SoPs, I prefer to use a blow torch and a wood handled screw driver, as it is much quicker.
Typical Electrical work tools- NO DUH!!!! wire cutters, strippers recommended... do not try to 'melt' off insulation, unless you have a proper thermal wire stripper.
Ok, now there are two ways to do the wire. You can do windows, or you can do inline splices, using the bulbs as a splice point. I have tried many various methods, and each has their own advantage, including havine a main wire, and each bulb connected via individual leads off the main wire. It all depends on where and how you want to hang them, and where you want them to hang. I tend to use some lights hanging on the sides parallel to the plants direction of growth to give some light to the under growth, where I use individual leads to the bulbs. Some bulbs I hang horizontally above the plant. Since CFLs put out ~75% of their light to the sides, it is best to have CFLs sides pointing towards the plants. one can have it a bit 'bulb tip heavy', that is the tip of the CFL pointing slightly towards the plant. I have matte white 98% light reflective paint on the walls, and all working surfaces, and also have mylar sheets supported by coat hangers along the sides and above. I have a 6500 BTU AC to provide thermal control, as it has an automatic thermostat and is set at 75 degrees, and blows directly on the plants, keeping the heat beat away... it runs no more than 10 minutes an hour, and keeps the huge closet (closet alone is almost 1000 cubic feet) and the room nice and cool.
Liquid electrical insulation/sealant- sold at most auto parts stores, and some electric supply places. Can also be found in some pool supply stores, as it is often used with in pool lighting. Also requires solders to be cleaned properly**** as this won't form a proper seal over flux, and flux left will also oxidize/corrode electrical contacts and wire if not properly cleaned!!!! One could use electrical tape, HOWEVER, keep in mind, electrical tape is not meant to be a permanent solution. I solder all my wire splices to ensure no seperation, and prefer the brush on electrical sealant (aka liquid electrical tape) as it stays in place very well, has better thermal properties, and does handles handling much better than tape. Tape CAN be used, but I do not recommend using tape and actually would argue against it. Good thick heavy latex paint can do the same thing, but requires several good heavy coats, with 12 hours between coats, and 48 hours final dry time... a 8 oz can of liquid E-tape runs about $6.99 and lasts a long long time... only downside to it... contains VOCs, and should be use in a well ventilated area only!!!
Solder cleaner- High % IPA or denatured alcohol work perfect. the higher the %age the better. One can pick up solder cleaning brushes cheaply at radio shack, or online.
OPTIONAL* item- proper fuse for your SoP. Industry standards apply per fuze type/size... make sure the voltage is proper (110/120 or 220/240 whatever it is where you are at...) and that the fuse's burnout is at an appropriate level (2.5-3 Amp inline would be easily a popular choice... it would allow for up to 8x 23 watt bulbs, and could handle the startup surge easily (for instant on bulbs, surge is abut 1.5x rated wattage.... higher for the higher wattages, but this is controlled by the built in electronic ballasts on typical CFLs (edison base types) and should not be a worry, however your fusing should always follow industry minimum standards. You should never have a fuse protecting a line running greater than 75% the fuse capacity... and never greater than the capacity of a surge protector, or any other surge limiting/tripping switch, as the fuse won't do a thing. The fuse prevents fires, and electrocution should an accident happen, and if built properly, is safer than even handling a new lamp as the fuse will prevent any serious injuries (unless you have a pacemaker or brain implant) or fires in the case of a short... though these should be next to impossible if built right.
Directions on making a SoP....
Take wire, with plug (dipolar is all that is needed, no way to really ground it out as the lights once burnt out/broken are no longer conductive with cathode and anode entirely seperate within the CFL) and take the free wire end. Giving enough lead length (from plug to first bulb) split the end about 3-5" down. One can even use two seperate pieces of wire... ensuring that eitehr they are color coded, or as long as polarity is ensured for maximum efficiency and safety!!! With the anode of each bulb (the bottom center portion... which 99.9% of standard household bulbs of ALL types use either a tin-lead mixture, or a lead free tin-copper mixture. Some older bulbs may even have a copper or brass button on the base instead, this is very very uncommon among CFLs, and I have only seen it on CFL floodlight substitutes, as they get much hotter than any tin based button can handle. Take your LIVE wire side (hot wire, + wire, you say po-tot-o I say Po-tate-o) and solder into the Anode. Just takes a little solder to get your wire lead firmly soldered into the bulb anode. Some bulbs may take more solder than others, depending on specific construction. If it uses lead free construction (will say lead free on packaging) use lead free electrical solder, and proper flux... though I have found these bulbs not only rare, but also much more expensive than the $2 a box of 4 kind. With the Cathode (aka the screw base), I find it best if just making a straight series of bulbs, to make windows and just wrap/twist and solder the twist so it is permanent. I do this with anywhere from 3-8 bulbs, keeping polarity in line, then clean my solders, and then apply the liquid E-tape*. The wires are essentially permanently attached to the bulbs, and won't slip with incidental touching/bumping. The liquid E-tape enures sealed insulation, making the bulbs safe to touch, maneuver. The solder points will hold against more force than the bulb itself can handle, so no need to worry about them failing (if done properly!!! ANODE solder should cover the entire wire, with no visible wire strands showing... Cathode twist only needs enough solder to hold it firmly in place, and ensure constant contact.). The last bulb in the string should also terminate the wire set, with the ends simply planted in the anode, and twisted/soldered around the cathode. no need for an end line termination diode like with some other lighting sources such as placing some types of LEDs on a board. No Diodes are necessary for doing shorter smaller strings, but recommended if pulling over 2 amps per string. Also I attach an inline fuse before the first bulb, on the live wire side. I use a 2.5 amp for up to 5 bulbs, and a 3 amp fuse for up to 10 (10 is the most I did... and was done in combat while deployed to Ass-crack-a-stan, and used no fuse... we used it as a diversion hooked up on a timer, to draw some Al-Qaeda/taliban forces into our kill zone... killing terrorists is my fave pass time after pot... but another story another time... I also left the solders uncovered, as it was a hasty improvised devious little trick I came up with upon receiving word of approaching enemy combatants, but due to local populace, no air support... so a string of bulbs on a wire, on a timer, set up an ambush sight, and set teh timer so the lights come on about the time enemy is in the area, and they go 'check it out', little do they know the bldg was filled with 12 claymores---> remote daisy chain det. plus a fire team with 2x M240s... oh yeah... die terrorists die!!!!
) The SoP is great for many purposes, other than just growing. It is also useful as a hasty way to light larger rooms for as little $$$ as possible. Also great for running directly off a generator, when you need to prevent electric waste and make every watt count. The uses of the SoP are limitless. I even know one fellow former SOF operator who used the SoP to make a hasty FLS in Iraq back in 2003. Like I said, the SoP is a great method for many uses, and is a very economical way to setup CFLs to supplement lighting in your grow operation. I use this to provide side lighting for my main grow space, which has a 4x T5 HO primary light source, half daylight half warm white, and 3/4 of the CFLs as warm white, the other 1/4 being daylight. for my veg booth, and the mother box it is 3/4 daylight with 1/4 warm white, and all CFLs. My clone box is half and half, with one 20w bulb per clone and a T12 x2 40w one daylight one warm white on top. I was considering buying a couple 400 watt HPS lights for the main grow area, expanding it to ~12 plants, but i have found in comparison to friends who use 800W of lighting, that I am getting just about as good as harvests using about 150 watts less power. Sure I don't get the huge giant coffe cup size nugs on the main center Colas, however I do get several uniform size/quality colas of dense bud, as the light is more evenly distributed. Overall yield is about the same per plant as with the HPS setups I have seen... and for the most part, the energy used is comparable.
The only downside I have seen is that my CFL and T5 setup is less thermally efficient and just slightly less energy efficient (mainly due to lower thermal efficiency) thus requiring more cooling, to which I use a 6500 BTU thermostat controlled AC unit set at 75 degrees. It runs on average 10 minutes of every hour, and keeps my room, and grow space nice and cool. I also collect all the water of the condenser to use for watering the plants (recycling the water really... as most of the humidity is coming directly from the plants' themselves...) as it is truly distilled pure water. I only end up using about 1 gallon of outside water a week, as the AC condenses about a quart a day in the closet. I grow in a 50/50 soil/soil less mix, and use fox farms organic nutrients. I refuse to do hydro, because I prefer the taste, and smoothness of some good ol' dirt grown herb. The half half mix provides the best of soil based mediums, with that of soil free growth mediums. The soil portion also reduces the necessity of needing to add macro-nutrients to the mix, as the potting soil I use contains enough to last one growing cycle. Used soil mix gets used for my outdoor gardening (actual fruits and veggies) where I mix it with topsoil. I first mix the 'expended' soil in with the compost heap I have setup, and the end result is some great outdoor gardening soil. My soil mix is too light to use outdoors alone, as it would easily wash away in rain, replaced by heavier local soil. the composted soil could theoretically be used again for indoor grows, but the compost process makes it a tad... stinky... for indoor use. i would also grow outdoors, however I am limited to indoor growing only, as the backyard is shared between two other units as well as mine. Plus not to mention that I fear that the plants would get pollinated by stray wild male plants....
So stoned rambling aside, that is my CFL supplemental lighting trick, building an easy to use very cost effective setup, that you can customize to your very need.
Oh and do not try this stoned... only do it sober... trust me, your hands will appreciate not being burnt by soldering stoned... lol...
Oh and lastly... when soldering the wire to the anode, do not overheat it, or you will cause the lead to seperate from the ceramic insulation (sometimes plastic). Never apply the soldering iron directly to the Anode... apply the heat to the wire, and touch the solder to the wire after several seconds, until the solder covers the wire, and it just starts to melt into the anode, appearing homogenous. Remove the heat as soon as you see that. If the anode contact comes off the bulb (you will see a thin monofilamentous copper wire if this happens) when you solder the wire to it, this can be easily fixed with a drop of super glue. Also when a bulb burns out, one could easily desolder the old one out, and replace it, or just cut it out, and splice the wire together, and add a new bulb at the end of the string (latter being my preference, as it is much quicker/easier to do...)
* Note, you may need to use a bit of sand paper on some solder for proper adhesion... if you pooled too much solder on... and also on some wire jacketing material... especially if teflon coated wire!!!! Though most cheap wire uses vinyl based insulation and teflon is primarily used in specialty wire... again, depends on all what you have/have access to...