Wavelength and light temperature...I got a bit confused...

Hello people..
I had bought some leds the other day , and today some CFL lamps came across me
One at 300w 6400k and one at 300w 2700k . i aksed the supplier if they are suitable for growing ( he is one of us ) and his answer was NO ! he said that if i want to grow i should look nanometres (nm) and not the 2700-6400 k (kelvin) values.
so i got confused...
if i buy those lamps , will i be able to grow?
also , are those 2 good for 1-2 auto plants , or do i need more?

Those 300w will grow herb just fine, they aren't the most efficient way to go about it but they'll do the job. 6500k for veg and 2700k for flower. also yes nM are important too, but that's more advanced than me bud. Talk to the dudes in the LED forum about that. There are also some threads on growing with certain T5HO bulbs that talk about nM as well. I'd link you but I'm on the mobile right now and it's just too much work.

As far as will they be good for a few autos: yes, but like I said cfls aren't very efficient, you'll probably need to add some smaller ones on the sides of your plants, and at that point you're running like 400-500w and most of its wasted, you're better off buying a HID or LED setup.

anyone to help??

Hey fysis, I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I'm currently working on building my own grow cabinet using LED lights. If you have a white light, the output spectrum is usually given to you in term of the colour temperature (2700K, 6500K) in Kelvin. White light is a broad spectrum, covering a wide range of wavelengths. If you were to get a colour bulb (im not sure if you can get a fluorescent with output at specific wavelengths) its output spectrum would be rated in nm, and sometimes the datasheet will give you the type of distribution of the light around that peak wavelength. Check out my thread, I've got some pictures in there with some spectrum stuff.

Also, im not an expert, but this is what ive gathered from searching the internet.

fysis88 said:

Hello people..
I had bought some leds the other day , and today some CFL lamps came across me
One at 300w 6400k and one at 300w 2700k . i aksed the supplier if they are suitable for growing ( he is one of us ) and his answer was NO ! he said that if i want to grow i should look nanometres (nm) and not the 2700-6400 k (kelvin) values.
so i got confused...
if i buy those lamps , will i be able to grow?
also , are those 2 good for 1-2 auto plants , or do i need more?

Click to expand...

hope you read this with a warm & fuzzy "Tone"... the brevity is for clarity, not condescension ....

here is blatantly semi-elementary/incomplete explanation:
Wavelength is the path a photon travels ,,,, Infra red through ultra violet ... it is literally the length of "period" before the light completes half a "W" (in overly simplified terms)...and screw all the hiesenbergish bullshit about light is both a particle & a wave stuff ...for our purposes here, "color" is actually all about wavelength (warm/redder = lower and Bluer = higher) ///
....as far as lamps are concerned; lamps are often reference by their "color temperature" in degrees Kelvin, Red-ish warm light is under 2700K (or thereabouts) , sunlight is 5000K and things get blue-ish above 10K

as far as plants go; 2700-10K will grow most plants...the lower temps sorta/kinda simulate sunrise/sunset/later in the year sun angles ....that's why we use "warmer" colors for bloom, it sorta/kinda makes the plant see it as a "Seasonal" change

...Disclaimer: again, I suppose some nit picker could clarify & pick my simplified explanation apart but again, it was done off the cuff and with brevity in mind

oh and I forgot to add: for bloom you could use "Warmer" bulbs like warm & soft whites...maybe "Kitchen & Bathroom" types (2700-4200K).... for very short stocky plants & seedling , what I use is more bluer "Daylight" 5000-6500K you will want at least a 23W (100W equiv) CFL per seedling (till it has 2-3 sets of leaf) ...after that I use a "Y" socket with 2ea 23W CFL (found at Lowes or on Amazon) ... a short bushy 10-12" tall/ 8" dia Indica type will need at least about 92-120 W of CFL over it ...I'm using 1ea 60W CFL & 2ea 23W per plant ...a ll "Daylight" and getting nice stocky bushy growth opinions/mileage will vary