ANY info or opinions on cfls needed

[Weedpipe]

is cfl 6500c.t. better than cfl 5000c.t.?

how many cfl watts per plant would u recommend for veg stage?

how many cfl watts would u recommend for a 25 plant clonehouse?

how would u introduce the cfl veg plants to a 600w hps?

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[Tunes420]

yes for veg 6500 is better than 5000 as i understand it...in my veg room i use alot of small bulbs 26 w and a few 40 watts the bigger plant the more you will need..I just make sure as plant grows i get more light on it and around it if i can...about 30 watts per plant is what i average i think in veg room ...far as 25 plant cloner i would try to get round reflectors and put in socket splitter (3 bucks) then two 26 watt 6500 bulbs and fit as many reflectors as you can over it maybe 4 ...when you bring plants into HPS light you may want to keep light 2 foot higher than you would normally above plant and get it used to it little at time...you will see how plants handle it and adjust accordingly. Hope this is some help

 

[Weedpipe]

 

[InhaledFreq]

For veg, (3) 6500k and (1) 2700k cfl per plant will produce amazing results. 40 watt or higher are best to use. Comes out to about 160 watts per plant, give or take. I have read that 40 watt cfls have the best lumen-per-watt ratio. If you have a choice, use the 6500k instead of the 5000k, but if 5000k is all you have it will work fine. I got some amazing results from my last grow using a couple of 40 watt 4200k cfls. To make a cfl fixture I use a $1 extention cord, a $2 electrical outlet to light socket adapter, and a $2.50 "Y" light socket adapter from Home Depot or Lowes. I use zip ties to secure it all together and shop chain to hang it with. I wrap the cfl's in chicken wire to keep them off of the plants, the wall and each other. Like this...

 

[dr.nick]

I just got this light a week ago. It's 250 watt compact fluorescent, and has a mogul base. supposedly it's equivalent to a 1250 watt incandescent bulb. it's 2700k (yellow redish light for budding). I got it from a canadian seller on ebay for about $75 us- including shipping. and i got the mogul socket the same way about $25 us. I'm pleased with it so far and it is pretty damn bright. Anyone else using one of these things?

 

[WeedRyder]

I just almost finished to built my own x6 lamps reflector for cfl, its got x4 2700k (red) 45w and x2 55w 6500k (blue) so its a total of 290w and it was very unexpensive to make i just got a frame and the sockets, i used silicon to fix them to the frame and just make the electricity going safe and your on a rocket ship with the plants!

 

[Weedpipe]

thanks for the info guys, very helpful.

hey inhaled, love the chicken wire light cage... now come up with a reflector made out of the hard 1/8th" styrofoam board and duct tape ...

 

[InhaledFreq]

it goes by lumens not wattage. average should be 2000 lumens per square foot. cfls will do the job but need to be within inches to the plant and are real hot.

CFL's work great for small grows and closet grows for a fraction of the cost of HID's. I've read that the average CFL's put off around 69-70 lumens per watt. So a 23 watt CFL would generally put off about 1600 lumens. They work best when kept 2-4 inches off the tops of the plant... I'm sure you have to subtract some lumens for each inch they are from the plans (not sure exactly how much the light dissipates). 6-8 CFL's per sq ft should come out to about 9,600-12,800 lumens per sq ft before making the adjustment for distance. They don't get that hot, you can touch the glass with your hand and they won't burn you. The part that puts off the most heat w/ CFL's is the mini-ballast. The heat is nothing compared to HID's such as HPS or MH. For every 6-8 CFL's I run in my 12"Wx15"Dx96"H cabinet the canopy temps rise about 1-2 degrees F. You just can't have the bulb any closer than ~1" from the plant for a long period of time or it will burn a spot on the leaf. I would recommend CFL's for any small closet or budget grow!

 

[InhaledFreq]

hey inhaled, love the chicken wire light cage...

It's a great idea! I can't take credit for it, I got the idea from someone else on this forum... I just wish I could remember who so I could give them credit...

 

[OldSkoool]

For what it's worth, I use four (4) 42W, and two 20W CFL's plugged directly into four (4) power strips mounted inside of each wall of a 18"X22" cardboard computer box, sitting upside down, resting on four dowels (4) drilled into four (4) 1'X2" wood stilts mounted to each corner of an equally sized box sitting right side up as a base. Height adjustment is obtained by moving the dowels up or down in pre drilled holes in each wooden stilt. Obviously, the grow box is only large enough for one plant, but for my own personal needs, and available space works quite well. I lined the top box in foil for reflection, and an el cheapo 10" round fan mounted on top for ventilation. You can check out several photos of this set up in my photos in the Member's photos section, and the results of my first grow using this method. Hope this helps those that have limited, space, and appetite.

 

[WeedRyder]

take a picture please

 

[OldSkoool]

 

[apbt4204life]

i need pric ranges an how meany wats cfl = 100 wats hps?

 

[AvonBarksdale]

I just almost finished to built my own x6 lamps reflector for cfl, its got x4 2700k (red) 45w and x2 55w 6500k (blue) so its a total of 290w and it was very unexpensive to make i just got a frame and the sockets, i used silicon to fix them to the frame and just make the electricity going safe and your on a rocket ship with the plants!

Sounds interesting WeedRyder do you have any pics of your x6 lamp reflector?