CFL Light Tutorial

[G-Dog]

In nature, for sativas in the tropics they do not have seasons. At least season of varying hours of light in the day. The closer to the equator you get the closer you get to 12 hours of light all year long. The reason that folks want the colors that lean more towards the oranges and reds is to simulate the colors that happen in nature in the fall and winter when the sun is at a different angle and more of the redder spectrum is present.

I have seen people talk about increasing trichome production on sativas by switching to MH lights over HPS, for instance, and I agree that the theory holds water.

One of my best grows that I ever had I had two 400 watt HIDs. One was MH and the other was HPS. I moved the plants around frequently. And in all honestly, I do not know if my mixed spectrum lighting made a difference or not, but I sort of think so. I do not know if all the CO2 I was trying to supply them helped at all either. It was a good grow, but I think it was just making sure they had plenty of light, nutrients and the correct amount of water and air circulation.

One thing I like to note is that all the plants are a bit different in their needs. Some plants clone with no effort, some don't want to clone at all, some bounce back from severe stress and other not. The best thing to do is find a plant, learn from it and adapt to it. If you think you need more light add it. If you think you need more less nutrients, make that adjustment. Once you get that plant dialed in you are golden. Add another strain to the harem and you may have to start all over or treat them all differently.

 

[Setting Sun]

I had fantastic luck with CFLs growing short strains like Apollo 11.

However, I often wondered if you could place CFLs all around a larger plant, maybe even a sativa. I have a lot of sativa and sativa crosses to play with but I am sort of afraid to try them out. In my concept I would have some kind of lightweight frame going floor to ceiling. I would use the frame to clip those cheapo clip on reflectors all around the bud sites. The whole thing would still be surrounded in white foamcore or something to get as much use of the light as I could. When ever you try something new you have to be able to act quick to improvise as the situation dictates.

Maybe you could make a couple of rectangular "light boards" using CFL's, and then orient them vertically on both sides of the plant(s).

You could always add some top lighting to that scheme, but the vertical setup on the sides would give you really good coverage and penetration on taller plants.

 

[G-Dog]

Maybe you could make a couple of rectangular "light boards" using CFL's, and then orient them vertically on both sides of the plant(s).

You could always add some top lighting to that scheme, but the vertical setup on the sides would give you really good coverage and penetration on taller plants.

Yeah that is along the lines I am thinking.

Imagine a walled in area, pretty tall, maybe 7 feet tall. Then you have a footprint of about 3 foot by 3 foot. All white boards. One of the walls of this thing would be a hinged door. Light Tight. Then all up and down the walls you have tracks, like a channel. You could move the lights up and down the tracks as needed. You could add lights to the tracks. Then on the top you have a reflector base assembly with a bunch of CFLs. You could hoist that assembly up and down as needed. you have a fairly high power fan in the bottom and exhaust out of the top. Pushing cooler air from the bottom up and out the top. You could also use the tracks on the inside for securing branches if needed as well.

All this would be for one plant.

 

[Setting Sun]

Thanks SS,

i have read your lowryder journals and enjoyed them. +rep
as a matter of fact, it has become my auto flower bible. This site is filled with so much proven and "true life" data and grow love it almost feels as if i have been born anew. IT's cacophony of information is ALMOST too much to bear as i find myself reading for hours on end brain swelling like nice cola near harvest. Keep up the great work and love.

Some high compliments indeed

thank you CaneyeBus!

"grow love"........................... that describes this place better than anything else I can think of !

Told you i would be corrected Going to look into them myself as well now.

let me know your impressions. One advantage right off the bat is that the reflectors are small, so they don't impede air flow as much as work lights, and it's easier to position multiple bulbs. They may work better at more distance than regular CFL's if they're focused tightly enough, but I'll have to check that out.

I have a list of stuff I've promised to do for peeps, but life is still too hectic to take them on.

thanks sm0ker!

Yeah that is along the lines I am thinking.

Imagine a walled in area, pretty tall, maybe 7 feet tall. Then you have a footprint of about 3 foot by 3 foot. All white boards. One of the walls of this thing would be a hinged door. Light Tight. Then all up and down the walls you have tracks, like a channel. You could move the lights up and down the tracks as needed. You could add lights to the tracks. Then on the top you have a reflector base assembly with a bunch of CFLs. You could hoist that assembly up and down as needed. you have a fairly high power fan in the bottom and exhaust out of the top. Pushing cooler air from the bottom up and out the top. You could also use the tracks on the inside for securing branches if needed as well.

All this would be for one plant.

Very green vibes by the time I got to the end

 

[Setting Sun]

A 23w PAR40 CFL flood has around 1250 lumens versus a regular spiral at about 1600.

The reason that doesn't matter much is because of the very efficient reflector design on the flood bulb.

Many growers using regular spiral CFL's without thought to reflection are losing around half the lumens anyway, but again, the reflector in the floods is probably more than an equalizer when it comes to how much light is going to hit your plant.

can't wait to test them

 

[hogs]

Did someone say that Roseman is no longer a member here, and if so why, and how does one get in touch with him?

Thanks

I think it was Green007 that had mentioned it???

 

[G-Dog]

I had mentioned something about Roseman and I got this

G-Dog!

BTW, Rose is no longer a member here.

I asked in private and he said he didn't have details.

I am sorry to see him gone. He seemed like a nice guy and a very active member of the forum. I have belonged to other forums and people leave for as many reasons as you can imagine. I had a reason to leave this site just the other day that involved two different women and the kinds of trouble that can bring. I was feeling I needed to tighten up my security.

 

[Green007]

For those wondering about using dual spectrum lighting with CFLs, this info is for you.

I had many conversations with the writer of this thread when I first became a member here. I questioned the use of dual spectrum and at what percentage. He told me about the all the grows he did where he tried single spectrum and dual using the same strain. Dual spectrum had bigger yields everytime.

50/50 seemd to work good, but 33/66 or 25/75 was slightly better.

Just FYI

 

[Green007]

Glad to see you here helping out SettingSun! You are the man!!!
And you have more experience than I do

 

[hogs]

Wow..Sorry to hear that RoseMan is gone...Sure hope someone knows how to contact him..He will be missed here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Setting Sun]

Glad to see you here helping out SettingSun! You are the man!!!
And you have more experience than I do

just giving back some of what I've freely received


thank you Green007

 

[CaneyeBus]

I still haven't figured out how to do the quote thingamajig. In response to SS (thanks for responding by the way and yes, this site is pure grow love" )

In your opinion would it serve better to get one of the flood lights (1 65w) as opposed to that of 2 32w? Of course assuming on the lumen output was nearly the same, as you noted the manufactured reflector may make up the difference.

 

[CharlieMopps]

Those 23 watt reflector cfl's look like they are designed for better light intensity and penetration. They look like they would serve a huge bonus to spot light on lower buds.

 

[zzoomm100]

For those wondering about using dual spectrum lighting with CFLs, this info is for you.

I had many conversations with the writer of this thread when I first became a member here. I questioned the use of dual spectrum and at what percentage. He told me about the all the grows he did where he tried single spectrum and dual using the same strain. Dual spectrum had bigger yields everytime.

50/50 seemd to work good, but 33/66 or 25/75 was slightly better.

Just FYI

Is the first number in those ratios the 6500k or 2700k bulbs?

I'm a CFL guy. I always use about 75/25 2700k/6500k when I'm flowering.

Thanks for any reply.

 

[Setting Sun]

Those 23 watt reflector cfl's look like they are designed for better light intensity and penetration. They look like they would serve a huge bonus to spot light on lower buds.

yes indeed, CharlieMopps

 

[The Butcher]

I suggest using daylight for veg, due to Cannabis having a better reaction to the blue spectrum.

Whereas you would want more of a far red spectrum for flowering.

Here as a light chart on how Cannabis reacts to the variety of spectrum's that our artificial lights give off:

Both chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b have absorption peaks in the blue range (400-500 nm) and in the orange-red range (650-750 nm).

The 2 peaks that you see here are also found in the action spectrum of photosynthesis, in which the growth rates of living plants exposed to different wavelengths of light are measured.

Hope this gives us all a lil more incite into the benefits of light spectrum manipulation

 

[G-Dog]

I suggest using daylight for veg, due to Cannabis having a better reaction to the blue spectrum.

Whereas you would want more of a far red spectrum for flowering.

Here as a light chart on how Cannabis reacts to the variety of spectrum's that our artificial lights give off:

Both chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b have absorption peaks in the blue range (400-500 nm) and in the orange-red range (650-750 nm).

The 2 peaks that you see here are also found in the action spectrum of photosynthesis, in which the growth rates of living plants exposed to different wavelengths of light are measured.

Hope this gives us all a lil more incite into the benefits of light spectrum manipulation

Interesting how only the opposite ends of the visible spectrum is used.

 

[The Butcher]

Yeah green is suppose to not really effect Cannabis, however I think otherwise. But it is still the best route to use if you have to work in the dark. Get a green light and pop it on if you absolutely have to work while the ladies are "sleeping".

 

[Leonardo420]

I use a mix spectrum of (6) 6500 26w cfl, and (4) 2700K 26w cfl in my 10 bulb reflector during veg. So, it's 60/40. See sig for link to that thread.

If it was ever used for flower I may do 40/60 respectively.
That being said, I think the multi-spectrum is important during flower with CFLs. Maybe 30/70 and 70/30% would yield even more?

You want good bud site setting early in 12/12 and some strains grow so compact/thick as it is, a little vegetative growth is good throughout flowering to give room/height for the buds to grow "tall". This can be interpreted as "stretch" or you can embrace it as bigger bud sites.

This concept is similar to how I feed grow+bloom nutrients into week 2 of flowering, sometimes longer. not just bloom nutes. I don't mind that the 12/12 natural stretch continues longer using veg nutes well into flowering. Again, encouraging the flowers to not just establish calyxes, but more areas for calyxes to form.

 

[The Butcher]

I like the idea of using a stretch of inter-node spacing to help maintain more compact plants. +rep

The only downside to using both grow and bloom during the first 2 weeks is that you increase you leaf to flower ratio. Thu cutting down on your over all flower yield. Not necessarily your entire yield just your buds them selfs. The high Nitrogen content force more leaf rather then flower.

Now I'm not saying it bad, cause hey it keep them babies green plus hey if it ain't broken then don't fix it. on your trails and conclusions.