new grower, please help!

[cflgrowplan]

Hey, i recently decided to attempt to grow some autoflowering weed however i have been very confused at all of the information available online, i plan to use cfl lights as they are cheap, i have 7 that were just around the house (brand new) i have 3 that produce 60 watt light but are 11 watts, the box says they produce 600 lumens each. I also have 4 that produce 40 watts of light but are 8 watts, these produce 420 lumens each. My question is, would three of the 60 watts and one of the 40 watts produce enough light to grow a single plant the whole way through? Its probably worth saying that i plan to grow them in coco coir with roughly 30% perlite mixed in To hang the lights i think im going to have to get a cfl lamp lead then add a y splitter and a further splitter to each of those connectors so i can hang all 4 of the bulbs, does anyone know of a better an cheap way to do so?

in advance for any help, sorry if these are newbie questions


happy smoking

 

[too old]

The Basics Of Plant Lighting

Try this for your basic information. Covers all your questions nicely.

 

[cflgrowplan]

Thank you! Will check it out now

 

[too old]

You are more than welcome, and welcome to 420! Anything more we can help you with, just ask.

 

[cflgrowplan]

Its a good forum, been lurking for a few weeks checking things out. It looks like my lights should be sufficient to grow a few autoflowers, looking forward to it! Could you recommend any quick, short strains? I Considered buying a 600watt hps grow light but i'm restricted on space and i have no experience so would like to try a simple cfl grow first! Appreciate the help, enjoyed reading through your candy cane grow too; nice setup!

 

[too old]

Unfortunately, I'm a newbie at autos as well. Try this (don't know if it will work, I'm not a techno-wiz): Auto-Flowering

Looks like it worked! There is hope for mankind, yet!

 

[Dutty Panty]

Leds and Cfls just aren't quite on par with a 600 hps hortilux yet. I could care less what people will say I've had numerous grows with different lighting and hps in flower and t5 in veg is a winning solution.

 

[too old]

cflgrowplan - just re-read your post. The lights you have will work. Poorly, but they will work. First off, ignore the "equivalent" watts number. Go with the wattage in actual use. Thus you have three that are eleven watts, and four that are eight watts, for a total of sixty-five watts. This will work, but it is on the low side of adequate. If you are only doing one plant for now, I would suggest going to Wally world, pick up a three pack of their twenty-six watt, 6500K cfl's. Here, they run about $10. Two of those will do one plant nicely. Won't be as good as HID, but ok. Also, ignore the lumen numbers. Those are for human reference as to how we see the light, not the plants. (I have a small mother under two of these lamps right now and she has good nodal spacing and nice thick foliage.) You can keep these lamps about two inches from the plant without scorching her. Hope this helps.

 

[Dutty Panty]

Id really go t5 for veg man.

 

[cflgrowplan]

Thank you! Yeah i had suspicions that using the equivalent wattage was wrong but there is so much conflicting information everywhere.
I found a box of 4 26watts that i will go and buy soon, i just need to sort out the wires and sockets and what not, does anyone know where i could get the black piece that is shown between the extension lead and the Y adapter?

https://hydroponiceconomics.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/DIY-Grow-Lights.jpg Cant seem to find any.

Thanks for the help!
Looking forward to starting the grow, will most likely start a grow diary.

 

[cflgrowplan]

I was considering it, but unfortunately cost is an issue. If the t5 could do the entire process then i would most likely go for that but if i have to buy regular cfls and that then its not possible right now sadly

 

[too old]

Any home building centre should have all you need, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. In the electrical, most of those components should average around $5 each. If bucks are really tight, you won't need two bulbs right away, so just set up for one for now. You can probably wait a good month before you need a second lamp set up.

 

[cflgrowplan]

Got everything sorted, will be starting pretty soon just need a seed and to get the bulbs, will start this week most probably. Really appreciate the help man, ive repped you It can be daunting to get in to but hopefully i will get a decent harvest.

 

[Dutty Panty]

Look on Craigslist man probably pick up a 6 bulb t5 for 100$

 

[Dutty Panty]

I run 6 t5 fixtures for veg and clone/seed area. I've used cfl,led,and mh and t5 has done me the best all around.