The CFL "12-Pack" Grow Light How-To:

[modnarb]

Awesome build. Taking notes for my cfl veg box! Because of the space i have left due to my flower tent, im thinking of going 6ft long and 1.5ft deep by 5ft tall. This is to house 6 plants in a single row, i will be useing 42w's. I plan on having them at a 45degree with one big hood rather several singles. My goal is intake from the bottem and exhaust out the top due to the length of the box.

My main questions are,are those dimensions right to house 6 plants and how many 42w's should i need? I plan on moving them to my flower tent at 1.5ft to 2ft in 5gals. My clf hood should end up at a foot thick.

 

[George Parker]

Awesome build. Taking notes for my cfl veg box! Because of the space i have left due to my flower tent, im thinking of going 6ft long and 1.5ft deep by 5ft tall. This is to house 6 plants in a single row, i will be useing 42w's. I plan on having them at a 45degree with one big hood rather several singles. My goal is intake from the bottem and exhaust out the top due to the length of the box.

My main questions are,are those dimensions right to house 6 plants and how many 42w's should i need? I plan on moving them to my flower tent at 1.5ft to 2ft in 5gals. My clf hood should end up at a foot thick.

Thanks modnarb! I guess I would have to see a sketch or something to be exact, but a single row should be fine from your description.

My light is also dual purpose; the fan cools the lights by sucking the grow room air up and out at the same time so it should work fine as long as you have a fan that can move enough air. I'm using a 250 CFM fan and it runs 24/7 with no problems so far .

As configured now, I can fit 6 plants in 7"X7" SQUARE pots (maybe 8", but haven't tried ) underneath the fixture in two rows of three pots, which is great for veg. My 5 Gal Plant Warrior pots are a bit wider than a regular 5 gal bucket and I have discovered that 2 plants will be all that will fit once they start flowering.

As far as how many bulbs... as many as you can squeeze without any heat issues . When my girls were small, they were each sitting directly under one of the 23W bulbs. As they got bigger they were placed in between two bulbs and so on. The rest of the lights were more supplemental than anything until I LST'd the girls. Now they are using them all . I would say one bulb per plant at a minimum, but two 42W's would be great IF you can control the temps.

Hope this helps, I know there are a ton of ways to use CFL's and some folks will have different suggestions... but this is what has worked for me.

-dime

 

[BGstacks]

is this considerably more energy efficient?

 

[George Parker]

is this considerably more energy efficient?

Hello BG, I guess it would depend on what you are comparing it to. With 12 23W bulbs you are pulling 276 watts...how I am running it now is 390 watts, so it does use some power. Part of the enery efficency comes with not having to run larger more expensive fans, lke you would with HID's. My fan draws 22.8 watts where a 6" Vortex fan would pull around 100.

I guess the real efficency revolves around the usable light. I designed this to push as much light down as I could using CFLs. The majority of light comes from the sides of these bulbs and not the ends so this way I'm able to utilize the design of the bulb into my fixture and maximize it's output.

Hope this helps.

 

[Box of Rain]

Hey Dirt- Sorry for not gettin back to ya earlier- Have some medical problems I need to deal with.. Any way- GREAT UPDATE TO THE "PROTOTYPE 12-PAK"
I am about done building my room-It's only 4'x4'x9'tall but I Used 6 mill vapor barrier on the 2x4's on both sides- Then drywalled the inside-first 4' up I used Green board-then regular 1/2"DW- I used a sheet 0f 1/2"thick rigid styrofoam insulation board on the cieling-think it might cut down on the heat signature-then covered the ceiling with 1/2"DW. I finished the light-until you made the improvements.. now I have to modify the first one. THANKS FOR THE GREAT TIPS!!!!
"ONE MAN GATHERS WHAT ANOTHER MAN SPILLS"

 

[chosen]

Some really nice ideas... Thanks

 

[George Parker]

Some really nice ideas... Thanks

Thank you and thanks for the reps!

This light has been working great for my two ladies...

Last night, day 17 of 12/12

Take care!

 

[OldMedMan]

dirtinmyears

That was/is a great post. +reps my friend.
As a big CFL user....I want to build one myself. Thank You!

 

[George Parker]

dirtinmyears

That was/is a great post. +reps my friend.
As a big CFL user....I want to build one myself. Thank You!

Hello OMM, Mahalo nui loa (I hope I didn't butcher that )

Coming from you I take that as a great compliment. The light is working well, my two plants have stretched out to take up around 6 sq ft and aren't showing signs of lack of light... There are buds everywhere

I always welcome other members to post up their CFL builds here... I'd love to see yours as well. If you get a chance please stop by my journal and you can see what this light is doing for me.

Thanks for visiting!

 

[OldMedMan]

Hello OMM, Mahalo nui loa (I hope I didn't butcher that )

Coming from you I take that as a great compliment. The light is working well, my two plants have stretched out to take up around 6 sq ft and aren't showing signs of lack of light... There are buds everywhere

I always welcome other members to post up their CFL builds here... I'd love to see yours as well. If you get a chance please stop by my journal and you can see what this light is doing for me.

Thanks for visiting!

Aloha Buddy
I'll be over to see your grow in a minute.
I took all my CFLs apart to finish a ripped off grow.
If you want to see what I did check out my ripper off grow under my name.
It's a closed journal but still going on. The room and CFLs were just piled in there to keep em going. They are about finished now. Nothing cool about it, but it worked.

Hope you don't mind, but I put a link in my journal to this page. I wanted others to see it.

 

[George Parker]

Aloha Buddy
I'll be over to see your grow in a minute.
I took all my CFLs apart to finish a ripped off grow.
If you want to see what I did check out my ripper off grow under my name.
It's a closed journal but still going on. The room and CFLs were just piled in there to keep em going. They are about finished now. Nothing cool about it, but it worked.

Hope you don't mind, but I put a link in my journal to this page. I wanted others to see it.

Link away my friend. I remember reading about the theft in your journal, I was so pissed off when I read it.

You are a good guy with good vibes... That will all come back to you through the very meds you grow

 

[OldMedMan]

Link away my friend. I remember reading about the theft in your journal, I was so pissed off when I read it.

You are a good guy with good vibes... That will all come back to you through the very meds you grow

Thank You my friend, we're all in this together. I couldn't imagine what it would be like with out the good people of 420.

 

[Box of Rain]

Hey Dirt- long time.. Can't send private message till I post so many blogs or whateever.. Hope I haven't stepppped on too many toes out there..I'm very new at this and not very good with the computer-I have a 4ft.x4ft.x8.5ft. tall room I'm almost done with out in the garage.. will send pic's soon. My questions??????
1- How did you attach the 1x to the 12 pak?
2-I have to go over 8ft. then down about 4ft. before I can exaust my room-How big of a fan should i connect to the end of this? Or do you think an inline fan will work?? The power here at this OLD house is sometimes scary-the lights in the house flicker when the washer is on in the garage , and unfortunately that is the only place where I could set up a semi-indoor environment without spending a fortune-I have 1- 20 amp breaker for the whole garage-?????????Still don't log on much more than once a week-hope to hear from ya soon!! Your GIRLS ARE SEXY!!!

 

[George Parker]

Hey Dirt- long time.. Can't send private message till I post so many blogs or whateever.. Hope I haven't stepppped on too many toes out there..I'm very new at this and not very good with the computer-I have a 4ft.x4ft.x8.5ft. tall room I'm almost done with out in the garage.. will send pic's soon. My questions??????
1- How did you attach the 1x to the 12 pak?
2-I have to go over 8ft. then down about 4ft. before I can exaust my room-How big of a fan should i connect to the end of this? Or do you think an inline fan will work?? The power here at this OLD house is sometimes scary-the lights in the house flicker when the washer is on in the garage , and unfortunately that is the only place where I could set up a semi-indoor environment without spending a fortune-I have 1- 20 amp breaker for the whole garage-?????????Still don't log on much more than once a week-hope to hear from ya soon!! Your GIRLS ARE SEXY!!!

Sorry for the late reply my friend! Ask away, I'll answer what I can...

1. I used a few 1 and a 1/2" drywall screws then screwed it in from the bottom.

2. To be honest depending on how many bends, you may need something in the 300+ CFM rating. My 250CFM fan sucks air through 4' of ducting from the light then pushes air up another 5' or so, but I also have my duct hooked up to the bathroom exhaust fan which is probably another 150-ish CFM as well.

As far as power goes just be careful about running anything on weak circuits. I know it's not cheap to have a breaker added but your safety is more important than anything. I would not overload anything!

I hope this helps some, I'll be avaiable if you need me.

 

[broski420]

I'M sure this is a rookie question but what is the meaning of "SCROG"? thank you for any advice

Also you guys are geniuses when comes to cfl grow so let me get this right 12 23watt bulbs will only be sufficient for two plants

 

[George Parker]

I'M sure this is a rookie question but what is the meaning of "SCROG"? thank you for any advice

Also you guys are geniuses when comes to cfl grow so let me get this right 12 23watt bulbs will only be sufficient for two plants

Hey broski, even pro growers have questions...

This site is full of knowledge and kind people that are willing to help. I'm still a new grower but I've learned things here that I would have never discovered from a book or on my own. A great place to start is by clicking here>How to Grow Marijuana Everything You Need to Know

A SCROG or "SCReen Of Green" is where a screen is placed approx 8-10" (that distance will vary from grower to grower) above the top of your plant. It can be used to control plant height and helps spread the plants growth in an even canopy to aid in both growth and the exposure of bud sites to usable light.

Check out some of the grow journals for, Heks, Hydrologist and Marley15 those are just a few growers but they have some great and even perfect examples of a SCROG grows...

As far as lights go, you can grow a plant with one 23W bulb... But it may be a very small plant. More wattage will give you more buds, but only after the most important aspect of your grow is well tuned... your grow environment. Temps, Humidity, And water quality alone will make or break your harvest.

There are a ton of guys here including myself that grow with CFLs. Some low wattage and some over 1200 watts. Check out those grows as well. Also this is some good reading > CFL Light Tutorial

Thanks for visiting, hope to see you around here.

 

[drkdiglr112]

How loud is your fan?

 

[George Parker]

How loud is your fan?

Hello there!

It's rated at 59 decibels, which is about as loud as people talking in a normal conversation

It could be considered a bit loud for some, but to me it makes as much noise as a household bathroom exhaust fan.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

[faderharley]

Man diggin the shit out of this, simply awesome grow box and CFL set-up. I'm into my 3rd grow w/CFLs, currently burning 1280watts, 80,000 lumen for 4 plants in a 12sqft closet.....but like what you have done w/cabinet and the 23watters......stellar grow, really a great awesome job and grow....

 

[George Parker]

Man diggin the shit out of this, simply awesome grow box and CFL set-up. I'm into my 3rd grow w/CFLs, currently burning 1280watts, 80,000 lumen for 4 plants in a 12sqft closet.....but like what you have done w/cabinet and the 23watters......stellar grow, really a great awesome job and grow....

Hello there! Thanks for the compliments, I appreciate it.

You were actually who I was referring to in my post to broski about "over 1200 watts"

Your results with CFLs are amazing

Thank you sir.