Ill be rocking the 400w so heat isnt a problem, may go for the 600w with a dimable ballast just in case of heat problems as summer approaches, will be upgrading a little next shop visit. Just updated mine mate, check em out 
Tokists' Soil Afghan Kush Grow HPS vs. CFL
- Thread starter Tokist
- Start date
I disagree completely. If you want to save money, power, and time. Then you should consider growing outdoors.
After all, if someone can use a small amount of CFL to just veg a plant in order to harvest the vegging leaves to make juice to treat themself, or just be able to see it grow, not to mention people have been able to go from start to finish with a small amount of CFL.. a photon is a photon at the end o the day
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- #63
Tokist
New Member
when he said that it was a waste of time, power and money, he was right. let me give you an example.
i spent 20 bucks on that cfl bulb. i also spent 30 bucks on the housing and reflector. for my veg'ing, i used about six regular sized cfl bulbs and i had to buy the Y adapters and various other adapters to set them up. i had to buy tape, i had to buy wire, i had to buy all sorts of shit. by the end of it all, i spent about 200 bucks on bulbs, fixtures, adapters, and other parts. not altogether, mind you. over the course of maybe a few weeks.
they'll argue that i get that money back in my electric bill.
the reality is, i spent way more than 200 dollars. my time is money. i wasted a lot of time and gas going out to get all those parts and setting them up.
i make a 15 minute trip to the hydro shop, drop 80 bucks and guess what? i got a light fixture that's ready to go out of the box. so i spend 10 more dollars a month on my electric bill. who cares.
telling me that growing outside is more economical than cfl's is like telling obama that he's a shitty president. he already knows it, and we already know that growing outside is the best. but we can't all do that, so bringing it up is a moot point. one day, friends! one day we will ALL be growing outside. and it will be glorious.
but, as you say, if you're someone who's just growing the plant to see what it looks like or to make a tea out of it, then sure. use a regular incandescent bulb even!
the question here isn't whether or not you can grow with cfl's. it's whether or not you should bother with it if you've got the funds to buy a better quality light. yes, photons are photons, but more photons equals more product. it's that simple. on top of that, if i can save several hours of fucking with plants or lights, even better. more time i can spend with my daughter
but don't take my word for it!
so take a look,
it's in a book,
a reading rainbow!
More photons for less wattage, its a no brainer to me. Yeah we'd all love to do outdoors all the time, Good post Towki.
Yeah leester I know you can grow with them mate been using them properly for 3-4 years and I get good results but I could get better faster for less money
Yeah leester I know you can grow with them mate been using them properly for 3-4 years and I get good results but I could get better faster for less money
- Thread starter
- #65
Tokist
New Member
WOW! Just found this and got caught upSo much good info here,, I'll hang around because I know I can learn something here!
hey bro! just noticed your post. sorry i didnt see it earlier! thanks for checkin out my log.
i'm still learning myself, so you're in good company. you gotta grow started yet?
- Thread starter
- #66
Tokist
New Member
humidity won't drop below 60% and temps won't go below 75F. i need to get a dehumidifier. any recommendations?
and leester, don't you dare tell me to move them outside
and leester, don't you dare tell me to move them outside
- Thread starter
- #67
Tokist
New Member
went and checked on the girls. all their leaves are sticking straight up! they are love, love, LOVIN the brighter lights. even the CFL. i wish i could get a decent pic but hid messes with the digital picture.
I'm confused, are you really flowering now?
wyrman
New Member
no problem tokist ,,keep up the good work! My seeds have still not popped up
Put them in 1-22-13,, so we will see what we see I,m gonna have a bunch of cfl's going when they finally do show . Should I include a 2700K in the mix for veg? I'll have about about 800 watts in a box 3'x2', with the ability to raise or lower shelving.
Put them in 1-22-13,, so we will see what we see I,m gonna have a bunch of cfl's going when they finally do show . Should I include a 2700K in the mix for veg? I'll have about about 800 watts in a box 3'x2', with the ability to raise or lower shelving.- Thread starter
- #70
Tokist
New Member
yessir!
if i keep them veg'ing any longer they're going to outgrow their grow space halfway into flower.
which part confused you?
- Thread starter
- #71
Tokist
New Member
no problem tokist ,,keep up the good work! My seeds have still not popped up
if you put them in on the 22nd and they still havent popped, somethin might be wrong. people will tell you it can take up to two or three weeks, but eh... i've never had it take more than two or three days. are you using bag seed? if so, its possible you chose a couple bad ones. there's ways of figuring out the good from the bad
if you want, keep em in a few days longer though just to be sure. i've even dug them up before to see if the taproot even sprouted. folks will scream and say "omg dont do that" but it wont kill it. might piss it off a bit, but it'll be fine. if you find the seed with a taproot, then at least you know there's SOME progress. if you just find the seed... well... i say start over.
i've never put a 2700k (red spectrum) bulb in for veg, mostly because it's a pita. but the more colors you have, the better, i'm told. the sun has every color in the spectrum in it, as well as in between. and plants LOVE the sun more than they'll love any man-made light. so if you can do it, go for it.
when you say 800 watts, what are we talking? like, 16 50W bulbs? or 4 200W?
if you can find the time and have the resources, you oughtta start a grow log, brother! i wish we could see some snapshots of your grow!
wyrman
New Member
Thanks for the quick response tokist,, I will give the bag seed a little while longer,, I would be using 8-100 watt equivalent cfl's with the ability to add more if needed. I put a pic on my page of my grow box,,homemade,,of course, I like building things,, I just hope I can grow some things too,lol.
wyrman
New Member
I probably will start a grow journal if and when I get some plants going
- Thread starter
- #74
Tokist
New Member
if you have anymore bag seed, what you can do is drop some in a cup of water and keep em there til the seed cracks and the taproot pokes out. then drop in a hole (taproot down, of course) and bazinga!
you can do this while you wait for your current seeds. once the seed cracks and the taproot comes out, you're pretty much on easy street. you can wait a few days and see if your current seeds take -OR- you can start new seeds and in a few days you'll have little sprouts sticking out of your dirt.
picking seeds is pretty easy.
if it's not gray/brown, or darker, don't waste your time. gray with brown spots or even tiger stripes are the best, i'm told. inspect the seed closely, make sure it's not cracked at all. squeeze it lightly, make sure it doesn't give or crackle. you can find pics all over the internet of what a good seed is supposed to look like, but with the description i just gave you, you'll see what i mean once you start poking through your bagseed.
and germ a bunch of seeds. like... 20. there's always gonna be a high failure rate with bag seed (for me it averages at about 50/50). take what you need and throw the rest away. this ensures you get at least SOMETHING
good luck!
wyrman
New Member
Too bad we don't have a chat feature on this site,, nobody to monitor it or something,,I think I read.Anyway,,I will put some seeds in a glass of water ,,good idea,,I remember reading that somewhere on here,lol. thnx again br
wyrman
New Member
Too bad no chat on here. I will put some seeds in a cup of water,,seems like I remember reading that on here , somewhere. thnx again bro!
wyrman
New Member
lol sorry double post!
wyrman
New Member
Hey 1 more and then I can send mail, I believe.
- Thread starter
- #79
Tokist
New Member
yea, i feel ya. but at the same time, it's probably best that it doesn't have one because i'd spend way more time here than i already am.
set you up a grow log asap, bro! whether your plants are sprouted or not!
why do we make grow logs? to keep track of what we're doing, so when something goes wrong, we can go back and find what it was that caused it. it also enables others to both learn from your mistakes, and contribute to your log to keep you from making mistakes. plus, i just LOVE to read em and look at the photos from start to finish
- Thread starter
- #80
Tokist
New Member
Hey 1 more and then I can send mail, I believe.
lmao!
