Small tent lighting questions

[Shinigami]

Hi, I've purchased myself a small tent (40x40x140cm)
It was a kit with 2x 125W CFL's included, One for veg and one for bloom.

I'm wondering if it would be worth the money to invest in a old model mars hydro 300W or do you recommend maybe a small hps light? I have both intake & exhaust so ventilation should not be a problem but I like the idea of not having to worry about heat with LED.

Or could I use the 125W 6400k for veg and combine both of them (if they fit in the tent) for bloom?
And how many plants do you think I could grow in there? I currently have 4x 4L pots that should fit in the tent.

First indoors grow, havent started yet since I'm doing some research before jumping in! Thankful for any response!

 

[JuanCarlos]

I believe the CFL growers use the smaller CFL lights around 20-50 watts and just use multiple lights. I have been surprised by some of the herb I have seen grown with CFLs here. I would go with multiple smaller CFLs. If that turns out to be successful for you and you continue to grow maybe look into a Mars unit.

Personally, I would grow one plant in the space.

 

[StonerThor]

You're right that is a small tent. Are the tent walls reflective? Personally I would veg with both bulbs to get a mixed spectrum and then either look at including more 2700k bulbs for flowering or swap them out for a hps or led. If you choose to go with the cfls look at getting a decent reflective hood for those bigger bulbs that you can suspend a few inches over the canopy, cfl light does not penetrate well so you will need to train your plants to have a low profile/ even canopy so that all sites receive equal light. With that kind of space I would grow 1 plant if you want a medium sized plant, you could do more but they would have to be smaller plants. All up to you man, good luck

 

[Shinigami]

Thanks alot for the input Juancarlos and Stonerthor! I think I'll go with both bulbs+ and add maybe 2-3 40W CFLs for flowering my first grow and if I want to continue I'll switch either to a bigger tent in the future or LED. in my current appartment I can't really have a bigger one since I want it to be hidden in my closet

And yes, the tent walls are reflective its a "mammoth pro 40" tent

 

[JuanCarlos]

I think you have a great idea there. I always thought you couldn't grow good buds with CFLs but I have been impressed with a few of the CFL builds here. Get your technique down and then once you can grow trouble free you can always step up your equipment.

 

[lexort420]

I use cfl lights and I will say they aren't as crappy as most ppl think. Granted they wont come close to what hps and mh can do however if your just growing for personal they are decent. I used 8x 26w cfl's in my flowering cab and got enough from 3 plants to keep me smoking for like two months everyday. I don't have a scale yet so I don't know my final weight but it was more then I was expecting for sure lol. I'm in a similar position as you in regards to living situation.

 

[lexort420]

Also I forgot to add if you want another chamber you should look into a Rubbermaid tote grow box. I built one and it works rather well. It doesn't take up alot of space however the draw back is less height. But with CFL's you don't want height anyways because of lack of penetration so in the end it works out. I believe if I am recalling right other ppl called the grow box A bodem box or something like that because someone going by bodem somethin posted on a site how to build it.