CFL's work just fine!
- Thread starter biotrucker
- Start date
wyrman
New Member
Yeah what chester said???
I listened to Biotrucker and went to Amazon and got some of those cheap Photo quality CFL's. I am building a 4' strip of y-adapters to hang between my (2) 4' fixtures of T5 HO tubes; You are right that you can get some awesome results with HO tubes and CFL's. A combo of HO warm tubes and drop down 125 W CFL's in the flower room works great.... and not that much heat compared to HID's. CFL's have come a long way; My current Blueberry and Kush are loving them !! Luv to follow the discussions; Its all a learning process .
I took biotruckers advice and ordered (2) 85 W and (3) 45 W Photo quality CFL's from amazon.... built a lightbox and hung it as a fill light strip in the veg. area. I can't believe how bright these babies are and the the real babies seem to really like them ! I don't know whether it is my imagination or what but these balanced daylight bulbs seem brighter than others I have used. I have the strip hanging between my (2) T5 HO fixtures as a top and side filler; AWESOME...
TheGreenGlove
New Member
i use one 100 w cfl for four mothers and multiple clones, they are the best veg lights by far, but if you want big heavy colas, you needs HPS or natural sunlight, becuase you 10 to 12 lbs a year isnt worth shit, you cant live off this, my outdoor plants yield 3 to 5lbs, you figure the numbers
Perfect Sun LED
Well-Known Member
cfls work fine for vegging, and okay for flower. Don't expect much or big buds. t5h0 is better for vegging.
I used a 100W LED Panel with a 200w 2700K CFL when i switched to 12/12 and i got just over 2 ounces of smoke on the only plant i grew in a closet, buds were nice and firm and a fair size some of them. It was a kush plant that i vegged under a 125w 6500K CFL for 9 weeks and 7 weeks of flowering.
Yea, I know, but heat restrictions ruled out HPS in the flowering area.... In retrospect though since I have been filling in with so many CFL's , I am up to about 1200 W in CFL's and T5 HO's. It is becoming a little warm in the tent area; maybe a smaller HPS like a 400 or 600 might not have been too bad... just like a flight plan, an endless series of corrections ! Although I am pretty pleased with what I am getting I might just take a nibble on a small HPS... Thanks for all the comments and advice .
stephen289676
New Member
It depends on the method and level of expertise. I did vertical walls under 2x 1000w hid on top and 2x 600w hid on the bottom on tracks, 34 slabs and walked out a little shy of 4 lbs... then I used 4x 200w compact (one 6400k on each side that I moved around) on each side due to distance limitations of cfl ( so 2 tracks on the top), and gro strips on the bottom. using 1500ppm general hydroponics solution mix at 6.1ph both times, the cfl gave a little shy of 3lbs but I did not need to run big fans and an air conditioner. My hydro bill was significantly lower as well, like half. they say that plants can only absorb 24000 lumens out of the 1000w HID, but they love the heat, so I figured I will use HID in the winter and use intakes of cold air to cool the room. The summer is just too costly, the difference you end up paying out anyways in hydro bills!
I have twice seen excellent Master Kush grown under T8 fluorescent bulbs. The grow box setup was 6 T8 full spectrum bulbs in a box 5ft long x 2ft deep. No fan, topping or LST. The plant grew to 18" tall and then switched to 12/12 for flowering. Final height was under 24". Yield was 3/4 oz for the plant. Potency was excellent.
MK grows like an xmas tree and would benefit from LST. I have no doubt high intensity lights would improve yield. Some growers have disdain for fluoro but it works. Keep the plants short with fluoro. To improve yield have some reflectors on your fixture, paint the box interior flat white inside and use topping and LST. I'll bet the yield could double.
I have no doubt CFL bulbs of sufficient wattage will work for small grows. They are cheap and adaptable. I'd like to see more research and posts on this topic.
MK grows like an xmas tree and would benefit from LST. I have no doubt high intensity lights would improve yield. Some growers have disdain for fluoro but it works. Keep the plants short with fluoro. To improve yield have some reflectors on your fixture, paint the box interior flat white inside and use topping and LST. I'll bet the yield could double.
I have no doubt CFL bulbs of sufficient wattage will work for small grows. They are cheap and adaptable. I'd like to see more research and posts on this topic.
I went with cfls to keep the cost and the heat down. Vegging was fantastic, flowering is looking good so far (2 weeks). Thing about cfl is the efficiency drops off sharply above 26 watts, so I use a bunch and crowd them all around with lots of reflectors. Keeps really nice environment too, 85F 40% with just a small fan.
RoadLizard
New Member
I've had great luck with My CFL setup and won't ever change. I love the stealthiness, no heat, cheap to buy and operate, and damnit.... I get some great yields too. The key is making sure the p,ants are getting everything else they need for optimum growth. Like good airflow, proper nutes, the right amount of water, and rotation in the grow box to change the lighting pattern. Sure, friends I know that use HPS lights or whatever get larger buds and better lower bud light penetration but mine are just as dense and I have way less hassle to deal with.
For indoors and any kind of stealth situation CFLs are the way to go, IMO.
For indoors and any kind of stealth situation CFLs are the way to go, IMO.
Perfect Sun LED
Well-Known Member
I would have to disagree. For any kind of indoors ... no. For stealth, they work pretty good. Not sure what your yield is for one plant, but I am interested, and how many CFL's and what actual watt draws where they? Most likely 13 or 24w, correct?
I have found that for stealth indoors, LED, a good brand is the best. Dense buds, great yields. One that only draws 183w, does a great job for one plant, especially an auto.
Also, a t5 set up is great for an indoor grow. You can buy both warm and cold bulbs, and just run them both in the set up. You can get a good price on one that produces 50,000 lux 6 inches away from bulbs. I love mine. I bought it on EBay for about $200.
If stealth isn't much of a problem, a 400w HPS will do wonders and will blow CFLs of the same watts used. You can easily just use a cooltube, and run the hot hair from the lamp into another room, into an attack, out a chimney, etc for stealth.
I am using 24 900 lumen on one plant right now. they are all 2700k and its been used for veg and flower. I have 48 900 lumen growing 10 plants right now. this is my first and second grow back to back...I am super happy with the results thus far this is the mom
this is gigabud @ 4.5 weeks including the two weeks of miracle grow soil killing it.
this is after transplant into real soil
Perfect Sun LED
Well-Known Member
So even if those Cfls are the 13 w ones you are
Using over 600w with 48 lights. A 600 w hps would
Do way better using less electricity.
The heat of one 600 w is easy to move stealthy
Especially if it is cold then u just use the heat
As a heater in the grow room.
Using over 600w with 48 lights. A 600 w hps would
Do way better using less electricity.
The heat of one 600 w is easy to move stealthy
Especially if it is cold then u just use the heat
As a heater in the grow room.
Um, 600w is the measure of electricity, so it would be the same?
Perfect Sun LED
Well-Known Member
48x13 =624 so 24 more watts but also the 600w
Hps has way more penetration thus better grows.
Td, in my opinion you would be better off with. 400w hps
Or two 5 light t5s.
On ebay u can get a 400 w hps kit for 130 or so.
But if u are going to use Cfls you will have best results
If u make hoods. I show a really cheap way to do this
Ina YouTube video. Six to eight bulbs per hood.
However you do it just be sure to use white behind
The bulbs, a reflector that is very close to the bulbs like
An inch away.
Space the bulb apart by only about 3 inches so u get an even
Spread of light. And then the bulbs multiply the lux.
Hps has way more penetration thus better grows.
Td, in my opinion you would be better off with. 400w hps
Or two 5 light t5s.
On ebay u can get a 400 w hps kit for 130 or so.
But if u are going to use Cfls you will have best results
If u make hoods. I show a really cheap way to do this
Ina YouTube video. Six to eight bulbs per hood.
However you do it just be sure to use white behind
The bulbs, a reflector that is very close to the bulbs like
An inch away.
Space the bulb apart by only about 3 inches so u get an even
Spread of light. And then the bulbs multiply the lux.
