I need help with a cfl setup "Roseman" LOL!
- Thread starter slhboy23
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GROWITSTICKY
New Member
Bro with a 4 by 4 area using cfls it woujld take like 80 bulbs. if your working with a 4 by 4 space and want 18 plants you are gonna need like a 600 watt or a 1000 watt hps. at least imo.
i have a 4 1/2 by 5 ft by 5 ft high space and right now i have a 400 hps and a 600 hps and 4 t8 floros 4 ft each. anyway i have 6 5 gals in there and then i can fit about 20 clones on shelfs around the perimiter. if i time em right i could have the clones replace the plants as they finish flowering....
with the 6 plants in 5 gals i end up growing 6 different strains then i get about 4 to 6 oz off each. depending because dont forget there is no deffinite formula to this. its all about what works for you.
if you want to get maximum yield and all your only gonna be able to use cfls. read up on scrog and learn how to get the most out of your lights by controling the canopy and getting the lights close enough you negate the fact its only floros......good luck bro. your about to start the most satisfying hobey ever.....sorry im drinkkin
i have a 4 1/2 by 5 ft by 5 ft high space and right now i have a 400 hps and a 600 hps and 4 t8 floros 4 ft each. anyway i have 6 5 gals in there and then i can fit about 20 clones on shelfs around the perimiter. if i time em right i could have the clones replace the plants as they finish flowering....
with the 6 plants in 5 gals i end up growing 6 different strains then i get about 4 to 6 oz off each. depending because dont forget there is no deffinite formula to this. its all about what works for you.
if you want to get maximum yield and all your only gonna be able to use cfls. read up on scrog and learn how to get the most out of your lights by controling the canopy and getting the lights close enough you negate the fact its only floros......good luck bro. your about to start the most satisfying hobey ever.....sorry im drinkkin
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i think im a get the sunsystem 400hp yield master it says the recommended coverage is 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 do u think dats accurate or at least pretty close to my goal of 18plants also im thinking about getting foxfarm ocean forest soil and foxfarm big bloom fert am i on the right track.
5½' x 5½' is 30¼ square feet. A 400-watt HID in that space would only provide 13.22 watts per square foot.
Their estimate is either as supplemental light to natural daylight, wildly and incorrectly optimistic, they're just plain lying, or a combination of the three.
You want at least 30 watts per square foot for vegetative and 50 watts per square foot for best results. That's with HID (MH, HPS) lighting. CFLs are about half as efficient for growing (watt for watt). You can get by with less - but you will produce less. Many people happily use more (and produce... much more).
If this is your first real grow, don't start with 18 plants. Go with less - a longer vegetative period is not a bad thing, especially for the novice grower. Also, go with one or at most two or three strains. Different strains have different growing characteristics (as in speed, height, and branching characteristics) and different nutrition requirements and trying to juggle several different strains while you're trying to figure out what you're doing and how to read your plants can be a recipe for disaster. Plus, it makes it a lot harder to learn. Many people run several grows with ONE strain so that they can learn not only how to successfully take it from seed/clone to harvest but how it reacts to different changes.
You could easily start with a 400-watt HPS in a smaller space, slightly rectangular to take advantage of most hoods' footprints, a few (four to six) plants of one or two strains, and end up with a bigger and better yield - and having learned more - than if you tried to grow 18 plants in a 4' x 4' area.
It'd be a lot less work too, lol.
Good luck.
Their estimate is either as supplemental light to natural daylight, wildly and incorrectly optimistic, they're just plain lying, or a combination of the three.
You want at least 30 watts per square foot for vegetative and 50 watts per square foot for best results. That's with HID (MH, HPS) lighting. CFLs are about half as efficient for growing (watt for watt). You can get by with less - but you will produce less. Many people happily use more (and produce... much more).
If this is your first real grow, don't start with 18 plants. Go with less - a longer vegetative period is not a bad thing, especially for the novice grower. Also, go with one or at most two or three strains. Different strains have different growing characteristics (as in speed, height, and branching characteristics) and different nutrition requirements and trying to juggle several different strains while you're trying to figure out what you're doing and how to read your plants can be a recipe for disaster. Plus, it makes it a lot harder to learn. Many people run several grows with ONE strain so that they can learn not only how to successfully take it from seed/clone to harvest but how it reacts to different changes.
You could easily start with a 400-watt HPS in a smaller space, slightly rectangular to take advantage of most hoods' footprints, a few (four to six) plants of one or two strains, and end up with a bigger and better yield - and having learned more - than if you tried to grow 18 plants in a 4' x 4' area.
It'd be a lot less work too, lol.
Good luck.
raiderdave
New Member
hit it right on the head
