Need advice on lighting

[novice101]

i am a new grower and have just received a grow tent that is 4' by 2' by 5' and also a 5t light that has 4 bulbs and is two feet long. my question is this, is this enough light for growing and if so how many plants would that cover. at the moment i have two plants in a homemade box and have a 300 wt hal. and a 120 wt grow light on them. they only got to be about 2' tall and i started the 12/12 about a week ago... ( starting to see the hairs). luckily for these i am able to pull them out and put them in the sunlight for about 5 hours a day as well. but i want to make something that is totally self contained but doesnt cost me a fortune since i am living on a fixed income through ssi. btw im doing it hydro (bubble)

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

At present with current T5 light thats good enought for a 2' by 2' area at best & ye it should be alright for vegging tho.

That can cover as many seedlings/cuttings/clones you can fit under it... but if looking for long term veg E.g 6 to 8 weeks that will cover aprox 4 plants in that 2' by 2' area & it can get quite tight at 8 weeks for space.


I'm not sure what you mean by 300wt hal ??? if thats a 300w halogen bulb its crap for growing... full stop


You really need either HPS/dual spectrum HPS or CFLs, if CFL route is choosen 2700k (red) for flowering 6500k (blue) for vegging & a ratio off 2 red to 1 blue is prefered for CFL flowering.

Using the domestic market CFLs are a bit cheap on the old electic juice but the bigger hortic grade CFLs E40 bayonet fitting which plugs into the reflectors are pretty much watt for watt !

 

[CocoJoe]

Hi novice101,
2X4 tent, I would us a 4'X8 bulb Quantum T5, or anyone of the brands that are available.
Some side lighting will help to. I would use some 23watt, 2700K, CFLs.

to the patients,
cocoJoe

 

[novice101]

At present with current T5 light thats good enought for a 2' by 2' area at best & ye it should be alright for vegging tho.

That can cover as many seedlings/cuttings/clones you can fit under it... but if looking for long term veg E.g 6 to 8 weeks that will cover aprox 4 plants in that 2' by 2' area & it can get quite tight at 8 weeks for space.


I'm not sure what you mean by 300wt hal ??? if thats a 300w halogen bulb its crap for growing... full stop


You really need either HPS/dual spectrum HPS or CFLs, if CFL route is choosen 2700k (red) for flowering 6500k (blue) for vegging & a ratio off 2 red to 1 blue is prefered for CFL flowering.

Using the domestic market CFLs are a bit cheap on the old electic juice but the bigger hortic grade CFLs E40 bayonet fitting which plugs into the reflectors are pretty much watt for watt !

when i mentioned the hal. i made an error.. its a flo, that is equiv. to a 300 w hal.... i plan on putting that in my tent with a 2' t5 and a couple 100wt equiv. cfl's shining up from the bottom. now where can i find the red/blue cfl's at.. i just got some from wal-mart.... thanks

 

[novice101]

thanks for the info.. i already started the 12/12 on them with only the 300wt equiv. flo. and the small cfl. which i believe is a 45 wt ? but i also bring them out in the light too... they have grown a lot in the past week have the new tent coming today.. so i will see how it goes.....