Questions about CFLs

[Cmitch55]

ok another question for the pros today...Recently went to Home Depot to look at some CFL's and light fixtures...Now I don't know all to much about the different CFL's out there but want to know as much as possible...The selection of CFL's was pretty big so figuring out wear to start wasn't easy...I saw a lot of soft white bulbs but am not sure if they will grow plants? So instead of the soft white i went with daylight cfls it says that it replicates sunlight so I assumed that to be the best...only problem is that the sunlight bulbs are only 14watts each so alot of them are required...So here are my questions

1. can you use the soft white cfls for growing?
2. when looking at the bulbs some had a 2700k rating and others had a 5000k rating which are blue light which are red?


that's all for now thanks in advance to anyone who can help
~Cmitch55

 

[PrairiePoet]

Red is the lower number (2700), while blue is the higher (5000). You want mostly blue when vegging, and most red for flowering. It is good to have a mix, just more of one than the other, depending on what stage you are at.

14 watt CFL's (even a bunch of them), while they will grow plants, trying something bigger will give much better results. 24 to 42 watts are better to use. Of course 200 watt CFL's are too, but at that wattage, you might want to look into HID.

 

[SteveHman]

+reps Prairie, short and concise!

 

[Goldengoose7]

HD and Lowes both sell 45 and 65 watt CFLs. You really don't want anything smaller than 45.

They also sell those clamp on shop light fixtures with the metal shades which are a great companion for your bulbs. I use these as sidefills for my HydroFarm T5 fixtures. Since they can be clamped onto anything stable, they make great portable spots with the shades on and with the shades off two bulbs can be used per fixture using a "Y" adapter.

I keep both the soft white (bloom bulb) and the daylight (veg) temp bulbs on hand since it is good to mix a few daylight into the flower room during the first two weeks of 12/12 to cut down on stretching.

Sent from my iPod touch using Forum Runner

 

[Cmitch55]

thank you all for the help

 

[ShutUpDonny]

@GoldenGoose

Can you tell me about or direct me to a description of your lighting setup? I'm wracking my brain and the Web trying to figure out how to light a stealth 3x3x6 tent grow (my first attempt), so some more info on fluo would be awesome and much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Goldengoose7]

@Goldengoose

Can you tell me about or direct me to a description of your lighting setup? I'm wracking my brain and the Web trying to figure out how to light a stealth 3x3x6 tent grow (my first attempt), so some more info on fluo would be awesome and much appreciated.

Thanks!

No problem Donny! I sent a list of links to Budman last week when he asked me the same thing. I will go ahead and PM it to you. I would post it here, but I am not sure how the 420 staff would feel about links to retailers and such.

Check your inbox in a few minutes.

 

[ShutUpDonny]

You are the (WO?)MAN! Thank you so much!

Also thanks for pointing out that product posting might be a good thing to avoid. I'll keep that in mind going forward.

 

[Goldengoose7]

You are the (WO?)MAN! Thank you so much!

Also thanks for pointing out that product posting might be a good thing to avoid. I'll keep that in mind going forward.

(Man)

You're welcome Donny!

Worked out well that I already had an entire list of all my lighting stuff with actual product page links!

Hope you find it useful!

Cheers.

 

[ghostdog]

i have 3 42 watt cfl and they grew my plants just fine .. now that i am budding i have 2 more just to make sure it gets light

plus i use a red film over two of the lights to help with the red light in budding

 

[SteveHman]

That WO(MAN) comment had me laughing, I immediately had a vision of Mike Myers doing beat poetry (So I married an Axe Murderer) and then I went Monty Python (Holy Grail) with the King going through the field of farm workers.

Quick insight into how my mind works.

 

[ShutUpDonny]

Whoah man (get it?!), I just didn't want to assume
That said, I am honored to be mentioned among those comedic geniuses, even if the comparison is TOTALLY apt.