imo you dont need to buy 42 watters, they only put out 2600 lumens and the 26 watters put out 1750 lumens. 3 26watters=2 42 watters, you save money and electric, and you get more bulbs. When growing with cfl more bulbs are always better.

well it really depends on the grow setup. if you have a smaller confined space. for example i have 4 42 watters in my veg box and they put out 2800 lumens each. thats 11500 lumens. i have tried to use more lower wattage lamps. i can fit about 5 23 watt bulbs in ther and thats only 8750 lumens at 1750 lumens per bulb. also with the 42 watt bulbs my veg chamber stays withing the temp range of 75-80. i agree that more bulbs is better but i also thing more higher wattage bulbs. for example if you have 8 23 watts for flower, why not just have 8 42 watt instead, might cost more, produce more heat, but other than that your getting more light if you can control the heat.

I agree the added power of a 42 watt seems to sometimes give the plant a little something extra. The Sun is fuckn' hot and really bright, I imagine the suns light penetrates into the surface of the leaf much more CFL ever could. So in the end the penetration power of 42 watts could be very desirable. This extra power could be even more important during flowering if you think how dense some buds are.

I know a million 20 - 26 watt growers want to jump me right now, but I also use mostly all 20 - 26 six watters, although I did stick one 42 watt right above my most promising shrub. Also I use one of those 130 watt bulbs, If you can get one do it.

...yes there are many impressive grows using only 20 watt bulbs and such.

Sorry if I offended you with my "attitude" Tom_420. But honestly what do you expect? This is a CFL forum. Everyone knows who get way more light power with MH or HPS, over CFL. I just thought your point was totally lost by the fact you were comparing apples n' oranges.

I don't think strectchy plants get more than tight buds. I was just saying that when a plant stretches, this may provide the opertunity for a CFL grower to add some side lighting in order to light some bud that might not otherwise get much light. In this case a bit more bud could perhaps be produced than otherwise would have. But as Tom_420 nicely pointed out, you could just go buy a new Metal Halid light system and save yourself the trouble.

I know I'm really sarcastic. I'm just having fun Tom. If you think my attitude will keep me from growing big bud, i invite you to check my posts every once in a while, I should be done flowering in just over a month.

I completely agree with you northwest. 23w are definately successful but the more the merrier. the sun puts out 10,000 lumens per square foot on average and i think 42 are better in my opinion just hotter. and we all do know that mh or hps are way better. i have a hydrofarm 250w mh and grew my 1st 3 crops with it. now cfl's because of location. id use it if i could.

if you think about it tho.... 10 bucks isnt a big deal at all. your going to want a couple of your bulbs to be high lumens anyway. put your brightest bulbs above your plants, then shroud the plant with the rest

Just turned the lights on again...as of right now one 26W is above the plant very very close, another 26W on the side and a 13W on the side. The 13W is barely putting out light compared to the 2 26's. I'm off to Wal-Mart to purchase a bigger bulb. Hopefully it will pay off!

It will def pay off man, let us know what you purchase once you get back. Remember 6500°K (daylight) for veg and 2700°K (soft white) for flower

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Only one Wal-Mart had from the 42W bulbs were the GE General Purpose...2700 lumens. The light is definitely soft white, same as the other 2 26W bulbs I got going with it.

So yeah now I got 2 26's & 1 42W. Some of the white hairs are starting to turn reddish...is this an indication that flowering is getting to its end?

Yeah that means that the plant is getting closer to maturity. I would pick up the 12 dollar microscope from RadioShack so that you can view the trichomes. It works great, I have it. Here is a link: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2179604
Also here is a trichome chart that shows you what they should look like when the plant is ready for harvest:

Attached Images

Trichome Chart.jpg (30.8 KB, 91 views)

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