Okay! So I've decided to go with CFL's for my first grow since im in limited space and don't have the money for an HPS system. I understand the concept of using 2700-3000K for flowering and 6500K for Veg.

My question that I can’t seem to grasp or figure out is HOW MANY CFL’s and at what CFL WATTAGE should I use? My space is 3’x3’x3.5-4’ Tall . I am growing 2 plants, hopefully if they go well I would like to grow a 3rd on my second grow. Also, for the CFLs that I’ll be hanging over the plants, would flood style lights or the spiral lights be better? Or does it not matter in such a small area with reflective Mylar covering the walls?

I plan on Placing lights both on top and the sides of the plants. I was thinking 3-4 on top and 3 surrounding? I just can’t find enough info on how much Total CFL wattage/lumens I will need and if higher wattage lights are needed like 65w CFL (300w incand. Equiv).

I know everyone hates newbs but I’m DYING to start my grow!! Any feedback would be HIGHLY appreciated!!

Thanks all!!!

1 - 65w CFL is good for a minimum of 1 square foot

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"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." - Thomas Jefferson my grow

cfls emit 64 lumens per watt and you want to shoot for 5000 lumens per sq ft of grow space. As plants grow they need more side light so the needed wattage goes up. Plus they can use more in flower than in veg. For a short answer I would say 150w per plant but more is better espec in flower. about 75/25 6500/2700 in veg and reverse in flower.

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http://www.rollitup.org/showthread.p...bubbles+ponics

Try getting 1-2 125-200 watt cfl lights. Very effective in confined areas and they last for about 8,000 hours which is far superior to the life span of hps-mh imo. ebay sells them for a very fair price but I'm not to sure of the quality .

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I think a faur answer is how many can you afford. Nothing against them.. Just use alot of them and have them as close as yiu can.. Also, having some on the sides as "side-lighting" will help.

Best of luck.

Illegal knows his shit.

Can never have too many if you can afford them.
If you're on budget, start with 3 or 4 per plant, and when money comes, and they get bigger keep adding them.

I hear in some cases, using more smaller watt lights can be more beneficial than a few higher watt lights.

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Mary, Mary quite contrary how does your graden grow? Hydroponics? Ultra supersonic? Or does it grow naturally slow?

I appreciate the feedback from everyone!!

So, according to what you said in your post, with a square footage of 9ft based on my 3ft x 3ft floor area and your recomendations of 5000 lumens per sq foot, I'd need 40,000 lumens or a total of 625 watts.

So, with that said my layout would consist of (4)100w 6500K CFLs placed across the top of my plant, (2)65w 6500K CFLs and (2)100w 2700K CFLs to surround the sides of my plant(s) in the Veg stage, opposite that for the flower stage.

Would my assumption be correct considering I followed the 75/25 ratio?

personally I'd shoot for 7000+ lumens per sq foot, or 100w per sq foot. anything less then that and you will just end up adding more lights.

So in that case, and based on about 12cents per kWh, and running all 625w at 24hrs per day for say 12 weeks, it would cost $150 in electricity or about $50 per month in electricity. (obviously I wont be running 24/7 for 3 months but I was basing on worst case scenario).

I plan on running 20/4 for sprouting, then 18/6 for veg then 12/12 for flower. Does this all look like a good layout?

Also, when sprouting and still in my smaller pots should I run all 625w of light or should I run only the top 4 lights? Then once I transfer them to my bigger pots go full 625w?

Gentle bump before I head offline for a few hours...