I was just given a light I was wandering if I can use it from the time the plants are seeds till they are about 4"-7" tall? I Have bigger lights this one just would be nice to get them started. It is a 24" lights of america f17t8/cw or rb17t8cv color temp 4200k cri=60 says all this on the bulb! Could i use it for this? If I can how far should the bulbs be from the plant?

Someone please help these are on right now and if there not gonna work I need to change them.

look man

get yourself a real setup.

It's realy starting to piss me off how ppl post stuff thats just useless to us... ( no offence Man !!! )

Just ring up a hydro store... ask them what lights.... U'll get a faster reply and you can go buy them..

If you'r scared dont even grow...

bye bye...

Ps. Your lights are Flouroscent Lamps ! about 1-2.5 cm wide and 30-120 cm's long....

You can use them for sprouting maybe... ?..... get them as close as 2 cm's as they dont produce allot heat.

Get yourself a proper HPS Lamps with and a MH Lamp to be sure you'r on the right way

MH lamps mostly for vegging i think... i never used em...

HPS... For veg & Flowering.... get yourself one with a 30% blue & 70% Red - Agro - Son-T Plus 400 Watt ...

It will cost you max !!!!! MAX !!!!!! 110 Dollars with Reflector and that stupid thing u need for it... ( power supply ) ....

So i can only advise going HPS...

can we all just agree that HPS is way better.. check out my fucking shit plant.... i mean common... i had a good setup ! my plant just fuck'd my over. ( CFL's ! )

Sorry for the BLA BLA BLA BLA....

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Makes sence to me

Plus rep all over that shit.

Insanes,
I don't really buy what DWR had to say. As someone with a little experiance with both matters I have to disagree with 90% of what he said. Also his approach to the subject was poor.
First the "Lights of America" you have are shit. You can buy it at Wal-Mart for $9. And one may sprout three plants, as two sprouted three plants for me. But due to the fact that the light spectrum for that bulb is 4,200k, the plants will not veg. well. They need a spectrum at 6500k. When I first tried to grow, I used those bulbs, I have a pic from one month in where I only had one set of leaves... At one month you should have a freakin bush.
DWR also said he doesn't use MH for vegging.. Then I don't know what he uses because HPS is for flowering. (Different spectrums). Also to the comment "It will cost you max !!!!! MAX !!!!!! 110 Dollars with Reflector and that stupid thing u need for it... ( power supply ) ...." I call schenanaginz. I have looked extensivly into HID lighting, and the ballast, what he calls "power supply" is $150 used. A good light runs around $40, and the reflector is $35.
I think, if you plan on doing a small truely personal grow (1-4), then you should check out "SunBlaze." They have flouro tubes, T5 HO full spectrum (6500k), at $28 each. I have grown 2 plants with 2 bulbs (recommend more). Or you can buy their entire 4 lamp setup for $98.
Recommendations, 1) always do your research first before making a thread that will piss off short tempered stoners. (No offense DWR, I'm actually talking about numerous others). Had you done proper research (marijuana.com's lighting page) you would have seen that 4500k is not suitable. BUT, you wouldn't have learned about lights of america, only a thread can do that for you. 2) I take it this is your first grow.. DON'T tell anyone! Not even your best friend, my "best friend" ratted me out at a party once, just to get the attention and make himself look cool. ("Hey guys, I know someone growing pot") 3) READ... READ.... READ.... and yes READ.. Also watch youtube's videos, very helpful.

Good luck, and take it easy.

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** ALL PICTURES WERE TAKEN FROM 3RD PARTIES, ALL INFO I HAVE SHARED WAS AQUIRED THROUGH REGULAR GARDENING TECHNIQUES. THIS SITE WAS USED AS AN "ROLE PLAY." ANY AND ALL COMMENTS/POSTS/THREADS ARE STRICTLY FICTIONAL!**

PS DWR said to keep the lights 2 cm away. BS. that will burn the plants. Kepp it no closer than 2 inches. Good luck

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** ALL PICTURES WERE TAKEN FROM 3RD PARTIES, ALL INFO I HAVE SHARED WAS AQUIRED THROUGH REGULAR GARDENING TECHNIQUES. THIS SITE WAS USED AS AN "ROLE PLAY." ANY AND ALL COMMENTS/POSTS/THREADS ARE STRICTLY FICTIONAL!**

Well, DWR I agree I was just wanting to see if it would work! Maybe if you went back to kindergarten and learned to read you would see that is says I was just given a light I was wandering if I can use it from the time the plants are seeds till they are about 4"-7" tall? """""""""""""""""""""""""I Have bigger lights this one just would be nice to get them started"""""""""""""""""""""". So just for your information I have a 400 W hps and ms light just am using them for other things! But, no offense!

At first i was like yeah nice post.. then he say's kindergarten

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yeah dude... you go to kindergarten ^^

i guess you cant spell wondering correct .... I should go to kindergarten... your correct... :mrgr een:

And Congrats man you have a HPS atleast u got something correct

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And i think i did read your post correct... You have a FL !!!

And yes u need a spectrum off 6500 k veg ! and 2700k for flowering !

If u thought i was combining the HPS and FL together you'r silly Of course u have to put the HPS atleast 30 CM's away from your plants.. not just because of the heat... because of the light radius .....

anyway i'll shut my kindergarten mouth now ^^

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What you should do for now is get a 5500k - 6500K "Daylight" range bulb for your fixture since it's already in use. They're way cheap.

If you want to continue using it throughout veg (after the most initial seeding stage), you'll need to add a *bunch* more once growth begins in earnest. That's a 17 watt tube, and doesn't put out much light. You should be aware that the number of tubes required would be bad news in terms of fixtures taking up space in your grow. Running a million small ballasts isn't really great in terms of power efficiency or heat, either.

You'd probably be better served getting a pile of CFLs (which is still not great, although better both in terms of their ballasts efficiency and heat as well as effective light delivery when properly positioned) or a small HID like a MH security floodlight. Home Depot sells small MH lights online for under $100.

If you are really on a super-tight budget you can check out the See More Buds / GardenKnowm style grows. Those are probably the best solution to vegging under CFLs as cheaply as possible with the best known results that I've seen to date. You can then switch to your HPS, sounds like you already know what's up with that.

Keep your expectations modest when starting out a new setup, that's the ticket to avoiding frustration and disapointment. Once you nail down the equipment setup and a get a little experience with how the new op runs, it will smooth out for you.