CFL vs FLORO vs HPS - Page 3

fnord · #21 03-22-2007, 09:32 AM

great experiment, thanks for documenting it.

what type of CFLs are you using? the cool ones (6500K) are good for vegging I hear, but did you switch out to warmer bulbs (~2700K) for flowering?

th3bigbad · #22 03-22-2007, 10:16 AM

right now all i have running are the cool but i bought a box of the warm and might go with 3 of each on this grow, but ill prolly just stick with the cools. but on my next grow if i go with only CFLs ill do a mix of warm and cool in both flower and veg.

hearmenow · #23 03-22-2007, 10:25 AM

Big, instead of 1000w of CFL, shouldn't you focus on the total lumens count emitted by all the lights combined? You can have a low wattage with a relatively high lumen count. I have 6 lights with total wattage under 500w but my total lumen output is roughly 10,000. I have one of those "Y" fittings too, with 2 bulbs in one socket.

Are you using reflectors at all or just the raw bulb? I am using reflectors on 4 of my 6 lights but I think they are creating hot spots, as I am seeing occasional leaves being burnt. And yes, I do rotate the plants every couple of hours.

th3bigbad · #24 03-22-2007, 10:52 AM

im useing a reflector of sorts.i didnt have any pics of just the reflector, but if you look on the far left of the 1st pic you can see what kind im useing. thats a different grow where i combined all the lights i had. it has a 150watt CFL in it, but i also have 1x1000watt hps and 8x4' long tube floros on those plants.kinda y i started to see what works better. i was useing all the lights at once for that grow.
i had alil bit of a hot spot prob, but only if i let my plants touch the lights. i did that 1 night when i couldnt check on them like i do normaly. they grow so fast that i have to move my lights everyday sometimes more. and with those crapy clamp type reflectors it takes along time to move them all. if i do the grow with nothing but alot of CFLs ill build a frame to move the lights all at once, and use just some sheet metal to conect all the light fixtures together and work as a refector. im thinking a shape like /--\ so the lights would come down say 2' on each side and the top would be about the same. the whole thing would move up and down by cables and pullies, so with 1 pull the top would come off and i can get to the plants.
i had a setup like that but with long tube floros and it worked well for what it was. its the 2nd pic. like that but with a sheet metal frame on both sides and top. i may have to run a few lil fans to pull the heat out, but nothing major.
and about the total lumans,,,, right now im useing a 1000watt hps hortilux light that is rated at 150,000 lumans (i think thats a close number im not exactly sure) and it cost me about an extra 50.00 a month on my ele bill. i want to see what the cost/yield is on CFLs and HPS. and the only way i can think to check that is to run about the same wattage in both kinds of lights.

green_nobody · #25 03-22-2007, 10:57 AM

WoW, the floro ones real stretched badly

nice experiment

lando421 · #26 03-22-2007, 12:56 PM

Milk man, if you don't mind me asking...How many plants are you growing? You should take pics, I bet they're looking nice with all that light!

hearmenow · #27 03-22-2007, 01:15 PM

Big, I don't know if this will eff up my grow when it's time to flower or not but I have been using a combination of warm and cool CLFs througout my veg stage. Also, for the first 4 weeks, I was doing a combo outdoor grow for 10 hours, followed by 6 hours under the lights indoors. Man, I hope I don't end up with 5 hermies!

Claytronics · #28 03-22-2007, 01:22 PM

This is a great thread. Many thanks to you for doing this and proving that you can grow with CFL's.

th3bigbad · #29 03-22-2007, 01:56 PM

hearmenow,,, all the best on your grow. i have no idea if that would effect the outcome as far as sex, but i got my fingers crossed for ya. ive been watching your thread and your plants look good all but that 1, but im sure it was a male that was sickly. or atleast thats what i tell myself when i lose 1. makes it alil easier for me to cope with the death if it was male.
and worse case if all turn hermi take it as a learning grow and keep growing. ive had a ton of bad grows and a ton of good ones. as long as you keep growing youll keep learning and improveing. if theres 1 thing ive learned from this site is that i dont know 1/2 as much as i thought i did. ive been growing about 13 years and learn something new almost everyday. keep your head up and your plants will soon fallow. ima glass 1/2 full kinda guy lol

claytonics,,,, thanx. i didnt plan on this much interest in the this thread, but its nice to see some may find it helpful or atleast something to read while they download ummmm "music". lol

hearmenow · #30 03-22-2007, 02:18 PM

Big, thanks for the well wishes. Much appreciated. The sickly one has recovered very nicely. It's kind of small, compared to the others but a lot denser, in terms of foliage. It actually resembles a bonsai plant a little. You know how things are sometimes, watch that one turn out to be the hardiest of them all with tons of buds. I wish, anyways.