200 Watt CFLs for 2 Plants. Good Idea?

Is it a good Idea to use one 200 Watt CFL bulb in a regular reflector for 2 plants in an 18"X24"X64" closet grow box?

no. 200 watts might be enough for 1 plant

Are you sure?

I've read that about 100 Watts Per Plant (in a confined and reflective space) will work.
I lined my box with duct tape to hold in heat, and also put strips of Milar Siding to enhance reflection.

Still think I need more bulbs?

I want CFL's so I don't need a seperate ballast to save money. good ones should last long enough for a harvest, or so I read.

3000 lumens per sq. ft. is adequate. 5000 is better.

...Also, with cfl's u wanna switch from 'daylight' to 'soft white' when u begin flowering anyway, so ur def. gonna need more light.

why the hell do people think cfls are good for growing multple plants?

I guess they work... but to compare to an hid setup, well, there's no comparison, not even close. I like cfl's for seedlings, but then it's straight to the hps

I have a 26Watt CFL box. it says 1 bulb is 1750 lumens.

Can I use this ratio... 1750Lumens/26Watts? or is that not how you figure out lumens?

My box is 18" wide and 24" deep. so thats 3 sq. ft. so I would Ideally have about 10,000-15,000 right?

If I can use the ratio I mentioned early, 200Watt CFL will be 13,461.5 Lumens. So will the 200Watt work for my needs or are my calculations off?

No, u got the lumen thing wrong. Divide 15,000(lumens needed) by 1750(output of the bulb) that come to...8.57 which would be the number of that particular bulb u'll need for that amount of space. So basically, ur gonna need 9 of those bulbs.

You should look at the lumen output for the bulb instead of trying to calculate based on another bulb. If this is the 200 watt bulb the output is 10,000 lumens.

200 Watt - CFL - Compact Fluorescent - Spring Lamp - Full Spectrum 5000K - Mogul Base - Energy Miser # FE-IIIB-200W-50K Light Bulb

id rather have 5 40 watt bulbs. you can position them much more efficiently

Ok. So that means that for my box 9,000 lumens is min. and 15,000 is ideal. 10,000 lumens from a 200 watt CFL would be sufficient lighting for my plants. I do have a shit ton of Milar vovering the sides and duct tape under that to retain warmth.

So hopefully this will work out alright. CFLs are the only thing practical for my apt. But I looked at poutineeh's first CFL GROW thread and they seem to be doing allright in that rubbermaid box with no recycled light. I'm hoping this will work. I'm getting more excited the more I complete construction!!

2 plants will grow and flower quite happily under one 200w cfl if that is all you can get hold of or afford. its been done plenty of times on here. iv seen grows produce an ounce a plant on a lowryder grow from 1 x 200w cfl.

more light is better, but also need some air circulation in that space.

there's a straight forward answer for you.

Awesome thanks for some straight up answer instead of more broad ones.

So 200 CFL should be good. and I have 2 smaller computer fans for intake and 1 large computer fan for exhaust. Chrome tape everywhere. a couple holes poked through for constant air flow in and out when fans aren't running.

I'll start a thread tracking my production once I get the light and hood in. I'm starting from seeds(probably 4 seeds to heighten the chance of a female) from my previous sack of some pretty good stuff my friend decided to call "The Bubonic Chronic". haha. not sure what it really is, some upper mids stuff.

I'm hoping and planning for success.

just watch those holes later on. could mean light leaks.

good luck

How wIll I know if its leaking too much light? they're all above the light line so it would only be refraction to get released and only a small bit.

But How do I know If I need to tape up some holes?

Couldn't you just turn on the light inside the grow box when it's dark in the room and see where the light leaks out?

Yea. I meant How much is too much? I'm new at this

I'm not sure, this is only my second grow. On my first grow I didn't sweat all the details that people talk about on here but I managed to grow a plant and get some bud that gets you high. I'd say small light leaks aren't a big deal. It's also about how stealth your grow needs to be as well as the light leaks effecting your plant.

its more or less paranoia about it being too hot. or that the humidity will get too high.