Best technique?

Hi all i have a small cupboard to grow in (2.8 foot by 1.8 foot and 5 foot high) im only going to have a 200 watts (actual) dual spectrum cfl this grow.

In your opinions what would be the best growing technique in this small space?

I was thinking about 3 or 4 plants 12 12 from seed to keep them small, im wanting to yield around 3 ounces or more. Would growing 1 big plant to fill the space with a different lighting schedule yield me more?

I've done 12/12 and wasn't impressed. They stretched and I only got 20-30g per plant. Seemed like a waste of seeds. I would mainline (google for it on growweedeasy) a single plant in a 3gal container to fit that space.

That space would also work well as a perpetual grow for autoflowers. You waste electricity running the lights/cooling an additional 6 hours (all the time). But, you could start a new one every 6-7 weeks as you harvest one. I used to get 180-200g from a Northern Storm auto in a 2x2 4' tall space. I could never come close to that with 12/12 from seed. So, 6 extra hours of electricity might be worth it. You could have enough space to one side for a vegging plant next to the flowering one.

az2000 said:

I've done 12/12 and wasn't impressed. They stretched and I only got 20-30g per plant. Seemed like a waste of seeds. I would mainline (google for it on growweedeasy) a single plant in a 3gal container to fit that space.

That space would also work well as a perpetual grow for autoflowers. You waste electricity running the lights/cooling an additional 6 hours (all the time). But, you could start a new one every 6-7 weeks as you harvest one. I used to get 180-200g from a Northern Storm auto in a 2x2 4' tall space. I could never come close to that with 12/12 from seed. So, 6 extra hours of electricity might be worth it. You could have enough space to one side for a vegging plant next to the flowering one.

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When you say 2x2 do you meen feet or metres? Im from england so i measured in feet lol.

Scrap that i just thought about what i wrote... A 2 metre wide cannabis plant would be quite something to behold lol i should have figured you meant feet.

Ive always been disappointed in cfl grows, good for veg growth but buds are small and popcorn like.

Madagascar said:

Ive always been disappointed in cfl grows, good for veg growth but buds are small and popcorn like.

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Ive heard and read that too. But then ive also watched imwithstupids videos on youtube and he has pulled 6 ounces of big dense buds of 1 plant. He is using around 500 watts of cfls though.

2x2 feet. 4 feet tall.

I agree about CFLs. If you can get a 2-foot long T5HO fixture, 4 tubes, that should fit in your space. 40w/sq ft is optimal for T5 in flower. You might have to supplement with some CFL to get that power in your space. If you can find some Cree LED lightbulbs, they'll work better than CFL. You can also find SMD5630 "corncob" lightbulbs on AliExpress, eBay. Those could be better than CFL, but buying those things can be dicey; they're not always advertised accurately.

I think a lot of the problem with CFL is people don't put them in reflectors. All the CFL grows I see the bulbs are just hanging in free air, radiating in useless directions. If you can put reflectors on yours that should improve their performance.

az2000 said:

2x2 feet. 4 feet tall.

I agree about CFLs. If you can get a 2-foot long T5HO fixture, 4 tubes, that should fit in your space. 40w/sq ft is optimal for T5 in flower. You might have to supplement with some CFL to get that power in your space. If you can find some Cree LED lightbulbs, they'll work better than CFL. You can also find SMD5630 "corncob" lightbulbs on AliExpress, eBay. Those could be better than CFL, but buying those things can be dicey; they're not always advertised accurately.

I think a lot of the problem with CFL is people don't put them in reflectors. All the CFL grows I see the bulbs are just hanging in free air, radiating in useless directions. If you can put reflectors on yours that should improve their performance.

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The one im getting is in a barn style reflector, its only the one 200watt bulb though. Im not going to have like 4 x 50 watts placed around.

DANfour20 said:

He is using around 500 watts of cfls though.

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That could be because he doesn't use reflectors, and 300 of those watts are going into space? (I don't know, I haven't seen the videos).

You should think in terms of w/sq ft. T5HO is optimally 40w/sq ft. CFL is about 50 (or 60). If you can find some relatively efficient LED "lightbulbs," about 30w/sq ft. (But, I've gotten very good results at 21w/sq ft by distributing the light around the plant, not a single top-down source.).

DANfour20 said:

Im not going to have like 4 x 50 watts placed around.

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IMO you'd be better off with more placed around. I'm sold on distributed lighting, bathing the plant from different angles.

Well more around the plant may be added for the next grow. Im going to have to run with what i have for now. And imwithstupid does have reflectors lol.

az2000 said:

I've done 12/12 and wasn't impressed. They stretched and I only got 20-30g per plant. Seemed like a waste of seeds. I would mainline (google for it on growweedeasy) a single plant in a 3gal container to fit that space.

That space would also work well as a perpetual grow for autoflowers. You waste electricity running the lights/cooling an additional 6 hours (all the time). But, you could start a new one every 6-7 weeks as you harvest one. I used to get 180-200g from a Northern Storm auto in a 2x2 4' tall space. I could never come close to that with 12/12 from seed. So, 6 extra hours of electricity might be worth it. You could have enough space to one side for a vegging plant next to the flowering one.

Click to expand...

Ive had a look at mainlining and it does indeed look like a very productive growing technique, just wish i could squeeze two plants using that method in my space. Also since whilst mainlining i would be topping the plant at least three times how much longer will this add to time? Im looking at around 3 months for a plant grown other ways.

200 actual CFL watts seem good for a single plant.

Smokenpassout said:

200 actual CFL watts seem good for a single plant.

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Yes i thought so too. Although it is actually only 100 watts of red spectrum and 100 watts blue, for my next grow im hoping to get a 300w pure red spectrum bulb for my flower.

I was so there where you are! I found that dual spectrum is actually best for flowering. You want those blues in there too, but a little heavier on the reds. Bottom line is that the more light the better, the plant only cares if its getting blasted 12/12 with all the colors you have I graduated from the cfl gradually to all LED.