Diy Custom CFL Growlight

Okay, First I'd like to show my appreciation to Solarguy for this brilliant idea, I'm down for anything that saves $$ during this shit economy ! Total I spent about $50-$60 for all the parts but that is still a deal. I got a 6 bulb fixture so that equals a total of 12 bulbs, you can also buy a 4 or a 5 bulb fixture if you want a smaller growlight or spend less $$.

I had 6 clones vegging under 3 CFL's & now their under my custom growlight w/ 12 27 watt's, (8 daylights, 4 soft white's) once I go buy 2 more bulbs ! We'll see how they like it in a few days

very nice do it yrself settup. gives me a great idea for my clone box

Any parts list for that bud? Looks VERY pro.

All from Home Depot
-Piece of sheet metal for reflective hood
-2 or 3(more sturdy) pieces of flat iron steel to Drill & Bend (with hands) for sheet metal reflective hood
-Any # Fixture Vanity $ 10-25
-Y adapters for the bulbs $2.50/ea
-Extension Cable to wire fixture
-Chain to hang like 40 cents/ft
-Whatever CFL's you prefer (Personally I like the 27w's I'm using for $5 a 2-pack because they are 1750 lumens & im using 12 bulbs so that's about 21,000 lumens)
Hope This Helps : )

I just walked into an abandoned warehouse, took down three sets of lights, walked home with them.

bustedparaphernalia said:

i just walked into an abandoned warehouse, took down three sets of lights, walked home with them.

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like a boss!

Yeah good luck getting away with that in San Diego

Stoned4Daze619 said:

Yeah good luck getting away with that in San Diego

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There's plenty more there if you want them. Might be quite a drive though... #eastcoast

Love the DIY stuff.
Made 2 of these for the early flower period. Each has 84 actual watts working. (2 X 42w ea.)
Same as you, Home Depot. About $30 for the pair Plus bulbs.



Working way better than expected too.

Canon said:

Love the DIY stuff.
Made 2 of these for the early flower period. Each has 84 actual watts working. (2 X 42w ea.)
Same as you, Home Depot. About $30 for the pair Plus bulbs.

View attachment 1685776 View attachment 1685777

Working way better than expected too.

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way cool fixtures... did you make those urself? how?

I was just thinking about making the exact same type of fixture and I still want to eventually soon. But I realized Having each CFL adjustable for each ones height was nice so I was thinking of making a ballast fixture for only 2 CFL's at a time. I have seen some nice grows from the tube lights but I have used both and CFL's seem to show faster growth for me since their light is condensed rather than strung out. Good job man, you should do a parts list/tutorial.

Gr33nJeans I actually ran into the same situation . Nothing that some video game cases or dvd cases cant fix. But also if you did want to go the 2 light route, you could buy a hanging light for $7, unscrew 2 phillips to take off bulb cover, & buy a Y splitter for 2.50 & 2 cfls. You could make several of these & be able to adjust height individually & even lower some for the lower nodes of the plant. heres a link to the hanging light & a pic of the finished product.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100354520/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i39.tinypic.com/2ymbtq0.jpg&imgrefurl=http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-room-design-setup/597065-cfl.html&usg=__q-UMyY_CTKo1Z20M4isB9gjgzto=&h=1195&w=1600&sz=257&hl=en&start=174&zoom=1&tbnid=vjlvO5_4_XOyiM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=160&ei=Mm0hTt3rDoLqgQf9xN2-Cw&prev=/search?q=hanging+y+splitter+cfl&hl=en&sa=X&rls=ig&gbv=2&biw=1024&bih=549&tbm=isch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=334&page=12&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:174&tx=65&ty=29

here is my own custom lights that I have made for my veg, I still need to make something else for when I go into flowering!

Im using 4 blubls 6500k lumens, they are 23 or 25w idk I got them from a guy that was done growing and didn't need them. I made a reflector from a box and foil, put a power strip in the middle, strapped it down and this is that I have on my baby.

the first picture is with the new lights the one with the power cord are my old lights they are the ones you can get at home depot I believe they are the same ones that Stoned4daze619 is using. they are 5 bucks a back and put out 1750 each bulb. I had 4 of them going on my one plant but since i stepped it up I hope it works a little bit better

Total I've spent on setting my room up only about 100 bucks which isn't bad for only growing for myself!
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I was at home depot yesterday and after reading this thread decided to walk through the light section, saw a 6 socket fixture, nickel colored for $9.96, saw the Y splitters there also for $2.60 a piece, someone can easily make a NICE 12 bulb DIY for less than $45 including bulbs, contractor packs are awesome for this at around $15 for I believe 12 bulbs, depending on Wattage.

reverof said:

I was at home depot yesterday and after reading this thread decided to walk through the light section, saw a 6 socket fixture, nickel colored for $9.96, saw the Y splitters there also for $2.60 a piece, someone can easily make a NICE 12 bulb DIY for less than $45 including bulbs, contractor packs are awesome for this at around $15 for I believe 12 bulbs, depending on Wattage.

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Do you think you could list the name and/or model of that six socket fixture for around $10? Sounds like a steal.

yona said:

Do you think you could list the name and/or model of that six socket fixture for around $10? Sounds like a steal.

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If you go to Home Depot's lighting display section, you cannot miss the vanity light referenced above.

Hazy Sunshine said:

If you go to Home Depot's lighting display section, you cannot miss the vanity light referenced above.

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Yea I kinda figured that, thing is I am currently out of the country and won't be back for a couple of weeks so I was hoping to get a model # or something so when I get back I can find something similar (I was assuming this was a temporary sale).

something similar will be there, I work at home depot, and buy all my grow equip. there

Here is another one I made because the first ones working so well.
They are sooo easy to make !! At first I was thinking of getting a 125w CFL w/hood for around $70 but it is only around 7,000 lumens with a small light footprint. I made my 12 cfl hood for less then $70 & it puts out 21,000 lumens with a 3'x2' footprint. This one below I just made today and it holds 8 bulbs which could easily be increased with more y socket adapters. It cost me around $40-$50 & puts out 14,000 lumens. Mind I am using 26w & 27w bulbs which are cheap and put out 1,750 lumens each. So why buy large CFL grow lights or T-5 fixtures for lots of $$$ you could DO IT YOURSELF & save $$ while having even MORE lumens. In my Veg closet I currently have my 12 bulb & 8 bulb diy fixtures which cost under $130 (thats shooting high) for both & together they put out 35,000 lumens from CFL's. They are working wonders in my 4'1/2 x 2' closet

Ughh i went to lowes to search for the y splitters, or the multi fixtures. They looked at me like an alien, they SAID they never seen or heard of these items. So i had to make my own off the singles. Looks horrible FIY IMO!