How many CFL's for 1 or 2 plants...

Well guys, basically i have this 3ft (tall) by 2 ft (wide) by 1 ft (forward) grow box in my closet. now i know this is a small growing area but considering i am growing papaya (mostly indica) it shouldnt be too tall, just bushy. Any ways, at moment i have 2 fluorescent tubes 15 watt each (one daylight and other warm light) plus 1 20 watt (replaces 75 watt) cfl. Aside from that i have covered my boxes interior completely with foil paper. So my question is, do i need more light? Because im planing to grow just 1 or 2 plants (personal use only). And if i do how many more cfl and what wattage ( i heard that with 2 40 watt=replaces 150 watt, cfl is good enough or maby is that over doing it?

thank you and happy growing

forgot to mention that im going fluorescent/cfl's on all stages of the plant (vegg + flower).

5k lumens per square foot i think is the recommended dosage for plants. ;p

check out your lumen output for those bulbs and add em up and see what it turns out to be. if you are goin with fluorescent tubes you should check out the T5 fluorescents. they are high output lumens at low watts. very efficient.

either way, watch the heat and add as much light as you can. just make sure it's the proper spectrum.

hmmm thanks dude, then another question would be, how do i calculate lumens?

apparently no one knows =\

I'm not sure if you can calculate lumens for cfls, besides using a light meter to measure it you just have to go by the manufacturers claimed output. It's usually written on the box if you look hard enough.
Also when they tell you 20w replaces 75w, that is 75w incandescent, possibly the most inneficient source of light after a naked flame! Incandescents generate 17.5 lumens per watt, cfls between 50-70 lumens per watt (I believe) and the most efficient lights are 600w hps which give you 150 lumens per watt. I forget exactly how many lumens a plant need but you want 3-5000 per sq ft (I think, will check).

they should have a lumen rating on the pack

Minimum of 3000/sq ft, optimum is 7000-10,000/sq ft, the sun produces about 10,000/sq ft on a sunny summer day

My only concern is the foil covering the box. I realize a lot of people prefer this, and when done correctly works just fine. However, if you don't make sure the foil is completely smooth you will only lose light reflecting from the foil Any ridges in the foil will cause the light to bounce in different directions which typically means it hit the plant.

ditch the foil use a flat white paint
our mylar

i used 6 26w in my 2x3x3 got 2.2 o off 2 24" girls

0ptipl3x said:

hmmm thanks dude, then another question would be, how do i calculate lumens?

Click to expand...

CFLs are usually 57-62 lumens per watt. Just to be conservative with your computation, use the lowest- 57.

So multily 57 with your total watts and you get a BASIC IDEA of your total lumen output.

I use 2 45 wats and 2 26 wat cfls in my mini grow box and used dvd to raise the pots to the light, juss careful on how close you put in on the light or tha plant might burn and the walls in my box are white so i wont have to deal with tha hassle of covering tha box. Its alot easier that way

thats one hundred thousand lumens per sq foot,just googled it.

trusty ole google lmao

Im basically rockn 2-13w(60w) and 3-25w(100w) total of 5 bulbs, and total of 420w for 2 seedlings and 1 im about to veg is that enough wattage for now or would i need more bulbs.

Bump the Mylar . No folds or bends or wrinkles. Even the foil wrapping type paper crinkles and sends light everywhere but at the plant. I'm still figuring out light but I know when I tried foil it ruined the light spread

Well I have 2 150 watt cfls. 1=6500 and 1=2700. 3 ft by 4ft box.
auto flowering plant. hope that's adequate