Strength of cfl's

Im highly considering moving onto cfl due to the massive amounts of heat from my hps.

But what strength bulb do you really need ?

i.e. I had a 250w hps , i didnt think it was enough plant grew ok but same strain under my new 400w was double in double

Ive got 4 clip on lights and leads and have been looking at 65w red and blue bulbs but have now stumbled over 300w cfl and im thinking surely the 65w isnt enough ?

vegg 6500k daylight 100watt atleast per plant.

ok mate so i should stay away from these 65w then ? or could i use multiple bulbs ? cuz thats looking cheaper

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GreenLamp-Spectrum-2700k-light-Bayonet/dp/B004G6PADQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I7QG6WIMYDZ7O&colid=CQWOJMNB1P96

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GreenLamp-Spectrum-6400k-light-Bayonet/dp/B004G6TKLY/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IKQW5X6FEDJ27&colid=CQWOJMNB1P96

use multiple bulbs or check 1000bulbs.com they have some awesome 105w cfls that produce in the neighborhood of 7000 lumens and only cost about 20 bucks. That is also the largest wattage cfl you can fit in a standard edison socket (at least in America). That or get leds. Thats what I wound up doing when the heat was out of controll with my two 400w hps bulbs backed by about 315w of cfl.

125w or bigger, the problem is the plants need to be close, say 2 inches, from the bulb, they work great for vege, and the white 6500k are great at keeping plants squat and bushy, the 2700K warmer ones are ok for flowering but nowhere near as good as the hps, The only problem i have encountered is because the plants need to be close to the bulb, they can burn the plant if it touches the bulb so you need to check everyday.

nog said:

125w or bigger, the problem is the plants need to be close, say 2 inches, from the bulb, they work great for vege, and the white 6500k are great at keeping plants squat and bushy, the 2700K warmer ones are ok for flowering but nowhere near as good as the hps, The only problem i have encountered is because the plants need to be close to the bulb, they can burn the plant if it touches the bulb so you need to check everyday.

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This is very true. I didn't have the 125 watters cause they required a mogul socket, but they'll burn your plants if they touch them. They'll kick all kinds of ass two inches away from the plant. Found out the hard way when one of the hinges on my reflector went out and let a 105w spiral cfl fall straight down on top of one of my girls. She got wasted.

Im using a mix spec of cfls in my 12/12 rubbermaid bin 2 2700k 65w = 100w equiv and 1 6500k 65w = 100w equiv i have been growing for about 21/2 years now and i have only used cfls and i must say i've had some impressive grows if i do say so my self. You do have to watch your gurls to make sure they dnt touch and get burned but for the price,savings, and overall outcome i would say you can't go wrong with cfl's.

just cram as many cfls as you can and strategically place them. And remember a 14w cfl is equivalent to like 60w of light from a filament bulb. look at my latest thread i am getting pretty good results with less than 50 watts of cfl on each plant.

Go to home depot get DAYLIGHT 100w equivs. that are bright as fuck and pretty beefy. For floweing go get the TCP Sunlight bulbs theyre 15 bucks each but let off i believe like 8k lumens a pop? Put a reflector I would estimate it to about 10-12k

You're better off buying multiple lower wattage bulbs than one high wattage bulb. That way you can place the bulbs above and around the plant instead of just above it. For veg you need 5500k - 6500k color temp (usually labeled daylight). For flowering use 2700k (usually labeled soft white).

jackoladd said:

just cram as many cfls as you can and strategically place them. And remember a 14w cfl is equivalent to like 60w of light from a filament bulb. look at my latest thread i am getting pretty good results with less than 50 watts of cfl on each plant.

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You shouldn't use the equivalent watts to compare to anything in regards to growing, that number means nothing. Also I wouldn't use any CFL under ~25watts its just too small, but that's just my preference, 45watts and up is the way to go. My 42watt TCP CFL's puts out 67 lumens per watt (according to the manufacturer) which is ~2800 lumens per bulb. Compare that to a 2ft T5 which is ~2000 lumens and you'll see that its not such a bad deal seeing as how you need a fixture for a T5. You want about 2500 lumens per SQFT for seedlings, 5500 lumens per SQFT for veg, for bloom it's a bit more debated but you want anywhere from 7000-10000 lumens per SQFT. Hope this helps, stay high.

for now i have bought http://www.basementlighting.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?page=1/prod/elc250

i will get a red of the same size and a mix of small

lots of good info here thanks. just getting started myself too

i saw someone say you need to check buds and move lights every day this is simply not true. after week 3 of flowering there is really no more stretching and you shouldnt have to move your lights at all anymore.

Ontheball said:

for now i have bought http://www.basementlighting.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?page=1/prod/elc250

i will get a red of the same size and a mix of small

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BOSS.

i've had two 125w CFL'S from basement lighting
those TWO cfl's have been changed THREE TIMES messing up my THREE different grows
now their broken, and getting refunded for THIRD time, their not good quality
i got a 125w maxibright now, and its MUCH better

return it now man.