Tutorial to Growing with Cfl's

Tink3rFarms

Active Member
Tutorial to Growing with CFL’s by Doctor Chronic

What is a CFL?



A Compact Fluorescent Light is a type of fluorescent that was originally designed to replace the standard E26 Edison Incandescent Lamp. The reason being, CFL’s will put out the same amount of visible light using much less power and a significantly longer rated life span. Even though the price of the CFL’s is higher than Incandescent bulb’s, they are generally rated to run anywhere from 8,000 to 15,000 hours. There many advantages of using CFL’s. Maybe you are growing personal smoke, or you can’t afford an HID system, or an HID system just isn’t practical. For some, HID lights aren’t available in their area. However, CFL’s are sold almost anywhere (Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, etc…). CFL’s are in general a much cheaper growing solution, and their just plain simple to use –self-ballastedand it screw’s into a regular light socket. I’m NOT saying CFL’s are better for growing than HID‘s, but in some cases it’s the only thing that will work.


CFL Wattage

Now sometimes there can be a lot of confusion when it comes to power of the light due to poor labeling but we will do our best toclear all of that up. Normally light manufacturers that make CFL’s generally will put two numbers on the box your CFL comes in. One is Actual Wattage and one is the Incandescent Equal. As you can see here on this CFL the Actual Wattage is 23 Watts, and it’s Incandescent Equal is 100 Watt’s. You need to totally ignore the Incandescent Equal and pay attention only to the Actual Wattage of the Bulb.



Color Temperature

You might see a lot of different labels when shopping at the store for CFL’s. Label’s including Soft White, Warm White, Cool White, Bright White, Halogen White, Daylight White, Full Spectrum. And also label’s like 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4000K, 5000K, 6400K, and 6500K. These are all the color temperature of the light you are using. This is a measure of how warm or cool the light given off by a lamp appears, with warmer colors having a yellowish tinge and cooler colors being tinged with blue. What confuses some people is that the warmer a color is, the colder its color temperature is. (ex. Warm White = 2700K). Bulbs ranging in the 2700K-3000K spectrum are usually labeled Warm White or Soft White, bulbs ranging in the 3500K – 4000K spectrum are bright white or cool white, 5000K is labeled Full Spectrum, and finally 6400K – 6500K is labeled Daylight. You can grow an entire crop with CFL’s if you chose the right spectrum of bulb’s. For Vegetation you will want to use 6500K or 5000K, and when you flower you will want to switch to 2700K or 3000K . The reason being, throughout the year the plant’s outside receive more 6500K light because the day’s in summer are long and hot and as Autumn/Winter get’s closer the day get’s shorter, and gradually receives less 6500K light and more 2700K light as the plant flower’s. Do what you can to avoid bulbs within that 3500K – 4000K because they emit very little light that Is useful to your plant. Notice here the difference between the CT of these lamp’s



How to use CFL’s?

In order to efficiently use CFL’s to grow your MJ you will need to position the lights around 2 – 4 inches from the foliage of the plant. If you place the light too close, then your plant will have nothing to vertically stretch to and it will remain short and stocky. (Ex. My First Grow and FarmingToronto’s) Some people combat this by addingCFL’s to the side of foliage instead of on top of it. On the other hand if the light is too far away from the plant, the stem will suffer elongation (stretching), which will result in loose and fluffy bud’s.It is very important to note that when using CFL’s it’s a daily “battle” to have lights in the right spot. Many of us are in our grow areas at least once a day anyway, so to move your bulbs a bit really isn’t that big a deal. Also many people wonder is it better to have many low watt CFL’s or just a few high watt CFL’s. Both way’s are capable of provided you a good harvest but I suggest you chose the configuration that is easiest for you and your grow area.

Where can I get these CFL’s?

Many low wattage (23-42) CFL’s can be bought at locate retail giants , such as Wal-mart, Lowes, Home Depot, and just about any hardware store you can find. If you are looking to purchase higher wattage (42 – 200) CFL’s I would recommend ordering them online. http://www.1000bulbs.com/2-to-200-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-Screw-In-Light-Bulbs/ has very good prices on CFL’s ranging from 2 – 200 Watt’s. http://www.buylighting.com/Non-Dimmable-Compact-Fluorescent-s/75.htm has a good selection ranging from 5 – 200 Watt’s in a wide range of spectrum’s. I have used both of these sites several times and I would recommend them to anyone that plan’s to grow with CFL’s.

In the end there are many different GOOD setup’s so don’t set your mind on the ONE perfect CFL setup. Just apply these basic tip’s when starting a CFL grow and you WILL see success. If you have any questions or comment’s I would greatly appreciate it. I want to thank the one and only, FarmingToronto for editing this Tutorial. Sincerely
Wow I have been looking for this kind of information for some time now! Thanks for the post.. Please keep em coming
 

Joe Blows Trees

Well-Known Member
Tutorial to Growing with CFL’s by Doctor Chronic

What is a CFL?



A Compact Fluorescent Light is a type of fluorescent that was originally designed to replace the standard E26 Edison Incandescent Lamp. The reason being, CFL’s will put out the same amount of visible light using much less power and a significantly longer rated life span. Even though the price of the CFL’s is higher than Incandescent bulb’s, they are generally rated to run anywhere from 8,000 to 15,000 hours. There many advantages of using CFL’s. Maybe you are growing personal smoke, or you can’t afford an HID system, or an HID system just isn’t practical. For some, HID lights aren’t available in their area. However, CFL’s are sold almost anywhere (Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, etc…). CFL’s are in general a much cheaper growing solution, and their just plain simple to use –self-ballastedand it screw’s into a regular light socket. I’m NOT saying CFL’s are better for growing than HID‘s, but in some cases it’s the only thing that will work.


CFL Wattage

Now sometimes there can be a lot of confusion when it comes to power of the light due to poor labeling but we will do our best toclear all of that up. Normally light manufacturers that make CFL’s generally will put two numbers on the box your CFL comes in. One is Actual Wattage and one is the Incandescent Equal. As you can see here on this CFL the Actual Wattage is 23 Watts, and it’s Incandescent Equal is 100 Watt’s. You need to totally ignore the Incandescent Equal and pay attention only to the Actual Wattage of the Bulb.



Color Temperature

You might see a lot of different labels when shopping at the store for CFL’s. Label’s including Soft White, Warm White, Cool White, Bright White, Halogen White, Daylight White, Full Spectrum. And also label’s like 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4000K, 5000K, 6400K, and 6500K. These are all the color temperature of the light you are using. This is a measure of how warm or cool the light given off by a lamp appears, with warmer colors having a yellowish tinge and cooler colors being tinged with blue. What confuses some people is that the warmer a color is, the colder its color temperature is. (ex. Warm White = 2700K). Bulbs ranging in the 2700K-3000K spectrum are usually labeled Warm White or Soft White, bulbs ranging in the 3500K – 4000K spectrum are bright white or cool white, 5000K is labeled Full Spectrum, and finally 6400K – 6500K is labeled Daylight. You can grow an entire crop with CFL’s if you chose the right spectrum of bulb’s. For Vegetation you will want to use 6500K or 5000K, and when you flower you will want to switch to 2700K or 3000K . The reason being, throughout the year the plant’s outside receive more 6500K light because the day’s in summer are long and hot and as Autumn/Winter get’s closer the day get’s shorter, and gradually receives less 6500K light and more 2700K light as the plant flower’s. Do what you can to avoid bulbs within that 3500K – 4000K because they emit very little light that Is useful to your plant. Notice here the difference between the CT of these lamp’s



How to use CFL’s?

In order to efficiently use CFL’s to grow your MJ you will need to position the lights around 2 – 4 inches from the foliage of the plant. If you place the light too close, then your plant will have nothing to vertically stretch to and it will remain short and stocky. (Ex. My First Grow and FarmingToronto’s) Some people combat this by addingCFL’s to the side of foliage instead of on top of it. On the other hand if the light is too far away from the plant, the stem will suffer elongation (stretching), which will result in loose and fluffy bud’s.It is very important to note that when using CFL’s it’s a daily “battle” to have lights in the right spot. Many of us are in our grow areas at least once a day anyway, so to move your bulbs a bit really isn’t that big a deal. Also many people wonder is it better to have many low watt CFL’s or just a few high watt CFL’s. Both way’s are capable of provided you a good harvest but I suggest you chose the configuration that is easiest for you and your grow area.

Where can I get these CFL’s?

Many low wattage (23-42) CFL’s can be bought at locate retail giants , such as Wal-mart, Lowes, Home Depot, and just about any hardware store you can find. If you are looking to purchase higher wattage (42 – 200) CFL’s I would recommend ordering them online. http://www.1000bulbs.com/2-to-200-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-Screw-In-Light-Bulbs/ has very good prices on CFL’s ranging from 2 – 200 Watt’s. http://www.buylighting.com/Non-Dimmable-Compact-Fluorescent-s/75.htm has a good selection ranging from 5 – 200 Watt’s in a wide range of spectrum’s. I have used both of these sites several times and I would recommend them to anyone that plan’s to grow with CFL’s.

In the end there are many different GOOD setup’s so don’t set your mind on the ONE perfect CFL setup. Just apply these basic tip’s when starting a CFL grow and you WILL see success. If you have any questions or comment’s I would greatly appreciate it. I want to thank the one and only, FarmingToronto for editing this Tutorial. Sincerely
Very informative, thanks.
 

PapaPit

Member
I have noticed if you baby them from the start then you have to baby them through the full cycle baby = letting chlorine diaipate before use. (myself, I live in the country down here in the sunshine state, which means unless you live in the city on a shared water supply [which is city recycled water] I live in the country down here which means I have a personel drilled well that goes into the giant florida Fed fresh water aquafir or fresh water spring Fed, only thing I have to worry about is the lime stone and other heavy natural minerals. but if you use chlorinated water from the start I have found it doesn't really affect the plant, but if you start clean and switch to chlorinated it really affects the plant drastically, but from start to end not really,
 

Blunted 4 lyfe

Well-Known Member
I have noticed if you baby them from the start then you have to baby them through the full cycle baby = letting chlorine diaipate before use. (myself, I live in the country down here in the sunshine state, which means unless you live in the city on a shared water supply [which is city recycled water] I live in the country down here which means I have a personel drilled well that goes into the giant florida Fed fresh water aquafir or fresh water spring Fed, only thing I have to worry about is the lime stone and other heavy natural minerals. but if you use chlorinated water from the start I have found it doesn't really affect the plant, but if you start clean and switch to chlorinated it really affects the plant drastically, but from start to end not really,

Believe it or not I use nothing but rain water, that gets most of the nutrients your plant needs it comes down from the atmosphere, if I were living down where you are thats what I would be doing, I'm up north and growing in soil with SS so all I do is add water and do teas, my last one was a banana peel tea (high in potash) in my 6 week of flower.

B4L
 

PapaPit

Member
Only if you're growing an auto otherwise you need 2700k (warm).
I personally like to mix it up with 2700k, 3500k, 5100k (yellow, red, blue) spectrums. That closely mimics the sun in end of summer early fall.

B4L
I have both sets of C.F.L. 400 watt bulbs. I have the regular whites bright, and i have the 400 watt C.F.L. warms or orangish kind of tint for my photoperiod vegging to flowering plants. and it has worked great so far, no problems, I use 2 of them per plant, my friend says I really only need 1 bulb of 400 watts, something like the equivalence to 12 single 100 watt bulbs per light but i say you can never have too many lumens, rather over then under I think,
 

PapaPit

Member
Only if you're growing an auto otherwise you need 2700k (warm).
I personally like to mix it up with 2700k, 3500k, 5100k (yellow, red, blue) spectrums. That closely mimics the sun in end of summer early fall.

B4L
don't they sell sunlight mimicking bulbs with all the color band's? I think they do but i didn't get those because I couldn't find them in a single bulb with high enough watt and lumen concentrate, but the web site I use is discreet and have alot of indoor garden supplies. I'm sure if I looked hard enough and really searched I could get it. I don't know. I'll have to check and get back to you...
 

Blunted 4 lyfe

Well-Known Member
don't they sell sunlight mimicking bulbs with all the color band's? I think they do but i didn't get those because I couldn't find them in a single bulb with high enough watt and lumen concentrate, but the web site I use is discreet and have alot of indoor garden supplies. I'm sure if I looked hard enough and really searched I could get it. I don't know. I'll have to check and get back to you...
I've never heard of just 1 CFL bulb with all the spectrums, the only 1 peice light that I know of is an LED fixture.

B4L
 

PapaPit

Member
I've never heard of just 1 CFL bulb with all the spectrums, the only 1 peice light that I know of is an LED fixture.

B4L
no it wasn't a C.F.L. I'm sorry I should of been clearer on what I meant or where or how I saw it that's my bad, sorry. but the bulbs I saw were actually more like a regular everyday round bulb. and regular looking but it had on the label the light bulb and a rainbow next to it. like I said before i want to study a little more on it and see for 4 4 for sure that I'm speaking of the rite thing the rite way. it would be funny to be doing all this talking like I'm some sort of know it all and watch the rainbow next to the bulb be some gay rights lol or something off the wall like that, then I'd feel wheely tarded lol so lemme check on those before I try to comment or clarify. lol the site I use has 1000 of just different style bulbs and plugs, with special connectors and special plugs and lights and setups for just indoor gardening I'll get the website name and post it in my next article, if we're allowed to post web addresses on here
 

Blunted 4 lyfe

Well-Known Member
no it wasn't a C.F.L. I'm sorry I should of been clearer on what I meant or where or how I saw it that's my bad, sorry. but the bulbs I saw were actually more like a regular everyday round bulb. and regular looking but it had on the label the light bulb and a rainbow next to it. like I said before i want to study a little more on it and see for 4 4 for sure that I'm speaking of the rite thing the rite way. it would be funny to be doing all this talking like I'm some sort of know it all and watch the rainbow next to the bulb be some gay rights lol or something off the wall like that, then I'd feel wheely tarded lol so lemme check on those before I try to comment or clarify. lol the site I use has 1000 of just different style bulbs and plugs, with special connectors and special plugs and lights and setups for just indoor gardening I'll get the website name and post it in my next article, if we're allowed to post web addresses on here
Sure posting web addresses is perfectly ok after all RIU is for helping out fellow growers in any way possible.

Sounds like that site you were refering to might be 1000 bulbs out of China but I might be wrong, I'll just wait til you get back to us on that.

B4L
 

PapaPit

Member
That's exactly the site blunted. It's great. Takes a lol while to get your stuff but it works great and has everything you need, 1 stop shop for 1000 of different grow lights. And they do have the full spectrum lightbulb don't know how well I would trust it. I like the spectrums I can actually see the changes so I'm for sure to know exactly what my beaiuties Are getting. But they site there. So if you do happen to purchase and use. Them hit us up and let us know how it worked.. Lol you may have a miracle idea and get the best results ever.. Lol anyway.. Good luck and have fun...
 

LOB

Member
Hey first time grower/very new to forums. Just curious, are 3500k cfls dumb to use? I currently have mixed bulbs, 2700k 3500k and 6500k. Would I be better off switching the 3500k's to either side of the spectrum?

Also, I'm currently vegging with mixed spectrum, how much would it really effect my yield to switch to 100% 6500k for veg, and then switch all of the bulbs to 2700k for flower? I plan to go through my entire veg/flower with mixed spectrum.

Currently on day 15 of veg I have
4 150W equivalent 6500k
4 150W equivalent 3500k
2 300W equivalent 2700k
 

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tokingtiger

Well-Known Member
i grew with cfl's for a couple years, what a waste of time and bud, never had the quality or amount of bud using the same wattage of LED.. i would never go back, not cracking or acting better than anyone, just letting you know what i honestly experienced. LED's actual draw is about 60% of what they say, so a 400w LED is only going to draw 240 watts. or about 2.5 amps. in a 4x4 tent, you can have 2x400 watt and one 300w and still have amps left over for some vegging lights. cheapest place i found, and 3 years later, still working? 600 w LED w/5w bulbs $139.99 LED is not too expensive anymore. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/MarsHydro-LED-Grow-Light-300W-600W-Full-Spectrum-60-x-5W-120x5W-Indoor-Medical-grow-Stock/32445956820.html?spm=2114.01020208.3.148.vMINoP&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_4,searchweb201644_3_79_78_77_82_80_62,searchweb201560_4
 

Joe Blows Trees

Well-Known Member
@Blunted 4 lyfe I'm currently flowering out a bagseed under 4 CFLs to see how the bud comes out. I use an HPS as well, but there are some who swear the cfl can also make dense buds so I wanted to see for myself what CFLs can really do when it comes to flowering. I veg with some so I know they work for that. Curious as to what made you switch to HPS?
 

Blunted 4 lyfe

Well-Known Member
@Blunted 4 lyfe I'm currently flowering out a bagseed under 4 CFLs to see how the bud comes out. I use an HPS as well, but there are some who swear the cfl can also make dense buds so I wanted to see for myself what CFLs can really do when it comes to flowering. I veg with some so I know they work for that. Curious as to what made you switch to HPS?
The reason I switched was I saw my buds were way too fluffy and way behind other grows I saw here on RIU. I also read where some growers swore by cfl grow and had dense buds but I saw different so I set out to get better lighting I was either going to get an LED or hps and I wound up getting the hps recommended by another grower here on RIU.

I'm on my second grow and went to a 2' x 8 bulb t5 for vegging and plan to flower under my 400 watt hps. It's a work in progress and I have the funds to throw into different lighting until I dial it in just right. Then I'll sell off what I don't use.
But prices are way down on lighting you can get a decent mh/hps 400w for less then a buck fifty maybe even a 600w but that's a heating problem I don't need.


Good luck bro!

B4L
 

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