4000k CFL's

antv

Member
hey guys i know questions like this are asked all the time and there is a section explaining what color temp lights to use.

but im confused as to wether or not 4000k CFL's are useless. As some places say they are and others say theyre not :-?

thanks
 
its not a really yes and no. its about the spectrum man, 4000 will work but, not as well as the 6500 and 2700. its almost between the two.
 

Roseman

Elite Rolling Society
I have a few 4000 and 5100k, and they were sold as "mid-spectrum" and meant to be used with some 2700k and 6500k bulbs.
 

itsgrowinglikeaweed

Well-Known Member
Not useless at all. I veg with 4100K with very good results. You dont have to pair it with anything. Obviously full spectrum light is best, and the closer you can get to that the better off your plants will be. The higher the #k the closer to full spectrum it is. A mix is always the best, for veg AND flower.
Some people actually remove their full spectrum 6500K bulbs and replace them with 2700K for flowering. This is a BIG mistake. FULL SPECTRUM is best for veg and flower. HID growers choose red (HPS) or blue. (MH) CFL growers dont have to.
Yes I am aware that you can now get HID bulbs that produce red and blue light. Most HID growers are still using red or blue only.
 

Roseman

Elite Rolling Society
The Importance Of Mixed Lighting (Dual Spectrum)

It is common knowledge that plants absorb warm and cool spectrum of light throughout its life. But I find that the importance of mixed lighting is understressed throughout the growing community.
During the flowering phase of a plants life, Warm light is better utilized to increase the size of a plant's buds. As CFL growers we tend to pile up on 2700k bulbs to increase our yield. In most cases, growers assume that warm light not only grants us larger buds, but insures that those buds are of connoisseur quality as well. This is not to say that one can not achieve a very successful crop off of pure warm spectrum 2700k lighting. We see it all the time as members of the Grow Forum Internet community. But as CFL growers, almost all of us demand a higher efficiency for our dollar.
So what does this mean? Clearly I'm trying to emphasize the necessity of cool lighting during the flowering phase of a plants life. But why? Well thats simple. As many of you may have heard or read before, Cool lighting (6500k) introduces a UVB spectrum that benefits the potency of the buds our plants are producing.
" The writer's own experience allow for a more specific conclusion: If the UVB photon is missing from the light stream(a), or the intensity as expressed in µW/cm2 falls below a certain level(b), the phytochemical process will not be completely energized with only UVA photons which are more penetrating but less energetic, and the harvested resin spheres will have mostly precursor compounds and not fully realized THC(c).

Now it would be completely unreasonable to ask a grower using a 1000watt HPS to switch out for MH lighting even though it produces quality of the weed. Sticking with blue spectrum lighting in a plants flowering phase would greatly decrease the size of the buds and the yield of the plant. People using high wattage systems tend to grow for cash crop. No single person really needs a pound of buds.
" “Metal halide produce the best potent buds with less lumens for the money but better smoke. After years of testing with some friends who did want to keep THEIR recipe (more hps) I found their buds to be harsh, full of CBD, make me eat and sleep. The blue spectrum will give you a final product that have everything included:taste without curing, potency and yield.
For lower wattage growers who grow for self use, and are not on a low budget, it would be beneficial to replace their HPS with an MH for the last week or two of budding. This is because the last weeks of a plants life before harvesting is dedicated to the ripening of the buds, and not the growth of the bud itself. It would not greatly impact the yield of the plant, but have a great effect on the quality. Interesting, but this only applies to a few amount of growers that fit this category.
As CFL growers, we would be fools to ignore such information. It is astonishing that so many fantastic growers to not utilize cool lighting even to a small supplemental degree. We owe it to our selves to scrounge up a few bucks in change and take a drive to Home Depot. Buy a pack of 6500k bulbs (26watts tend to be popular, 42s are better) and set them somewhere not far off from your buds. Don't let your hard work return with unsatisfaction. Added quality with increased quantity(more light). Mixed lighting should be standard knowledge, not found in the advanced cultivation section.

Side Note: Reptile lighting found at pet stores is not ideal for UVB lighting. Yes they do emit a high % of UVB than regular CFLs but they output less light and emit over 12x more UVA light than UVB light which can harm your plant.


Contributed and submitted by Chase1126, and edited for links and spelling.
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
The goal of indoor lighting for plants (re; color temp) is to emulate the change in the sunlight as the season progresses from spring to early summer to late summer and autumn and harvest. Natural sunlight goes from blue to red during the grow cycle. Sunlight in spring is more blue, higher k. This is when vegging takes place. It continues into summer as the light becomes gradually more red. Then a bloom cycle begins and lasts through the summer and the sunlight becomes progressively more red. Human eyes see the difference around late August.

It probably isn't worth the effort to try to get a smooth progression like the sun provides but even a jerky shift from mostly blue to mostly red is advisable. So of course, somewhere in a progression from 6500 down to 2700, we pass 4100. I wouldn't make 50% or even 25% of my lighting 4100k but if I had good bulbs I would add them to the mix. This may even require us to use jr high algebra to figure it out.
 

itsgrowinglikeaweed

Well-Known Member
The goal of indoor lighting for plants (re; color temp) is to emulate the change in the sunlight as the season progresses from spring to early summer to late summer and autumn and harvest. Natural sunlight goes from blue to red during the grow cycle. Sunlight in spring is more blue, higher k. This is when vegging takes place. It continues into summer as the light becomes gradually more red. Then a bloom cycle begins and lasts through the summer and the sunlight becomes progressively more red. Human eyes see the difference around late August.

It probably isn't worth the effort to try to get a smooth progression like the sun provides but even a jerky shift from mostly blue to mostly red is advisable. So of course, somewhere in a progression from 6500 down to 2700, we pass 4100. I wouldn't make 50% or even 25% of my lighting 4100k but if I had good bulbs I would add them to the mix. This may even require us to use jr high algebra to figure it out.
Or you can simplify the whole thing and realize that FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT IS BEST FOR ALL STAGES. Period.
Growing indoors provides one with the opportunity to provide BETTER conditions than what would naturally occur outdoors. 24 hour light, a perfect watering schedule, a customized feeding schedule, perfect temperatures night and day, and FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT throughout the grow.
But if you want to limit your plants environment the same way it would be limited outdoors go ahead. Trying to simulate the limited spectrum of seasonal sunshine would be like watering your indoor plant only when and as much as it rains outside, which obviously would not be ideal.
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
Or you can simplify the whole thing and realize that FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT IS BEST FOR ALL STAGES. Period.
Growing indoors provides one with the opportunity to provide BETTER conditions than what would naturally occur outdoors. 24 hour light, a perfect watering schedule, a customized feeding schedule, perfect temperatures night and day, and FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT throughout the grow.
But if you want to limit your plants environment the same way it would be limited outdoors go ahead. Trying to simulate the limited spectrum of seasonal sunshine would be like watering your indoor plant only when and as much as it rains outside, which obviously would not be ideal.
What color temp is "full spectrum?" Plants definitely do better with mixed light and with different light in flower than in veg. I think most indoor growers would reject the notion that there is one bulb for the whole cycle.
 

itsgrowinglikeaweed

Well-Known Member
What color temp is "full spectrum?" QUOTE]
Well technically, full spectrum is white. No colors=black. All colors=white.
Mixed spectrum, full spectrum...same thing (ok, mixed is not nessessarily "full" but it can be). When you use a mix you are (or should be) going for "full spectrum"
I agree there is no one bulb. The closest you can get is 6500K. Manufacturers refer to 6500K as "daylight" or "full spectrum".
It drives me crazy when people replace the all the 6500K "full spectrum" bulbs they vegged with, with 2700K "warm" or "red" bulbs to flower with. For flowering....red is better than blue yes. But, its not better than red AND blue! Thats where a lot of people are confused.
I use 4100K ( for veg) because my choices were 3300K, 2700K, and 4100K. I got the closest to full spectrum 6500K I could.
 
I

Illegal Smile

Guest
What color temp is "full spectrum?" QUOTE]
Well technically, full spectrum is white. No colors=black. All colors=white.
Mixed spectrum, full spectrum...same thing (ok, mixed is not nessessarily "full" but it can be). When you use a mix you are (or should be) going for "full spectrum"
I agree there is no one bulb. The closest you can get is 6500K. Manufacturers refer to 6500K as "daylight" or "full spectrum".
It drives me crazy when people replace the all the 6500K "full spectrum" bulbs they vegged with, with 2700K "warm" or "red" bulbs to flower with. For flowering....red is better than blue yes. But, its not better than red AND blue! Thats where a lot of people are confused.
I use 4100K ( for veg) because my choices were 3300K, 2700K, and 4100K. I got the closest to full spectrum 6500K I could.
Plenty of room for opinions but I think I'm correct in saying the vast majority around here advocate moving to mostly 2700k for flowering.
 

antv

Member
thanks for all the replies guys.

i guess it'll be alright then to just have a couple of each color throughout the plants life
 

grow space

Well-Known Member
OK, im confused and im laughing my ass of out of my ignorance maybe...

Illegal Smile-you said that sun is more blue when vegging is at hand in outdoor.....I look at the sun, and its still a shiny orange flaming "bulb".....Hahhahaha, blue sun..?
 

itsgrowinglikeaweed

Well-Known Member
OK, im confused and im laughing my ass of out of my ignorance maybe...

Illegal Smile-you said that sun is more blue when vegging is at hand in outdoor.....I look at the sun, and its still a shiny orange flaming "bulb".....Hahhahaha, blue sun..?
Ya know how the sun is a different color at sunset than it is at noon. At sunset its more red/orange at noon its more yellow/white/orange. This is due to the amount of atmosphere the light must shine through before it reaches your eyes. The change in color throughout the day is the due to the same atmospheric affect as the change in color throughout the season. When the sun is lower in the sky (either because of time of day or because of time of season) is has to go through more of the atmosphere to reach your eye. When the sun is high in the sky (noon, or mid summer) it has less atmosphere to travel through an so it remains more a more intense "blue" light.
IMO the difference between spectrums of artificial light is greater than the difference between the suns spectoral output at different times of day/ or year. So....yeah...mix it up!
 

grow space

Well-Known Member
Ya know how the sun is a different color at sunset than it is at noon. At sunset its more red/orange at noon its more yellow/white/orange. This is due to the amount of atmosphere the light must shine through before it reaches your eyes. The change in color throughout the day is the due to the same atmospheric affect as the change in color throughout the season. When the sun is lower in the sky (either because of time of day or because of time of season) is has to go through more of the atmosphere to reach your eye. When the sun is high in the sky (noon, or mid summer) it has less atmosphere to travel through an so it remains more a more intense "blue" light.
IMO the difference between spectrums of artificial light is greater than the difference between the suns spectoral output at different times of day/ or year. So....yeah...mix it up!

Thank Ya bro..I am enlightened now....:lol::lol::lol:

Good info.
 
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