48" fluor's vs. CFL

Runagi

Well-Known Member
I was wondering, what's more beneficial, using 48" fluor tubes, or those CFL's in the shape of light bulbs you find at the store?
 

Runagi

Well-Known Member
geez man, WE GET IT. i read the ridiculous post about the HPS vs. CFL. Great, I got your opinion, but seriously i'm looking for someone who FAVORS fluorescent growing that has a point on this.
 

kskid

Active Member
Hey

I'm using a dual t-12 from lowes it was about 9 bucks for the fixture and 6 bucks for the bulbs .. I had them under cfl's before now they are growing faster than before.



This picture is two days old now I have one with 10 leaves and the rest are not far behind ... in two days they have grown so much. I have them about an inch from the tubes. I have watched them me and the wife work separate shifts so she watches them in the day and me at night and we check on them about every 2/3 hrs under 24hr light. Just over a week under the t12 fixture now.

I hope this helps.
 

Echodrone420

Active Member
im growing under two 40 watt 48 inch fluros and its been going great except the gnats in my soil i have some pics of my plants PM me if you would like to see
 

muyoso

Well-Known Member
CFL's are better, you can place and concentrate the light more, and they are slightly more efficient. That said, neither is sufficient for flowering, and CFL's are by FAR more a pain in the ass.
 

Runagi

Well-Known Member
hey thanks for the input! you guys should check out my journal in the link in my signature, they're gettin so healthy and big and i have them under 4' fluorescents... I already ordered the 400W HPS so once that gets here then we should see some serious growth...
 

LemonHerb

Well-Known Member
I think the only advantage of the CFLs is your lumen output it over a smaller area compared to tube. But t5s seem to run cooler and have a little more lumen per watt.
 

Carribean Blue

Well-Known Member
good point i mean i use 40 25 watt (equivilent 100 watt) clfs on one of my plants the result is amzing and all i do is put 8 on each side and it grows i check it every day or two
 

Carribean Blue

Well-Known Member
whats that 4000 watts equivilent all i do is run it off a genorator wht ive got which runs on water its so easy to setup i might make a new grow box actauly
 

paddy510

Well-Known Member
depends on the setup
for mine a HID is too hot and fluoro tubes are too long.
i use a single 125w CFL in a small box which will veg my 2 plants fine.
 

TheSchwarts

Well-Known Member
there both garbage compared to mh and hps
I've seen some monsters grown under flouro's, that's what I have.
I plan to veg my plants under 32watters and flower with 175 Watt indoor flowering lights. Same method my pal uses and he always gets great results.
mh and hps have their disadvantages too bud.
1.) Heat issue
2.) Expensive unlesss you grow for commerical gain ( Mine is for personal use only)
3.) Shorter life spans on bulbs.
4.) Fire hazard in confined grows.

Those are just what comes from the top of my head.
They all work, it just depends on the grower.
 

muyoso

Well-Known Member
I've seen some monsters grown under flouro's, that's what I have.
I plan to veg my plants under 32watters and flower with 175 Watt indoor flowering lights. Same method my pal uses and he always gets great results.
mh and hps have their disadvantages too bud.
1.) Heat issue
2.) Expensive unlesss you grow for commerical gain ( Mine is for personal use only)
3.) Shorter life spans on bulbs.
4.) Fire hazard in confined grows.

Those are just what comes from the top of my head.
They all work, it just depends on the grower.
Im sorry, but a lot of what you said is completely wrong.

1. Sure there is a heat issue, but that can be solved cheaply and easily with a cooltube.
2. They are around a hundred dollars from HTGsupply, how much do you think you spend on flouro's or CFLs? Very close, most likely a bit more if you want to get any good results.
3. The lifespan of the bulbs is null, as the yield you get will be ridiculously larger and better quality, meaning for a personal grow, you will have to do less of it.
4. There is absolutely no fire hazzard if you set your grow up properly. In fact, the CFL's burn the SHIT out of the leaves when the leaves touch them for more than a few minutes, which happens ALL the time due to the proximity you need to keep them with regard to the plant.


Not to mention, you will end up using a TON more electricity with CFL's than with HPS. Running nearly 400 watts of CFl's, say 15 26w daylight bulbs, you only get 24k lumens. Run a 250 HPS and you get 28k lumens. Run a 400w HPS and you get 55k lumens, more than DOUBLE what the CFL's could muster. I was ALL about CFL's, before i realized, shit, i am using more energy than a damn HPS and I am getting half the light. There is literally no reason to use CFL's unless you are growing in a rubbermade or something silly like that.
 
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