BIG CFLs ARE GARBAGE!!!!

just a heads up to anyone thinking of getting a CFL over 105w..its wack. dont do it..u can get more much out of a 150w HPS or MH..im telling u i thought it wud save me on ventiliation well come to find out tht was true but my plants did not grow well under it..i had 2 seedlings under it tht took 3 weeks to break 6in tall..put them under a 150w HID and it took off. not to mention 42watter are the best watt/lumen when it somes to CFLs so dont go bigger than a 42w CFL !!! waste of money,energy, time. trust me dudes.

The problem is how they are made. It's still a very similar tube in diameter wrapped up in there compared to the smaller bulbs. So just like a little CFL your sweet spot for energy to the plant is still only 2 or 3 inches from the light. They really offer no advantages, and in fact several smaller CFLs of the same wattage could be made to work much better.

^^ agreedddd

I ordered about 4 of them a week back and didn't like them very much so i traded them in for a 600 watt HPS with a ballast sweet deal.

Also remember that LEDs are big cfls.

Theunion said:

I ordered about 4 of them a week back and didn't like them very much so i traded them in for a 600 watt HPS with a ballast sweet deal.

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niceee man! im prob gunna give mine to my buddy hes gunna start a plant now since he seen mine its a catchy hobby!

All I use are 23w-42w and i get good results in veg & flower. 42w seem to give you the best bang for your buck out of cfls. I have seen some nice plants grown under 100w cfl bulbs tho

*BUDS said:

Also remember that LEDs are big cfls.

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How do you mean this? LEDs and CFLs produce light via very different physics, so it stands to reason that the shape of their spectra (not where the peaks are, but the shape of the curve surrounding them) will also be different. Questions of efficiency aside, I don't know what you're saying here. cn

I agree also.

My clones and veg plants are all under a mix of 23W, 2700k ,and 6500k CFL's, I couldn't be happier about the results.

Suck that you put out the money Dutch, but I'm sure you've stopped someone from buying them.

KushXOJ said:

All I use are 23w-42w and i get good results in veg & flower. 42w seem to give you the best bang for your buck out of cfls. I have seen some nice plants grown under 100w cfl bulbs tho

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ya its good for 1 plant but like said before u have to keep it 3 in away..how do u keep 1 bulb 3 in away from 2-3 plants ? ya know just not ideal for more than 1 plant..plus once it get too tall the light wont penetrate deep enough to get the lower flowers

Hugo Phurst said:

I agree also.

My clones and veg plants are all under a mix of 23W, 2700k ,and 6500k CFL's, I couldn't be happier about the results.

Suck that you put out the money Dutch, but I'm sure you've stopped someone from buying them.

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ya no problem with the little CFLs because u can mix and match and cover the whole plant..i feel like with the big one more light get trapped inside the bulb because of the style? anyone heard of tht before?

Dutchmast3r said:

ya its good for 1 plant but like said before u have to keep it 3 in away..how do u keep 1 bulb 3 in away from 2-3 plants ? ya know just not ideal for more than 1 plant..plus once it get too tall the light wont penetrate deep enough to get the lower flowers

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Yea I know what u mean,
I'm growing 4plants under 11 bulbs
They seem to be getting good coverage.

The trick with cfls is to get a even canopy with some lst so the light is evenly distributed.

I actually rigged up a cfl hood lol.
Check out my thread in my sig

i dont use any cfl bigger then 42 watts i seen my brother waste money on the bigger ones before we set up the closet other then wasting money he wated time to didnt get nothing out of it

I just grabbed 2 150w CFL's i was so stoked to replace my 6 smaller cfls for veg. Now i'm sad to see this post, i might have to keep some smaller cfls for extra coverage... See how it goes.

Mr.J420 said:

I just grabbed 2 150w CFL's i was so stoked to replace my 6 smaller cfls for veg. Now i'm sad to see this post, i might have to keep some smaller cfls for extra coverage... See how it goes.

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ya dude use em def but ur gunna side lighting once they get taller..def have to use LST early to get other flowers to grow..good luck been theree lol