Box Lighting Decision, Need Help

NeedMoreHerb

Active Member
Okay so I am building an elaborate stealth box. I was originally going to use 5 25" fluorescents for the entire thing because of low heat output, but that will produce crap for spending money on a box so I am scrapping that. The box will be exactly 4 feet tall, intake in the lower corner and outtake in the upper layer with a carbon filter. it will measure 4 ft by 32 inches wide (to fit through doors if I move). I am wondering, if I should get either enough CFL's to produce good plants, or one metal halide or HPS bulb. I am worried about the heat hurting hte plants from the metal halide and hps as I only have 4 feet of spact to play with. The box is already built also. The method for growing I am doing, is in this box, will be 12 plants in 5 liter pots, doing constant 12/12 lighting. I will be doing 12/12 from sprout to finish, aka the dutch grow way. I am wondering what e veryones thoughts would be as getting CFL's vs. MH or HPS. I am not worried about electricity costs. Which would be more efficient for my space, and since the plants will not get super tall, which would be better. And also, if CFL is our choice, what kinda bulbs and watts should I be looking at? Thank you very much for your info!
 
couldnt tell u with that size space. but if ur gonna use cfls check out the cfl forum. they are cheap and dont put out much heat. im runnin 12 23 watt daylight(5500k) for veg and then ima swap over to soft,warm, or cool white bulbs(2700k-3k) when im rdy to flower. ur better off with MH or HPS. but ur right im not sure if u can fit them in there and not burn the plants for a smaller space like that i would just go with cfls unless u really have more space i wouldnt bother with high wattage bulbs. im not an expert but, thats what i think.
 
couldnt tell u with that size space. but if ur gonna use cfls check out the cfl forum. they are cheap and dont put out much heat. im runnin 12 23 watt daylight(5500k) for veg and then ima swap over to soft,warm, or cool white bulbs(2700k-3k) when im rdy to flower. ur better off with MH or HPS. but ur right im not sure if u can fit them in there and not burn the plants for a smaller space like that i would just go with cfls unless u really have more space i wouldnt bother with high wattage bulbs. im not an expert but, thats what i think.

alrighty cool thanks. Yea I was pretty sure the MH would be too hot so that's why I'll stick with CFL's. But im going to be doing a dutch grow method where they start flowering once they sprout. Think I should keep em all warm bulbs since im going to flower them from birth?
 
build a cooltube and go with hps the whole time check out my sig i do the same thing but in smaller conditions solo cups the whole grow its simple to make and takes the heat away i have my 150 8 inches from 3 day old sedlings in a tiny box check it out and plus rep for 12 12 from start i love this method
 
ya id say thats prob a good idea. iv heard u can grow completely with warm bulbs(2700k) but iv never tried it. u could also do a mixed spectrum and get a couple of each....jus use more warm bulbs than daylight bulbs. check out my pix and get an idea. i basically got some of those work lights u can get for like 6 bucks at home depot. they come with silver covers on them but u can take them off and then put a socket splitter on each and then have 2+ bulbs on each depending on how many splitters u use. but i heard u can use up to bout 3-5 depending on the wattage of ur bulbs and how bigga fire hazard u wanna have in ur grow area lol. but ya if u gonna use cfls deff goto home depot and get those work lights that have the silver lid on them and some splitters. then grab some packs of lights or order some high wattage ones online and then throwem all together and go for it. deff give us some updates or pics on how it goes.
 
build a cooltube and go with hps the whole time check out my sig i do the same thing but in smaller conditions solo cups the whole grow its simple to make and takes the heat away i have my 150 8 inches from 3 day old sedlings in a tiny box check it out and plus rep for 12 12 from start i love this method

What do you mean by build a cool tube and go with HPS? What is a cool tube?

ya id say thats prob a good idea. iv heard u can grow completely with warm bulbs(2700k) but iv never tried it. u could also do a mixed spectrum and get a couple of each....jus use more warm bulbs than daylight bulbs. check out my pix and get an idea. i basically got some of those work lights u can get for like 6 bucks at home depot. they come with silver covers on them but u can take them off and then put a socket splitter on each and then have 2+ bulbs on each depending on how many splitters u use. but i heard u can use up to bout 3-5 depending on the wattage of ur bulbs and how bigga fire hazard u wanna have in ur grow area lol. but ya if u gonna use cfls deff goto home depot and get those work lights that have the silver lid on them and some splitters. then grab some packs of lights or order some high wattage ones online and then throwem all together and go for it. deff give us some updates or pics on how it goes.

Okay so here's what I got:

HPS Lighting System-
http://www.lightbulbsrus.com/user/productdetail.php?pid=569
+ http://www.lightbulbsrus.com/user/productdetail.php?pid=233
= ~78$ After shipping and tax

CFL Lighting System-
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...3&productId=100660381&N=10000003+90401+501576
+ Sockets and Cables ~ 40$
= ~ 85$ After shipping and tax

Overall I would get less lighting for more. I think I am going to go with HPS now :D
 
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