CFL beginner question

Hello,

How many bulbs i need for veg state 4-5 plants
These are the bulbs i found:

http://www.ecat.lighting.philips.com/l/lamps/compact-fluorescent-integrated/energy-saver-specialties/tornado/929689451409_eu/

At least a couple bulbs per plants if you're using something that small.

A lot, assume the more the better, especially for that many plants. Look around you can find like 200 watters or something that would maybe be better for that many plants. It really comes down to the size and configuration of your space. Search around in the cfl sub section of the indoor growing section on main page and you'll find a million and one different set ups. Dont forget heat and airflow when determining the number of bulbs.

more CFL's= more problems with Air flow exactly what Sully said i have the experence and my current grow is with CFL's i ened up building a seperate box for them to eliminate the excess hot air they produce

Maybe a dozen.
Positioned above AND around.
You can't really "overdo it' with CFL's.
I have a total 100w on one plant, and it's very happy.

seidler said:

Hello,

How many bulbs i need for veg state 4-5 plants
These are the bulbs i found:

http://www.ecat.lighting.philips.com/l/lamps/compact-fluorescent-integrated/energy-saver-specialties/tornado/929689451409_eu/

Click to expand...

I use seven 25 watt 5500k from home depot and they work great. The seedlings sit right under em about 4 inches and they love it. I use this set up for three or ? I have had 12 in there and all them were growing fast. I am using a 4 inch inline vortex that runs 12 mins every hour to keep temps at 77. Temp, air movement, light, co2, and correct nute strentght equal growth. No exhaust fan means many problems. Even a muffin fan to extract air, and one exhale bag and those babies will grow.

Rule I've read is 100w per plant. Make sure you've got good airflow as it'll get hot. I've got 8 23w cfls on 1 plant and heat becomes an issue if I keep everything sealed up w/lights on.

I just did 3 plants recently. I had eight 26w lights shrouding the tops of the plants and then two 42w on the sides. I think if you had a 3 plant config you could get away with 10 of those, but really there is a significant difference in 23w to 26w (IMO). You should get at LEAST 26w (I would go about eight 26w) and preferably two 42 watts to hit the sides and rotate. Fantastic growth if you hit those sides with those fat 42w vertically. Burn a couple of leaf tips while your at it, that means you are hittin those plants hard with the cfls...

Ya man walmart sells 6packs om mini cfls 26watts each i run 8 for veg (6500k) then for flower im runnin 6 2700k and 2 6500k till i get my 400watt hps/mh

Thanks for the imput,

I was thinking of putting 2 oif these tubes on top:
http://www.ecat.lighting.philips.co.uk/l/lamps/fluorescent-lamps/tl-d/master-tl-d-xtra/927982486514_eu/

and 2 of these on sides for each plant:
http://www.ecat.lighting.philips.com/l/lamps/compact-fluorescent-integrated/energy-saver-specialties/tornado/929689451409_eu/
or:
http://www.ecat.lighting.philips.com/l/lamps/fluorescent-lamps/tl5/master-tl5-high-output/927929586518_eu/

That will lcome to a total of: 18000 lumenis

How many watts you trying to run total

Go to 1000lights.com, they have some powerful cfls that push in upwards of 10,000 lumens. Check it out, i'll be grabbing a few for myself soon

But if your getting from lowes or something, the bigger the cfl the better...pay attention to color though, in veg i like both 5000k and 6500k. soon as you want to flower go with 2700k

Pretty much in the cfl world its the more the marrier

you might want to consider PL-Ls which are a form of remote ballasted CFL so most of the heat is removed from the grow space.

they are available in a variety of wattages with each higher watt bulb being a bit longer, my 55watters are about 21 inch's. ...they are also available in a variety of Kelvin temps so you'll still have the same ability to tweak your spectrum with a variety of bulbs.

here's a couple pics to illustrate, first the 'raw' bulbs and ballast before i'd installed them and an 'after' shot with them installed and in play. ...as you can see, they are very much like a T5 that's been folded in half.



bozo

Needs to be brighter than ^^^ that. You should barely be able to look at your lights when they are on

robert030188 said:

But if your getting from lowes or something, the bigger the cfl the better...pay attention to color though, in veg i like both 5000k and 6500k. soon as you want to flower go with 2700k

Click to expand...

...this is actually not true, you get much more bang for your buck using multiple, lower wattage bulbs than you do with a single, very pricey, high-wattage bulb.



bozo

Agreed 12 26 watters for 20$ at wally world and they have both 2700k and 6500 k

Id just skip all this cfl stuff that after one grow you are looking for something better. Get a 2 ft. T5 that is perfect for veg. and in a pinch flower. This is such a cool size and light you can use it for many light apps around the house/garage workshop. No brainer $70 http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-2-Lamp-PL-55-Tek-Lamp.asp#

Relaxed said:

Id just skip all this cfl stuff that after one grow you are looking for something better. Get a 2 ft. T5 that is perfect for veg. and in a pinch flower. This is such a cool size and light you can use it for many light apps around the house/garage workshop. No brainer $70 http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-2-Lamp-PL-55-Tek-Lamp.asp#

Click to expand...

yeah man, for veg this would be fine, here's a pic of the 4 bulb version in my motherbox and i usually only run it with 2 bulbs, ...even that gives me more growth than i can use.



btw, i grew with nothing but CFLs for almost 2 years in a high-density micro-SOG so a new grower can do SEVERAL runs before needing to invest in a HID setup, ...shit, doing it this way means you'll be upgrading to proper equipment using the money you didn't spend on bud, lol.

bozo