CFL Distance Question

got two 25 gallon totes on top of each other (6.68 cubic feet total) with 2 42w and 4 26w cfls. I was going to fill the bottom with soil but do they need to be able to be raised towards the light or is there enough light in there that i wont have to raise them?? 3 plants

What are you trying to do?

With CFL's you need to have the lights about 1.5-2" away from the plants. As they get bigger you need to get more lights to have around the sides of the plant as well. The light penetration is not so good once the plants reach a certain size.

the lights are bolted at the top near the ducting...

As I said above...the lights need to stay close or else your going to have stretched plants. Remember...when you start to flower, the plants will gain 2-3x there size.

homegrownboy said:

What are you trying to do?

With CFL's you need to have the lights about 1.5-2" away from the plants. As they get bigger you need to get more lights to have around the sides of the plant as well. The light penetration is not so good once the plants reach a certain size.

Click to expand...

Homegrown is right. Just be sure to check your plants often with this distance. I ended up with burn marks on mine because the plant grew and touched the light

so ill have to have them being able to be raised, thats not enough light to just let them grow at the bottom?

yeah, but you could just put books under them or something to raise them and as they grow replace them with smaller books or remove the books

I don't really know...I've never done what your doing. I just use my closet and have it lined with mylar, and have 4-4' double tube flouro setup's. It's easy the way i do it cause you can put together a good light raiser for the lights easily. Come flower time i'll be using my HPS though, and the flouro setup will become the clone/mother room. I will be buying 6 more setups to cover the entire closet with flouro's because i plan on making it my veg room as well since there's 4 feet on the other side not being used.

i just wanted to be able to fill the bottom and not have to worry about lower or raising

That will ALWAYS be an issue when growing ANYTHING!!! You must be able to move the lights. Your plants will eventually "outgrow" there grow box if they stretch too much.