CFL lighting

dontknow

Well-Known Member
I currently am growing with 2 24" otto grow lights.(flouro) and i am going to purchase about 4-6 cfl's and i dont know what types to buy. Are there cfls that give out different spectrums. I have a general purpose ones that i put in my house. I would want a different type of clf right?
 

boricuaboi

Well-Known Member
I currently am growing with 2 24" otto grow lights.(flouro) and i am going to purchase about 4-6 cfl's and i dont know what types to buy. Are there cfls that give out different spectrums. I have a general purpose ones that i put in my house. I would want a different type of clf right?

NO JUST TELL US THE WATTS I WOULD GET 2 23 WATT DAYLIGHT BULBS AND 4 32 WATT CFL'S BULBS THEY SHOULS HAVE 2700 K AND THE DAY LIGHT SHOULD HAVE 5800 K THE DAYLIGHTS ARE MORE BLUE AND THE 32 WATTS ARE MORE RED SO THIS SHOULD GIVE U A NICE ARTIFICIAL SUN SETTING FOR YOUR PLANTS
 

dontknow

Well-Known Member
the ott lite is a daylight spectrum so your saying that with that all i need is some general purpose cfls
 

Tree??

Well-Known Member
i am using 4 50 watt cfls general purpose in the balloon reflector. i read they are the best for certain stages....
 

Tree??

Well-Known Member
they are the flourescent ones. they look like a regular light bulb on the screw in end but then you have the ballast, a smaller plastic compartment then the bulb comes out of it and spirals around and comes back into the ballast box. if i knew how to post pics i would show you mine.. haha
 

dontknow

Well-Known Member
i know what the bulbs are im saying on the package it says u know 20 watts but its equal to 75 watts incadescent am i looking for 50 watts in flouresent watts not what its equal to in incadesent
 

boricuaboi

Well-Known Member
no u want 100 or more like mayb 110 120 150 any thing 100 or more it will be like 26 36 40 50 watts in a cfl
 

dontknow

Well-Known Member
yea i got 2 42 watt cfls equal to 150 watts and as they get a little bigger i may add miore if needed i got those 2 and 2 ott lite grow tubes each 23 watts
 

Tree??

Well-Known Member
plus i added the 2 48" flouescents to it last night just to give it some other colored light with the cfls...
 

iwir3d

Well-Known Member
I am using 12 26w CFL's.. all daylight ones.. 1,600 lumen each.. works fine but u need good air circulation and cooling. My peek temperature with no a/c was 113oF.. (to hot and plants slowed down in growth during that time..) equiv to 1,200 watt incandescent hehe.. tho the 40 and 50 watt ones (never heard of anything above 42) would be plenty of light if in the right sprectre.. bluish glow? if there red thats better for flowering.
 

newbutpersistent

Well-Known Member
The spectrum is VERY important!

I have 6500K 23/26W (actually watts, not equivalent) cfl's and just purchased some 2700K 42W cfl's. Both I found at wal-mart. I haven't found 6500K in anything above 26W (unless you go to a hydro store).
You want MORE BLUE for vegetative growth and MORE RED for flowering.
I had no "red" bulbs (they're actually closer to orange) for my veg, although it won't hurt, just make sure you have majority blue.
The sun is only more red in the fall, close to harvest time (hence the "flowering" stage)
Mainly, the color (K) is more important. Find the right spectrum and then look for the highest lumens you can get in that spectrum.
 

newbutpersistent

Well-Known Member
6 42W would be very good for flowering (depending on how many plants and room size, etc.) However probably get some blue to mix in or better yet add to the 42W bulbs. I added just 2 42W cfl's (prob the same) to my 8 26W daylight bulbs (had to take out 2 26W) and my temp went from 80 - 85 F up to 98F. NOT GOOD. Plants started getting all crispy and brown. So def. make sure you got ventilation
 

growganja

Active Member
im wanting to grow with cfls to but i was wondering where i can buy the umm... hangers?? or somthing like that to put them in or should i just use regular lamps or what?
 
Top