Fluorescent all the way????

Has anybody ever used fluorescent bulbs all the way through vegetation and flowering? If so, what were the results? Were you satisfied? Would you do again or try MH or HPS???

I tried it on 1 grow and wouldn't do it again. I may have used too few, the wrong kind, etc.... but the l'il darlins didn't produce nearly as well for me as they did under mh & hps.

themaritimer said:

I tried it on 1 grow and wouldn't do it again. I may have used too few, the wrong kind, etc.... but the l'il darlins didn't produce nearly as well for me as they did under mh & hps.

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Did you use mh during veg. and then hps during flowering?

flur is fine for veg and it help saves money too, use the HPS for flowering.

you wont produce crap under regular flourescents in the flowering stage unless u use compact fluor grow lights

hmmm. how many plants are you growing? is there any kind of regulation for the wattage to plant ratio for hps lamps? i mean would a 100w hps suffice for 3 plants? on the other hand, would using a 400 or even 600 watt hps hurt 3 plants, or make it yield even more?

I would not use floros to flower. You will be much happier with the results from hps. At least 400 watts 600 would be much better.

From what I've read the 400 is the most efficient hps light, and no it wont hurt yr 3 plants, they'll love it. yes, you'll yeild more with this light vs the 100 watt. Besides the cost diff has to be very little, you can pick up a 400 watt hps for about $100.00

$100?!?!? you can get a 400hps light for $25 here: HPS Lamps

Mark24688m said:

$100?!?!? you can get a 400hps light for $25 here: HPS Lamps

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That is great if you want just the bulb, but you need ballast , socket, and reflector to.

Check Ebay for some good deals on lights

wot would happen if i used 2 standard fluorescent lights, The daylight (white version) and the cool white type. would they be able to grow throughout the vegetative and flowering stages? so far, they are doing pretty well, four days after germination they are all sprouted and standing at 2.5-3.5 inches tall.
Would i be able to use the lights throughout their whole life???

Too little light for veg or flowering - Those lights are only good for sprouts or clones (from my experience) - if your going to use Flourescents - get the T5 high outputs or CFLs - everything else is too little light for plant growth.


I have been looking for a good deal on a 400 HPS or MH lately -
The best NEW light i can find - from a trust worthy company is -
High Tech Garden Supply

400 HPS for $119.00 + $20 shipping -

The big selling points for me - ITS NEW! It plugs into a regular wall outlet (American style - no rewire or risk of fire!)

If anyone finds a better deal, let me know! I will be ordering this light in a week or two.

This should be plenty of light for 4 big or 8 - 12 short plants.

also, these lights cost just over £20 each and are just standard fluro's. is a U.V. light any better than the cheapo fluro's that i bought

UV will not work. You need to use CFL bulbs. They are the spiral bulbs that will fit into normal light outlets. They come in many sizes but I'd reccomend getting 23w (1600 lumens), 29w (2200 lumens), 42w (2700 lumens), or 45w (2900 lumens). Any CFL larger than this will most likely need to be ordered online. I'd say get at least about 160w of CFL lighting for each plant to flower with decent results. You can hang CFLs between plants as well to hit lower bud sites on multiple plants.

pauliojr said:

Did you use mh during veg. and then hps during flowering?

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Yep, the higher the w the better the production every time.

videoman40 said:

From what I've read the 400 is the most efficient hps light.

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Very untrue. A 600w is the most efficient HID light, not a 400w.


You can buy a 400w shipped to you door for $120 at insidesun.com
Or if you got the cash look into a digital ballast, as those are much much nicer than the magnetic ballast.

Maybe plants can adapt to only flouro lighting maybe even the next generation just use warm and cool tubes or globes,u can even get cheap 70watt hps lamps add a few of those u never know???they dont require ballasts!!

70watt hps lamps add a few of those u never know???they dont require ballasts!!

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yes they do

Do some math:

Compact Fluorescent Light 150w - 66.7 Lumens per Watt
T5 48" 54w Fluorescent bulbs - 92.6 Lumens per Watt
Metal Halide 400w - 102.5 Lumens per Watt
High-pressure Sodium 600w - 158.2 Lumens per Watt

Now, what do YOU think?

One MH and one HPS for flowering should be all you need for a good yield.



Enigma

Why do you guys think a 600w is so much more effective that a 400w? Let say the space is 8 ft tall, 4 ft wide, 5 ft long. What would you stick in it for flowering?
a 400w MH and 400w hps.
a 400w MH and a 600w HPS
or what ever other variation you want...Just curious...