growing with cfl

well this is my first post and my first time growing any type of plant, i was planning to grow my marijuana out side my room, i have a six feet fence(4'x12') around my room, and im gonna put some plants in there about 4-6 plants they will only get around 5-7 hours of light per day, do you guys think that's enough light? if not my idea is to put 2-4 4 lights x 4' 68watts cfl running the rest other hours i dont get direct sun light on the plans. or should i just put the cfl in the closet? sorry if you guys have a hard time understanding my writhing english is my second language.
pics of the inside of my box, i think im gona need to paint it again cuz its not white enoght to reflect light i think..


back of the box. i have 2 fans one intake one exhaust, incase i need them.


the lights, i was thinking on cutting it in half and put the lights in the sides instead of putting them on top that way i will get more grwoing space.


this is what im going to use i still need to get some perlite sand to add it to the mix.

well plants need at least 12 hrs, so if you cant do that in your fenced in area you should grow them in your closet. And if you mean four, 68 W, 4 ft clfs then yes that is enough.

If you're going for highest yield I would say grow them in a closet with a good setup with those lights

Unless you dont have to worry about people seeing CFLs outside then supplementing the sunlight during night etc would be great

daisy2687 said:

If you're going for highest yield I would say grow them in a closet with a good setup with those lights

Unless you dont have to worry about people seeing CFLs outside then supplementing the sunlight during night etc would be great

Click to expand...

man im so high right now... LoL i never tought about the neightboors if i leave the cfl on all night they gona see the light lol... i found a small wood cabinet and i think im gona grow in the its about 2'L x 2'W x 2 1/2'H n i was thinking on making a light fixtue with 8 lights, maybe 23watts cfl, does the brand of the buld matter? or can i just buy any cheap cfl buld? im gona go get my camera and im gona post some pics of the things i found at my house. i think i have everything i all need it the lights. and thanks for the help guys.

Naa the brand of the bulb doesnt matter.

If available I would try to find a couple 42 watters, they put out a lot more lumens.

What you do need to watch for is the spectrum of the light. For vegetating you want COOL white or 'daylight' bulbs. If you look closely you can find their Kelvin ratings on the package. These blue bulbs are 6500k.

For flowering you want the WARM white which are 2700k.

daisy2687 said:

Naa the brand of the bulb doesnt matter.

If available I would try to find a couple 42 watters, they put out a lot more lumens.

What you do need to watch for is the spectrum of the light. For vegetating you want COOL white or 'daylight' bulbs. If you look closely you can find their Kelvin ratings on the package. These blue bulbs are 6500k.

For flowering you want the WARM white which are 2700k.

Click to expand...

ok ty man, im gona later today n get 4-6 cool white f lights.

Brand matters here. Maybe not there. Here the 24w cfl's I found were by 2 different companies. One was 1700 lumens the other was 1400....

Twistyman said:

Brand matters here. Maybe not there. Here the 24w cfl's I found were by 2 different companies. One was 1700 lumens the other was 1400....

Click to expand...

how many lumens does a 42w cfl has?

I believe the 42 watt bulbs I'm using put out 2700 lumens.

As a comparison the 4ft 40 watt tubes give 3050

A 400 watt HPS gives you 55,000


I just re-read your post and noticed you had planned on 68 watt bulbs. These would be even better! Just keep in mind they get hotter. Another fine point to make is if you're on a limited budget and can afford say 2 68 watt bulbs or 4 42 watt bulbs, go with the 4. You'll get better coverage and more options of placement of the bulbs (important for CFLs).

Ok maybe I'm rambling but one more point: If you can put the plants outside in direct sunlight for a few hours go for it! No one has made a light that can replace the sun yet. (Dont do it when it's too cold out)

Hope this helps

daisy2687 said:

I believe the 42 watt bulbs I'm using put out 2700 lumens.

As a comparison the 4ft 40 watt tubes give 3050

A 400 watt HPS gives you 55,000


I just re-read your post and noticed you had planned on 68 watt bulbs. These would be even better! Just keep in mind they get hotter. Another fine point to make is if you're on a limited budget and can afford say 2 68 watt bulbs or 4 42 watt bulbs, go with the 4. You'll get better coverage and more options of placement of the bulbs (important for CFLs).

Ok maybe I'm rambling but one more point: If you can put the plants outside in direct sunlight for a few hours go for it! No one has made a light that can replace the sun yet. (Dont do it when it's too cold out)

Hope this helps

Click to expand...

thanks a lot man. na ur not rambling you giving me a lot of good info thanks again.