high wattage cfl or hps

dnlfacundo

Active Member
i have been brain storming these past few weeks about getting a 200 cfl or a 250 hps to grow about 4 plants with.i am always runing across threads that say cfls are awesome and then somes that say cfls are a waste of time so i need your opinions.If i get a 200w cfl im guess im gonna be using it in a vertical hanging since that is the most effictive way of using all the light.My main concern is cost here becasue money is short and i also dont wanna get a lot of those little cfls at home depot because there just too much trouble.I found a good deal at htg supply on a 250w hps system for 140$ but if i can get 1 or 2 cfls under that price that will be better.I have read that book (see more buds) and that grow was pretty but that was with only 2 plants and i wanna do 4.
 

Garden Knowm

The Love Doctor
i have been brain storming these past few weeks about getting a 200 cfl or a 250 hps to grow about 4 plants with.i am always runing across threads that say cfls are awesome and then somes that say cfls are a waste of time so i need your opinions.If i get a 200w cfl im guess im gonna be using it in a vertical hanging since that is the most effictive way of using all the light.My main concern is cost here becasue money is short and i also dont wanna get a lot of those little cfls at home depot because there just too much trouble.I found a good deal at htg supply on a 250w hps system for 140$ but if i can get 1 or 2 cfls under that price that will be better.I have read that book (see more buds) and that grow was pretty but that was with only 2 plants and i wanna do 4.

SeeMoreBuds book was 3 plants.. :)

iloveyou

well, i like your thinking... if you are going to go with MULTIPLE plants.. you are really gonna need to keep them really short or get multiple lights.. the vertical idea is great!
 

past times

Well-Known Member
hey man, i have a 250 hps for my flowering and i veg under those small cfl's and it has worked out great. i had 6 medium to small plants in my first flower with this setup and got great yields with fat DENSE buds. it was kind of a pain to arrange the plants so that all the tops were at the same lvl (especially in the those first few weeks fowering when they were just taking off with height), but it was worth it. i lollipopped all 6 plants and had them trainded so each had about 6 or 7 tops condensed into a 2x2.5 area. so you can easily get your 4 plants in that same area as long as you dont plan on growing massive plants
 

dnlfacundo

Active Member
i think im gonna try 2 150w cfls and see what the big fuss is about,i wanna see if these light can really do like what ive seen and what ive heard.if i do decide to switch to hps in the futre ill switch to using the 150w cfl for vegging and just toss my regular 23w cfls.when growing with cfl in a vertical hanging is there any pointers on getting bigger yields,like pruning for example?
 

dnlfacundo

Active Member
Then again maybe ill just go for the 250 because i want to try and grow as many plants as possible in a samll space so theres not gonna be enough space to put the cfls between the plants.
 

Endoe

Well-Known Member
Exactly how many plants are you talking about? More than four and you will need a bigger light than 250 watt.
 

stoner_brownie_batter

Well-Known Member
You could always, since you're using cfl, use the lst method. It produces the most light to the bud sites, and doesn't stress the plant as much as topping.
 

dnlfacundo

Active Member
i am dead set on growing 6 stativa or stativa/indica plants in a cabinet that i saw at ikea.It will be 3 rows of 2 plants,so if i have each cfl between the rows that should give each plant a high amount of light especialy the 2 middle ones.
 

dnlfacundo

Active Member
lets say if i was using either the hps or clfs and was doing proper pruning or bending would my yirlds increase more than just leaving the plant alone.
 

past times

Well-Known Member
you are never going to get these cfl's in the middle. plants bush...you can have side lighting though get an hps
 

Ativas

Well-Known Member
You don't get the depth with CFLs that you do with HIDs - that's what it really comes down to. By depth I mean the distance from the bulb that the light remains effective for growing plants properly.
 

t0k3s

Well-Known Member
You don't get the depth with CFLs that you do with HIDs - that's what it really comes down to. By depth I mean the distance from the bulb that the light remains effective for growing plants properly.
your right but CFL's produce a more usable light spectrum for vegetative growth than the hps does. yes it has good penetration but it works best on flowering. they are like 2000k and cfl's come in spectrums up to 6500k.. or you could get a light that can run both hps and metal halide..
 

Ativas

Well-Known Member
your right but CFL's produce a more usable light spectrum for vegetative growth than the hps does. yes it has good penetration but it works best on flowering. they are like 2000k and cfl's come in spectrums up to 6500k.. or you could get a light that can run both hps and metal halide..
Well, I was speaking of HIDs in general, but I would argue the point regardless. An HPS lamp in fact emits an excellent spectrum for flowering cannabis, and that, in combination with its far superior penetration makes it a much better choice.
 
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