Lights!

Hello! Can anyone suggest me a couple lights that use generally low electricity, but are still effective? I am doing a stealth cupboard build and electricity will be limited. I plan on only growing 2-4, short plants. Thanks for all the help!

19w LEDs with defuser removed

Here is a link to a guide on growing cannabis with CFLs...it includes recommendations for bulbs too.
http://www.growweedeasy.com/cfls#how-many-cfls-color-spectrum

Here are a few recommended setups from the article
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Each CFL Setup Example is For One Cannabis Plant - Expect a Little Over 1oz of Bud

A grower can expect a little over 1oz/plant with each of these CFL Setups, as long as they take great care of their plants, and train them to grow short and wide with many colas as outlined above in the step-by-step instructions above in this Growing Cannabis with CFLs Tutorial.

A.) Small Size CFL Bulb Setup

3 x 23W 'daylight' CFLs
3 x 26W 'soft white' CFLs

Alternative: 6 x 26w 'soft white' CFLs

B.) Medium Size CFL Bulb Setup <-- Recommended

2 x 40W 'daylight' CFLs
2 x 42W 'soft white' CFLs

Alternative: 4 x 42W 'soft white' CFLs

C.) Large Size Bulb CFL Setup

1 x 65W 'daylight' CFLs
2 x 65W 'soft white' CFLs

Alternative: 3 x 65W 'soft white' CFLs

D.) Mix & Match! Just aim for about 150W of CFLs in Total Per Plant to Start, and stick to relatively smaller size bulbs if you can!

twalte said:

Here is a link to a guide on growing cannabis with CFLs...it includes recommendations for bulbs too.
http://www.growweedeasy.com/cfls#how-many-cfls-color-spectrum

Here are a few recommended setups from the article
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Each CFL Setup Example is For One Cannabis Plant - Expect a Little Over 1oz of Bud

A grower can expect a little over 1oz/plant with each of these CFL Setups, as long as they take great care of their plants, and train them to grow short and wide with many colas as outlined above in the step-by-step instructions above in this Growing Cannabis with CFLs Tutorial.

A.) Small Size CFL Bulb Setup

3 x 23W 'daylight' CFLs
3 x 26W 'soft white' CFLs

Alternative: 6 x 26w 'soft white' CFLs

B.) Medium Size CFL Bulb Setup <-- Recommended

2 x 40W 'daylight' CFLs
2 x 42W 'soft white' CFLs

Alternative: 4 x 42W 'soft white' CFLs

C.) Large Size Bulb CFL Setup

1 x 65W 'daylight' CFLs
2 x 65W 'soft white' CFLs

Alternative: 3 x 65W 'soft white' CFLs

D.) Mix & Match! Just aim for about 150W of CFLs in Total Per Plant to Start, and stick to relatively smaller size bulbs if you can!

Click to expand...

I would love to see a 1+oz plant with 150w of pigtail cfls...never gonna happen! I don't care if you LST for two months, it ain't happening. you will have the most airy, spindly bud you've ever seen. A lot more trouble than it's worth when you see the final product. my friend tried this route, except he actually bought the big CFL's. They're like a 200 and something watts a piece. He was lucky to get an ounce a piece dry off 2 plants under three lights. He's used verified genetics,professional nute lines, and has experience under hps. if you want to go low wattage, and easy to maintain, I'd suggest cheap led's like 300w whatever(Mars, Viparspectra, Meihzi ect.) they need little air flow and are super cheap on the utilities. Do not bother growing under pigtails. It's not worth it and could discourage you from growing again. My 2 cents

I'm using a single 300w CFL , got an oz off last plant in cupboard but that vegged outside in summer , an oz can easily be achieved under CFL and I'm aiming for 2 oz with the auto I've got going under the same single CFL , won't know till it's done but good results can be achieved still ..

Personally I rate my CFL quite high compared to what I expected , this has been under it since seed and is 35 days old today

idfuckmyplants said:

I'm using a single 300w CFL , got an oz off last plant in cupboard but that vegged outside in summer , an oz can easily be achieved under CFL and I'm aiming for 2 oz with the auto I've got going under the same single CFL , won't know till it's done but good results can be achieved still ..

Personally I rate my CFL quite high compared to what I expected , this has been under it since seed and is 35 days old today
View attachment 3848576
View attachment 3848577

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Nice! I agree 300w CFL with one plant could absolutely do 1 oz+ (Especially if you vegged out side) but plants under 4 -65w pig tails just won't happen is all. Hate to get someone's hopes up to be let down is all.

CFL can produce great results just follow the same rules as any other light 50 real watts per sqft minimum. So a 100 watt CFL is 23 real watts. Also if you go CFL do half soft half daylight bulbs. Here is a pic of a plant I got a QP from and the light that grew it. By the way there was two other plants with her in a standard closet. The light was a 552 watt Home Depot special. No airy buds either.

That's Sally two trees and she was a beast.

Nummingtons said:

View attachment 3848588View attachment 3848595 View attachment 3848588 CFL can produce great results just follow the same rules as any other light 50 real watts per sqft minimum. So a 100 watt CFL is 23 real watts. Also if you go CFL do half soft half daylight bulbs. Here is a pic of a plant I got a QP from and the light that grew it. By the way there was two other plants with her in a standard closet. The light was a 552 watt Home Depot special. No airy buds either.

That's Sally two trees and she was a beast.

Click to expand...

Nice! Again though I wasn't debating cfls in bulk but that the chart above will never work. 50w/ft2 real watts is certainly a benchmark, but try a plant or more on 4 23 real watt bulbs and we know how that'll go.

Oh yeah 4 23 real watt cfl for 3 plants will = trash lol.

Nummingtons said:

View attachment 3848588View attachment 3848595 View attachment 3848588 CFL can produce great results just follow the same rules as any other light 50 real watts per sqft minimum. So a 100 watt CFL is 23 real watts. Also if you go CFL do half soft half daylight bulbs. Here is a pic of a plant I got a QP from and the light that grew it. By the way there was two other plants with her in a standard closet. The light was a 552 watt Home Depot special. No airy buds either.

That's Sally two trees and she was a beast.

Click to expand...

What kinda air movement is needed for a large bank like yours? Does open air fans work or do you require inline ventilation?

I ran a 400 cfm 8in booster fan in the addic and cut a hole in the roof closet and another hole in the side of the closet as an air inle. It ran mid to high 80s most of the time. It was a bitch.

Nummingtons , that's a right diy light ! Lol
I use CFL for low heat and low electricity , what made you go with something like that over hps ??
I would assume as far as electricity and heat go your no better off with that many bulbs?


And yeah I agree , didn't really read op properly , my 300w works sound for 1 plant but wouldn't dream of trying to do 4 plants under it lol

You are correct it ran just as hot and cost just as much as a 600 watt HPS. But it was super cheap to make. The whole thing with bulbs was right around a 100 bucks. You can spend damn near that much on just a good 600 watt bulb. Even if you go with a used hood and ballast you still gotta get a new bulb. It gave really good coverage too it was like having a movable sealing made of light for my closet.

But to be honest I wanted to do it to prove that you can grow great weed with CFLs and because it was fun as fuck to make. I do all kinds of crazy shit with growing just to do it lol. I have a wood box I built out of scrap that is 18in by 18in by 32in. It has a light fixture that I built into the top with three splitters so I can run 4 lights, and a bathroom fan for exhaust hahahahha. I put two 15in windowsill planters in that bitch with three plants each. No veg straight to flower baby. Made that for like 25 bucks and that’s only because I didn’t know home depot sold 4in exhaust fans for like ten bucks hence the 17 dollar bathroom exhaust fan.

Haha that's what makes it fun though , all the fucking about with new ideas and playing around with shit im currently converting my old fish tank into a little bud box , not because I need to but because I'm bored and don't mind throwing 1 of my freebies in it just to abuse lol
But yeah I imagine was a lot more fun making that light then would have been just hanging a 600 , plus you get the satisfaction of knowing you made that

Nummingtons said:

I ran a 400 cfm 8in booster fan in the addic and cut a hole in the roof closet and another hole in the side of the closet as an air inle. It ran mid to high 80s most of the time. It was a bitch.

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I feel ya. I had to manufacture a manifold of sorts to bring fresh in and cut an attic vent as well for a friend...lmao I'm not a construction oriented guy but by god it worked.