Minimum Light power

ok so ive just read a post on here about a guy having 1plant under a 30watt bulb...was thinking hey maybe i could have my own little project in my room to..
wondering what i would need to gain a successful grow...

What power light....what bulb....
could a regular desktop light work with wateva bulb?

cfls or hps bulbs

do these bulbs work in any light fitting? even say just a lamp... and how many would i need to have around the plant

You can grow a little free stash (2-3 meduim plants) under a single, 2 tube shoplight, available at w-mart for <$13 w/40W "cool white" tubes. Plants need to always be kept as close as possible to these tubes, which is basically touching. Only the ends get hot enough to possibly damage the foliage, and that'd have to be actually touching to do harm. Three of these fixtures, side-by-side, actually work quite well for vegging. The resulting buds are generally not huge, but plenty adequate. I've seen 4"-9" colas w/same.
Two fixtures would be twice as good as one.


Obviously, there are better lights/set-ups, but this got me thru decades of free stash at the minimum cost.

cfls fit in almost any light fitting for a good hps you would need a ballast if you get cfls (cheaper) i would say at least 2 while your seedling pops out from the soil till its 2 inches then i would add 4 more bulbs to vegetate. for hps i wouldnt know how much i use cfls and so far ive gotten good results

what is a ballast

graham said:

what is a ballast

Click to expand...

It's a box of electronic components that is connected between the mains and the HPS or MH bulb. It creates a surge that is capable of igniting the bulb, and regulating the power going to it.

CFLs have ballasts as well, but they are small enough to be built in the bulb casing.