New Grower buying first lights.

SniperFrog

SniperFrog

Member
Im going to begin growing in a space about 6 x 6. Ill have 8 plants and I need to purchase the lights to make my plants be awesome. The only problem is that I dont really have the money for awesome super lights or anything and I was hoping to keep it a little low on the power, too.

Im not sure which kind of lights to use or even how many. If you guys can make a few cheap suggestions I would be forever grateful.

Thanks,

SFbongsmilie
 
depends on your budget but thinking going cfl with that size room to do it proper would be more expensive than hid lighting.
i know my 2x2 room has about $100 just in my cfl setup for a few more bucks can get a decent one google will give you tons of options.
plus my room will be running 350-400w during flowering so to say less power consumption compared to a 400w hid. not so much.
but good luck on what you go with and remember no wrong way to go.
 
Sufficient lighting for 8 plants isn't going to be 'cheap' no matter how you cut it, but I certainly wouldn't recommend CFLs for a grow that size. You'll need dozens of bulbs to adequately cover all your plants. Surely a decent 600W HPS setup would be more efficient (and possibly more cost effective)?

I was under the impression that CFLs are really only considered viable for growers with limited space. Since you don't fall into that category, why not go for better lighting (HPS)?
 
You could grow with CFLs in that space but you would need at least (6) 85watt CFLs.... 510watts total... cheaper, less heat, less electric, and more light than the 600w HPS...
 
SunnyJim said:
Sufficient lighting for 8 plants isn't going to be 'cheap' no matter how you cut it, but I certainly wouldn't recommend CFLs for a grow that size. You'll need dozens of bulbs to adequately cover all your plants. Surely a decent 600W HPS setup would be more efficient (and possibly more cost effective)?

I was under the impression that CFLs are really only considered viable for growers with limited space. Since you don't fall into that category, why not go for better lighting (HPS)?
Click to expand...

You covered my input. By the time I finished setting up a 4X4 w/CFL's, it came out to 600 watts and the same cost as an HID/HPS equivalent.
 
i made some cfl veg. lights. i already have a 400w MH to veg with but wanted to go cfl's instead of buying an arc protected MH bulb or an enclosed fixture for the bulb i already have.

anyway i already had the reflectors, wire electrical boxes, the sockets to mount to the boxes, jack chain for hanging the fixtures and other small stuff.

i had to buy other sockets to be able to convert plug ins to lampholders, plug ins to install the wye shaped dual sockets, the wye adapters,and 26 cfl's. i love my new fixtures but they were not cheap to make even though i had half the material already.

all in all i could have bought the air cooled enclosed hood for my existing MH and saved money.

do some research on what your options will cost along with the future plan. a digital ballast for MH and HPS with an air cooled hood would be your best bet for that size room instead of cfl's.
 
Thanks guys. I appreciate all the input and suggestions.

A small hiccup on my end has left me with half the plants I started with, so 8 plants is a little far fetched at this point. I figure Ill end up with 3 by the end of it.

Would this significantly change the amount of lights I need?
 
im growing 3 plants right now in my closet with six 42 watt cfls (240 watts total) the cfls are $8-12 a piece depending on where u get them from i spent $10 a piece on mine down at home depot. The nice thing about it is you can start with 2 or 3 cfls and just buy more as the plants get bigger so less initial investment. ill probably get 3 more when they get a little bigger for that i have 3 lights on each plant (360 watts total with $90 invested into lights) if you were going to be doing any bigger of a grow than this i would suggest getting a hps light it would just be more efficient, and it will get you nicer plants. I also want to make a note that you want to keep your cfl's as close to the foliage as possible without burning them (about 1-3 inches) and you want no part of your plant more than 6" from a cfl at any time. Good luck and post some pics!
 
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