What kind of cfl?

I want to buy a couple of cfl's for my new grow. I was wondering is there any special kind or are the ones sold at home depot the ones i need?

Home depot is OK. Use "cold" ones for vedging and "warm" for flowering.

What Wattage???

The more Watts the better. For a small closet lets say 10x30watts. Whatever you can afford.

the higher the wattage the better. home depot has a 150watt equivilent 2700 lumens one that ones for flowering then the have a 120watt equvilent 2000 lumens one that ones for veg. the 120 watt one is about $7 each and the 150 watt one are about $9 . dont waste ur money on the lower wattage ones because you have to buy 3 of them to equal the lumens of the higher wattage ones. plus you also have to buy more bulb sockets wich are at least $5 each and then you gotta figure where the fuck am i gonna plug all these lights into

SO 4 150Watt CFL Would Be GOOD FOR A 6-8 Plant Setup

dont go by plants go buy square feet. you want at least 3000 lumens per square foot of grow space for nice buds any less and youl get very light fluffy buds instead of tight nugs

Beware. There is a big difference between 150W EQUIVALENT and REAL 150watts.

pterzw said:

beware. There is a big difference between 150w equivalent and real 150watts.

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whats that

i know theres a difference but the 150 watt equivelent is the largest you can buy from home depot or any other local store and there 2700 lumens. not bad for 10 bucks. if you want a real 150 watt cfl your loking at about 35-45 bucks plush shipping and are 6500 lumens do the math and that should help you make a decision based on your specific needs

Actually, that is for the most part thats true. You'll have a hard time finding these and I cant remember if I was at Lows or Home depot but I just bought a 300watt CFL. Not 300watt equivalent but actually a 300watt. However it cost me like $16.95 I'm thinking about getting 4 more. I have a pic for ya.

where did you get a 300 watt cfl from

sorry to just bust in on this thread, but how do you wire up those sockets that they sell at home depot without getting electrocuted? THANKS!!!

just go to wall mart and they have nice polished dome reflectors already wired for like 7 bucks and there not those little 8 inch domes that you would find at home depot there like 12 inches so theres plenty room for running more than one bulb on one reflector

you gotta make sure the electricitys off. if you cant do that thenn..... god luck and it still possible.

the white wire will not shock you. that is unless you touch the black at the same time.

The black though is the hot and yes it will bite any time. but if you got insulated gloves and insulated wire strippers your alright.


if you are wiring to an extension cord don't plug it in and cut it at the female end. the side with the larger plug is the hot or black wire.

you should really try to observe polarity. if not the metal part that has the threads can shock you.


maker sure to keep clean cuts so the hot and neutral don't touch.

dude if that didn't help then i can clarify...

midwest duder said:

sorry to just bust in on this thread, but how do you wire up those sockets that they sell at home depot without getting electrocuted? THANKS!!!

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midwest duder said:

sorry to just bust in on this thread, but how do you wire up those sockets that they sell at home depot without getting electrocuted? THANKS!!!

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UMM you turn the electrical breaker off before you work on electricity bro. You wire all the lights up before you plug it in too.

Hey bud4less$, are those bulbs you're talking about the ones with the huge screw in base? I saw some at Home Depot that were about $17 each (I forgot what wattage) but they have a screw in base like regular incandescent bulbs, only it's about double the size. As soon as I saw them I wondered if they sold light sockets that they would just screw into and be able to be used like that, but I figured they probably took some kind of ballast or something. If they can be used in a regular light socket with no type of ballast then they're one of the best buys I've seen. So does anyone know what bulbs I'm talking about and if they require a special fixture or something? Thanks.

jonezin said:

Hey bud4less$, are those bulbs you're talking about the ones with the huge screw in base? I saw some at Home Depot that were about $17 each (I forgot what wattage) but they have a screw in base like regular incandescent bulbs, only it's about double the size. As soon as I saw them I wondered if they sold light sockets that they would just screw into and be able to be used like that, but I figured they probably took some kind of ballast or something. If they can be used in a regular light socket with no type of ballast then they're one of the best buys I've seen. So does anyone know what bulbs I'm talking about and if they require a special fixture or something? Thanks.

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the screw ins are self ballasted i think but there a couple of size screw bases...if you get the large screw base home depot and lowes sells the adapter to screw them in a regular socket...and they sell the y adaptor to use 2 bulbs in one socket

midwest duder said:

sorry to just bust in on this thread, but how do you wire up those sockets that they sell at home depot without getting electrocuted? THANKS!!!

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shut off breaker first...black wire to brass terminal,white wire to silver terminal and bare wire to green terminal...that is standard nationwide an all 110v-120v circuts...switches,sockets,recepticles and cords

Hey i got the 300w equivalent(65w real) at lowes for 16.95. i realized that these are the "warm" or red spectrum lights. I need the blue spectrum cfls for veg. how can i tell if it is blue spectrum by looking at the box?