PDA

View Full Version : Getting thoughts on cfl vs Hid's



sorry_whaa
05-24-2007, 09:51 PM
Ok, dumbass here again. Im reading my ass off trying to figure out what is the best route to go with lighting. Im working with a tiny ass space for growing. Im looking at trying my luck with two plants ( in hopes that I can get a female).

What im trying to figure out is, im reading where people are using one tpe of light for seedlings and another type for Vegging. I wanted to use cfl's for the whole process. Wwhat do you think of that. Some growers are tellong me use hid's/. But again I dont have that kind of space. i have about half of a small closet to grow in. Thats why I want to figure out if cfl's can take me from seeds to harvest. It starts getting confusing reading multiple fourms where people use one light for growing and another for vegging and another for this or that. I dont understand all of that.

Bottom line. What would you guys do if you had half of a closet space to grow in and had to choose between cfl's or hid's???? and would you use that bulb from start to finish. This is m firset grow so im very anxious to do this right. im not looking for a high yield just a good 2 or so plants to have under the belt before I move on to hydro. Any input would be greatly helpful.

stinkyattic
05-25-2007, 01:23 PM
It is possible to do CFL seed to harvest, people do it on here regularly but IMHO your very best bet is a T5 fixture for seeds up to about a couple weeks after the first pinch, and if you are cramped for space, you will be coming up close on flower time anyway. Then go for a nice HPS to finish off your grow.

I have a bit more space and my favorite setup is
-seedlings under a 24" New Wave T5- look it up, it is like God's gift to indoor growers, OMG it has made my life SO much easier!!!!
-Early veg under 2x 2-bulb, 4', cool white tube shop lights (EASILY accomodates 12 plants) ---you can go right to flower after this, and should IMHO if you are doing a small cramped closet
-Late veg (if you go there, it's only if you want a much larger plant to put into flower, and there is a school of thought that says that is pretty inefficient, because you are wasting plant energy on building up a thick woody stem, etc...) under a MH. I only do this step atm because I keep several good sized mothers and need the light penetration
-flower under the biggest, baddest HPS that you can fit in your space without burning the fuck outta the girls and overheating the closet