El Cheapo Guide to Lighting

[khronik]

A guide to cheap lighting for the broke newbie stoner

Fluorescent Bulbs
Fluorescent tubes have good efficiency and put out very little heat, but they usually aren't intense enough to produce a lot of buds. Still, for the vegetation stage of growing, they're great. All types of fluorescent bulbs usually have several numbers written on them that you should pay attention to.

One is the watts. This determines how much energy a bulb uses, and also how much light it gives off.

The other number is the spectrum. This is written as ****K, where **** is a 4-digit number. This is the temperature in Kelvin that an incandescent filament would have to reach to produce the same spectrum. For instance, 3000K is more yellowish-orange, while 6500K is very blue. Plants can absorb both ends of the visible light spectrum pretty well, but they reflect most of the middle, where yellows and greens are. For this reason, it's better to use either low or high spectrums for your plants. High spectrums are better for vegetating and low spectrums are better for budding. If you are only buying one kind, go for low spectrum, since you want a lot of buds, right? :thumbsup:

Another number is lumens. This determines how bright a bulb looks to the human eye. This isn't the same as how bright the light would be to a plant, but it is of some use, for instance, when comparing bulbs with the same spectrum number.

Compact Fluorescents
The cheapest lighting, and probably the best lighting for a very small setup is compact fluorescent bulbs, usually abbreviated here as CFL. These are those curly high-efficiency lights that can replace incandescent bulbs. They can be purchased at wal-mart, three 26-watt bulbs for about $8-$10. You can get them at sites like Light Bulbs, Rope Lights, Halogen & Fluorescent Light Bulbs (http://www.1000bulbs.com) too, but since they're so cheap anyway, after shipping it's usually not worth it. When you buy them, they usually have two wattages on them, the actual wattage, and the wattage that an incandescent light bulb would have if it was the same brightness. The actual wattage is more important, but the equivalent wattage gives you a good idea of the brightness. Most CFLs have a spectrum of about 3000K.

You can buy higher-wattage CFL lights, but they're usually more expensive per watt. Still, they may be a good option if you're low on sockets to put your bulbs in. Most people have a few unused desk lamps laying around and use these for their lights. However, if you don't have spare lamps, you can buy a bunch of ceramic light bases at a hardware store and wire these to a board, then use that as your light. You need some electrical experience for that though.

Even if you're not planning on growing pot, you should buy some of these bulbs anyway for your lighting needs, because they only use like 1/4 the power of regular light bulbs.

Fluorescent Tubes
If you have a somewhat larger operation, fluorescent tubes might be a better option. The cheapest fluorescent lighting per watt usually comes from the 48-inch tubes. Tubes are designated a number, like T12, T8, or T5. The main thing this tells you is the diameter of the tube in eighths of an inch. A T12 is 12/8 of an inch, or 1.5 inches in diameter, for example. However, different tube sizes usually require different wattages, and many ballasts can only handle very specific wattages. You can get 48" shop lights in Lowe's or Home Depot for about $9 for a two-tube fixture. You have to buy the tubes separately, and they're about $3-$4 apiece in Lowe's or Home Depot, or about $5 apiece at wal-mart. Shop lights can often use both T8 and T12 tubes, but make sure you read the directions. If you have a choice, you should usually go with the higher wattage.

The great thing about fluorescent tubes is that they can be touching the plants without harming them, so you can put them very close. The bad thing about fluorescent tubes is that they don't give off a whole lot of light considering how big they are. This can be mitigated by using more tubes, but the tubes are kind of big so you can only use so many.

One type of fluorescent tube that is becoming more popular is high-output T5 tubes. These are very thin, so you can pack them closer together, and thus produce more light. Fixtures for these bulbs are a lot more expensive though, and may necessitate a trip to a hydroponics store.

Hardware stores usually also sell plant and aquarium bulbs that emit a spectrum close to what plants use. The consensus seems to be that these are only marginally better than regular tubes, and they're a lot more expensive, (about $10 apiece) so they're usually not worth it.

High-Intensity Discharge Lighting
All the best growers use HID lighting, and if you want lots of bud, you should too! These come primarily in two flavors, metal halide (MH) and high-pressure sodium (HPS). These are very efficient, bright lights, and they're what streetlights almost always use. If you look across any city at night, you'll see a lot of bluish lights and a lot of orangish lights. The blue ones are MH and the orange ones are HPS. HID lighting requires a bulb and a ballast, and ballasts are usually very specific about what bulbs they can be used with.

Digital (Electronic) vs. Magnetic Ballasts
Digital ballasts are slightly better in nearly every way than magnetic ballasts, but they are a lot more expensive. They produce much less heat and noise, and allow your bulb to last longer while producing more light. They also work with both HPS and MH bulbs. They will be very expensive at hydroponics stores, but you can usually get them on ebay for a lot cheaper. The following ebay stores usually have good deals on both digital and magnetic ballasts:

eBay Store - My Garden Shoppe: 600 watt digital ballast, Lighting Systems, Hydroponic Systems (http://stores.ebay.com/My-Garden-Shoppe)
eBay Store - High Tech Garden Supply: Light Bulbs Lamps, Advanced Nutrients, T-5 FLUORESCENT Grow Lights (http://stores.ebay.com/High-Tech-Garden-Supply)

Don't worry too much if a digital ballast is out of your price range. Magnetic ballasts are a good tried-and-true technology, and the digital ones are only about 10%-15% better. If you have a lot of time and not much cash, you may even be interested in getting a ballast kit, which lets you build your own ballast for not much money. You need some sort of case for it, and it seems old computer power supplies work well. You'd also need some sort of reflector, and a socket, and wire, so by the time you're done building it, it may not be such a great deal after all, but if you have access to that stuff, it may be well worth it. Here are the best deals I know of on kits:

High Pressure Sodium (HPS) Ballast Kits - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights (http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/hps-ballast-kits-c-357_251.html)

Metal Halide Lighting
Metal halide bulbs are used for the vegetation phase. However, these are not a very good choice for small operations because they are expensive. With some ballasts you can switch bulbs for vegetation and flowering, but this means that you can only be growing one batch at a time. Also, you don't need super-bright light for vegetation, and using the same number of watts for both flowering and vegetation is overkill. Many if not most small growers vegetate under some form of fluorescent light and then move to a HPS light for flowering. Still, using a small MH bulb (100-250 watts) might be a good option, and you can get those types of lights in many hardware stores, although they will definitely be more expensive than say, fluorescents.

High Pressure Sodium
If you want to have one expensive light, make it one of these. That's not to say it HAS to be expensive, but this is the light that will have the greatest impact on your yield. For less than 10 plants, 400 watts is a good starting point. HPS bulbs are very orange, and are great for budding. There are special HPS bulbs for growing plants that also emit more blue light. They are quite a bit more expensive, but if you're on a budget, the regular HPS bulbs are very decent too. You can get HPS bulbs at eBay or Light Bulbs, Rope Lights, Halogen & Fluorescent Light Bulbs (http://www.1000bulbs.com), or even at Lowe's or Home Depot, if you're paranoid about the police looking at your expenses. (although hardware stores usually only go up to 400-watt) If you want an inexpensive setup, this ebay store has some of the best deals I've seen:

eBay Store - High Tech Garden Supply: Light Bulbs Lamps, Advanced Nutrients, T-5 FLUORESCENT Grow Lights (http://stores.ebay.com/High-Tech-Garden-Supply)

Supposedly Welcome - InsideSun (http://www.insidesun.com) has good deals too, but I've heard their lights are not so great, and run really hot.

Other Lighting

Incandescent Bulbs
Do not use these. Same goes for halogens, and mercury vapor lights.

LED Lighting
This has a lot of promise, but to be honest, results have not been so good with these. They can only be used for vegetation and aren't that great even for that, since (like any first-time grower who decides to use them) they just aren't very bright. Still, they use very little electricity, they last for like 20 years, and they can be made to release light only on spectrums that plants can use. They are expensive, but you can get them for relatively cheap here:

LED Grow Lights Gro-Tek GroTec HID Hydroponic light Fluorescent leds Growing Metal halide MH growing indoors indoor Ultraviolet Infrared light emitting diodes (http://www.gro-tek.com/)

Sulfur Lamps
These are not available commercially yet, and if they were they would be very expensive. However, they are very bright, and I am writing another thread about sulfur lights, which I hope will be helpful to anyone interested.

I hope this has been sort of helpful. Just so you know I'm no expert grower but I do know a lot about electric lighting and I thought I would share this with you. Peace! :smokin:

[Pinelocked]

Thanks for the info

[davejohnwright]

Mind if I add a couple tips for the broke stoner? Didnt think so.
Look on craigslist.org, go to your area and look in the farm+garden section, I often see grow lights for sale on there for a good price.
Electrical suppliers/ wholesalers in the yellow pages usually carry MH and HPS lighting systems for way cheaper than hydro shops.
Building your own lighting system may be the way to go to save a buck, but only do so if you feel confident that you can build one without shocking your self or burning your house down.

Good job Khronic, did you write all this off the top of yourhead, or plagarise it? Either way this is good info and belongs in the FAQ's.

[khronik]

Wrote it myself actually. I worked as an engineer for a company that made lighting ballasts for a while, so I'm pretty familiar with how all that stuff works. I'm glad the information was helpful. :)

I would like add a few things though, for instance, you can get some really good deals on bulbs and grow lights from High Tech Garden Supply (http://www.htgsupply.com). A full 400W HPS grow light system is only about $130 and that's with a bulb and with shipping included. Also, a high-output 400W HPS horticulture bulb is only $30. Admittedly, the bulb is generic, but when I had a problem with mine and they replaced it for free, so the service is great. I mentioned their eBay store already, but the deals are a bit better on their web site.

Also, this may change, but Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's all have cheap 4-foot fluorescent fixtures for $8-$9. The main difference is, Lowe's cheap fluoro fixtures are strip lights (ie, no reflectors) and Home Depot and Wal-Mart both have lights with reflectors. I actually like the ones with no reflectors better, because you can pack them more closely together for more light.

[TheRisen]

pretty good and informative. Thanks

[smokinbomb]

nice job very informative that might help answer alot of repetive questions

Thanks-Bomb :thumbsup:

[psteve]

I thought I'd share this plan for a light that will get you through your first grow, or until you can afford something better. This rig will cover two square feet of grow space.. You may have most of the parts already!

1 Clamp lamp (150 watt or more capacity). $9.98 @ Home dePot.
3 'Y' socket adapters. $2.48 each= $7.44 @ Home dePot.
4 23 to 37 watt, compact fluorescent bulbs. 2 for $9.98 x2 = $19.96 @ Home dePot.
Light hanging chain (or other hanging material). $1.49 per foot x6 feet = $8.94 @ Home dePot.
1 Swag hook. $1.69 @ Home dePot.
Small Appliance timer (optional). $10.98 @ Home dePot.
All items are available at Home dePot, Walmart, Lowes, or almost any hardware store.

First, remove the reflector from the clamp lamp. It is too small for the assembly we are building.

Next, screw one of the 'Y' adapters into the clamp lamp socket.

Now screw the remaining 'Y' adapters into the sockets of the first one.

You should now have four sockets in your clamp lamp.

Adjust the sockets so they are equal distance apart. It's OK if they are slightly loose, as long as they are solidly screwed in.

Screw the four compact fluorescent bulbs into the sockets and hang using swag chain, cable or wire.

DO NOT use the clamp to support the lamp, because we have added too much weight, and the clamp will not hold it.

DO NOT use more than four bulbs in one assembly.

DO NOT use bulbs brighter than 30 watts max.

If you follow these rules, this assembly is very safe, and will not overheat or cause electrical problems. We have tested it extensively.

Four 26 watt bulbs, will give you 6800 lumens! I like to use 'daylight' spectrum bulbs for maximum usable color spectrum. As mentioned above, they are available in multi packs from Home dePot. Whichever bulbs you use will be fine. You don't have to use the special 'grow bulbs'.

I'll post later about building a reflector to fit this assembly. Meanwhile, just hang it about 2 inches above your top leaves, in a corner where two white walls meet.

[khronik]

That's pretty cool, I wouldn't have thought of using 3 Y-adapters. I think a lot of people would already have an old lamp laying around too, so they wouldn't even have to buy one.

I'm working out the details for a system that can get you vegetating 12 plants indoors for a SOG type setup for about $50, assuming you have seeds or clones already. That includes lighting, containers, and 3 gallons of dirt per plant. The great thing about this system is if you can't afford a HID light just yet, you can buy just the bare essentials and then buy the rest later as you can afford it. This system does assume that you will eventually buy a HID light for flowering. I'd like to run it from start to finish before I post details though.

[psteve]

We do exactly that for Medical patients here in Oregon.
I've been giving away 8-bulb CF systems once a month.
I build them using add-on lighting kits for ceiling fans.
We have tested them all the way through flower using just the CF's, and the results are not spectacular, but they are surprisingly good.
We do recommend getting an HID for flower as soon as they can afford one, but this system gets them started.

[khronik]

The only thing I don't like about CFLs is the fact that they all seem to have a spectrum of about 3000K. I've seen 6500K CFLs too, but they're way more expensive. For this reason, I like to use 48" tubes, since the blue light keeps them from getting too spindly.

[psteve]

The only thing I don't like about CFLs is the fact that they all seem to have a spectrum of about 3000K. I've seen 6500K CFLs too, but they're way more expensive. For this reason, I like to use 48" tubes, since the blue light keeps them from getting too spindly.
Walmart has daylight spectrum (6000-6500K) CFL bulbs, two for $6.49

[Mr.Blue]

psteve:

you fixed my problems :)

my cab isnt big enough for flourecent and this is an easy one light fixture idea.....thanks

[psteve]

Glad to help.

[andy704]

would buying something like this work? I havent checked my local home depot but I only found this on the website.

[psteve]

Here's an 8 bulb fixture I built using an add-on light kit for a ceiling fan. These are the lights we give away once a month(or something similar). The kit cost me $4 at MallWart. The rest of the parts cost about $40 at goodwill and the hardware store. The reflector is an aluminum deli tray from a catering business that went bankrupt.

[ismokealldaylong420]

would a 400 watt hps be good for a 3x2x8 space just for one plant

[psteve]

would a 400 watt hps be good for a 3x2x8 space just for one plant
Yes!

[ismokealldaylong420]

ok well i could not get the 400 watt hps but i did get my hands on a 80$ 150 watt hps and imma have to use that till i can save about 400$ to buy one from ebay prob a bit cheaper but i want to have some choice but i might make a little grow box thats 2x2x4 for the 150 watt system or would it be ok to still use it in my closet the system is a mini floralux 150 watt hps system and i bought a bulb that says it puts out 21,000 lumens which is a little more than the original bulb came with its been awhile since ive grown any info will be used:stoned:

[khronik]

depends a lot on temperatures, strain, ventilation, etc. But a 150 watt hps will not put out more heat than a typical light bulb or two, so you're probably ok there.

[ismokealldaylong420]

ok one more question can i just go out and by a conversion bulb and use that for veg or does it have to be like a certain ballast that lets you use them

[khronik]

I don't know if they make 150-watt conversion bulbs, but you can use your hps for vegetation if you want. You can also just buy a few 6500K CFL bulbs and use those.

[rhizome]

Hey K- what's your call on this? (http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-lighting/133316-ceramic-metal-halide-bulbs-hps-ballasts.html)

[khronik]

Hey K- what's your call on this? (http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-lighting/133316-ceramic-metal-halide-bulbs-hps-ballasts.html)
These lights appear to be designed for industrial lighting, not horticultural lighting, and thus they will have a lot more green light in their spectrum than you need... well, i'll answer your question in the other thread.

[dano420]

dude its 130.00 dollars for a 400 w mh 160.00 for mh look around on the net. deals are
out there. you have to look. 400.00 for a light is way to much.

[lmdesade]

Here is your veg spectrum medium socket CFl for around $40 with 125 watts. These things are great. ValuTek Compact Fluorescent Light 125W (http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft1_lighting_fixtures_bulbs-ft1_light_bulbs_1;pg103995_103999.html)

[Dirtynugz]

I just scooped me up your lighting system, I will update on how they work!

[Opie Yutts]

Is there some way to get people to look at this thread before asking lighting questions?

[4osiris]

A guide to cheap lighting for the broke newbie stoner

Fluorescent Bulbs
Fluorescent tubes have good efficiency and put out very little heat, but they usually aren't intense enough to produce a lot of buds. Still, for the vegetation stage of growing, they're great. All types of fluorescent bulbs usually have several numbers written on them that you should pay attention to.

One is the watts. This determines how much energy a bulb uses, and also how much light it gives off.

The other number is the spectrum. This is written as ****K, where **** is a 4-digit number. This is the temperature in Kelvin that an incandescent filament would have to reach to produce the same spectrum. For instance, 3000K is more yellowish-orange, while 6500K is very blue. Plants can absorb both ends of the visible light spectrum pretty well, but they reflect most of the middle, where yellows and greens are. For this reason, it's better to use either low or high spectrums for your plants. High spectrums are better for vegetating and low spectrums are better for budding. If you are only buying one kind, go for low spectrum, since you want a lot of buds, right? :thumbsup:

Another number is lumens. This determines how bright a bulb looks to the human eye. This isn't the same as how bright the light would be to a plant, but it is of some use, for instance, when comparing bulbs with the same spectrum number.

Compact Fluorescents
The cheapest lighting, and probably the best lighting for a very small setup is compact fluorescent bulbs, usually abbreviated here as CFL. These are those curly high-efficiency lights that can replace incandescent bulbs. They can be purchased at wal-mart, three 26-watt bulbs for about $8-$10. You can get them at sites like Light Bulbs, Rope Lights, Halogen & Fluorescent Light Bulbs (http://www.1000bulbs.com) too, but since they're so cheap anyway, after shipping it's usually not worth it. When you buy them, they usually have two wattages on them, the actual wattage, and the wattage that an incandescent light bulb would have if it was the same brightness. The actual wattage is more important, but the equivalent wattage gives you a good idea of the brightness. Most CFLs have a spectrum of about 3000K.

You can buy higher-wattage CFL lights, but they're usually more expensive per watt. Still, they may be a good option if you're low on sockets to put your bulbs in. Most people have a few unused desk lamps laying around and use these for their lights. However, if you don't have spare lamps, you can buy a bunch of ceramic light bases at a hardware store and wire these to a board, then use that as your light. You need some electrical experience for that though.

Even if you're not planning on growing pot, you should buy some of these bulbs anyway for your lighting needs, because they only use like 1/4 the power of regular light bulbs.

Fluorescent Tubes
If you have a somewhat larger operation, fluorescent tubes might be a better option. The cheapest fluorescent lighting per watt usually comes from the 48-inch tubes. Tubes are designated a number, like T12, T8, or T5. The main thing this tells you is the diameter of the tube in eighths of an inch. A T12 is 12/8 of an inch, or 1.5 inches in diameter, for example. However, different tube sizes usually require different wattages, and many ballasts can only handle very specific wattages. You can get 48" shop lights in Lowe's or Home Depot for about $9 for a two-tube fixture. You have to buy the tubes separately, and they're about $3-$4 apiece in Lowe's or Home Depot, or about $5 apiece at wal-mart. Shop lights can often use both T8 and T12 tubes, but make sure you read the directions. If you have a choice, you should usually go with the higher wattage.

The great thing about fluorescent tubes is that they can be touching the plants without harming them, so you can put them very close. The bad thing about fluorescent tubes is that they don't give off a whole lot of light considering how big they are. This can be mitigated by using more tubes, but the tubes are kind of big so you can only use so many.

One type of fluorescent tube that is becoming more popular is high-output T5 tubes. These are very thin, so you can pack them closer together, and thus produce more light. Fixtures for these bulbs are a lot more expensive though, and may necessitate a trip to a hydroponics store.

Hardware stores usually also sell plant and aquarium bulbs that emit a spectrum close to what plants use. The consensus seems to be that these are only marginally better than regular tubes, and they're a lot more expensive, (about $10 apiece) so they're usually not worth it.

High-Intensity Discharge Lighting
All the best growers use HID lighting, and if you want lots of bud, you should too! These come primarily in two flavors, metal halide (MH) and high-pressure sodium (HPS). These are very efficient, bright lights, and they're what streetlights almost always use. If you look across any city at night, you'll see a lot of bluish lights and a lot of orangish lights. The blue ones are MH and the orange ones are HPS. HID lighting requires a bulb and a ballast, and ballasts are usually very specific about what bulbs they can be used with.

Digital (Electronic) vs. Magnetic Ballasts
Digital ballasts are slightly better in nearly every way than magnetic ballasts, but they are a lot more expensive. They produce much less heat and noise, and allow your bulb to last longer while producing more light. They also work with both HPS and MH bulbs. They will be very expensive at hydroponics stores, but you can usually get them on ebay for a lot cheaper. The following ebay stores usually have good deals on both digital and magnetic ballasts:

eBay Store - My Garden Shoppe: 600 watt digital ballast, Lighting Systems, Hydroponic Systems (http://stores.ebay.com/My-Garden-Shoppe)
eBay Store - High Tech Garden Supply: Light Bulbs Lamps, Advanced Nutrients, T-5 FLUORESCENT Grow Lights (http://stores.ebay.com/High-Tech-Garden-Supply)

Don't worry too much if a digital ballast is out of your price range. Magnetic ballasts are a good tried-and-true technology, and the digital ones are only about 10%-15% better. If you have a lot of time and not much cash, you may even be interested in getting a ballast kit, which lets you build your own ballast for not much money. You need some sort of case for it, and it seems old computer power supplies work well. You'd also need some sort of reflector, and a socket, and wire, so by the time you're done building it, it may not be such a great deal after all, but if you have access to that stuff, it may be well worth it. Here are the best deals I know of on kits:

High Pressure Sodium (HPS) Ballast Kits - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights (http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/hps-ballast-kits-c-357_251.html)

Metal Halide Lighting
Metal halide bulbs are used for the vegetation phase. However, these are not a very good choice for small operations because they are expensive. With some ballasts you can switch bulbs for vegetation and flowering, but this means that you can only be growing one batch at a time. Also, you don't need super-bright light for vegetation, and using the same number of watts for both flowering and vegetation is overkill. Many if not most small growers vegetate under some form of fluorescent light and then move to a HPS light for flowering. Still, using a small MH bulb (100-250 watts) might be a good option, and you can get those types of lights in many hardware stores, although they will definitely be more expensive than say, fluorescents.

High Pressure Sodium
If you want to have one expensive light, make it one of these. That's not to say it HAS to be expensive, but this is the light that will have the greatest impact on your yield. For less than 10 plants, 400 watts is a good starting point. HPS bulbs are very orange, and are great for budding. There are special HPS bulbs for growing plants that also emit more blue light. They are quite a bit more expensive, but if you're on a budget, the regular HPS bulbs are very decent too. You can get HPS bulbs at eBay or Light Bulbs, Rope Lights, Halogen & Fluorescent Light Bulbs (http://www.1000bulbs.com), or even at Lowe's or Home Depot, if you're paranoid about the police looking at your expenses. (although hardware stores usually only go up to 400-watt) If you want an inexpensive setup, this ebay store has some of the best deals I've seen:

eBay Store - High Tech Garden Supply: Light Bulbs Lamps, Advanced Nutrients, T-5 FLUORESCENT Grow Lights (http://stores.ebay.com/High-Tech-Garden-Supply)

Supposedly Welcome - InsideSun (http://www.insidesun.com) has good deals too, but I've heard their lights are not so great, and run really hot.

Other Lighting

Incandescent Bulbs
Do not use these. Same goes for halogens, and mercury vapor lights.

LED Lighting
This has a lot of promise, but to be honest, results have not been so good with these. They can only be used for vegetation and aren't that great even for that, since (like any first-time grower who decides to use them) they just aren't very bright. Still, they use very little electricity, they last for like 20 years, and they can be made to release light only on spectrums that plants can use. They are expensive, but you can get them for relatively cheap here:

LED Grow Lights Gro-Tek GroTec HID Hydroponic light Fluorescent leds Growing Metal halide MH growing indoors indoor Ultraviolet Infrared light emitting diodes (http://www.gro-tek.com/)

Sulfur Lamps
These are not available commercially yet, and if they were they would be very expensive. However, they are very bright, and I am writing another thread about sulfur lights, which I hope will be helpful to anyone interested.

I hope this has been sort of helpful. Just so you know I'm no expert grower but I do know a lot about electric lighting and I thought I would share this with you. Peace! :smokin:

Thanks! And good looking out!

[qdavid]

Dude, that's a hella long quote just to say thanks. But what the hell, scrolling aint' hard. I need some advice. Please bear with me. I've got a little 2 plant cabinet micro-grow going in my closet. I veg using 5-6 "daylights" that work great in veg and I might even increase the number of "cools". I have been lucky enough so in two grows, 1 plant was female each time. I flower using 3-5 warm CFLs but heat becomes an issue so sometimes I have turn off all but 2 of 'em. I use 3 fans but it still gets hot. I'm only yielding maybe 1-1.5 oz. per plant. I bought one of those 150W security lamps from Lowe's, but haven't hooked it up. Mostly because of all the construction work involved to support it and vent it, suckers heavy too. But mostly the work venting that bad boy would be the lions share of the work. My plan is to use the reflector from my clamp light as a kind of hood, place that over the light and then hook up a inline fan with one end duck taped to that reflector (hood) and the other end to an outside vend. Blowing most of the heat out. Another construction hassle is cutting through a plaster board wall to get to an outside air vent. I'm not so sure the hassle of the construction is worth the extra yield though. I'm just a private, stealthy grower and can deal with the lower yields. Smell's no big issue, I live on 5 acres out in the sticks. My questions revolve around the work. Does anyone think that plan will work? Do you think it's worth the hassle? Has anybody got a better idea? Does 150W HPS really need it's own vent?

[green4money]

good lookin out khronic great post

[Juzt JR]

A great site for all of your HID lighting, at great price$!

High Tech Garden Supply (http://www.htgsupply.com/)

[Damion5050]

Well I am putting together my first setup and I was thinking about getting a T5 setup, its New Wave T5 2 Ft - 8 Lamp - 16000 Lumens, Measures 21.3" x 22.8" x 3-1/2" THINK I should go for it

[Damion5050]

Quick Question I am going with a t5 setup cause its cost effective right now, i was wondering if there is a need to get different color bulbs or should i be fine..

[SMOKEDAWG81]

4 23 to 37 watt, compact fluorescent bulbs. 2 for $9.98 x2 =

DO NOT use bulbs brighter than 30 watts max.



I'm a little confused as to why u said 23 to 37 watts, but then go on to say DO NOT USE more then 30 watt bulbs?
Besides that, IT SOUNDS like a good setup for my first grow, Imma go out next week and get all that stuff. Now I just need to know where to get GOOD, REAL THC seeds from?, If you know anywhere(to get seeds), that would be great. THANX for the info:pimp:

[SMOKEDAWG81]

TO: Psteve
I like that 8 bulb get up, that is really inventive. I think I might have to take your idea. Do u think I could grow 2 plants from that? Or just stick w/ the 1 plant?

[psteve]

TO: Psteve
I like that 8 bulb get up, that is really inventive. I think I might have to take your idea. Do u think I could grow 2 plants from that? Or just stick w/ the 1 plant?8 bulbs = 200 Watts = about 3 square feet of plant canopy. About 18" by 18".

[DasPachy]

How safe is it to order off eBay?

[cygnustaxt]

so I'm planning on building the lighting system posted earlier with the 3 Y adapters. I'm curious as to how many plants I will be able to grow with this set up. This will be my first grow and I want to keep it relatively simple. I'm considering getting some feminized seeds and growing like 5 or 6 plants. Will I need anymore light than this or will one setup of four bulbs be sufficient?

[TheMetal1]

I'm curious as to how many plants I will be able to grow with this set up.

It may even be listed in this great post (I didn't want to go through the entire thing again :jointsmile:) but it's all about lumens per square foot. You want to calculate the area that your plants canopy will be able to occupy... then figure out how many combined lumens you are pushing (this means USABLE lumens, so your lights need to be the correct distance away to maximize potential).

Then divide your total lumens by your area = lumens/sq. foot

I think around 2,000 is the minimum suggested for actual growth... then as you increase, your potential will increase. Once you go above 6,000 you are pretty much in the vigorous growth range. It's all relative though. You have to make sure you can manage heat as you increase the total amount of lights. So you want the maximum lumens/sq. foot... as long as your temperatures are under control. Some people have to sacrifice some lumens for better climate conditions.

[headshake]

good info khronik. the high tech garden supply has also has good deals on the HPS/MH lights as well. be careful and read the item descriptions on ebay. a lot of the systems they sell come with refurbished ballasts and you can usually upgrade for around $20.

-shake

[Roughrider]

If you're in a small space and you're having problems with heat issues with CFLs, I wouldn't use any sort of HID. It's a lot of work for a small gain...you won't get that much more light or flower growth.

8 23-26 watt CFLs will give you around 13000-14000 lumens. Anything over 5000 lumens per sq. ft. will give you good growth. So that's about 2.7 square feet. 18" x 18" is 2.25 square feet. I'd say you either grow 2 medium-good sized plants with each 4 bulb light over a plant, or (maybe) 3-4 smaller plants. Depends on how you arrange the lights, what strain you want to grow, if you're doing LST, etc.

[MonkeyBone]

I have 2x 42w cfls with 2x 23w cfls in my closet with a fan ON 24/7 and it'S kinda hot in there...between 82-85f in daytime.

So i'll forgot HPS system but i'll pack all the cfls i can with the room I have!

My grow space is about 3 feet wide by 6 feet in lenght by 5 feet in height. For 2 plants of 9 and 10 days old in 1.5 Gal. pots

DAMN! I want a freaking camera to get pics of them!!!

[reworgallirog]

[quote=psteve]I thought I'd share this plan for a light that will get you through your first grow, or until you can afford something better. This rig will cover two square feet of grow space.. You may have most of the parts already!

1 Clamp lamp (150 watt or more capacity). $9.98 @ Home dePot.
3 'Y' socket adapters. $2.48 each= $7.44 @ Home dePot.
4 23 to 37 watt, compact fluorescent bulbs. 2 for $9.98 x2 = $19.96 @ Home dePot.
Light hanging chain (or other hanging material). $1.49 per foot x6 feet = $8.94 @ Home dePot.
1 Swag hook. $1.69 @ Home dePot.
Small Appliance timer (optional). $10.98 @ Home dePot.
All items are available at Home dePot, Walmart, Lowes, or almost any hardware store.



First, remove the reflector from the clamp lamp. It is too small for the assembly we are building.

Next, screw one of the 'Y' adapters into the clamp lamp socket.

Now screw the remaining 'Y' adapters into the sockets of the first one.

You should now have four sockets in your clamp lamp.


Adjust the sockets so they are equal distance apart. It's OK if they are slightly loose, as long as they are solidly screwed in.

Screw the four compact fluorescent bulbs into the sockets and hang using swag chain, cable or wire.

DO NOT use the clamp to support the lamp, because we have added too much weight, and the clamp will not hold it.

DO NOT use more than four bulbs in one assembly.

DO NOT use bulbs brighter than 30 watts max.

If you follow these rules, this assembly is very safe, and will not overheat or cause electrical problems. We have tested it extensively.

Four 26 watt bulbs, will give you 6800 lumens! I like to use 'daylight' spectrum bulbs for maximum usable color spectrum. As mentioned above, they are available in multi packs from Home dePot. Whichever bulbs you use will be fine. You don't have to use the special 'grow bulbs'.

I'll post later about building a reflector to fit this assembly. Meanwhile, just hang it about 2 inches above your top leaves, in a corner where two white walls meet.

I just wanted to add that you can use an old computer power supply and computer fans to create a very effective ventilation system.

[mj12780]

hi my name is mj im kinda new to this . we are using florescent lighting and have a pretty good idea on this step of the process. my question is when you put them out into a natural environment is there any special budding formula or plant food that will make buds fuller and tighter?

[ganjaforest]

so will this grow setup work for just starting out seedlings that have been germinated??

[thecomplex]

like the idea of the cfl set up...Currently guiding by Jorge Cervantes MedMaj Horticulture FIRST TIMER.. my idea was a 42x24x60 tent. Questions:
-going with a t5 setup (not sure how many bulbs yet)
suggestions would be great
-t5's will be too week for flowering ? (suggestions would be great!)
-how many plants (pots) could fit in this space?
-looking to try short plants (time period???? yeild isn't important at this moment)
-currently not using choice seeds. (how much of a problem with this be?)
hopefully i can post pics of progress on any suggestions! it's a tall order of questions i know. but any info helps

[jbleez]

how do i make a new thread i have questions about my plants

[redtails]

how do i make a new thread i have questions about my plants

Press the "New Thread" button on the section you want to post in, should be on the left above all the other threads...

[seventhchild]

this sticky needs to be updated with some info about the PULSE START METAL HALIDES now available. the bulbs are not compatible with older MH ballasts .

[sunbiz1]

A guide to cheap lighting for the broke newbie stoner

Fluorescent Bulbs
Fluorescent tubes have good efficiency and put out very little heat, but they usually aren't intense enough to produce a lot of buds. Still, for the vegetation stage of growing, they're great. All types of fluorescent bulbs usually have several numbers written on them that you should pay attention to.

One is the watts. This determines how much energy a bulb uses, and also how much light it gives off.

The other number is the spectrum. This is written as ****K, where **** is a 4-digit number. This is the temperature in Kelvin that an incandescent filament would have to reach to produce the same spectrum. For instance, 3000K is more yellowish-orange, while 6500K is very blue. Plants can absorb both ends of the visible light spectrum pretty well, but they reflect most of the middle, where yellows and greens are. For this reason, it's better to use either low or high spectrums for your plants. High spectrums are better for vegetating and low spectrums are better for budding. If you are only buying one kind, go for low spectrum, since you want a lot of buds, right? :thumbsup:

Another number is lumens. This determines how bright a bulb looks to the human eye. This isn't the same as how bright the light would be to a plant, but it is of some use, for instance, when comparing bulbs with the same spectrum number.

Compact Fluorescents
The cheapest lighting, and probably the best lighting for a very small setup is compact fluorescent bulbs, usually abbreviated here as CFL. These are those curly high-efficiency lights that can replace incandescent bulbs. They can be purchased at wal-mart, three 26-watt bulbs for about $8-$10. You can get them at sites like Light Bulbs, Rope Lights, Halogen & Fluorescent Light Bulbs (http://www.1000bulbs.com) too, but since they're so cheap anyway, after shipping it's usually not worth it. When you buy them, they usually have two wattages on them, the actual wattage, and the wattage that an incandescent light bulb would have if it was the same brightness. The actual wattage is more important, but the equivalent wattage gives you a good idea of the brightness. Most CFLs have a spectrum of about 3000K.

You can buy higher-wattage CFL lights, but they're usually more expensive per watt. Still, they may be a good option if you're low on sockets to put your bulbs in. Most people have a few unused desk lamps laying around and use these for their lights. However, if you don't have spare lamps, you can buy a bunch of ceramic light bases at a hardware store and wire these to a board, then use that as your light. You need some electrical experience for that though.

Even if you're not planning on growing pot, you should buy some of these bulbs anyway for your lighting needs, because they only use like 1/4 the power of regular light bulbs.

Fluorescent Tubes
If you have a somewhat larger operation, fluorescent tubes might be a better option. The cheapest fluorescent lighting per watt usually comes from the 48-inch tubes. Tubes are designated a number, like T12, T8, or T5. The main thing this tells you is the diameter of the tube in eighths of an inch. A T12 is 12/8 of an inch, or 1.5 inches in diameter, for example. However, different tube sizes usually require different wattages, and many ballasts can only handle very specific wattages. You can get 48" shop lights in Lowe's or Home Depot for about $9 for a two-tube fixture. You have to buy the tubes separately, and they're about $3-$4 apiece in Lowe's or Home Depot, or about $5 apiece at wal-mart. Shop lights can often use both T8 and T12 tubes, but make sure you read the directions. If you have a choice, you should usually go with the higher wattage.

The great thing about fluorescent tubes is that they can be touching the plants without harming them, so you can put them very close. The bad thing about fluorescent tubes is that they don't give off a whole lot of light considering how big they are. This can be mitigated by using more tubes, but the tubes are kind of big so you can only use so many.

One type of fluorescent tube that is becoming more popular is high-output T5 tubes. These are very thin, so you can pack them closer together, and thus produce more light. Fixtures for these bulbs are a lot more expensive though, and may necessitate a trip to a hydroponics store.

Hardware stores usually also sell plant and aquarium bulbs that emit a spectrum close to what plants use. The consensus seems to be that these are only marginally better than regular tubes, and they're a lot more expensive, (about $10 apiece) so they're usually not worth it.

High-Intensity Discharge Lighting
All the best growers use HID lighting, and if you want lots of bud, you should too! These come primarily in two flavors, metal halide (MH) and high-pressure sodium (HPS). These are very efficient, bright lights, and they're what streetlights almost always use. If you look across any city at night, you'll see a lot of bluish lights and a lot of orangish lights. The blue ones are MH and the orange ones are HPS. HID lighting requires a bulb and a ballast, and ballasts are usually very specific about what bulbs they can be used with.

Digital (Electronic) vs. Magnetic Ballasts
Digital ballasts are slightly better in nearly every way than magnetic ballasts, but they are a lot more expensive. They produce much less heat and noise, and allow your bulb to last longer while producing more light. They also work with both HPS and MH bulbs. They will be very expensive at hydroponics stores, but you can usually get them on ebay for a lot cheaper. The following ebay stores usually have good deals on both digital and magnetic ballasts:

eBay Store - My Garden Shoppe: 600 watt digital ballast, Lighting Systems, Hydroponic Systems (http://stores.ebay.com/My-Garden-Shoppe)
eBay Store - High Tech Garden Supply: Light Bulbs Lamps, Advanced Nutrients, T-5 FLUORESCENT Grow Lights (http://stores.ebay.com/High-Tech-Garden-Supply)

Don't worry too much if a digital ballast is out of your price range. Magnetic ballasts are a good tried-and-true technology, and the digital ones are only about 10%-15% better. If you have a lot of time and not much cash, you may even be interested in getting a ballast kit, which lets you build your own ballast for not much money. You need some sort of case for it, and it seems old computer power supplies work well. You'd also need some sort of reflector, and a socket, and wire, so by the time you're done building it, it may not be such a great deal after all, but if you have access to that stuff, it may be well worth it. Here are the best deals I know of on kits:

High Pressure Sodium (HPS) Ballast Kits - Plantlighting Hydroponics & Grow Lights (http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/hps-ballast-kits-c-357_251.html)

Metal Halide Lighting
Metal halide bulbs are used for the vegetation phase. However, these are not a very good choice for small operations because they are expensive. With some ballasts you can switch bulbs for vegetation and flowering, but this means that you can only be growing one batch at a time. Also, you don't need super-bright light for vegetation, and using the same number of watts for both flowering and vegetation is overkill. Many if not most small growers vegetate under some form of fluorescent light and then move to a HPS light for flowering. Still, using a small MH bulb (100-250 watts) might be a good option, and you can get those types of lights in many hardware stores, although they will definitely be more expensive than say, fluorescents.

High Pressure Sodium
If you want to have one expensive light, make it one of these. That's not to say it HAS to be expensive, but this is the light that will have the greatest impact on your yield. For less than 10 plants, 400 watts is a good starting point. HPS bulbs are very orange, and are great for budding. There are special HPS bulbs for growing plants that also emit more blue light. They are quite a bit more expensive, but if you're on a budget, the regular HPS bulbs are very decent too. You can get HPS bulbs at eBay or Light Bulbs, Rope Lights, Halogen & Fluorescent Light Bulbs (http://www.1000bulbs.com), or even at Lowe's or Home Depot, if you're paranoid about the police looking at your expenses. (although hardware stores usually only go up to 400-watt) If you want an inexpensive setup, this ebay store has some of the best deals I've seen:

eBay Store - High Tech Garden Supply: Light Bulbs Lamps, Advanced Nutrients, T-5 FLUORESCENT Grow Lights (http://stores.ebay.com/High-Tech-Garden-Supply)

Supposedly Welcome - InsideSun (http://www.insidesun.com) has good deals too, but I've heard their lights are not so great, and run really hot.

Other Lighting

Incandescent Bulbs
Do not use these. Same goes for halogens, and mercury vapor lights.

LED Lighting
This has a lot of promise, but to be honest, results have not been so good with these. They can only be used for vegetation and aren't that great even for that, since (like any first-time grower who decides to use them) they just aren't very bright. Still, they use very little electricity, they last for like 20 years, and they can be made to release light only on spectrums that plants can use. They are expensive, but you can get them for relatively cheap here:

LED Grow Lights Gro-Tek GroTec HID Hydroponic light Fluorescent leds Growing Metal halide MH growing indoors indoor Ultraviolet Infrared light emitting diodes (http://www.gro-tek.com/)

Sulfur Lamps
These are not available commercially yet, and if they were they would be very expensive. However, they are very bright, and I am writing another thread about sulfur lights, which I hope will be helpful to anyone interested.

I hope this has been sort of helpful. Just so you know I'm no expert grower but I do know a lot about electric lighting and I thought I would share this with you. Peace! :smokin:

With respect to CFL lighting,

Compact Fluorescent CFL Grow Light Bulbs: Express Light Bulbs (http://www.expresslightbulbs.com/compact-fluorescent-cfl-grow-light-bulbs-p-2.html)

These are easily purchased at Home Depot etc. They are an effective, energy-savings means of indoor lighting IMHO. I've been using them for several years...with much success.:rastasmoke:

[neceros]

Well this information is 3 years old. LED lightning is up to par now.

[seventhchild]

Well this information is 3 years old. LED lightning is up to par now. Is it? still much tweaking going on and debating to do. will the price EVER drop?

[bdogdamu415]

This is my first attempt to grow. I have 2 three Y adapter setup with 8 daylight 27w cfls. The k's are 5000k each and i'm going to have them on a 18/6 cycle. Is there anything else I need for now?

[Dutch Pimp]

This is my first attempt to grow. I have 2 three Y adapter setup with 8 daylight 27w cfls. The k's are 5000k each and i'm going to have them on a 18/6 cycle. Is there anything else I need for now?

that should work well enough for the first 3-4 weeks of vegging

[GROWxMOREx420]

Here is a quality, super easy, and inexpensive way to get started growing.

Build your own Jump Start T12 Grow Light System for $75!!!!

Materials:

* 1 Hydrofarm Jump Start Stand (24' Inch) - $24.00

* 1 Hydrofarm 2-tube Fluorescent Light Fixture (24' Inch) - $25.00

* 2 Agrosun Full Spectrum T12 Fluorescent light-tubes (24' Inch) - $28.00

Here is a look at mine....

http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx176/GROWxMOREx420/2010%20Grow/CloningStation.jpg

[harrybuzz]

i scored some 50wt 4050 lumens hps outdoor security lights at home depot for 10.00$ apiece ...the replacement bulbs are 27.00$ ! read all you can in these forums. and be on the lookout for bargains . i would rather have a bunch of 50 watters than one 400 watt. just my super nub opinion

[bigsby]

This thread needs to be updated with some good PP-L fluorescent light info. These lights move the the yard stick forward. I am going to ask the PP-L brainiacs to outline the following:

1. General Discussion
A brief comparison with standard CFLs and fluorescent bulbs/fixtures, the pros and cons of PP-L lighting, different bulb wattages, lengths, and outputs. Most of this can be lifted from the GC article referenced below

2. PP-L Fixture Construction (the meat and potatoes of this thing)
It appears that although there are some out of the box solutions, they over priced as usual. Given that the parts are readily available for anyone with a bit of DIY gumption should be able to build one for just a few $$.

Needed is an outline of how to build a fixture - ballast requirements, fixture requirements, etc.

3. Examples / proof of concept

Here is a link to a good write up that I found on GC (can't stand the site users but some good info there): For Beginner's Lighting Info / PP-L (http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/224689-beginners-lighting-info.html) and here is a link to one of US pre-built distributors: 36 or 55 watt Bright Kits (http://www.ahsupply.com/36-55w.htm) for some background info.

Anyone interested in working on this?

[tevfik]

This thread needs to be updated with some good PP-L fluorescent light info...
...Anyone interested in working on this?

Thank you bigspy, that was a good reading on GC.

I was planning to make a simple guide about them with (or after) my next grow with a better stable fixture and some training. Right now they're on a test run and they're good to go I think :)

[bigsby]

I'm looking to redo my mother / clone cab and I'm looking at doing PP-Ls. Perhaps I could document my build with your help? Just a thought. My other thought is to just buy them ready built but that seems too easy...

[bigsby]

I'm thinking to move this off of the main el-cheapo thread and then to post up results at the end so we don't clutter this info sticky. See this thread:

http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-lighting/195955-pp-l-fluorecent-build.html#post2186678

[michealjr55]

Hi just had a quick question i am new and am growing for medical purposes in response to guy from oregon does that setup you talked about does it work to grow all the way or just for veggie stage

[n00b]

Here is a quality, super easy, and inexpensive way to get started growing.

Build your own Jump Start T12 Grow Light System for $75!!!!

Materials:

* 1 Hydrofarm Jump Start Stand (24' Inch) - $24.00

* 1 Hydrofarm 2-tube Fluorescent Light Fixture (24' Inch) - $25.00

* 2 Agrosun Full Spectrum T12 Fluorescent light-tubes (24' Inch) - $28.00

Here is a look at mine....

http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/xx176/GROWxMOREx420/2010%20Grow/CloningStation.jpg

Nice setup for a reasonable price. Guessing this is only going to suffice for veg state though yeah?

[DrWalter]

metal halide walmart $8 includes 400 watt bulb283030:thumbsup:

[khronik]

This thread needs to be updated with some good PP-L fluorescent light info. These lights move the the yard stick forward.
I was going to try updating this thread, but I remembered that this forum doesn't allow you to go back and edit old posts. I haven't done any grows recently. I've just reached a point in my life where I'd have too much to lose if the wrong people discovered my hobby. You guys know how it is.

Anyway, I'm glad this thread was stickied, and that so many people have seen my lighting guide over the years. Knowledge is power, guys! And the more people know, the less likely they are to believe DEA propaganda. :)