cfl's

[fatsax]

150watt cfl for £30 quid?is that gd deal?how many to grow a nice mother and keep her healthy?

[PharmaCan]

I paid US$47 for a 125 watt, which was a really good price, so 30 quid for a 150 is probably a pretty good deal.

You really don't want the mother plant to grow very fast. If it does you end up cutting her every 3 weeks and then you have too many clones. You can start with one 150w and see what happens. Personally, I think you'd be better off with 4 - 26w. You could keep them low and encourage the plant not to stretch too tall.

JMO

PC :smokin:

[psteve]

I paid US$47 for a 125 watt, which was a really good price, so 30 quid for a 150 is probably a pretty good deal.

You really don't want the mother plant to grow very fast. If it does you end up cutting her every 3 weeks and then you have too many clones. You can start with one 150w and see what happens. Personally, I think you'd be better off with 4 - 26w. You could keep them low and encourage the plant not to stretch too tall.

JMO

PC :smokin:
Exactly right. Get 'daylight' spectrum bulbs (6000-6500K). They're cheaper, and just as good for clones and veg.

[herbster]

Was checking a few out today, saw a huge one here 240W for about US14.00. Think it uses about 45W of power which supposed to be 240W of light.
I'm guessing this is a good deal.http://boards.cannabis.com/images/smilies/smokin.gif
:smokin:

[WildFire.ca]

Google Product Search (http://www.google.com/products)
Froogle

[Dizzy1]

Was checking a few out today, saw a huge one here 240W for about US14.00. Think it uses about 45W of power which supposed to be 240W of light.
I'm guessing this is a good deal.http://boards.cannabis.com/images/smilies/smokin.gif
:smokin:

Actually what the OP was referring to is a CFL that has a true watt rating of 150. What your reading is a 45 watt CFL that has the Incandescent equivalent of 240 watts. I'm going to guess that 150 has an equivalent of 600 Incandescent watts. That make sense? CFLs put off a lot more light per watt than your run of the mill Incandescent bulbs.

And I 2nd/3rd the purchasing of smaller bulbs. In addition to the listed reasons, you'll also not be ready to strangle someone if something were to happen to the lone 150 watt bulb that you ordered. You break, lose or burn out one of the smaller bulbs and you can just run to the nearest hardware shop and pick another one up. Out 10 bucks (5 quid?). Same thing happens to that 150 and your out, what, 30 quid? ;)

[WildFire.ca]

My 200w. cfl I can't remember the math but it's close to 600W HID.
I also run the smaller ones 45W all the way to 27w

[Dizzy1]

My 200w. cfl I can't remember the math but it's close to 600W HID.
I also run the smaller ones 45W all the way to 27w

Trying not to sound like a know it all, so forgive me... but that's also an Incandescent rating (600 watts). I love CFLs as much as anyone else for growing, but a 600 watt HID (MH/HPS) is in another league.
Still a kick ass CFL though, freakin huge at that! :D

[WildFire.ca]

Trying not to sound like a know it all, so forgive me... but that's also an Incandescent rating (600 watts). I love CFLs as much as anyone else for growing, but a 600 watt HID (MH/HPS) is in another league.
Still a kick ass CFL though, freakin huge at that! :D
I agree cfl's can only get that rating if the plants are 2in away from the bulb. The light from a HID will travel much farther then the cfl's I use the cfl's for veg. and then I fire the HID's for flower

[SaintCannabis]

:jointsmile:I just found a site that is selling 25/26W CFLs for $1.59 each if you buy 6 or more!! I'm orderin a buttload to have on hand when i build my box/mother chamber and just for around the house. I stumbled upon this deal when i was lookin 4 somfin totally different, but when i saw it i immediately thought of these buds building small boxes and had to let ya know!! Of course i have no affiliation with this company but when you see somethin this good you share it til it runs out!!!

Loading... (http://www.lightingonthenet.com/Mini-Spiral-Compact-Fluorescent-Bulb-Energy-Saving-CFL-P357850C27.aspx)

[WildFire.ca]

what Kalvin are they? 2700k or 6500K

[SaintCannabis]

uhhhh... you could just click on the link and check it out for yourself... i didn't see any mention of temp.

[Booyagrandma]

Its a good find but imo they look like junk sorry :(

My Cfl's were 5-7 dollars for the daylight 100w rating ones.

Didn't seem to spendy for cfls and they work wonders. :thumbsup:

Chao
Booya

[12345-54321]

different CFL spectrums have different temps, my GE 2700s are much hotter then the nvision 5500s from the depot. about 5 degrees hotter....anyone else notice this?

[psteve]

My favorite CFL is a 26 watt Daylight (6500K wide spectrum) bulb from MallWart. 2 bulbs for under $8.
We tested them against 40 watt CFL 'grow bulbs', and 35 watt t-8 tubes, and watt for watt, the plants did best under the 26 watt daylight bulbs.

[WildFire.ca]

uhhhh... you could just click on the link and check it out for yourself... i didn't see any mention of temp.

uhhhh I was asking you the question not to make you look like an dumb ass for putting up a link for the wrong lights.:thumbsup:

[SaintCannabis]

Not sure what you r thinking to imply but the link i posted was the right link... the only point in posting it was for those who are just looking 4 the least expensive CFL. Sure they're are cheap but for less than half the price of any i've found elsewhere, i'll have plenty on hand for home lighting, plus. I personally will be augmenting my light system with some red/blue LED boards i put together awhile back (they've worked great for seed for my spring veggies and the clone i took from a lymon tree my wife inherited)... that is when i actually build a box to put them in, hehe. Nothin but LOVE man.

[WildFire.ca]

the ones that u put up a link for should be in home wears site not at grow weed site. They are not for growing any kind of plant.

[SaintCannabis]

Well in my opinion no CFLs should be used to grow with, but when your looking for cheap intermediate solutions... really the only true grow light solutions are cool-tube, blue-enhanced HPS or LEDs. Since CFLs are becoming cheap and ubiquitous, we use them. Once i actually get something growing and test a couple of ideas i have on LED solutions, i will post here and a couple of other sites, easy ways to build your own LED grow lights for as much as or less than HID system that will outperform while using much less energy... it's much easier than most realize... i've been doin my research for quite a while.

[WildFire.ca]

my buddy is testing the leading edge in led's plz check your facts. the led's that are out are not ready yet. If you want to learn something you can read his old posts. The lights he is using will be out in about 6-8 months.

PLZ READ
International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums - 125 watt LED grow (http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=63943&highlight=led)

[psteve]

Well in my opinion no CFLs should be used to grow with, but when your looking for cheap intermediate solutions... really the only true grow light solutions are cool-tube, blue-enhanced HPS or LEDs. Since CFLs are becoming cheap and ubiquitous, we use them. Once i actually get something growing and test a couple of ideas i have on LED solutions, i will post here and a couple of other sites, easy ways to build your own LED grow lights for as much as or less than HID system that will outperform while using much less energy... it's much easier than most realize... i've been doin my research for quite a while.
I disagree with almost everything in this post.

[SaintCannabis]

maybe the LED "systems" that are commercially available aren't really ready but that's not what i'm talking about... with the right wavelengths and 90%+ efficient drivers (which i can build thanks to Dan @ instructables.com) it is easy to accomplish as quoted below from that thread...

"You have to figure in more than just the initial cost. If you are using HID lighting, you will need to replace the bulb once or twice a year. The LEDs will last for years. Then you have to figure in the cost of much more electricity. The LED/HID grow I am doing right now pits a 82w LED against a 400w HID. After 14 days, the LED is clearly ahead in both height and bushiness. So I am getting better growth with less than a quarter of the energy expenditure. Then you may also have to deal with heat issues brought about by the HID. Up front costs may indeed make it a bit iffy right now. But there is a tipping point where the total lighting costs (including electricity) for a year or two years leans in the direction of LEDs. I think we may already be there.

For those who would prefer to not deal with law inforcement, LEDs should be of particular interest. High power consumption is often a clue to the authorities that there may be a grow op inside. If you can cut your consumption by a quarter or even half, you will present a lower profile. Also, there have been reports of LEO using infrared sensing devices in helicopters and even in patrol cars to find unusually hot places that suggest an indoor grow. Lower heat may not be just good for the plants. It may give the grower better security."

I have just enough electronics understanding to be dangerous, hehe. There was nothing new to me in that thread. I've seen all of that and then some... when i say i've done plenty of research i mean it. When you take your time and know where to get the parts and information you need, you can build a LED system that costs less (unless it's stolen) and out-performs anything else. Forget commercial availability, just like growing your own buds, building your own LED light will be a great reward in itself!

Oh and another thing about light... Lumen is absolutely useless when i comes to measuring light output useful for plant growth. Lumens is only a measure of how bright a light appears to the human eye. The human eye responds most sensitively to the green, middle part of the visual spectrum and perception is reduced and the color gets closer to the outside red and blue wavelengths. One reason IR lasers are so dangerous, your eyes don't really perceive those longer wavelengths but there is still enough energy to fry your retina. Plants on the other hand respond to and photosynthesis chlorophyll mostly the red (630-680nm) and blue (410-470nm) wavelengths and have almost no use for the green/yellow parts of the spectrum. This is why our little friends are usually green... they are reflecting the useless green light. Thus high lumen white lights are wasting most of their energy producing light that the plant is just gonna reject. Good to see the plant with but not the best for growth. I know this is an over simplification but some people here haven't heard this stuff b4.

[PharmaCan]

St. Cannabis - Thanks for the explanation. :thumbsup:

There has been so much hype, and so little actual performance, surrounding led's that you should expect a lot of skepticism. But, if you have a viable system, post some photos of your lights and your grow It would be great to see some led's that actually work.

PC :smokin: