CFL 42W/150W flouro OK to veg?

[Max Blast]

I have a spiral compact flourecent light the says on the package that it is 150 watts of light using 42 watts of power. It says "warm white light" on the package description.

Is this light OK for vegging period? I have a seedling in soil (already had it going in soil before my hydro setup arrived) and want to use this light for vegging (24/7) and then switch to HPS for flowering.(12/12)

Any comments on this type of light? (spectrum, etc)

thanks for the help,
Max Blast

[69NovAss]

Yes Max blast those lights are florescent so they do
work and provide some food for the plants.
The only downfall is you have to use more than one
of these lights in your garden, due to the fact they
they are small lumens, hope this helps, peace.
:nova:

[HARDDON]

That is a standard 42W CFL.

Adding this to your grow wont help.

You would be better off burning your HPS for your plant growth.

They produce roughly the same spectrum, only HPS cranks the lumens out far more efficeintly.

If you can find the CFL with 'bright white light...not warm....." you would be better off.

Either way, like NovAss says, you need more of them.

For a 42W bulb, you will want to have at least 6 of them for veggin one plant.

[Max Blast]

Thanks NovAss and Hardon,

Wow I didn't realize it would take 6 of them. It says 2600 lumens on the package. Just how many lumens does it take for one plant vegging in a smal space?

I guess I'll just bite the bullet and get a MH and a HPS but how powerful? Want to veg to 8"-10" inches for SCROG grow 1 plant growing a 2'x2' screen using soil on this one:-(

Is 24/0 OK or should I go to 18/6 during veg? Any aditional tips would be great.

thanks again,
Max Blast

[Nochowderforyou]

24/0 lighting is okay for a young seedling stage, but once they start getting developed, in my opinion, the plant needs some rest time. They still grow and develop even though the light is off. A dark period is needed in my opinion.

To get a decent yeild, you would need at least 50W per.sq.ft of lighting. I have vegged 2 plants under 125W of CFL's before in a 2ft square space. When flowering hits though, you will need more lights or flowering will go very slow, and the yeild will be very low.

I suggest not using an Hps for vegging. From the things I've seen using those for vegging, you get stretched out, lanky budsites that produce airy, wispy buds. Using CFL's for veg is better in my opinion because you can get the plants very close to the plant reducing stretching.

How big is your space?

For the 42W bulb, you are going to need more. If you just want to do one plant, I suggest getting at least 75-100W of CFL's in a small space, approx. 12-24inches(1.5-2.5ft in height) Using just one 42Watter will not give you much. Get another one, or a couple 25W. When flowering comes though, you can still use CFL's, but in my opinion you would have to double your vegging wattage to get decent smoke.

Go with an HPS bulb for flowering, that's your best bet. Or, you can use an Mh bulb for vegging, and an hps for flowering, OR, CFL's for vegging and CFL's for flowering, OR CFL's for vegging, hps for flowering. Take your pick.

[Nochowderforyou]

I guess I'll just bite the bullet and get a MH and a HPS but how powerful? Want to veg to 8"-10" inches for SCROG grow 1 plant growing a 2'x2' screen using soil on this one:-(


Whoa holy shit I'm blind, I see your space now :rolleyes: duh!

8-10 inches high is not even a ft. That is quite a small space. I suggest using nothing but CFL's. Low heat factor, hps produces a lot of heat and you NEED a fan to keep it cool. For your space, you have the 42W CFL already, I would get a 25W CFL, a total of 67W CFL's for vegging. But when flowering hits, you will probably want to add another 25-35 watts of floros/CFL's. Having a total of 92-102W for flowering.

Keeping your plants that short will be a challenge, hope I helped, good luck.

[Max Blast]

Thought I would send some pics of my closet grow.

I have one plant now vegging under a CFL 42watt mounted in an upside down 5-gallon bucket placed over the potted plant. Vented at top of bucket for heat relief (not much heat from CFL)

The little thing is just two weeks old and seems OK. Only 3 inches tall but already working on its 4th node.

Planning a vertical wrap-around scrog once the plant gets to about 10" tall and then switching to 70 watt HPS and 12/12 cycle for budding.

regards and thanks for all the help,
Max Blast

[weedracer119]

thats a pretty cool set up for your closet. just wondering are you trying to keep it from parents or did you do that just to try something different?

[weedracer119]

oh, another thing. what do you plan on doing for flowering this plant. are you gonna keep it small or what. you will probably need more cfl's for flowering unless your keeping it short enough to keep in the bucket.

[Max Blast]

Weedracer,

Actually it just sort of worked out that way. I am 3 days older than dirt so no parents involved. I was contemplating a C-13 style grow in the garage or a special built shed in the back yard but the temps here are over 100 degrees this time of year so the heat alone ruled that out.

My significant other insists on keeping the house temps under 75 degrees all the time so putting this in the closet where I have my computer rack setup seemed like a good answer.

When the smell starts to become an issue I will have an airtight cab built and use a fan and a carbon scrubber as described by Zandor. Also I do no think the plastic bucket will stand the heat from the HPS I will use for flowering.

I will be doing a vertical wraparound scrog in the cabinet with the light hanging down in the center. Just a hobby grow for now.

regards,
Max Blast

[weedracer119]

thats cool. i didn't know if you were a minor or not because in one of the posts it was asking how old everyone is and most of the users on this forum are little teenagers. about 16 or something. but hey the younger they start, more power to them. they'll just be smarter when they get older. just was wondering. that is a really cool way for a teen to keep it away from parents cuz it doesn't look like it puts out to much light accept the glow of the bucket. and it is budget wise too cuz it only needs one cfl. it's a sweet set up and i'd like to see how this grow turns out. keep us updated. good luck!!

[Max Blast]

Just a quick update and clarification.

The liitle plant is now about 3 3/4 inches tall and has grown to within about 1 1/2 inches of the CFL. Soon I will use some small spacers to elevate the bucket/light setup. No ill effects so far, four nodes and growing. I am using potting soil of unknown origin (left over from old regular gardening projects) and used MG Gardening soil when transplated to 8" pot.

Even though there currently is only one 42watt CFL the square footage of the space is only 2/3 of a square foot. This gives about 63 watts per square foot of area. The walls of the white bucket are very similar to flat white painted surfaces and it makes it quite bright in there. I know it would be better using MH for vegging but I just wanted to try this out to test the results of a cheap "quick and dirty" grow method. So far, so good. Not looking for maximum yield, just something small and easy.

The seed I started with came from a grow that an aquaintance has that occasionally produces seeds (hermie I guess) and is either OG-Kush or Bubba-Kush (?) I am told. I will be glad when I finally get to determine the sex so I can tell whether to continue or not. Do I need to get to the 12/12 forcing before I can tell the sex? Or is there another, quicker method?

regards,
Max Blast

[Max Blast]

I have been trying to keep the CFL as close as possible to the top of the plant. It appears that I let it get a little too close as there is some burning on one of the fan leaves as well as one of the top leaves as seen in the photo.

It appears that for this 42watt CFL that 2" or less is required for growth but less than 1" leads to burning.

Plant is now 5 1/2" tall and has 5th node already (3 weeks veg time)

Hope I can be patient and wait for after 5th veg week before forcing flowering period and sex ID.

regards,
Max Blast

[weedracer119]

it's looking good max. is it still in the bucket or is it outside of it. this should turn out to be a nice plant. bet you can;t wait to get the smoke. good luck and be patient.

[Mac Maniac]

Hmmm...

Very nice set up. Think I'll go finish my little [desk-size] closet set up with a few more high-wattage fluorescent bulbs [at the moment, equivalent of 200watts, using four 18watt bulbs available in hardware stores], some flat white paint [I hear mylar and reflective materials tend to burn leaves by acting like concave mirrors in focusing light...], potting mix and seeds, now. :cool:

[Garden Knowm]

very cool max blast... if you are not taking clones.. you should flower now.... she will double and maybe triple in size which is already to big for a 70watt HPS..

I also really liked the bucket!!! good mood lighting!

[Max Blast]

First off, I am highly honored anytime GK sends a compliment my way as I am totally new to indoor growing.

The setup actually worked out OK for a small hobby grow I think. Total space was less than 1 sq ft of floor space and only 24 inches of vertical hieght. (top of the bucket)

Yes it was an interesting mood light and being in the closet I was able to close the doors when necessary. I stayed with the 42w cfl for the entire grow. Yes it was slow growing and yes the yield was small but it did work and several of my friends were knocked silly by the smoke that resulted. I estimate I got about a little less than a quarter oz from the grow but as I stated yield was not the objective, the learning process was.

I did not go with the vert scrog but did go with the screen method seen in the photos. I probably should have flowered a lot longer (only 8 weeks) for more yield but I just could not wait any longer. BTW the smell was absolutely monstrous for only one plant. (no odor control used)

last pic is just before harvesting

Max Blast

[stickygreenlightsabr]

Awesome job. The tiny buds look so cool.

[Max Blast]

Thanks Sticky, I mainly did it to see just how a minimalistic approach would work.

Total costs for the setup was less than $25US including everything except the seed itself.

One plastic paint bucket at $4
One 8" plastic pot and tray at about $4
One 42watt CFL at about $10
One plain old light socket about $3
One used extension cord (laying around the garage)
Some MG soil mix and some MG houseplant food (leftover stuff I had around)
Some bricks used for spacing up the bucket when it needed to raise up for plant growth. (had those laying around in the back yard)

No fans, No timers, No odor control, No CO2, No special stuff of any kind. I did not even check the PH of the tap water I used.

Having said all that, my next grow will be in a cabinet of about 3.75 sq ft floor space and about 30 inches tall. I'll still scrog (using 4 plants) to keep the vertical hieght controlled. And, most importantly, I'll use a 250watt HPS for flowering! The vegging will be under CFLs because I can get them real close to the plants to control vertical size without burning or heat problems. I'll also build a fan powered carbon scrubber for the odor, it will be outside the box dimensions. And I'll be using Shultz ferts this time out of respect for Zandor's advice. Still a soil grow for simplicity sake. And I'll use a timer this time for convenience sake.

regards,
Max Blast

[Newgodsgrace]

Max Blast's lighting setup sounds like its going to work, with what lumen hes getting. a 3" Ballests Bulb isnt what I want thank is good lighting I using a 500w light does it need to be water, fertalized with nutrines, Potassuim, etc. or lots of watering? 24/7 everyday to my seedingling embryo?

I need help with my plant growth.


Yes Max blast those lights are florescent so they do
work and provide some food for the plants.
The only downfall is you have to use more than one
of these lights in your garden, due to the fact they
they are small lumens, hope this helps, peace.
:nova:

[Max Blast]

Just a quick note regarding CFL use.

I re-vegged the one plant I have (after harvest) and still used the bucket/CFL setup I used for the entire grow. I am getting great new activity from the tiny little budsites that were left on the plant (too small for harvesting)

I have taken some clones and put them into a humidity dome setup with a weak light above them 24/7. On day 3 of rooting and they look OK for now. My teacher says to leave them alone for 5 days at least. This is all new to me except for the research I have done here on these boards.

I am using rockwool and a drain-to-waste type of setup. CFL for clones, MH for veg, HPS for flowering. Still a micro grow and due to vertical space limitations I will go with either SOG or SCROG (I was not very good at training in my last SCROG) leaning towards SOG very quick grow as I now have access to plenty of clones for my use.

BTW .. I consider myself very fortunate that I have stumbled into having the Bubba-Kush genetics. I got them by accident from a single hermie seed from my "big-grower" friend. Came in an eighth oz bud from his "secondary grow site". I am doing everything I can to hold on to these genetics as I have no other source for them and am reluctant to buy via the internet.

I will start a new grow thread soon for this grow to help others as I was helped. Please do not look to me as a great source of knowledge but instead as an example of how a total nube can actually succeed at this.

regards, Max Blast