2700K GE Soft White CFLs for Flower?

[Horsefeathers]

The 2700K sounds right but I've read posts that said not to use soft whites.
I hope it's OK to use them because that's all I can get locally and they happen to be on sale. I can get six 100 watt equivalents for under $16.

[roadcam]

2700k is just fine ... 'warm white' designation is OK, you were told wrong ... go by the color temperature (2700k), not the manufacturers nickname ... :smokin:

[Horsefeathers]

Thanks road, the conflicting information that gets posted can be confusing.
I'll snatch up those soft whites and have
900 equivalent watts at 6500k
and 1000 watts equivalent at 2700k
for a total of 1900 equivalent watts total for flowering.

[klup]

yeah, i have some 2700k soft whites too. also, 6500k is best for veg

[JEFFAR420]

So you want more lights for vegging and less for flowering??

I was going to be putting 2 40 watts and one 25 watt Soft white CFL's through out my grow from veg to flower is this still okay, Im only growing one plant and the walls are all white.. Will this be enough for my full out grow?

[Horsefeathers]

So you want more lights for vegging and less for flowering??

I was going to be putting 2 40 watts and one 25 watt Soft white CFL's through out my grow from veg to flower is this still okay, Im only growing one plant and the walls are all white.. Will this be enough for my full out grow?

For vegging I'm using nine "GE Daylight 100 CFL" - 26watt / 100 watt equivalent - K / 1600 lumens per bulb - from WalMart. They were like $8 dollars for a three pack.

I'm going to use those and some 2700k soft whites while flowering.
I'll have 18 bulbs hanging from extension cords LOL by the time it's done
in a 2' by 5' closet.
1900 CFL equivalent watts output for just under 500 watts input.
You don't need that much to grow a plant though.
Here's links to threads dedicated to easy CFL grows.

http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=48343

http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=61768

[Horsefeathers]

For vegging I'm using nine "GE Daylight 100 CFL" - 26watt / 100 watt equivalent - K / 1600 lumens per bulb - from WalMart. They were like $8 dollars for a three pack.

That should have read "6500K / 1600 lumens per bulb"

[JEFFAR420]

I read in the bobbong's grow thread that the 2700 K lights wont work because its basically inbetween red and blue which the plants will not pick up.. All the CFL's i bought are in 2700 K... Does that mean im screwed, I have 2 42 watts and a 25 watt All soft white which he says not to use..

Edit : I dont mean to steal the thread, I just want to get to the bottom of this :) thanks

[Horsefeathers]

Something like 6500k bulbs are needed for vegging. BobBong used 6500k for his entire grow and got some pretty good buds. 2700k helps for flowering. Some use the 2700k and the 6500k together for flowering. Some use only 2700k for flowering to stretch the buds. Experiment and see what works for you.


From The Cannabis Bible by Greg Green:

CTT in Kelvin (K)/ Light Color/ Effect/

5000 to 8000/ Deep blue/ Encourages excellent leaf
and stem growth.

4000 to 5000 / Light blue/ Encourages good leaf and
stem growth.

4000/ Neutral white/ Promotes normal growth.

3700 to 4000/ Warm neutral/ Promotes rapid growth.

3000 to 37000/ Warmer yellow neutral/ Highly active
photosynthesis for all stages of growth.

1500 to 3000/ Hot orange or red/ Promotes flowering.

[jamstigator]

2700k is great for flowering. 6500k is great for vegging. The in-between kelvins (light spectrums), like 4100k, etc, are less good for either, but probably work pretty well if you're not going to be changing bulbs. At least I hope they do, because I just bought a couple of these to throw on a spare female Sativa-dominant plant I have had laying around since April or May:

http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=31681

BTW, just forget the 'equivalent watts' bullshit; that's purely a marketing thing, and has zero bearing on how the lights work with plants. It just confuses matters. All that plants care about are lumens and spectrum, and all your electric bill cares about are real watts. Unless you're growing humans, of course; they might care about equivalent watts I guess. ;)

[the image reaper]

jamstigator has it 100% correct about the marketing ploy in 'equivalent watts', means nothing ... :smokin:

[Horsefeathers]

The "equivalent watts" ratio comes from comparing the CFLs to standard incandescent bulbs. A '150 watt GE soft white incandescent' puts out the same amount of lumens as a '42 watt GE soft white CFL.'

They're cheap, easy, and they can provide results like these

http://boards.cannabis.com/showpost.php?p=670146&postcount=44

http://boards.cannabis.com/showpost.php?p=293896&postcount=104

which is what got me hooked. :rasta:

[jamstigator]

Heh, just got back from a CFL shopping spree at WalMart. I got 26w bulbs because they were $2.50 each (roughly), and the 42w ones were about $9.00 each, and I have two 105 (real) watt bulbs, huge ones, coming in the mail. Gonna throw about 418 watts of CFLs on this female Durban Poison x Skunk #1 I've had since April or May and see what happens. All I need it to yield is like half an ounce and I'll break even, but hopefully I can do better than that!

[Cornelius]

how much were those 105 watters?