complete beginner..PLZ HELP!!

[growdatpurp]

hi i am a complete beginner at growing. i am planning to go to home depot and buy some wood and build my own closet. then i am planning to buy cfls and a timer. i am also planning to go to the cannabis club and buy a plant that has already sprouted ( about 2-3 inches above dirt ). then i am planning to just bring it home, put it in my closet then grow it. i am planning to do about 2 of these. what do you guys think?

[halospaceboy]

same as me with closet cfls and timer u mentiond cannabis club also great place. cfls as close without burning witch is very close timer on 18 light and 6 dark seal all gaps in closet no light leaks watch those babys grow. i presume plants will be female?

[growdatpurp]

cfls as close without burning witch is very close timer on 18 light and 6 dark

sorry i didn't understand that..can you explain it to me?

oh and i was wondering. how many cfls do you think i would need per plant?

[Pezzo]

cannabis club? whats that.

[Volker]

sorry i didn't understand that..can you explain it to me?
This is how I have the CFT (27W 6500K) on my Wheelchair Project (http://www.yahooka.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116629). The exact same way its sitting in the closet on the shelf under the Tubgirls (http://www.yahooka.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115842), with the aquarium hood sitting directly on the bucket. The plant is less than 1" tall, and will be 2 weeks on 12/17, and top is currently about 2mm-7mm from tube (less than 0.25"), depending on where on which leaf you measure.

LOL! Try setting a glowing HPS on the carpet like I did with the CFT in the 2nd pic! I dare ya! (falls over laughing)

How close is that? This close.

[growdatpurp]

so how many cfls do you guys think i need per plant?

[bejay]

while you can probably start out with just 1cfl for each plant if you are going to flower with cfls would plan on adding alot more and end up with 3-4 per plant. or you could just go buy a small hps like a security light and only need one light.
depending on what size closet you are building you should probably expect to have heat problems and install a small exhuast fan and intake.

[Volker]

so how many cfls do you guys think i need per plant?min 1/plant. Here's how I have it im my grow closet. You can see the difference between 2700K (red) & 6500K (blue) spectra in the 2nd shot. I have it mostly red cuz im about to start budding, but earlier in the grow it was mostly blue.

4 x 42W 2700K
2 x 27W 2700K
1 x 27W 6500K

is whats in now for rest of grow.

The top shelf grow is the one I showed above as the distance example.

[kindprincess]

check out kp's cannabis college in the basic growing forum...

love, kp:p

[halospaceboy]

i had two cfls per plant and i think i could have done with more

[bud luv]

go HPS, it's worth it in the long run.

[growdatpurp]

i cant got hps because i am only trying out 1-2 plants, and also im kinda broke. i already have a brand new pack of 4 cfls from a friend. it is energy saving ECObulbs i think. it has 1600 lumens and 23 watts per bulb. do you guys think that is good?

[kindprincess]

did you read my guide?

[growdatpurp]

yeah some of it...do you think thats good though?

[Abattoir Dream]

23 watts per bulb isnt really satisfactory, you might need a few bulbs per plant, and make sure they are as close as possible, or you will lose vital lumens ;) - good luck

[kindprincess]

i used two double 48" flouro's and 16 cfl's for most of a grow, half the yeild of hps....

but, it can be done;)

[invision]

you may want to invest into the big CFLs that are 42W each that way you need less of them, a small 150watt hps system can be had if you wire it yourself for 30.00

[growdatpurp]

how much watts should be used on the plant? i have 23w cfls so should i use 4 of that on one plant? or should i use more? it is actually 100w but only 23w is used.

[growdatpurp]

oh and i am also thinking about getting 4 55w cfls with 3600 lumens each, so thats 14400 lumens total, and i plan to use it on all on one plant. do you guys think thats a good idea?

[Volker]

oh and i am also thinking about getting 4 55w cfls with 3600 lumens each, so thats 14400 lumens total, and i plan to use it on all on one plant. do you guys think thats a good idea?If the spectrum is right (daylight, stark white, or warm white), it's a good idea. If the spectrum is wrong (cool white), it's a waste of money.

Check the spectrum of the bulb, and refer to this spectra chart (http://www.yahooka.com/forum/showpost.php?p=444409&postcount=3).

[growdatpurp]

http://cgi.ebay.com/55W-PHOTO-LIGHTS-5000K-COMPACT-FLUORESCENT-LIGHT-BULBS_W0QQitemZ300061512932QQihZ020QQcategoryZ3860 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem thats what I'm looking at. im pretty sure its daylight.

[Volker]

http://cgi.ebay.com/55W-PHOTO-LIGHTS-5000K-COMPACT-FLUORESCENT-LIGHT-BULBS_W0QQitemZ300061512932QQihZ020QQcategoryZ3860 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem thats what I'm looking at. im pretty sure its daylight.Says right in the description: 55W PHOTO LIGHTS 5000K COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS

If you check the spectrum chart, you'll see that at 5000K you get just about the LOWEST usage of light.

So, bad idea.

[growdatpurp]

then how many k should i have? what brand of light? can you guys show me a link for an example? sorry if im annoying you guys but im a noob. lol

[growdatpurp]

here's another one. http://item.express.ebay.com/SAD-Full-Spectrum-Compact-Fluorescent-Bulb-200-Watt_W0QQitemZ140010285376QQihZ004QQtrZexpQQcmdZEx pressItem 200w ( 42w used ). it has 3000 lumens and 5500 degree Kelvin, and i do believe that 5500k is the highest light absorption on the spectra chart, so this should be good right?

[Volker]

here's another one. http://item.express.ebay.com/SAD-Full-Spectrum-Compact-Fluorescent-Bulb-200-Watt_W0QQitemZ140010285376QQihZ004QQtrZexpQQcmdZEx pressItem 200w ( 42w used ). it has 3000 lumens and 5500 degree Kelvin, and i do believe that 5500k is the highest light absorption on the spectra chart, so this should be good right?That one will work! 5500K (stark white) is an excellent spectrum in flouros, and if I can find 'em, I prefer 'em over the 6500K. It's resold by agri-sun, and is a good grow light.

These same type bulbs (42W twistys) are avail in 2700K at Home Depot, Lowes, Save-On, etc. Philips Marathon brand. Usually run about $12CAN/bulb. Which is about 1/2 of what's advertised for that one. You can get 2! Green packaging is 2700K, blue packaging is 6500K. (For Philips bulbs)

You can use 2700K for veg, too. No harm.