CFL's

I am new to growing. Do you think that 8 45watt CFL's would be adequate at such a distance in this room? They are prolly 3 1/2 or 4ft from the plants. the box is 4ft x 4ft and it is 8ft tall, the top 2ft having no reflective lining. The back plant wilted on me today, after accidentally snapping the branch. The 4 to the left were started from seedlings. The middle one's sat outside for about 2 weeks collecting rainwater.That's why they are so much bigger than the one's to the left. I tried to bend them a little to get undergrowth. I had to trim the lower branches due to decaying leaves. These were some seeds I got from a sack, which was at poor quality. More of a test grow. The two on the right are White Rhino clones. They look very sickly, because it has been hot and I am a budget grower.

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They look very sickly, because it has been hot and I am a budget grower.

Well, you seem to know the issue. They need air. The lamps should be A LOT CLOSER, under 12". Good luck on your test grow. That is a good idea rather than spending too much money on a grow that won't give a good RFI.

Look better?

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8, 45watt CFL's thats a ton of light, prob 2600-3000k lumen each. so thats like around 20k lumen much similar to an HPS output. I'm running around 25,000 lumen (light output) with 14/ 26w bulbs
the 4 pod cluster that you have them in, I would'nt put them any closer than 24-35 inches.
If you want them closer you should spread them out more rather than a 4 bulb cluster, you can get a Y connecter for $1.25 at ur hardware store to extend the bulbs away from each other. Also CFL's emit more light from the sides, rather than the bottoms, so you should goto your local food store and hop down the baking isle and grab a couple alluminium cake sheet pans to use as reflectors,
the connector will also tilt them a little more and emit more light especially with a reflector.


or.. use lower wattage bulbs if you want them closer.
also a suggestion, is. your pots are too big at the stage they are in. your little square pot "Guy" he is rocking out. use that as an example. he is also the furthest away from the lights & in the smallest pot.

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Originally Posted by growdemon

8, 45watt CFL's thats a ton of light, prob 2600-3000k lumen each. so thats like around 20k lumen much similar to an HPS output. I'm running around 25,000 lumen (light output) with 14/ 26w bulbs
the 4 pod cluster that you have them in, I would'nt put them any closer than 24-35 inches.
If you want them closer you should spread them out more rather than a 4 bulb cluster, you can get a Y connecter for $1.25 at ur hardware store to extend the bulbs away from each other. Also CFL's emit more light from the sides, rather than the bottoms, so you should goto your local food store and hop down the baking isle and grab a couple alluminium cake sheet pans to use as reflectors,
the connector will also tilt them a little more and emit more light especially with a reflector.


or.. use lower wattage bulbs if you want them closer.
also a suggestion, is. your pots are too big at the stage they are in. your little square pot "Guy" he is rocking out. use that as an example. he is also the furthest away from the lights & in the smallest pot.

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You can spot a male just by looking at the leaves?

I agree with growdemon that the lamp arrangement could be a lot better. How about the lamps arranged with the sides of the lamp facing the plants either by putting each lamp vertical to the side of the plants or over the top but positioned horizontally with a reflector of sorts. A flat white surface makes a great reflector. A fan is a must. Try and keep the temperatures under 80ºF day time and above 65ºF at night. With the right nutrition you should be able to pull a good yield with that space and lighting.

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Originally Posted by Shovelhandle

I agree with growdemon that the lamp arrangement could be a lot better. How about the lamps arranged with the sides of the lamp facing the plants either by putting each lamp vertical to the side of the plants or over the top but positioned horizontally with a reflector of sorts. A flat white surface makes a great reflector. A fan is a must. Try and keep the temperatures under 80ºF day time and above 65ºF at night. With the right nutrition you should be able to pull a good yield with that space and lighting.

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I'll make the adjustments and post pics. I got hoods for the lights, they used to be photo lights. I took the hoods off because they seemed to be attracting a lot of heat. I'll try the vertical lamp placement. I have a osculating fan sitting 2 ft from the plants on 'low' setting and a big fan blowing in fresh air.

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As the resident CFL expert, I have to chime in here.

A) Don't use a reflector, use a reflector type background, such as white paint or mylar - Do NOT use a wing reflector, make shift wing reflector, or anything metal that holds heat. You also shouldn't use the photography reflectors for CFL, you diffuse your light too much with those. Using a metal reflector holds heat, CFL's are REALLY excellent when it comes to heat management, adding anything metal into that mix is a bad choice. Just use paint or mylar.

B) 2-6" is the best distance from the plant to the light using CFL's - Anything over 6" and your wasting too many lumens for no reason.

C) Mounting your lights horizontally instead of vertically spreads your lumens further. Check out my original light palate in my CFL log, and you'll see what I'm talking about. I used 15 40 watt lights for a 600w grow box that put out 2600 watts worth of lights. With just a 6" inside fan, and a proper vent fan, my temps were a CONSTANT 72 degrees (perfect for growing) - So if your having heat issues, spend 20 minutes to fix it, that's all it takes.

D) Vertical placement is only good in a small box for vegging moms (in my opinion), but that's exactly how I keep my moms. My moms are kept in a 2x4x4 with only 3 vertical 23 watt CFL's, and it keeps 6 moms in 3 gallon buckets very very happy. I constantly have to get in there and get rid of excess, or cut clones for sale just to keep the moms from turning into monster bushes! But for growing out to flower, use them horizontally, that way the light doesn't focus on 1 area as with vertical placement. (That's why my moms shoot out random sprouts)


To create a good lightbar for CFL's, not much is required - a 2x4" board that spans your grow box, a few O ring screws, some standard sockets, and some wiring, it will take about 30 minutes to wire all 8 lights, but in the end, you'll have a professional adjustable CFL setup - Don't use a metal base, CFL is very good on heat, and giving it anything to transfer heat to, is a very bad idea...

Anyway, good luck!

very good advice from low rdr as well.
What I do is I have some cardboard sheets cut 2' x 4' painted flat white and I use them to contain the light onto the plants until they fill the grow area. Lighting a 4' x 4' space when the li'l plants can be cuddled in together in a 2 x 2 space with the reflector boards will make the most of your lighting dollar. I also use some reflector sheets over the top as well. It's cheap, it works.