CFL's ... how many ??

Yo.

Im just about to start my next grow. I have watched the HighTimes Ultimate Grow Guide just 2mins ago which inspired me and my ideas :rasta:

I have decided to grow indoors under CFL's agaiin. This time i only have the side loft (its like an attick, but on the top floor left and right of the house where the roof is at its diagonal point)

I have limited space which is why i am going to use an Indica strain from Nirvana called TOP 44. I read that this is an easy to grow, very low, stress free indoor plant which can cope with lack of humidity and warmth.

My idea is to plant all 10 seeds in organic unmixed soil with added special stones to add easy oxygen and water flow. I will put these seeds for seedling stage in a small pot. I plan to transplant 2-3 times.

After germination i expect about 7-8 to pop up. After a week of 18/6 i will transplant them into a 1 gallon pot.

I will then vegitate for a further 3-4weeks LST (low stres training them) to grow them bushy and topping them 2days before flowering.

Here i will expect 3-4 females. I will sort them to gain 2 super females which i will focus light on to flower for as long as needed (expected flowering ime 8weeks).


Shit i just explained my hole grow :D :D...

So, how many CFL's coolwhites will i need for the vegitation growth, sort of ScroG, till preflowering to see males+females leaving me with 2-3 plants to keep in veg? how many watts even? note : i dont want to grow super tall plants as i only have like 3foot height


Also how many CFL's warmwhites will i need for flowering 2/3 super females.. im thinking of 1 on top, 2 on each side of each plant?

I have read soo many faq's and dvd's and online books, but non have actually answered my question exept how many watts per square foot.

Tomorrow i will measure my exact space and scan and upload a scetch.

I would highly apretiate some replies.:thumbsup:
THANKS:thumbsup:

200-300 w would be relly good. 100-200 w will be good to.

50watts a square foot is a basic rule and dont top your plants if your going to LST them topping creates stress and do not flower any plant two days after topping the plant needs time to heal.

how do u plan on LSTing them?
ideally u want 50w persquare foot...what size is ur growing space?
using any ferts?

"with added special stones to add easy oxygen and water flow" = perlite?

good luck btw :D

dood im doing nirvanas top 44 also

You just can't beat a good grow guide. Then use the forums, to fill in the blanks.

Ferts.. ye im going to use some. i will probably buy some at a hydro shop and let them recommend me something :)

My grow space is about.. 4-5 ft in height LOL :D

LSTing. i will put a nail/hole in the pot and use fine soft string to tigh them down. Im still researching LST.

Thanks for the tip about not topping them before flowering. Just on my LST vs Topping post 2 people said that wasa good idea.

so. 200-300 watts IDEAL 100-200 would be good aswell says olympos999.. what about flowering the 2 super females? how many watts warm white cf;'s will i need to get nice buds ? :)

Im thinking of making clones from the sper females, but i have nowhere to grow the clones unless i have them vegitating the same time as the super females and then flower them at the same time... is that good idea? cuz thats what Jorge Canves does on his dvd :P


Thanks for replies and would apretit for more :)

in all actuality, they say anything over 40w per sq. ft. is over kill, and your wasting energy = money. But I still do about 60-70w per sq. ft. but only during flowering. From my experiences it hasn't done anything in veg. but it makes a world of difference in flowering. You should roughly double the amount of light from veg to flower. I would say that 12 CFL's is the most you would need. Well actually I use a mixture of HID, CFLs and Flouro fixtures. But in all honesty, watts, lumens, lux its all an un-accurate way of measuring efficency and effectiveness, PAR is the way to go, its what the plant is really getting not what we see.

How many CFL's should you use? As many as you can afford, and have the space and amperage for. And for that amount you could probably use one HID light, which would produce a much higher yield.

Thanks smokey mcpot 05 and opie yutts.

I think I will use about 7 cfl's for the seedling and veg. Becuse during the veg i will actually loose about 4 plants because im only going to grow the strongest plants.

And for the flowering about 4-6 warm white cfl's cuz im only going to flower 2 super females.

For an idea how much space i have i drew some diagrams. now you wil see i am very limited.