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I recently found out about compact fluorescent growing. I had a few questions if anyone could help me out :rastasmoke:
At the moment I have two 42watts with 2700 lumens each in homemade growbox, and was wondering when it would be necessary to get a few more. The box is around 3 feet tall and about 1 x 1.7 feet.
Also my plants are about 4 days old and I wanted some opinions on how they look.
Looking very sexy :)
i think the conventional wisdom is 2500 lumens sq/ft minimum for a full plant, so you'll probably be fine for the next couple of weeks with what you have- once they hit 6-8 inches tall, you'll want to switch for sure.
The strain is Super Silver Haze. How many more lights do you think I should add when they are bigger? Think I could get away with 4 more, so I would end up with six 42watt CFL's
As far as I know, higher Kelvins is better for Veg, Lower Kelvins better for flower. Different light spectrum's. Either way, your plants will grow, just not to the potential especially using CFLs.
I could be wrong about the Kelvins, so don't quote me on it, but I believe I am right. But lumens isn't the only important thing when using CFL's. I have a CFL grow going right now and they seem to like my higher kelvin rating (6500k). Your cfls should be 2 or so inches away from your plant, literally.
Pictures of your grow box would help as well to determine how effective your 2 42watters are. As well as pictures, one would probably say your plants are far too deep in the cups too. Although your probably going to transplant sometime to larger pots, I hope, you should let the soil sit for a day or 2 to let it settle down, or water it thoroughly to allow the soil to settle down. Before you add the seeds or plants, once it is settled, add more soil so the top of the soil is much closer to the top of the rim of the container.
The soil seemed to go down a bit. It was fairly close to the rim, but I suppose it could have been loose when i planted the seed.
Here is a picture of the space I am working with at the moment. I am in the process of making a better looking box for the flowering.
Well, the one CFL is correct (on its side) but the other one hanging is wrong, well, not as efficient. CFL's emit most of its light from the side so the one hanging isn't as efficient then the one on its side. Looks like your playing checkers with these babies!!! haha.
BUT, either those are a higher kelvin rating bulbs or an all spectrum bulb, which is what you want for Veg, although I could be wrong, do some research on it, I have found conflicting results on which Kelvin rating is better but for the most part it looks like you have it right.
Whats your kelvin rating? I would guess in the 4-6500k range.
Alright, well I will try and figure out a way to make the one that is hanging sit like the other one. Hahaha, the checker board was to insure that the bottom was flat. The box I was working with wasn't very flat. But as for Kelvin rating, I looked online and couldn't find a thing. The boxes they came in only had watts and lumen output. I couldn't find a single thing on if it was 6500k or 2700k. I know the bulbs have 2700 lumens, that has nothing to do with 2700k, right?
If your hanging the one bulb by its cord because you are running out of room, you can go to lowes or HD, they sell stand alone light bulb sockets. And might allow you to mount that second bulb on its side like the other one. ALSO, as the plants grow, will you be able to adjust the lights heights?
I can raise both very easily. I was thinking within the next couple weeks to look for an adapter that allows you to plug in two CFL's into one socket.
yeah lumens and Kelvins are different things. Lumens from my knowledge is the amount of light output for the bulb and Kelvins is the light spectrum or color of light.
Yeah, Lowes or HD or any hardware store or lighting store would have Y adapters for sockets.
I think this is pretty much what they are
TCP Light Bulb 28942 - 28942 27K 42W 10M SPRINGLAMP - 42 watt 120 volt Medium Base 2,700K SpringLamp Compact Fluorescent TCP Light Bulb at ServiceLighting.com
which on there it says they are 2700k
Well, CFL's are CFL's, light is light, no matter what Kelvin rating you have they will grow weed, but one doe sit better than the other. From my knowledge, until someone steers me another way, the lower Kelvin rating such as 2700K is for flowering. The higher kelvin rating such as 6500k is for Veg.
This is my setup, all homemade. 10 cfls. 27watters. I have since been using the Daylight bulbs 6500K for Veg and my week old babies seem to enjoy it.
Nice setup :jointsmile:
how many plants do you have on Veg right now?
5 plants. When I get the right pots, Should be able to fit 8 8inch pots in there. Most likely not enough light for 8 plants, but am growing lowryder2 and I might modify it to get some cfls on the side of the tub. Most likely upgrade the 27watter to 42watters like you, but will have heat problems then, which will require more modification. GRRRR
:D
how many weeks are you in so far? If you can post some pictures of your plants, I'm curious.
AND you def. could add a couple more cfls to your room. More light usually doesn't hurt, just make sure they aren't too close to the plants. I keep mine 2 or so inches away from the top of the plants.
Yeah, I should be getting a few of those Y socket adapters and was thinking four 42watt CFL's.
Do you think that would be good for 2-3 plants?
Aight, heres the 5 plants, pic1 is everything thats under my tub.
pic 2 is the 7day old baby. A little blurry but the best I can do with this shit camera.
Like I said more light is better, but maybe you could have maybe 4 42watters on top and a couple 27watter on the side or something.
I made the mistake just like you did for not putting enough soil in, but you live and you learn, I know what to do now.
Yeah, I'm using a cellphone camera at the moment, so mine isn't much better. But it doesn't look like your plants are much farther ahead of mine. Do you have a grow journal so I can stay updated :D
Yeah, ill be getting a few more CFL's very very soon. I'll update on here when possible.
No, I haven't created a log yet. I wanted to get about a month in and be certain I will succeed in growing first before I showed the women off. Some of mine were planted at different times like the ones in the cup, they are only about 4 days old or so. The one in the middle is 7 days, and one on the right is 7 days (had a problem getting a thin layer of seed coat off its cotyledons. So, except for the middle one, the majority of mine had trouble with its seeds.....stunting its growth a tad bit.
I've made sure to keep the lights as close as possible to avoid stretching.
Well I wish the best of luck to you and to see yours flower into beautiful buds :thumbsup:
I'll keep ya updated if something happens, so you can possibly avoid the same problem if I have any. By the way, I'm using Fox Farms Ocean forest 60-70% and 30-40% perlite. Just a FYI, watering with 6.3-7.0ph water, and NO nuts. I want to learn how to grow without nuts first. Soil contains some bat guano and shit like that so I should be all right. Adios amigos.
I'm using the same soil, I got it from a friend.
well I'm off to sleep. Take care, and I will see you around :rasta:
Four of the 40 watt CFLs is probably going to be decent for two plants. It depends on how big your plants are when you go into flower. If you flower at 3-4 weeks with an 8" plant, you plant won't take up much space...probably less than 1 sq. ft. and plant that's 2 feet tall If you flower at 5 weeks with a 11-13" plant, you'll probably end up with a plant that takes up about 1.25 sq. ft. If you flower for six weeks or more, you could end up with a huge plant.
It's a big deal because what light is about is how much is striking the area you are growing in. More room = More lights. When you're in seedling and early veg., the plants are small and don't take up much space. I veg two plants under a 10" reflector with 2 26w 6500k bulbs. That's good for the first couple of weeks. (Yes, the 6500k is bettyer if veg; "warm white"--around 2700-3000k--is better for flowering.)
But you really should have 4500-5000 lumens per sq. ft. to get a decent result. So if you've got 2 plants that will take up about 2.3 to 2.5 sq ft. (which is flowering when they get to around 12" which is what I do), you'll need 10,000 to 12,000 lumens. A 40 watt CFL puts out about 2600 lumens, so you're in the ballpark with four of them for two plants. Do everything you can to maximize your light, too--mylar or flat white walls.
Hey guys! Great reading your grow so far, I am embarking on my first real indoor grow right now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roughrider
Is 10,000 lumens of CLF's really enough to flower 2 plants? That is great news for me, as I am attempting to revive and flower only 1 plant, but have 9,000 lumens of CLF. I am using a large bucket with a 10 in diameter pot inside the bucket, with a car's dashboard reflector surrounding it for reflective purposes. I don't really have a top to the bucket, but multiple light fixtures with reflectors cover the top fairly well as they are also supplying light downward.
Definitely plan on following this as it looks like your methods are similar to mine, and you guys arn't talking way over my head, like some of the more advanced grows here.
My grow is http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-gr...ml#post1758574
If the link does not work, it is under indoor growing, entitled "closet set-up possible without box?" But I do have a box/bucket now :)[/I][/I]
thnx, looking forward to reading more, and peace
Not that I wanna slam on you, but I don't agree with you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Balkey
Have you ever seen my yeilds with CFLs? There pretty dang decent. And I believe I'm pretty close to the max potiential ot the particular strain.
I still believe Light is a big part of reaching MAX Potientia, l but Ventilation, Nutrients and proper care are what really makes a plant meet its potiential.
I hate to see a CFL basher.. Or a CFL hater.... (not tyhat you are) It just gets people discourged. I used to be discourged when I would look at HID's vs. CFL but now after I have really mastered my Tecniques, (feeding, ventaliation, Love, Bugs, Scheduals etc) I have pulled better yeilds than my firneds growing the same strains with HIDS.
just had to make sure the CFLer's don't get discouraged.
kd
There are two problems with CFLs, one of which can be dealt with and the other which is kind of built in (but has a good side as well). One problem is that CFLs don't give you as much canopy penetration. When you've got a lot of light emanating from one small source (like a HID light), you get better penetration. You can get around this by having a couple of lights below the canopy. One idea I'm going to try in a few months is to have a pair of 2 foot, 2 bulb T5 ballasts running down from the top of my cabinet. You can get them for $20 as Home Depot, and two bulbs on each side will put out 4,000 lumens per side. Enough of that will go underneath to make up for what you lose in penetration with CFLs.
The other problem is that CFLs aren't as efficient as HID (HPS or MH) lights. A 250 watt HPS puts our around 25,000 lumens...100 lumens per watt. CFLs, at their best, are more like 65 to 70 lumens per watt. So if you have 10 of the 26 watt, 1750 lumen CFLs, you're pulling 260 watts...but only producing 17,500 lumens. To get as much light as an HPS or MH, you need more bulbs. There's no getting around that.
But, because CFLs generate light over a larger area--which is why they don't penetrate as well--they also are easier to cool (they have more bulb area for heat dissipation). So cooling is less of a hassle with CFLs...although if you've got a bunch of them, they still generate some heat.
I think other adivce here is right; the smart thing to do is maximize your light and grow variables. Use reflectors on your light...don't let anything get lost. Make sure you've got good reflective surfaces in your grow area. Good ventilation. Flush every few weeks. Don't over or underwater. It sounds simple, it is simple...but you want to make it easy on yourself as possible. And, yes, you can take two (small) plants through flower with 10,000 lumens. For a reasonable sized plant, I'd go 2,000-3,000 more, though. 13,000 lumens is going to be more or less 200 watts of CFLs. That's enough to do quite well. Check out some of the Rubbermaid grows and see how they did.
Melodious Fellow...you may be dealing with heat, although I have to say that I keep my CFLs 3" or less from my plans and don't get much if any heat issues. Your plants may just have been too stretched...if you were in an area where there was a short day period, the plant will have stretched for every bit of light it could get. It's hard going with a plant like you describe, since the stems are often too thin to support buds, and they are really spread out so you don't get much yield. There may be others that know something different, and it's hard to tell without photos, but that's my guess.
Good points in the post above...
Low heat is a great assest when your dealing with a BOX/Cabinet type space.
This grow that I have going currently One of my plants is right touching the lights. I don't wanna tie it or cut it so I just said fuk it lets see what happens. So far beside the odd Burnt tip The Bud production is much like the rest of the crop. Im really surprised so far.
However this is with a T5 bulb which isn't exactly a CFL but sitll similar I believe.
3 inches away from the light is a good rule to follow. And I find I actully do get better results when My plants are a alittle further away from the bulbs (even though supposedly the closer to the CFL the better or more lummes) but in my tight space somtimes I can't do that like this grow. So as of right now my plants sit about 1/2 Inch away from the bulbs and one touches.
kd
Not sure how I'm bashing CFLs, as if you saw my posts, you'd see my set up. I am USING 10 cfls. For a small grow box the most practical thing is CFLs, so I recommend it.
Also, if you didn't fragment my paragraph into one sentence, I was referring to the kelvin rating, not CFLs in general. Don't know if your high or what but please read more carefully before you respond with a rant. The "especially with CFL's" part was in my head a comparison between MH and HPS (more commonly used lightings for veg and flower), and how those 2 Kelvin ratings are drastically different in most cases.
kdspecial, By any chance could you post some pictures of your grow, or do you happen to have a grow journal?
Any light will grow weed, but how much do you want for your efforts? Most all the CFL lights you will find in stores are 2700K. These are reddish, and the second best wavelength for budding, and about half the price of bluish bulbs for vegging.
Ultimately you want a mix ratio of about 85/15% in both veg and bud, but that's just tweaking it a little and not necessary.
Vegging (blue):
first choice: 5700K
second choice: 6100K
Budding (red/orange):
first choice: 2500K
second choice: 2800K
These numbers give your plants a chance at peak chlorophyll activity. Until someone shows me a better way, this is how I will determine what K of light to buy. Also notice from the graph that numbers in between the first and second choices drastically cut down on chlorophyll activity.
I would not look for the bluish bulbs in your stores, unless you happen to have a light bulb store or a hydro shop close by. The best way to find the proper numbers for both veg and bud bulbs is by searching the internet. You can get some really powerful ones this way too, much bigger than in the stores.
Look on the manufacturers web site for their spec sheet and compare it to the model on the bulb, or call them. If it doesn't say anything on the package about daylight, or cool, or K, then it almost certainly is 2700K, the cheapest and most common.
Lots of good stuff here, i'll be keeping track of this for sure. I'm also working on a CFL project. :smokin:
:jumphappy:
Great info!!! Where were you when I was comparing 5500K with 6500k? No wonder my small plant grew so much with one 5500k CFL. Now, where to find 5700K and 2500K bulbs :D
Opie is my lover sometimes, other times hes just this short cute thing I like to look at.:stoned::stoned::stoned:
how are they lookin? made any changes in your box?
Give us an update Hateheaven!
:jointsmile:
Alright, I just hit 1 week. The smaller ones were planted a few days after each other. Also one of my lights burnt out somehow. I think because the light I was using had a dimmer and it said not to use with CFL's.