mixing spectrums?

[fluid69]

quick question about CFL lights. I know 6500k for veg 2700k for flower, but I see alot of logs with mixed spectrums. is this better than just switching bulbs? I've got plenty of both spectrums, I just want to know what is best for the plants.

fluid69 Reviewed by fluid69 on 05-27-2009. mixing spectrums? quick question about CFL lights. I know 6500k for veg 2700k for flower, but I see alot of logs with mixed spectrums. is this better than just switching bulbs? I've got plenty of both spectrums, I just want to know what is best for the plants. Rating: 5

[the image reaper]

during vegetative stage, the type of light doesn't matter as much ... the typical 'vegging-lamp', with 'cool/blue' spectrum, produces less stem-stretch ... but, that depends on the wattage/lumens, too ... my 400 HPS vegged just fine, no significant stretch, at all ... but, during the more critical flowering phase, the 'warm/red' spectrum is much more recommended ... it mimicks the Autumn sun, setting lower on the horizon, etc. ... I grew a couple crops with HPS (red) from start to finish, worked out just fine ... I also owned a $90 'full-spectrum' growlamp, that wasn't visibly any better, than a generic $12 HPS bulb ... :smokin:

[FourTwenty4Life]

Reaper knows his stuff for sure. I mixed some CFL spectrums with a 400w MH conversion bulb during veg stage and ended with just HPS. The results were just fine considering a 65 day seed to harvest AF white dwarf is drying already. So veg stage seems less important, flower stage I'd say spectrums mean a lot more.

[fluid69]

thanks for responding reaper. so far I've kept them seperate, and the ladies are really happy. I just want the best yield I can get with cfl's. eventually I will get a HPS either a 250 or 400. but for now I'm just getting my feel for indoors. I've done some outdoor grows in the past, and never considered an indoor grow till I saw this site.

[the image reaper]

nice cola, there, 420 :thumbsup:

[fluid69]

thanks 420! I kept them on 10 6500k cfls for 4 weeks of veg, and they've been on 10 2700k cfls for 3 weeks of 12/12 now. so far, I'm thrilled to death.

[fluid69]

hey guy's, another quick question. a buddy of mine has some t-12 fluoro's he's wanting to use in his grow. I looked up the bulbs, and they have a 4200K color temp. I know some MH bulbs have the same temp, so would these be good for flower or veg? Or could he use them the whole grow? He's going to be using mainly CFL's, but thought these could help. How should I recommend to use these?

[the image reaper]

I used fluorescent tubes for many years, used the typical 'cool-white', too, not knowing any better ... the plants still grew OK, but, again, the warm, red spectrum is best, for flowering ... GE calls their warm, red spectrum tubes , the 'Kitchen & Bath' version ... as far as fluorescent lighting goes, I much prefer the tubes, over the CFL bulbs ... I always used the plain T10, or T12, the added lumens of the more expensive T5, just didn't compare for me, 'dollar-per-lumens' ... been a long time since I compared lumens/prices, the situation may have changed by now ... :smokin:

[fluid69]

he had some bulbs left over from something else. so you think they'd be ok for veg and not for flower?

[Dutch Pimp]

he had some bulbs left over from something else. so you think they'd be ok for veg and not for flower?

you will get less stretch, during the first 3 weeks, with 6500k...and T-12 floro tubes are about useless after that...IMO.