Possible to use CFl on vegg and bud cycle?

[Monsurot]

Hey fellow growers Im just starting out and I was curious if it will be worth growing 2 plants from start to finish under 4 T12 40w cfl at 3150 lumens and 4100 kelvin each? ....I cant afford HPS or MH and I want to be able to harvest something decent.......thanx^^

Monsurot Reviewed by Monsurot on 11-15-2010. Possible to use CFl on vegg and bud cycle? Hey fellow growers Im just starting out and I was curious if it will be worth growing 2 plants from start to finish under 4 T12 40w cfl at 3150 lumens and 4100 kelvin each? ....I cant afford HPS or MH and I want to be able to harvest something decent.......thanx^^ Rating: 5

[bobjob4u]

yes you can. 6500k for veg. 3000k for flower check out the link below these cfl will boost your bud if you must use cfl.http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-gr...ster-cfls.html

[Monsurot]

Thanx for the feed back^^.....Well i went to one of the links you put up about the mega cfl's? and most of the comments on their were people saying the flouro tubes are better then CFL, and thats what im already using. idk im confused.

[StoneMeadow]

Hey fellow growers Im just starting out and I was curious if it will be worth growing 2 plants from start to finish under 4 T12 40w cfl at 3150 lumens and 4100 kelvin each? ....I cant afford HPS or MH and I want to be able to harvest something decent.......thanx^^

I can't find it right now, but I have read a thread that states that 3000 lumens per square foot is about the minimum one can use and expect to get a crop of bud. 4000 lumens per sq ft is better, and over 5000 is ideal. Two 2-bulb fluorescent fixtures running side-by-side are 4' long and about a foot wide. If they are right down almost in contact with the tops of the plants that's about 4 square feet. Four times 3150 lumens is 12,600 lumens, or about 3150 lumens per sq ft...right above the minimum.

On that basis, I would expect your plants to mature normally, but you may not get a very big crop because the kelvin is wrong. 4100 kelvin is neither ideal for veg (use 6500 kelvin for veg) nor for flowering (use 2700 or 3000 kelvin for flowering).

If you are on a super-tight budget, veg the plants with the 4100 kelvin bulbs you have, then swap in 4 40w 2700 or 3000 kelvin bulbs to finish the grow. There have been enough closet grows with minimal lighting that we know it should mature a crop for you.

[StoneMeadow]

Monsurot, can you clarify something? The thread title refers to CFLs, and you describe them in your first post as "...4 T12 40w cfl at 3150 lumens and 4100 kelvin..."

A T12 is not a CFL. Likewise, a CFL is not a T12.

Which are you using...T12s or CFLs?

[Monsurot]

I guess i screwd up alil,...i ment flouro tubes that are t12, 48 inch. their were a few 3000 kelvin t12's, so ill get those for the flowering.
Thanx stonemeadow ill give that a try^^

[Slevinkal]

I started with T12's and switched to T8's.

Some T12 fixtures will run T8 bulbs but IDK if their at full capacity or not.

Check the links in my sig to see my lights, the first grow is 18 days in flower now.

[jon420]

To be honest, I have seen great crops from both floro's and CFL's. I have seen the best come from a mixture of both though. The CFL's have an advantage over the floro tubes because they can be moved around to feed the desired light to particular areas.

I would stick with the floro tubes you have and add a few CFL's. They are pretty cheap and they really do work.

Floro's
Veg=6500k-daylight cooler
Flower=3000k-warmer

CFL's
Veg=6500k-daylight
Flower=2700k-soft white