Quote Originally Posted by BuddyBea
Thanks for the info Jon! I guess I'm doing okay for now - despite how much I think about it repeativly.

I did see one CFL (in the store) which was higher output than what I bought. It has a built in sensor for auto-on/off. I was thinking maybe you can fool the sensor by getting them to turn on and then if the lights in your garden never go out then the sensors wouldn't pay any role. I didn't want to waste the money though.

On a second note, you mentioned your 55W'ers (and I read your logs). I went and looked those up on 1000Bulbs. Do you know they have 105W CFL's now too in 6500K? So at 55W I would need 1 for about every sq. foot, but at 105W I'd really only need one bulb per 1-1.5 sq foot. So for every few sq feet I'd be saving a bulb/socket, etc. Throw in a couple 26W at the end for giggles and I think I would get a nice sun tan off of that setup. Does this sound logical? Those 105 watter's are quite expensive though and I'm fine with buying a small T5 setup. CFL is just the easiest to put together at the moment since I already have access to a load of high quality (bag) seed's and I'd like to start having some "fun".

Last night I took an old tv shelf. Roughly it's about 2.5 feet wide, 2 feet deep and 3 feet tall. I guess I should have measured it. :P Anyways, I took out all of the guts so it was just a shell, I painted the inside white and added a solid plywood door on the front. It took roughly an hour and I think this should buy me another month to get a better set up. It also beats the heck out of my open top white vinyl "bin" thingy. Word to the wise folks, don't get married - then you have to waste time making the crappy white bin while you convince your wife to let your hack up the old tv shelf.

Off to get a few more lights this morning. 3 should be good for now correct? That enclosure is less than 5 square, but the plants are in 8 or 10oz cups so they are sitting in less than a one square area. Bulbs aren't the issue, I am going to get a bunch - but I know the little mom and pop store I'm going to only has a couple bulb holders left.

Thanks again Jon.
Always willing to help. I do know of the larger lights out there but I prefer to stay a little smaller so I can put the lights in tighter spots. The only disadvantage I've seen when using CFL's is they take a little longer (About 2-3weeks longer in veg and 1-2weeks longer in flower) but that is for my particular grow too. There is an upside though to taking longer. CFL's are able to be put very close to the plants which encourages growth not to stretch and helps the plants to really fill out nicely. The flowers are just as good, if not better in some cases up against HID lighting. Being that you are fairly new to growing, you will find that patience is the key to a strong grow. After that comes trial-n-error. Once you feel that you have your grow environment and technique under control, you will then seek different ways to produce more and faster, alot of people do and it can be fun trying new ways to grow. Keep us updated.