Do cfl lights have to be close to the plants always?

[jiggsaw]

I have 12 26w 100w equivalent 6500k cfl's. I have them connected to y connectors on 2 power strips. They are hanging down really close , like 3 inches from my plants. Do they always have to be really close? My plant is so small right now it seems like only one light would work. The whole grow box is painted flat white until I buy some mylar. The box is like 2 feet deep 4feet wide and six feet tall.

jiggsaw Reviewed by jiggsaw on 11-20-2011. Do cfl lights have to be close to the plants always? I have 12 26w 100w equivalent 6500k cfl's. I have them connected to y connectors on 2 power strips. They are hanging down really close , like 3 inches from my plants. Do they always have to be really close? My plant is so small right now it seems like only one light would work. The whole grow box is painted flat white until I buy some mylar. The box is like 2 feet deep 4feet wide and six feet tall. Rating: 5

[bobjob4u]

Yes, put them as close as you can without touching leaves.They can burn the leaves if bulbs touch. Also when i am starting young plants out in my grow area . I use one of those Window blind thingy's you use for a car windshield( they are like a buck at the dollars store).I place it around the young plant .To keep light close to them and keep the intensity and lumens up. I just feel there is no sense lighting the complete grow room. I guess what i am saying is i try focus all the light just on the young plants. CFL are good for starting plants, they have low heat.As they get bigger you will need to add more, Then switch to the 2600k-3000k bulbs for flowering.To get great yield you will need many bulbs( depending on the number of plants you are growing) and keep them close. might want to look at getting small hps. I started out flowering with 70 watt hps and cfl 2600k. Had better results. Then i moved up to 150 watt hps mixed with cfl's,Even better results. I now use mostly hps, but still use cfl's for side lighting. Here is a link these are the best for flowing.They are big though like 10 inches long and 4 inches across. you can get them at lowes and home depot. I have used 4 along with my 6500k veg bulbs and flowered a plant just fine.
Shop Utilitech 300-Watt Equivalent Indoor/Outdoor Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb at Lowes.com

[RackitMan]

Here is my plant grown under a 23 watt CFL:
Attachment 280160

And here is my latest grown under a 3 watt LED:
Attachment 280161

The trick is not closeness or the number of bulbs, but in gathering and focusing the photons. Remember that light travels the entire distance of the universe.

[CanGroIt]

I have 12 26w 100w equivalent 6500k cfl's. I have them connected to y connectors on 2 power strips. They are hanging down really close , like 3 inches from my plants. Do they always have to be really close? My plant is so small right now it seems like only one light would work. The whole grow box is painted flat white until I buy some mylar. The box is like 2 feet deep 4feet wide and six feet tall.

You're better off with just the flat white paint.... The Mylar would be an extra unnecessary step....

6-8 inches is ok distance for a group of CFL's.... It's when you only have a couple that you want them really close....

CGI::::::

[bigsby]

Note 23w vs. 3w. I bet that little one would look awesome with 23w of LED! Also note that light diminishes exponentially the further it travels. Why? Because light does not travel linearly but in all directions at once. So double the distance of light to the plants is not 2x less light but the distance raised to the third... I think that is the equation...

[jiggsaw]

That's crazy 3w! I have just one growing now , I'm trying to get a white widow seed to bust it's been in a paper towel since thursday night I will probably add another seed. The one is growing pretty nice it's only like 1 week old . I'm going to grow all these with cfls I already bought all the wires and sockets and bulbs and junk. Next time I will use 400w hps and mh and compare. I spent allot of time going to all the lowe's and home depot's and walmarts to get everything I needed I went to 5 stores looking for high output 6500k. I could barely find a 6500k I got these at walmart for 9 bux for two! I found some high output 2700k's for flower though. I found a HUGE bulb at home depot it might be too big but it's 4200 lumens by itself 2700k it cost 16 dollars, it fits a standard light socket too. I found a 55w 2700k at walmart for like 10 dollars a bulb too. I bought 4 of those and 8 26w ones for flower. I didn't buy that big one but I still might.

[RackitMan]

Note 23w vs. 3w. I bet that little one would look awesome with 23w of LED! Also note that light diminishes exponentially the further it travels. Why? Because light does not travel linearly but in all directions at once. So double the distance of light to the plants is not 2x less light but the distance raised to the third... I think that is the equation...

That is only true with a point or 360 degree light source not all light sources.

[RackitMan]

That's crazy 3w! I have just one growing now , I'm trying to get a white widow seed to bust it's been in a paper towel since thursday night I will probably add another seed. The one is growing pretty nice it's only like 1 week old . I'm going to grow all these with cfls I already bought all the wires and sockets and bulbs and junk. Next time I will use 400w hps and mh and compare. I spent allot of time going to all the lowe's and home depot's and walmarts to get everything I needed I went to 5 stores looking for high output 6500k. I could barely find a 6500k I got these at walmart for 9 bux for two! I found some high output 2700k's for flower though. I found a HUGE bulb at home depot it might be too big but it's 4200 lumens by itself 2700k it cost 16 dollars, it fits a standard light socket too. I found a 55w 2700k at walmart for like 10 dollars a bulb too. I bought 4 of those and 8 26w ones for flower. I didn't buy that big one but I still might.

The plant in the 23w CFL image was grown under a warm 2700K CFL. There is plenty of blue light in all CFL spectrums for a healthy plant. There is no need to switch spectrums on fluoros. That is a holdover myth from MH and HPS where MH is deficient in red and HPS is deficient in blue.

If you search for cool vs. warm CFL spectral graphs you will see a slight amount more of blue (though only 10% is necessary) in cool and a lot more green. Not much difference to a plant. Just remember that we do not switch suns halfway through outdoor growing.

[bobjob4u]

I have always used mh and hps through a complete grow, as well as both 6500k and 2700k cfls as side lighting.I always yeild great. Last run of Sweet seeds S.A.D. Averaged around 2 ounces a plant in 9 weeks.

[jiggsaw]

I burned the shit out of my plant , the cfl's were way too close. I had them like this Sunday but I had a fan blowing on it then I put two exhaust fans and no intake just a fan blowing around inside the box to create pressure. I only did it for an hour but it burned the tips of a few leaves. The plant was only a week old. this pic is how it burned. The plant hasn't stopped growing at all though lol its a strong ass plant. it doubled this size since monday. BEFORE
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