Seeds

[Justin.J]

Wait! CFLs! you genus I just looked that up and they look perfect how many will I need though and how much are they?

Sorry about all the questions, I just don't wanna put A bunch of time and money with nothing to show, if your gunna do sompthing might aswell do it right. Thanks again.

[Tom Swierzbinski]

CFLs are dirt cheap. Im not sure on the prices because yer from America, but in the UK you can pick up a 40w CFL (actual output) for about 3 or 4 quid, which is like $2. Remember youll need to buy the fixtures aswell though, but again theyre only a couple of dollars each Im guessing.

As for the amount of lumens/watts, just get as many as your budget allows. Try and aim for at least 200 watts of light though, or 6,000 lumens BARE MINIMUM. If you want to grow more than one plant, aim for 10,000 lumens. Also if smell is going to be a problem, use these http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=9135 - and yes, they do work, The Image Reaper used a couple in one of his grows where he had either 2 or 3 plants and he said the smell dropped dramatically.

[Justin.J]

6,000 is how many cfls? i'm knew to growing and dunno what that means sorry.

[Justin.J]

Nevermind I found my answer, wow those lights you directed me to look nifty gunna try and find some!

[Tom Swierzbinski]

6,000 lumens. Dont know if ya know or not, so here goes...

A lumen is the measurement of light that a bulb gives off.

Simple lol. You can have 5 CFLs to give off 6,000 lumens, or you can have 10. It depends on the wattage that they are. When buying them, its important to look for the ACTUAL WATTAGE/OUTPUT, not the output that an incandescent bulb of the same wattage will give off. In other words, look for the SMALLER number and go from there. For a successful CFL grow, you want to start with between 150 to 200 watts, then slowly increase that as you get nearer to the flowering stage. In the end you ideally want to have about 350 watts, if not more. A couple of advantages with CFLs is that they hardly give off any heat, are cheap and readily available, and they can be placed anywhere you want them around the plant. This means that even the small 'popcorn buds' at the bottom of the plant will be bigger and more compact than if growing with a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) bulb.
Dont let what Ive said put you off the CFL idea though - if you cant get more than 200 watts of light, then youll still do fine. Just make sure to flower a bit earlier than you should, and be prepared to possibly wait a little longer for her to mature and have a slight decrease in yield. BobBong has an excellent thread in the Indoor Growing section where he uses CFLs and uses heavy LST - thats basically tying the plant down so it resembles a small bush - so the light can get to the whole of the plant, and he had a very respectable harvest.

[Tom Swierzbinski]

Nevermind I found my answer, wow those lights you directed me to look nifty gunna try and find some!

Lol and you made me write all that, you bastard!

Edit: you get two different types of CFL - cool white and warm white. You use cool whites for vegging and warm whites for flowering, if I remember correctly. You might wanna check this by asking someone else though, because I dont know that much about CFL growing, only what Ive read and nothing from experience.

[Justin.J]

Thanks for all your help and putting up with my question after question thing I had goin on there, I know though if I hadnt came to you I would have screwed it over.

[Tom Swierzbinski]

Its OK, were here to help

Just remember, never EVER EVER take a plant outside to 'get some natural light and fresh air'. Im sure they enjoy it, but YOU wont enjoy battling the pests that you end up bringing in. Trust me, if you wanna see how much damage just one or two can do, look at my White Rhino growdiary.

[Justin.J]

Thanks fr the heads up man