CFL question

[arod]

With the growth of my plants i need to add a few more CFL's but the grow space is getting cluttered with the 3 light clamps (like for a reptile light) that i am currently using. I would like to try and hang 5-9 CFL's from a piece of plywood but i have no experience in wiring and electrical and i have no idea how i would connect all of them to one chord to plug into a socket. I have 2 MH bulbs but i cant seem to find any screw-in type socket for them and i dont have the money for a $150 ballast. I have seen some of the examples of the plywood technique and was wondering if anyone could possibly give me some detailed advice on how to set it up or if anyone has other ideas on how to set up a group of CFL's that would fit in a dresser that is 38" high and 28" long and about 18" wide. So if anybody has any advice for me on this lighting quandry i will gladly accept the advice. Also they are currently on an 18/6 schedule because that is what i seemed to read they needed, but i am seeing people are using 24/0 and i thought that the plants needed the 6 hours in the dark to regenerate.
Thanks in advance for your help:rasta:

arod Reviewed by arod on 08-16-2006. CFL question With the growth of my plants i need to add a few more CFL's but the grow space is getting cluttered with the 3 light clamps (like for a reptile light) that i am currently using. I would like to try and hang 5-9 CFL's from a piece of plywood but i have no experience in wiring and electrical and i have no idea how i would connect all of them to one chord to plug into a socket. I have 2 MH bulbs but i cant seem to find any screw-in type socket for them and i dont have the money for a $150 Rating: 5

[maryjannne]

no the 6 hours is for you not the plants, like to save electricity or to bring down the heat if you have H.I.D lighting.
metal halide bulbs if thats what your talking about do need a special ballast and socket so maybe the cfls would be your best bet especially for a closet, the mh's get very hot.
There are probably tutorials for what your looking for with the light set up either here or some other similar site, but I would just drill holes in the top big enough for the cord and plug to go through then you can adjust the height individually if you have to and then just get a power cord with a bunch of slots, they make them with like 10 or more plug ins and cfls dont take much power so you can put them all on one line. hope this helps a bit

[Buddman]

i used 1" pvc that i built sort of a square rack with a center pvc that i drilled a hole where i wanted the light. then mounted ceramic sockets to the hole and wired her up. two lights on each plugand they all plug into a powerstrip with a total of 10 42 watt cfls then i put an old refective windshield screen on top over the lights for a cheap reflector and hung it up. vegging15 plants right now under it .cheap but effective.

[Specialist]

you can get plug-in light socket adapters for really cheap ($1.50) at lowes or hd, then just use extension cord and a screw in hook.

[krakatoa]

One possible mount method with 1/2" pvc fittings. There's a little piece of 1/2" conduit friction fitted in there. A coupling is shown, but any 1/2" fitting could be used to arrange them on a pipe armature.

[kush07]

you could take the plywood and look for some sockets with built in reflectors. They look like little metal bowls with the socket in the center. Most of these devices have a little clamp at the end as well. If you can manage to find those then I suggest you get them cause then you can attach it to the plywood and you have a pretty effective reflector.

Happy Toking :rasta: