My new lights, Opinion Needed!

[JEFFAR420]

Alright I just went to the hardware store to pick up lights for my first one plant grow.

Just a little detail, There going into a grow spot of 31" H x 16" W x 10" D

I bought 3 23 watt mini soft white CFL's ( 1600 Lumens, 2700K) Will this be a problem because one, i was looking for 30 watts. and secondly, i didnt realize they were "mini soft white" i was looking for daylight. Will this be a problem for vegging?

For flowering I bought 2 40 watt Soft white CFL's with 2600 Lumens and 2700 K. I can keep one of those 23 watt lights in for the hell of it, unless this isnt a good idea?

I need to kno if I should be going back and getting daylight CFL's and a higher watt say 30 for the vegging.


Will the light fixture be safe without that white cover on it ? (Fire hazzard, Electricute me)


Please give me ANY comments, I need some feedback. Especially about the Vegging lights Thanks :dance:

JEFFAR420 Reviewed by JEFFAR420 on 10-05-2006. My new lights, Opinion Needed! Alright I just went to the hardware store to pick up lights for my first one plant grow. Just a little detail, There going into a grow spot of 31" H x 16" W x 10" D I bought 3 23 watt mini soft white CFL's ( 1600 Lumens, 2700K) Will this be a problem because one, i was looking for 30 watts. and secondly, i didnt realize they were "mini soft white" i was looking for daylight. Will this be a problem for vegging? For flowering I bought 2 40 watt Soft white CFL's with 2600 Lumens and 2700 Rating: 5

[hudson88]

Hey Jeffar, good start. I wouldn't worry too much about the daylight bulbs, you can use the ones you've got, having said that with daylights your plant will grow more compact which would be beneficial considering you've not much height to play with. Personally I think the 3 x 23watters you've got will be enuff for veg, nearly 70 watts for just over a sq foot, sounds right to me, but others will say the more light the better. It's your call!
Good luck

[youngcity]

nice start man, looks good! I would recommend going back and getting the 26 watt daylight bulbs because I also tried vegging with the soft white and trust me there is a difference in how fast and how healthy the plant looks. the 40 watts would be great for flowering. Have u thought of getting those sockets that screw in and have two sockets at the end in a v shape so u can have twice as many bulbs? btw what are u doing for ventilation or are u just leaving the door open?

Good luck wit the grow!

[JEFFAR420]

Yeah, I may or may not change up bulbs but I really want to. Yeah i saw those V-Shaped sockets but my growspace is already small enough I think these will do fine.

For venitlation I have put an intake tube into the bottom and still have to find a way to put this fan in to work effectivley for my exaust system.

[gmoney5ss]

whered you get a fan like that, ive been looking for one, but cant find a small enough one to fit like that, that will plug into a wall

[JEFFAR420]

It was lying around in my basement, but as you can see the wiring was connected to that plug manually. I had to do the exact same thing with my lighting fixure,the wire i bought sepperatly and it was for a halogen light so i cut the end off( it had a different connector), stripped the wire abit, and twisted ends with a little electrical tape over it. It was actually quite easy and fun.

[gmoney5ss]

Ive never really done anything to do with electrical fixtures and lights and stuff, im alittle afraid of electricuting myself so i was just kinda looking to where i could buy one or how to wire one up what to get and do for it.. could be a nice sticky..?

[JEFFAR420]

Honestly I have never done any wiring like that before either, I asked the guy at RONA how I had to wire it and he said it flat out, and as long as you have the right tools you will be fine. Wire stripper is the only thing that you may not have, but i basically touched each of the wires together and the light popped on so i then knew i had to twist them together (unplugged ofcoarse) and tape it up.

I thought i had to match left with left and right with right even tho they were all the same colour but it doesnt even matter. It just needs the electricity to flow through as a full circuit (in most cases).

Go to a home depot, Lowes or Rona store and just browse through the sections im sure you could find a plug in fan like mine , and if not you could find one and ask them simply what you need to do the wiring. They are more then willing to help you out. :thumbsup:

EDIT : you could always buy a small caged plug in fan and just remove it from what ever case it is in.

Good luck

[gmoney5ss]

i actually found what i was looking for just a minute ago, heres the link for anyone else
http://coolerguys.com/ac120vfans.html

[JEFFAR420]

Good to hear! Im goin to put the lights in later in the day, should I leave them hanging from the cord so i can move them up and down or build some sort of structure for it. I still need to put my fan in, its kind of bulky and im wondering how im gana go about putting it in!

Any suggestions as to what sort of tubing i should use, or how i should put it in would be great!