CFL lighting setup HELP?

SyKeR

SyKeR

New Member
Plan on starting first grow with 10 plants in a 8x4x6.5 indoor grow tent.

http://www.amazon.ca/Quictent®-Reflective-Hydroponics-Structure-Eco-friendly/dp/B00GUF2JJE/ref=sr_1_4?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1447472790&sr=1-4&keywords=hydroponic+grow+tent

Im a bit lost here, as I was originally going to go with LEDs. Not an option anymore...
I dont know how many lights I need, what kind of lights I need, wattage, lumens, spectrum, if I need a ballast, other equipment needed like those reflective panel things that hang over the lights, etc.

I would like to be able to pick up these lights at a hardware store and my lighting budget is around $200 MAX
 
A

az2000

Well-Known Member
SyKeR said:
Plan on starting first grow with 10 plants in a 8x4x6.5 indoor grow tent.

I would like to be able to pick up these lights at a hardware store and my lighting budget is around $200 MAX
Click to expand...
Not gonna happen. HPS is the least expensive up-front cost. But, you need 50-60w per sq. ft.

CFLs are your worst choice unless you were growing a small plant and needed the heat.

The Cree LED "lightbulbs" sold at Home Depot are a better choice than CFL. But, setting them up is a lot of labor. They're good for 1-2 plants (even large ones.). See my blog entry for more info about these lights and how to mount them, etc. I like these lights for (1-2 plants). But, you can spend $200 just to cover 1 plant (considering all the mounting goodies you need).

Is there a reason you're starting so ambitiously with such a low budget? I think it would be wiser to grow 1-2 plants and get the hang of it before trying to boil the ocean like this.
 
newbuddy

newbuddy

Well-Known Member
I do it because after 43 surgeries I got tossed on disability and those checks are NOT conducive to making the perfect grow
Ive already gotten one harvest from CFL and it was quite fine
No offense to anyone but I just CAN NOT afford the good stuff
 
SyKeR

SyKeR

New Member
az2000 said:
Not gonna happen. HPS is the least expensive up-front cost. But, you need 50-60w per sq. ft.

CFLs are your worst choice unless you were growing a small plant and needed the heat.

The Cree LED "lightbulbs" sold at Home Depot are a better choice than CFL. But, setting them up is a lot of labor. They're good for 1-2 plants (even large ones.). See my blog entry for more info about these lights and how to mount them, etc. I like these lights for (1-2 plants). But, you can spend $200 just to cover 1 plant (considering all the mounting goodies you need).

Is there a reason you're starting so ambitiously with such a low budget? I think it would be wiser to grow 1-2 plants and get the hang of it before trying to boil the ocean like this.
Click to expand...
Im only 18 years old, in college. Since Canada's new prime minister is going to legalize Marijuana in the near future, I want to build my business off this. I dont have that much money to spend on my first setup, but I plan on expanding my operation after each crop and eventually rent out a warehouse where I can grow hundreds of plants.

But I dont have much money to start, and lighting seems to be the most confusing subject with very mixed opinions
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
http://www.amazon.com/8lamps-DL848S-Fluorescent-Hydroponic-Fixture/dp/B00INGMTPW

I have this light. 432 watt and 40,000 lumens.

This is a much better option.

I own the six and eight bulb model. They have a bunch of 2ft and 4ft models.
They come with your choice of bulbs. Ask for 50/50 mix of 300k and 6500k bulbs and run it from start to finish.

They have multiple switches. As the plants get bigger, you turn more bulbs on.
 
astronautrob

astronautrob

Well-Known Member
SyKeR said:
Im only 18 years old, in college. Since Canada's new prime minister is going to legalize Marijuana in the near future, I want to build my business off this. I dont have that much money to spend on my first setup, but I plan on expanding my operation after each crop and eventually rent out a warehouse where I can grow hundreds of plants.

But I dont have much money to start, and lighting seems to be the most confusing subject with very mixed opinions
Click to expand...
Lighting is one of the most confusing parts of setting of the your grow room for sure. What I would suggest is either going with a much smaller tent, if you want to stay with CFL lighting, or keep the large tent you originally picked out but upgrade your lights. That's a really big tent, I mean really you could throw two 600w MH/HPS and be fine but trying to fill that tent with CFLs is going to be hard. One 600w would be fine too, but probably nothing less than that. You could go with t5s or something.
 
SyKeR

SyKeR

New Member
whitebb2727 said:
http://www.amazon.com/8lamps-DL848S-Fluorescent-Hydroponic-Fixture/dp/B00INGMTPW

I have this light. 432 watt and 40,000 lumens.

This is a much better option.

I own the six and eight bulb model. They have a bunch of 2ft and 4ft models.
They come with your choice of bulbs. Ask for 50/50 mix of 300k and 6500k bulbs and run it from start to finish.

They have multiple switches. As the plants get bigger, you turn more bulbs on.
Click to expand...
Thank you. This looks like is should work, and Im told 50+ watts per square ft is optimal. So for a 8x4 tent (32sq/ft), would 4 of those work for 10 plants?
 
dopeleader

dopeleader

Well-Known Member
You need to seriously downscale your grow size.
You might get 6-7 flowering plants in that tent but 10 you wont be able to move to train the cunts, you don't often get a bigger yield with more plants.
Less plants and more available light per plant, trained the right way you will have more fun and a bigger yield.
just food for thought I suppose.
If your going to use CFL's, buy some splitters to use a 3 way CFL fixture youll need about 30 24W globes for veg and the same amount for flower obviously in the different colour spectrum.
Cheaper to buy 2x 600W MH lights for vegging and then bang HPS bulbs in for flowering, the only thing that will cost more is your power bill.
However for the ease of installation etc etc a HID light will be much more beneficial.
but withHID lights atleast 2 of them youll need an extractor fan to vent hot air and an intake fan to bring fresh air in (maybe $150).
Skimping on the lights isn't something I would advise, youll probably end up with stretchy plants and buds that have not weight.
 
dopeleader

dopeleader

Well-Known Member
newbuddy said:
Is it so hard to understand some people just dont have the MONEY to do it first class???
Click to expand...
If you don't have the money to afford some fucking lights you don't have the money to run a 4x8x6.5ft tent.
Doing all of this research before he decided on that tent would have been a much better option but apparently the same people who cant afford it also lack the notion of thought.
 
SyKeR

SyKeR

New Member
dopeleader said:
You need to seriously downscale your grow size.
You might get 6-7 flowering plants in that tent but 10 you wont be able to move to train the cunts, you don't often get a bigger yield with more plants.
Less plants and more available light per plant, trained the right way you will have more fun and a bigger yield.
just food for thought I suppose.
If your going to use CFL's, buy some splitters to use a 3 way CFL fixture youll need about 30 24W globes for veg and the same amount for flower obviously in the different colour spectrum.
Cheaper to buy 2x 600W MH lights for vegging and then bang HPS bulbs in for flowering, the only thing that will cost more is your power bill.
However for the ease of installation etc etc a HID light will be much more beneficial.
but withHID lights atleast 2 of them youll need an extractor fan to vent hot air and an intake fan to bring fresh air in (maybe $150).
Skimping on the lights isn't something I would advise, youll probably end up with stretchy plants and buds that have not weight.
Click to expand...
Would 2 of these 1000watt HPS/MH combos work? It would probably run me around $500 CAD
lightsuggest1.png
 
dopeleader

dopeleader

Well-Known Member
there we go some kahonas!
goodwork on adding to the budget, you do me proud :P
2 of those would be absolutely perfect, expensive yes to buy and to run but...
grown properly with the proper amount of plants in the grow area and youll make a lot of profit, so is the initial outlay really that bad :P
 
dopeleader

dopeleader

Well-Known Member
Cool-tubes are much better as you can simply vent the hot air through the hood.
but the price may jump a bit again, you can easily counter the heat issues with oscillating fans blowing over the canopy/under lights.
 
SyKeR

SyKeR

New Member
dopeleader said:
there we go some kahonas!
goodwork on adding to the budget, you do me proud :P
2 of those would be absolutely perfect, expensive yes to buy and to run but...
grown properly with the proper amount of plants in the grow area and youll make a lot of profit, so is the initial outlay really that bad :P
Click to expand...
Are those type of lights suitable for both veg and flower stages? And Im also not sure how much heat that would put off and if I would need additional exhaust equipment
 
dopeleader

dopeleader

Well-Known Member
MH globes are for the vegetative growth, High Pressure Sodium (HPS) are for flowering.
So yes you can get away with those just check how much a cooltube would run you back, also you may be able to buy a secondhand ballast from a local hydro shop.
I bought one of my cooltubes from the hydroshop secondhand and it will definitely do for a grow or 2 then you can buy some kiler gear
 
GuyLeDuche

GuyLeDuche

Well-Known Member
newbuddy, you are doing fine with 1 plant. The issue is a huge tent and 10 plants with the OP title mentioning CFLs. That will never work. Nothing to do with what you are doing, CFLs are great for small grows
 
GuyLeDuche

GuyLeDuche

Well-Known Member
IMO 2x 1000w will be a major undertaking for a new grower, the issues grow exponentially with that much power. I would advise 2x600w
 
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