Fluorescent Lighting.. Please Help!

PotRoastDinner

PotRoastDinner

New Member
Hey guys, I'd like to start by saying AWESOME site.
So I'm new to growing, and after reading through a lot of the information posted I still have a couple questions.
First let me give a small amount of info:
I will be growing in a small room most likely no larger than 10x8 feet. This is also my bedroom so I am looking to have no more than 4-5 plants. I will be starting with clones. I am hoping to produce buds in somewhere within 2-2.5 months (although sooner would be sweet :lol:).

I do not currently have large amounts of money to invest, and so I am unable to spend hundreds on expensive lighting set-ups. My questions are:
1. Can I use Fluorescent lights throughout the entire growing process?
2. If so, is there a specific type that I should use?
3. How many should I have per plant?
4. If I am not able to use them, what is the least expensive and most effective alternative to fluorescents?

Any insight you could give would be GREATLY appreciated.. thanks a lot guys! I look forward to hearing from you :bigjoint:
 
rolla8

rolla8

Well-Known Member
You're going to have a difficult time producing finished bud in that short period of time especially if you are starting from seed. Most people grow their plants in the vegetative state for 4-5 weeks before inducing flowering. The flowering stage can take anywhere between 7-12 weeks depending on the strain. Once the plants are harvested, the drying and curing process takes another 4-8 weeks. Since you're talking about having finished bud in 2-2 1/2 months, I don't see how you're going to pull it off. Even if you induced flowering immediately you would still need to grow it out for the duration of its flowering period (7-12 weeks) and dry and cure it (4-8 weeks). You should either re-think your timetable, or wait until you have the appropriate time available.
 
PotRoastDinner

PotRoastDinner

New Member
Okay, well if I work from clones and am flexible with the time what do ytou think about those questions? fluorescent light workable?
 
D

DaGambler

Well-Known Member
you could grow from rooted clones for 2 wks... and flower for 8 weeks... and dry for one week and have smokeable bud.

with flourescents. use 6500k spectrum for vegatative growth and throw in some 2700k spectrum once you go to flowering. you'll want them to stay short as possible (not stretch) so probably do 50/50 on the warm vs. cool bulbs. you can flower under flourescents but you'll need to top the plants and/or tie them down and keep them as low as possible so that the flourescents can be kept right on top of them. make sure the plants are kept a uniform low height through bending, don't top them after you start to flower. (3) 4 foot 2 bulb flourscent fixtures would provide adequate light for 4-5 well trained plants.
 
PotRoastDinner

PotRoastDinner

New Member
That sounds like the exact information i wanted to hear... is there any chance you could put it in more lamens terms..? im sorry hah
 
rolla8

rolla8

Well-Known Member
Fluorescent lights are totally cool to use throughout the entire process as long as you've got enough of them to supply an ample amount of light. You'll probably want to look into using CFLs as opposed to tubes. They're easier to work with and will provide more intense light in a smaller area. There are several companies that make "growlights" that are designed specifically for horticultural use, but I don't recommend them because they are more expensive than normal lights and usually don't produce the intensity of a normal light. Rather than thinking about it in terms of how many lights you need per plant, you'll be better off focusing on lumens and spectrum.

"Lumens" are a measurement of of light intensity, where 1 Lumen equels the light intensity of one candle. You want enough lights to generate between 4000-5000 lumens per square foot. If you look at the box the lights come packaged in, you'll see the lumen rating for that light. Using that, plus the area of your grow-space in square feet, you can do the math to figure out how many lights you need to acheive that 4000-5000 lumen range.

Spectrum is another important point to consider when choosing which lights to buy. There are basically two types of bulbs out there. There are "cool" lights which produce light in the blue spectrum, and there are "warm" lights which produce light in the red spectrum. For the vegetative growth phase, you'll want the "cool" lights because they produce that blue spectrum which enhances growth. For the flowering phase, you'll want "warm" lights because they produce the red spectrum which is best for developing buds.

Regardless of what you choose to do, you're probably going to have to reduce the size of your grow-space. You said your room is 10x8, which is quite large for a grow-room. You would need probably 2000+ watts of high-intensity light either from an HPS or MH light system to adequately light that entire room. And doing so with flourescents is all but impossible. You should maybe pick a corner to work with and make a 3'x3' sub-room for your grow area. You could do this by bringing in some drywall and putting up some walls. Or you could get a grow tent that size and use that for your operation. There are probably a lot of other users on the board that have experience with this and could give you some better advice on how to cheaply put up some walls or erect some sort of low-cost enclosed area.

The best advice I can give you is to be patient. Growing your weed is a lot of fun, and the anticipation of waiting for your buds to be finished is sometimes nerve-wreaking. There will be plenty of times when you get the urge to do all sorts of things to your plants to get them to grow faster and finish sooner. But the reality is that these are plants we're talking about, and plants require time to grow and develop.
 
dhhbomb

dhhbomb

Well-Known Member
yea it deffinaly all be done buy flouresents but a good hps wont let u done much much better results u can get one from htg on ebay for like 150 and no offense cus i didnt have any funds for my first grow but u will prob need 200 bucks for flours and a good 400 20 bucks for some mylar 5 bucks for a timer and 20 bucks for some soil and like 30 for good nutrients plus a ph tester and 20 for ph up and down i know this adds up but these are all reallly nessecarys to have a decent crop and not some stress
i know u said dont have hundred but this prob a 300 investment that wiil pay for itself
 
D

DaGambler

Well-Known Member
at Nasa they say, "Cheaper, Better, Faster - Pick Two."

best and cheapest seldom go hand in hand. but for the size space ur talking about, (and cheap), deffinitely CFL's.

buy some cheap soil and mix it half and half with some perlite. buy some Miracle Gro fertilizer. all this will cost less than 50 dollars (with the lights). it'll be a learning experience :D
 
rolla8

rolla8

Well-Known Member
Go back up and re-read my previous response. I explain exactly which CFLs to look for and how to calculate how many you will need.
 
juststartin

juststartin

Well-Known Member
read rolla's previous post. Great info in there (+rep)

I got a small grow tent on ebay for £45 and i LOVE it. Have a lil look on there. I dont think it'll be any good doing it a big room like ur bedroom, ur gonna need some reflective stuff aswell and this is provided with most grow tents
 
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