CFL's aren't stupid - you just need to figure out how to use them properly, yes that means investing some time into understanding their strengths and weaknesses, clearly something you don't consider to be a particularly good investment of your time.cfl's are stupid. by the time you put out enough wattage with all 9 pointed directly at the plant you are up to the wattage of a small HPS. why not just do it right? yes sideways i understand. i had 20 plants i was VEGGING. i guess i needed 237 CFL's to do it right.
you back all my findings yet still continue to clown me. please look at the pics again and tell me how to best utilize my veg area with CFL's. venting the heat was not an issue. i own fans. i was using floros i tried CFL's i switched back. kind of a test. my boss treats me the same way. he's only 5' 5" i understand.CFL's aren't stupid - you just need to figure out how to use them properly, yes that means investing some time into understanding their strengths and weaknesses, clearly something you don't consider to be a particularly good investment of your time.
basically went with all the "CFL rage" i read here.
If you'd looked at your situation critically, you'd have realised that low wattage cfl's simply were not the right solution - because of the reasons you're now giving - you're trying to illuminate an area far too large for cfl's to cover effectively.
i was illuminating a 1' by 20" area. not really a whole lot.
Would you really try and cover a 5 foot by 5 foot area with a 250w HPS? I doubt it, so why try and cover a large area with lots of small inefficient cfls?
see above...
For your area, 2, 3, or 4 ft HO T5's would have been a far better solution - they cover a much wider area, dissipate less heat and produce sufficient PAR watts for good vegetative growth. The 2 or 3 T5's you would have needed would have been cheaper to buy and operate than the many cfl's.
duh, i switched BACK.
Just because you made an error in judgement for your situation isn't a very good reason to slag off cfl's because they didn't work for you - for plenty of people they'll work very effectively.
i see many others here on my side.
If you can't control your temperatures for whatever reason, then your ventilation setup isn't efficient enough - it's as simple as that.
uh, what's a fan? do you really think i'm that dumb? why ask for more heat when you don't need it.
Yes it does look better...and seriously...the cfls nextt o those shop lights looked stupid....lol
On a serious note....I need more lighting for clones....I was gonna do cfls but I'll look into the shop lights. Im sure Home Depot will carry them. Maybe 2 lights....2 tubes per light. How much do the shop lights run for, fdd?
very classy responceyou back all my findings yet still continue to clown me. please look at the pics again and tell me how to best utilize my veg area with CFL's. venting the heat was not an issue. i own fans. i was using floros i tried CFL's i switched back. kind of a test. my boss treats me the same way. he's only 5' 5" i understand.
These are growing under two 100watt cfls, and four 23 watt cfls. My temps range from 75-85. There was absolutely no stretching nor daily repositioning. The only reason there is any space between the bottom branches and the pot is because I had to trim them for airflow.
LOL
Best place for cfl's are replacing light bulbs in the house. Can't beat a good hps for growing. Well I take that back you can. Outside in the spring/summer time. Mother nature is the best.
Thanks, but I've got so many individual light receptacles it's crazy. I wire them myself and put them it wads. I'll upload new pictures Sunday when I can borrow a decent cam. My flowering rack is all CFL. EIGHTEEN 42 watters. Crazy, I know, but most of my materials were free. I'm thinking of adding more to the flowering room after I fire it up and give it a whirl for a week or two.show off. lol. nice grow. you can have my fixtures if you want them.
OH GOD THAT'S BEAUTIFUL! Out in the open for God and everybody to see.hit 96 degrees today, fog in the evenings. come to cali!!!!!!!!!!!!!