CFL Setup for a 4'x4'x6' tent?

[Discordantmindfck]

I've been banging my head at costs and upkeep of HID lights VS. CFL lights and i think for me CFL would be the best. I'm not doing production only doing this for myself and as kind of a hobby.

I'm curious however to what the best light setup for this would be. I purchased a 4'x4'x6' Enclosed tent, insulated and the inside is lined with reflective Mylar. Like i said i'm really trying to save money and people have sworn up and down on HIDs and I agree with them that it is the best way to go sometimes but not for me. Maybe down the road after the big initial investment and i see that i can do this well enough to support me investing in a 400$ lighting system. then there is the ventilation and just much higher upkeep associated with a HID. I keep saying to myself "baby steps".

My tent should actually be here tomorrow so i would like to start getting some ideas... Any help is appreciated.

 

[stelthy]

I would say get a combination of ENVIROLITE/ENVIROGROW CFL lamps they are available in Blue and Red spec and in 125W 150W and 250W, How many ladies do you plan to grow? - STELTHY

 

[Discordantmindfck]

Im not sure but i ordered 5 feminized Blackberry and Whitecastle from Nirvana which i plan to grow on a cycle. Have a couple Germinating and sprouting while the others finish up their flowering. This is my first time doing this ever and i'm not sure how much space these will take up. I want to get as many in there as i can but i dont want to crowd my girls. i'd say a 4x4 tent would be good for 3 plants? again im not sure and i dont want to waste seedlings or crowd my girls and stress them.

 

[webb107]

To be honest in a 4x4 tent you will need a very hight wattage of cfl to get a decent yeild. i worked out even if you had 4x250w (1000w) cfls in there you would only get 5000 lumens per square foot, also this would cost alot more to run than 1 600w hps bulb,also with the Hps bulb you would get more lumens , if you plant on using the tent for both flower and veg you could either get a switchable ballast or a duel spectrum hps bulb

 

[webb107]

Im not sure but i ordered 5 feminized Blackberry and Whitecastle from Nirvana which i plan to grow on a cycle. Have a couple Germinating and sprouting while the others finish up their flowering. This is my first time doing this ever and i'm not sure how much space these will take up. I want to get as many in there as i can but i dont want to crowd my girls. i'd say a 4x4 tent would be good for 3 plants? again im not sure and i dont want to waste seedlings or crowd my girls and stress them.

for 3 plants on a cfl grow i would go dr80 with 2 250w clfs or 1 400w hps

EDIT: Infact even a 250 w hps would be equal to 2x250w cfls

 

[Discordantmindfck]

so i might just be better off and waiting and grabbing the HID? would a 400 be fine or should i bump it up to 600w?

 

[stelthy]

Im not sure but i ordered 5 feminized Blackberry and Whitecastle from Nirvana which i plan to grow on a cycle. Have a couple Germinating and sprouting while the others finish up their flowering. This is my first time doing this ever and i'm not sure how much space these will take up. I want to get as many in there as i can but i dont want to crowd my girls. i'd say a 4x4 tent would be good for 3 plants? again im not sure and i dont want to waste seedlings or crowd my girls and stress them.

Depending on how tall you want to grow your ladies I would say 2X 250W ENVIROLITE CFLS and a dual lamp reflector, or you could do 4X 125W ENVIROLITE CFL in a 4 lamp reflector you could always do 4X 250W but thats double the wattage and to be honest I manage with under 500W on my 1st grow and got over 7oZ dry off just 2 ladies I'll post some pics of the lamps and reflectors and 1 from my old grow to show what they can do - STELTHY

 

[Bonzi Lighthouse]

250w CFL, you can't go wrong

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&rlz=&q=250w+cfl&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=5602558020323994003&ei=X4MjTfvVHoL98AbhrKSEDg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC0Q8wIwAg#

 

[stelthy]

so i might just be better off and waiting and grabbing the HID? would a 400 be fine or should i bump it up to 600w?

If you go with HPS and want to cover 3 ladies a 400 would be perfect... a 600 is over kill and a 250 is ok, But you'd be best off with a 400 - STELTHY

 

[webb107]

so i might just be better off and waiting and grabbing the HID? would a 400 be fine or should i bump it up to 600w?

personally mate you could do either but if u got the extra cash deffo get the 600w mate,

 

[Bonzi Lighthouse]

Although the heat generated by the 250w cfl is controlable in just about any space, a 400wHPS is a totally different story. When you are considering HID always consider the heat they put out.

 

[feva]

go 600 with 5 palnts

 

[webb107]

Although the heat generated by the 250w cfl is controlable in just about any space, a 400wHPS is a totally different story. When you are considering HID always consider the heat they put out.

TBH a 400w HPS isnt hard to control the heat in a 4x4x6 tent in a 3x3 space my freind has a 400w and only has a 4inch 285m3/hour fan and his temps are around 26-28c

 

[stelthy]

Although the heat generated by the 250w cfl is controlable in just about any space, a 400wHPS is a totally different story. When you are considering HID always consider the heat they put out.

I totally agree.. HID lighting gets fuckin hot without a cool-tube/air cooled reflector and a hi CFM fan Webb107 is insane if he thinks you'll get a 600W HPS in there you'll toast evrything and probably set a light to your project, I have a 600 in my cab and its an absolute bitch to keep cool - STELTHY

 

[Discordantmindfck]

yeh ventilation is the part im pulling my hair out about when it comes to HID. I dont want to cook them for dinner But again i dont want it to get to cold either. My house usually stays around 70 F. but i dont think that will be an issue when the tent comes into play. I know i am probably asking really noob questions but i appreciate all you guys' help.

 

[webb107]

I totally agree.. HID lighting gets fuckin hot without a cool-tube/air cooled reflector and a hi CFM fan Webb107 is insane if he thinks you'll get a 600W HPS in there you'll toast evrything and probably set a light to your project, I have a 600 in my cab and its an absolute bitch to keep cool - STELTHY

i wasnt saying you can get a 600w in there without cooltubes i was just compairing running cost and lumens per square foot, there has been people who have put a 600w in a 3x3 space oviously with a cool tube but in a 4x4 space with proper ventalation you could get a 600w in there and yeild would be much more

 

[webb107]

yeh ventilation is the part im pulling my hair out about when it comes to HID. I dont want to cook them for dinner But again i dont want it to get to cold either. My house usually stays around 70 F. but i dont think that will be an issue when the tent comes into play. I know i am probably asking really noob questions but i appreciate all you guys' help.

4x4 tent with 600w hps coolhood with a 6inch 470m3/hour fan with carbon filter and ducting heat is not a issue

 

[Discordantmindfck]

If i duct it outside at what point is it necessary to have the scrubber so the smell doesn't leak. Flowering?

 

[Bonzi Lighthouse]

yeh ventilation is the part im pulling my hair out about when it comes to HID. I dont want to cook them for dinner But again i dont want it to get to cold either. My house usually stays around 70 F. but i dont think that will be an issue when the tent comes into play. I know i am probably asking really noob questions but i appreciate all you guys' help.

Nice thing about CFL is all you need is a bulb, socket and cord. Give the CFL's a shot and move up to HID as your experience grows.

 

[webb107]

If i duct it outside at what point is it necessary to have the scrubber so the smell doesn't leak. Flowering?

you have the scrubber inside the tent you would have it set up like <<<<ducting<<<<<Fan<<<<<<<Cool Hood<<Carbonfilter<<<<<<<

(< the arrow indicates where the air is going)