Need some information on how much light. Going to be using CFL.

[Gigaah]

So I'm setting things up. I have a 2ftx3ftx 6ft tall closet area. From what I Gather this should be enough room for 1 or 2 harvest size plants. I've done a lot of reading to hash out the details. The one detail i'm having the hardest time finding informationn on is how much light to use. I have a 1ft square fixture that will hold 5 CFL screw type bulbs. I was wondering if this would be enough..or if hanging the bulbs individually and being able to adjust thier position and height would be "far superior"?. I had planned on using the easy to obtain 23-26watt cfl bulbs so that would be about 125watts. However if this is not enough for my plans it would be nice to know now.

any help would be appreciated!

 

[Dont Fear The Reefer]

Personally Id go for the 32 watters, 150w equivalent... Many use a lot of the lower watt bulbs, but I say the more the merrier... Be sure and put a reflector (pie Pan) on it if there isnt one (with ventilation holes). Since your lioght will all be concentrated in one area you may need some lights off to the sides.
Good luck and happy growing! Im 5 weeks into mine and getting excited... See my sig.

 

[0calli]

for cfl all you need to know for good growing and good bud production its 100 w for the first plant and 50w for every plant after this i went by this rule and this is what i produced

white widow and ak-48

 

[Voidling]

With cfl you want short plants as the penetration is poor. Unless you want to put cfls up the sides every couple inches

 

[thegreenlegend]

More lumens will give you shorter plants, denser buds and more yeild. Check home depot for the 100w bulbs or better yet they have 300 watt bulbs for about $16 each. I use 2 of the latter for my mother plants.

 

[Frawsti]

More lumens will give you shorter plants, denser buds and more yeild. Check home depot for the 100w bulbs or better yet they have 300 watt bulbs for about $16 each. I use 2 of the latter for my mother plants.

What about the light spectrum? Are there 6500s that are 300w? Also my cfls say "xwatt equivelant", same thing right?

 

[0calli]

i used 5000k and 6500 k for my results and 2700k and 3000k for flower with a few 5000k here and there

 

[Voidling]

The equivalent to x Watts is meaningless on this application. You need to go by actual Watts and lumens

 

[Frawsti]

It's a shame i dont have a home depot around here, lowes only sells 300w equivalent's which are 65w. :l

 

[Voidling]

All I have is Walmart and could only get 36watt.

 

[0calli]

X pretty much means we can fake this

 

[0calli]

Check in your local mall for a light fixture lamp store and they might have some stuff or ebay

 

[thegreenlegend]

It's a shame i dont have a home depot around here, lowes only sells 300w equivalent's which are 65w. :l

These are the ones I have been using. They use 65w of energy with the PAR output of 300 watts. Lumens is what plants use not watts but in the case of flourescent lights it would take 1000 watts to equal the lumen output of a 100 watt metal halide or high pressure sodium lamp.

The 300 watt CFL at lowes or HD is around the same spectrum of a high pressure sodium lamp which will penetrate better giving you shorter plants. It is a popular belief the a blue spectrum is better for vegetative growth when in reality it does not matter. It does however matter in flowering as you want the buds to grow dense and compact.

Hope this helps

 

[0calli]

Ive deff had better results vegging with more blue spectrum .............where did you get your info for this ????

these are the ones i have been using. They use 65w of energy with the par output of 300 watts. Lumens is what plants use not watts but in the case of flourescent lights it would take 1000 watts to equal the lumen output of a 100 watt metal halide or high pressure sodium lamp.

The 300 watt cfl at lowes or hd is around the same spectrum of a high pressure sodium lamp which will penetrate better giving you shorter plants. It is a popular belief the a blue spectrum is better for vegetative growth when in reality it does not matter. It does however matter in flowering as you want the buds to grow dense and compact.

Hope this helps

 

[thegreenlegend]

Masters in horticultural science, the university of georgia 1992. Blue light regulates many plant responses including stomata opening and phototropism. Stomata are openings on or beneath the surface of the leaves. A plant's moisture loss is primarily due to the stomata and blue light controls the degree of stomata opening, therefore blue light regulates the amount of water a plant retains or expels. Phototropism is the definition of a plant's response to light; the stems grow up toward the light and the roots grow down, away from the light. While blue light will attribute to more lush dark green vegetative growth, A mixed or medium spectrum with assist in maintaining a more compact plant in an indoor grow.

In the 90's we ran scores of test and came to the above conclusion. Sorry I dont have those results in from of me but as you can see that was many years ago.

http://www.gardenguides.com/74951-colored-light-affect-plant-growth.html#ixzz1fd09S1LcTGL
​

 

[bamfrivet]

Ive deff had better results vegging with more blue spectrum .............where did you get your info for this ????

I think it really depends on the plant. I have 4 plants vegging right now. I use a couple t8 ballasts and hang bulbs down for extra light. Right now 2 of the plants have a 6000k 42w and 2 others with a 2700k 42w bulb and the ones by the red bulb are much larger (not stretched more, but have more nodes, are bigger all around), have been growing faster, has more new growth and the new growth is much larger than the plants with the blue bulb.

 

[0calli]

hmmm first ive heard of this intresting for sure

I think it really depends on the plant. I have 4 plants vegging right now. I use a couple t8 ballasts and hang bulbs down for extra light. Right now 2 of the plants have a 6000k 42w and 2 others with a 2700k 42w bulb and the ones by the red bulb are much larger (not stretched more, but have more nodes, are bigger all around), have been growing faster, has more new growth and the new growth is much larger than the plants with the blue bulb.

 

[0calli]

thnx deff some good info there mind if i journal this info ?

Masters in horticultural science, the university of georgia 1992. Blue light regulates many plant responses including stomata opening and phototropism. Stomata are openings on or beneath the surface of the leaves. A plant's moisture loss is primarily due to the stomata and blue light controls the degree of stomata opening, therefore blue light regulates the amount of water a plant retains or expels. Phototropism is the definition of a plant's response to light; the stems grow up toward the light and the roots grow down, away from the light. While blue light will attribute to more lush dark green vegetative growth, A mixed or medium spectrum with assist in maintaining a more compact plant in an indoor grow.

In the 90's we ran scores of test and came to the above conclusion. Sorry I dont have those results in from of me but as you can see that was many years ago.

http://www.gardenguides.com/74951-colored-light-affect-plant-growth.html#ixzz1fd09S1LcTGL
​

 

[0calli]

thnx for sharing +rep for you

Masters in horticultural science, the university of georgia 1992. Blue light regulates many plant responses including stomata opening and phototropism. Stomata are openings on or beneath the surface of the leaves. A plant's moisture loss is primarily due to the stomata and blue light controls the degree of stomata opening, therefore blue light regulates the amount of water a plant retains or expels. Phototropism is the definition of a plant's response to light; the stems grow up toward the light and the roots grow down, away from the light. While blue light will attribute to more lush dark green vegetative growth, A mixed or medium spectrum with assist in maintaining a more compact plant in an indoor grow.

In the 90's we ran scores of test and came to the above conclusion. Sorry I dont have those results in from of me but as you can see that was many years ago.

http://www.gardenguides.com/74951-colored-light-affect-plant-growth.html#ixzz1fd09S1LcTGL
​

 

[thegreenlegend]

By all means please share with others. I think the key point here lies within aspiration. You see, a blue spectrum will not inhibit aspiration as will the red spectrum. Therefore under say a 6500 kelvin lamp the leaves will aspirate, and the plant will stretch. Under a lamp of say 3500 kelvin the plant will not aspirate nearly as much therefore the capillaries within the stem will "swell" giving the plant much thicker stems and an overall denser appearance.

I think perhaps one can benefit from a mix spectrum during vegetative growth and if short stature or the need for thicker stems to perhaps hold up heavier flowers is the case, A light source in the lower kelvin range would be to their advantage.

end_nerdery/

-TGL-