First time I'm flowering under cfl, NEED HELP!!!

punatang808

punatang808

Member
I have 7 plants from seed(reliable source but not feminized) under 6500k cfl's for 5 weeks now and their looking good. I want to keep them short their about 8-10 inches working on their 6th node. I want to put them into flowering so I went and bought two 4' T12 3000k bulbs at walmart(low funding at the moment). My question I have is will these two 4' bulbs be enough for flowering? I still have to pull the males after they sex. HELP ME OUT PLEASE I NEED SUGGESTIONS!!!
 
PJ Diaz

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
They will flower, but your yield will be very low. hardy worth the effort imo. T12s are the least effecient tubes of all. Surely you can find a decent hid light on craigslist for under $100. Otherwise you definately are gonna wanna suppliment with some cfl.
 
punatang808

punatang808

Member
Thanks for the quick reply. I would invest in a better light such as HID,but I need to conserve energy and keep a low electricity bill. What would reccomend if you had to use cfl's for flowering? More the merrier? Also by low yield, do you mean airy buds?
 
punatang808

punatang808

Member
@dark I have two 4 foot T12's. They are both 40 watt's each with a color temp of 3000k. I do not plan on using my 6500k blue spectrum during flowering because I have read on numerous threads and in a book that if you do you a blue spectrum or broad spectrum cfl light during flowering your plant will likely produce male flowers(turn herm). So I am timid to use my blue spectrum too, since these are "bag" seeds, not feminized.
 
PJ Diaz

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
punatang808 said:
Thanks for the quick reply. I would invest in a better light such as HID,but I need to conserve energy and keep a low electricity bill. What would reccomend if you had to use cfl's for flowering? More the merrier? Also by low yield, do you mean airy buds?
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If you need to conserve energy, all the more reason to use HID over CFL. HID has a much better lumen to watt ratio than cfl, which means the energy used will be more productive. Just get a small HID ballast if you're worried, or maybe a dimmable one. Even a 150 watt hps would be much better than a 200 watt cfl set up. A 150 watt HID shouldn't cost more than $10 a month to run at the most.

Yes, airy buds with cfl and not much of them.
 
punatang808

punatang808

Member
Today I also bought 1 mil plastic drop cloth. I have 2x4's laying around the house, I could construct a greenhouse for flowering outdoors. Al though I have never grown plants in a greenhouse yet ,But my problem is I live where it rains a lot so I always have to cut 4-6 weeks into flowering because of mold. I can't get another light, should I grow them outside or after I get them to my desired height or grow under cfl and ensure no mold?
 
punatang808

punatang808

Member
scroglodyte said:
better airy buds than moldy buds
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Yes true, but I have never grown outside in a greenhouse yet, I think they will do better now that hey are protected from rain, but I still don't know if I'll get more yield indoor under cfl or outdoor in greenhouse. I know from experience that good outdoor bud packs way more of a kick then indo.. suggestions?
 
darkdestruction420

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
I have read on numerous threads and in a book that if you do you a blue spectrum or broad spectrum cfl light during flowering your plant will likely produce male flowers(turn herm).

I would throw that book away. That is 100% not true. A mixed spectrum is essential for your plant to reach its full potential. in nature cannabis gets light from both sides of the spectrum and has adapted to take advantage of that by having 2 type of chloroplasts. 1 of them interacts with the red side of the spectrum and 1 with the blue side. using only 1 spectrum just hurts your plants ability to make as much energy as possible.
 
punatang808

punatang808

Member
darkdestruction420 said:
I would throw that book away. That is 100% not true. A mixed spectrum is essential for your plant to reach its full potential. in nature cannabis gets light from both sides of the spectrum and has adapted to take advantage of that by having 2 type of chloroplasts. 1 of them interacts with the red side of the spectrum and 1 with the blue side. using only 1 spectrum just hurts your plants ability to make as much energy as possible.
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Thanks for the info! Greatly appreciated. Thats exactly why I posted this thread. I now decided to make best of what I have and put the 2 T12's 3000keach 4' tube with 80 watts together and 6800 lumens together PLUS my t5FL14 grow light, awesome 36" cfl bulb brah 5100 lumens 6400k 54 watts. After I do the math all together I will have a little 134 watt 11,900 lumens garden with both red and blue spectrum. It's not the greatest set up, but it will have to do for now and its the best that I can think of with my limited resources. All together I have only invested $55 dollars in cfl's and light fixtures. I'll put some pics up soon! Aloha~~
 
jaybee007

jaybee007

Well-Known Member
darkdestruction420 said:
I have read on numerous threads and in a book that if you do you a blue spectrum or broad spectrum cfl light during flowering your plant will likely produce male flowers(turn herm).

I would throw that book away. That is 100% not true. A mixed spectrum is essential for your plant to reach its full potential. in nature cannabis gets light from both sides of the spectrum and has adapted to take advantage of that by having 2 type of chloroplasts. 1 of them interacts with the red side of the spectrum and 1 with the blue side. using only 1 spectrum just hurts your plants ability to make as much energy as possible.
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Exactly I'm using 4xhps 3x mh now it gives u better results as its a fuller spectrum
 
PJ Diaz

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
darkdestruction420 said:
I have read on numerous threads and in a book that if you do you a blue spectrum or broad spectrum cfl light during flowering your plant will likely produce male flowers(turn herm).

I would throw that book away. That is 100% not true. A mixed spectrum is essential for your plant to reach its full potential. in nature cannabis gets light from both sides of the spectrum and has adapted to take advantage of that by having 2 type of chloroplasts. 1 of them interacts with the red side of the spectrum and 1 with the blue side. using only 1 spectrum just hurts your plants ability to make as much energy as possible.
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I have a couple of 6500k cfls below the canopy to enhance the spectrum during flowering under hps.
 
punatang808

punatang808

Member
So using my two 3000k bulbs and one 6400k is would promote more vigorous growth? I have just switched my 5 week old plants along with my about 2 week old seedlings to 12/12 with both my blue and red spectrum on all the plants.
 
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