cfl and hps

I bought a 600 watt hps with the blue spectrum added, hydrolux or something like that.

I used it for a month, and my big bud got thicker but no length. how the heck am I going to grow buds on a 4 inch plant ?

look at this pethetic.



so... I hooked up 12 26 watt blue cfl to get some length and then i'll finish with the hps.

kk...now thats a unique prob....I hope someone with more exposure to this indoor grow thing will provide you some feedback....hps is red dominated....and essentially used for flowering....so that prolly has sumthin to do with your result...a month of vege and thats what you got...hmmm...that really sucks....you road forward seems sound....I'll be watching.....good luck, and walk on!

maybe you had the light too far away not just far away which will cause stretching, but maybe so far away it didnt get sufficient amounts of light? also what light cycle were you using 12/12 18/6 24/0 etc. i suppose 12 26w which are what 100w equivilants? will do fine i veg with 375w of cfl and flower with the same amount just a 2700k spectrum.

I started off about 1 1/2 feet away with a fan blowing on it, I got the wrong size glass with the set up so i was afraid of the heat, and for good reason, i fryed everything else i had,

this big bud was all that survived,.

i'm going to get a 600 watt metal halide bulb and use that, but for now the cfls are working great.

the plant has doubled in size (length) and the nodes are very close together.

the last kahuna seed I had is booming also.

i ordered 60 white widow seeds and get 10 more free kahuna, so this first crop is an experiment.

i made a 4 foot by 2 foot by 52 inch long grow box, but it's too much heat until I get the glass and hook up the venting.

gotta run to north carolina to get the glass, i'm on the border in south carolina. been raining buckets here for 5 days and I'm not going there in the rain , again.. it's too confusing getting to the store in a rain storm.

but so far, the cfls are working great.
might hold off on metal bulb and use these and bud with the hps.

cfl light set up is about 6 inches away.
maintaining a closet temp of 72 degrees.

real happy with it so far.

had all kinds of problems with the 600 watt hps.
took alot of tweaking to get things right.

Get the CFLs about 1inch from the plant and it will do alot better.

i compromised and lowered the light to 4 inches, it's the closet I dare go, theres too much heat coming from the bulbs, i already fry-ed everything, I'm not going there again.

have lights on 24 hours, have to to maintain temp, I'm in an old drafty farm house I get for free with my job. It costs to much to keep the heat cranked up to keep a 70 degree temp in a closet, so the lights are maintaining the temp.

I have foil around the lights and down to the plants, all light is on the plants, almost none get out, except through the few vent holes on the light I built.

I'm happy so far, I see much improvement with the cfls.

I read when i got the hps hydrolux it has the smallest node growth of all lights, yeah thats because it sucks as a veg light.

they don't tell you that.

I might add a few more cfls to see what happens, I'm gonna hold off on the metal bulb, i see no real need for it now.

by the way, i bought a 42 watt cfl at wallmart to see how it works.
i walked around my house for an hour looking for a water leak, i could hear it plain as day, turns out it was my new made in china 42 watt light sizzling, it burst into flames as I opened the closet.

so be wary of them things.

things look good so far as far as the plants go, I'm happy with the progress the cfls are making and at a 50% elec. reduction. no heat and no need for the light venting fan.

so i shaved about 400 watts off my usage until i bud.

cfl's for veg and hps for flowering is prolly the cheapest most effective combo of lights for growing marijuana... sounds like ur getting everything under control.... growin is pretty fun huh? lol

growing is lots of fun, and the rewards...

I moved from florida to south carolina, having a problem maintaining the temp though.

greenweed420 said:

cfl light set up is about 6 inches away.
maintaining a closet temp of 72 degrees.

real happy with it so far.

had all kinds of problems with the 600 watt hps.
took alot of tweaking to get things right.

Click to expand...

sorry to enlighten you but when your using cfl's you want them as close a 1-3 inches any farther will eliminate the purpose of the bulbs. Im not seeing this happening to a plant if your using a 600w hps, and no i dont think having it to far away would cause it because if it was than it would be stretching alot. Hope this helps and sorry to the ones that think i sounded like a dick sorry i didnt mean to.

i bought a bunch of stuff today, I'm revamping the whole set up tommorrow.
i even got a new heater to maintain the temp in the 70's.

bought 10 more cfls.

i looked at every picture of everyone elses cfl grow, and my lights are closer and have a better light cover that reflects all the light.

made it myself. (smile)

the cold temps are screwing me up now.

600 watt hps pissed me off, what a waste of money. i had a midget beef cake that would grow about 1 bowl on it then fall over.

i want some stretching now, I have a miget i'm trying to grow up and then grow out.

next grow will go alot better, i wont be switching between hps and cfl right away and i wont be too hot then too cold.

i have 60 white widow on the way.

i'm going to use 20 26 watt cfls.