Cfl Proximity To Foliage

great info in this thread too

I must admit first off that I have not read the WHOLE thread. But I do have a question. Should the proximity of the cfl be so close to the plants if you are using a high wattage CFL? I am using two 200 watters in a 2x4 ft closet. They are roughly 6'' from my babies now. They get pretty hot for a CFL, so I wasnt trying to get them too close to the foliage. Thoughts please.

I am using 4 85 watt cfl, and they work great. Kandahar, Big Bud, And White Widow are just thriving. End of 3 week grow, bus are doing great

Where did you find the thing that all the CFL's screw into? I went to Home Depot and I didn't find anything like it.

I grew a 4 foot tall plant in veg with two 26 watt cfls in a closet..

ObiJwon said:

I must admit first off that I have not read the WHOLE thread. But I do have a question. Should the proximity of the cfl be so close to the plants if you are using a high wattage CFL? I am using two 200 watters in a 2x4 ft closet. They are roughly 6'' from my babies now. They get pretty hot for a CFL, so I wasnt trying to get them too close to the foliage. Thoughts please.

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I have two 26 watt blues, and two 42 watt reds, on my newborns and it burnt the tips of them at 1 inch away.. I have since moved them to 3 inches away, hoping that it helps..

So yeah, I'd say 6 inches is fine for that amount of watts..

I will agree with you grape snowcone. I am using 8 26 watt 2700k about 3-4 inches away from the plants and i have had no problems.

Hey guy's, i'm usig 20x24 w cfl's, 16 of them are 2700k, 4 of them are 2200k with a total of 28.000 lumens do you think this is ok ? can i leave them as they are or should i spread them around the plant ? Also, i'm planning to ad a few more plant's in there and about 10-15 more 24 watters .

here are some pic's, tell me what you think

Peace!

My girls are dying and I use cfl's need help here...Anyone please. [email protected]

I think some one was asking where I got those fixtures for my CFLs, Walmart. Cost around $7-$10 maybe, CFL lights from Express Light Bulbs, they to have the fixtures, but cost alot more.


Better to have it, not need it, than not to have it, and need it

alright sorry but i also didnt read the whole thread. but i was wondering when you bud with cfls do you still keep the lights by the leafs or right by the buds(cola)?

what do you do if your running a cfl stealth box?

Garden Knowm said:

I can not emphasize enough the importance for LIGHT proximity to the PLANT.

IF You want a big harvest using CFLS.. there should be a CFL within 1 inch of EVERY piece of exterior foliage of the plant!!

do you understand!!!!

iloveyou

CANNABIS grows FAST.... you will need to adjust the lights or adjust the plant daily.

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ok i am no expert but it is my belief that this is false and i'm wondering why this is stickied like it is correct and good information.

i'm in the 5th week of flowering and i've always maintained about 5" of clearance between the canopy top and the light.

so then i read this and decided not to raise my lights as the tops of my plant grew up to around 2"-3" from the lights, thinking that it would be a safe distance. i use CFLs that are spread evenly over a 19" x 25" grow area. I have one 65watt soft white CFL and four 45 watt soft white CFLs.

i'm using a 4" exuast fan, and a 2"intake fan, so there is always air being kicked out and in, plus i have fans blowing to circulate as well.

anyways, the author of this post seems to think that just because it's a CFL that it doesnt generate heat. watts generate heat, no matter what type of light bulb, motor, etc. CFLs come in all shapes and sizes, sure a 13 watt CFL might not burn at 1" proximity to plant material, but a 300 watt equivilant CFL generates quite a bit of heat on the other hand.

i just don't want others to pull a dumb and dumber move like i did and burn the tops of thier plants because they read this post and decided not to test the heat with the back of thier hands (like i normally do) /kickself

You have one hell of a good point

Alright I know this thread is old as fuck and reading it I learned that I need to put my CFLs alot closer than they are now(4-6in) but I looked through home depot and I know I should have asked but where the fuck do I find indoor ballasts for MH and HPS bulbs I was about to buy 2 bulbs and I couldnt find any ballasts that were not the size of three footballs and required a electrician to install. I need some that could be plugged into the wall of a closet.

Tokeme said:

Alright I know this thread is old as fuck and reading it I learned that I need to put my CFLs alot closer than they are now(4-6in) but I looked through home depot and I know I should have asked but where the fuck do I find indoor ballasts for MH and HPS bulbs I was about to buy 2 bulbs and I couldnt find any ballasts that were not the size of three footballs and required a electrician to install. I need some that could be plugged into the wall of a closet.

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try http://www.htgsupply.com/
there are 3 parts to a HID system. The bulb, the fixture (what you screw it into), and the ballast. So if you bought a 400w MH then you need a 400w MH ballast. Also a MH ballast is generally not interchangable with HPS, meaning don't put a hps lamp in it, even if it is the same wattage. Now HPS on the other hand, you can buy MH conversion bulbs that can be run in a HPS ballast.

YEAH!! I finally finished this thread! I have now moved my CFLs a lil bit closer. Now all i can think about is watts! I'm going to have nightmares about big bad HIDs coming to burn my babies lol.

Yea man i agree

Can I use Sheet metal as a light reflector ?
Example maybe use a sheet metal roof so it refelcts light back down ?
Just a thought or should i just wrap mylar around something and use it like one of those Clamp fixtures

from what i have heard ur best bet is mylar or flat white paint for best reflection ... if ur on a low budget you can use foil or the back end gift wrapping paper. sheet metal could work but it would be less affective than some of the cheaper alternatives i listed previously.