CFLs

quick question guys, started making my own grow box for the upcoming winter...are these CFLs good enough or is it worth investing in an known brand?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3x-Spiral-Energy-Saving-Light-Bulbs-Lamp-9W-11W-15W-18W-20W-26W-E14-E27-ES-CFL-/151483904653?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item234524f28d

Ill start with like..2 autos, thinking of 5 26W 6500ks and 4 26W 2700k (mixed with 1 6500k) for flowering.

Also since my space is pretty limited I dont think Ill be able to fit 2 decent size pots in the box (got like 20" x 20") so I suppose there's nothing wrong to put 2 (maybe even 3) plants in the same pot (obviously a bigger one)? Ill start a growing journal once I put everything together, we'll see how it goes

Nope, never put 2 plants into one pot, thats a huge no-no

CFLs are CFLs dont really matter brand to me as long as they work. Just make sure you get the correct color temperatures. 2700 for flower 6500k for veg

Your always better off with a Metal halide or a High Pressured sodium. however, you can in fact grow with CFL's. The only thing, is more lumens = more potency and yield. Thus, a CFL cannot compare to a MH or a HPS... When it comes to growing with CFL's Always use these ones. These are some of my favorites.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_46931-75774-L65TN_0__?productId=3197521

unless of course your looking for horizontal floros. I'd recommend a 4ft 4 tubed T5 floro set up.
http://www.amazon.com/Designer-4Ft-Tube-Fixture-Bulbs-FLP44/dp/B007FGE6C0/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429043346&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=t5 4ft 4 tubed

As you can see the difference.. I have 2 of these horizontal T5 setups which in total put out about 20k lumens. However, they cost $130 each.. the CFL previous to this link, is equivalent to 2900 lumens, so, you could buy 3-4 of these cfl's to put out about the same. 4 would actually be 11, 600 lumens, would be significantly cheaper than buying 1 of the horizontal ones. However, ive noticed that the horizontal T5 (at least in my opinion) seem to grow much faster and better than the soft white cfl... It is a high output floro..So it's really up to you... More lumens = more buds... Hope this was helpful? Good luck!

^^ yep good post, i also run two T8s along with various CFLs i have about 650w of CFLs, i never took account of the lumens, which i should have.

ebcrew said:

^^ yep good post, i also run two T8s along with various CFLs i have about 650w of CFLs, i never took account of the lumens, which i should have.

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Why thank you! I agree with your previous post as well, didn't see it at the time. 1 plant 1 pot always haha. Also very important, the Light spectrum's depending on flowering or vegging.

Ya you can still achieve the same thing by calculating in watts, however, I've found it way more accurate and above more easy to calculate by Lumens Per Sq. Ft.

Well my box size will be 50 cms x 50 cms and ~120 in height..ill be doing 2 autos, max 3 at once..whats the best source of light I can get? I've heard lots of positive things about hps but if I get like 5 26watt CFLs I can place them all around the plants instead of a single hps shining from the top. also i suppose hps got quite a heat issue, im not plannig on having any serious ventilation systems, just 2 comp fans blowing in/out...

Taura said:

Well my box size will be 50 cms x 50 cms and ~120 in height..ill be doing 2 autos, max 3 at once..whats the best source of light I can get? I've heard lots of positive things about hps but if I get like 5 26watt CFLs I can place them all around the plants instead of a single hps shining from the top. also i suppose hps got quite a heat issue, im not planing on having any serious ventilation systems, just 2 comp fans blowing in/out...

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Ya with a setup like this, I think a bunch of high powered CFL's will do fine. However, when you get more money and resources to upgrade, once you go LED, you'll never go back lol. However your correct, you need very good ventilation for these LED's and for the plants in general. Where with just CFLs you wont have that man fluctuating issues. CFLS cannot compare to the LED's, however, I think every new grower should start with them, and then workj there way up. It's perfect for a beginner thats looking to save money and barley spend to get his setup. Keep in mind, the more you put into your grow, the more you'll get out... I would also recommend, if you going to do CFL's to leave them on 24/7 (when in veg) because the longer they are on, the more light they are getting, thus more growth. Just remmeber if you going full CFL, to get different light spectrums for vegg and flowering. FOr vegg get 6500 K CFL, and for flowering get 2700 K.

yeh ill iget 5 6500ks for vegg and ill have 4 2700ks+1 6500k for flowering..is that alright or should i go with 2700k only for flowering? anyways id get my hands on a hps if id have a bigger grow space but sadly its pretty limited and not much i can do..but its still good enough for 2 autos so hopefully i can make like ~50 grams per 2/3 months, enough to fit my needs

Taura said:

yeh ill iget 5 6500ks for vegg and ill have 4 2700ks+1 6500k for flowering..is that alright or should i go with 2700k only for flowering? anyways id get my hands on a hps if id have a bigger grow space but sadly its pretty limited and not much i can do..but its still good enough for 2 autos so hopefully i can make like ~50 grams per 2/3 months, enough to fit my needs

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Hell, honestly, I'd put every single one throughout the whole process... More light = more lumens = more buds. Especially if you have both light spectrums it'll help where it is required, plus some.

Put all the cfl's you can get away with. 6500k's above the "upper tops" of the plant, 2700k above the lower tops to encourage stretching of the lower cola's. Im over 300 watts of cfl's right now but im starting to think its a waste of energy for 1 plant in flower!

Taura said:

yeh ill iget 5 6500ks for vegg and ill have 4 2700ks+1 6500k for flowering..is that alright or should i go with 2700k only for flowering? anyways id get my hands on a hps if id have a bigger grow space but sadly its pretty limited and not much i can do..but its still good enough for 2 autos so hopefully i can make like ~50 grams per 2/3 months, enough to fit my needs

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A sun system 150 watt HPS is like 17x15", and will give you fat ass buds from them auto's in a small grow box like that, you can use the extra cfl's for side lighting and extended wavelengths. I cant wait to use my HID's. *edit- your looking for 50 grams every two months i would either build another grow box or use an HPS with a good yielding strain

Taura said:

Well my box size will be 50 cms x 50 cms and ~120 in height..ill be doing 2 autos, max 3 at once..whats the best source of light I can get? I've heard lots of positive things about hps but if I get like 5 26watt CFLs I can place them all around the plants instead of a single hps shining from the top. also i suppose hps got quite a heat issue, im not plannig on having any serious ventilation systems, just 2 comp fans blowing in/out...

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a suns sytems 150w hps light is a good alternative to CFL's. 18,000 lumens thats like 10+ cfls. The heat is probably less than 10 cfls. one 150w hps rocks an auto. Maybe will grow two ryders.

CFL is surprisingly hot. Especially when you jam a bunch into a small space. a Mars Hydro LED would rock a small space and is not too expensive. In the end it costs a lot of time and money to rig up a bunch of cfl's. Might as well just buy a grow light.

For under 200 bucks you can get a decent LED light and not have to deal with major heat and possibly cut down on fire risk or the risk of your cfl falling on your plant and burning the leaves. (i've had this happen).

These are the best of the cheapie LED's. You want the reflector series because they are 3 watts and don't require too much clearance. 5w LEDs will burn your plants if placed too close.
http://www.mars-hydro.com/led-grow-light/reflector-series

sunny747 said:

a suns sytems 150w hps light is a good alternative to CFL's. 18,000 lumens thats like 10+ cfls. The heat is probably less than 10 cfls. one 150w hps rocks an auto. Maybe will grow two ryders.

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150watts of hid vs cfl i have to say the cfl's ar about 10f cooler. Thats why my hid's are still boxed up because i haven't bought an air conditioner yet and im in the process of building a 8x8x8ft grow box, or house.. Whatever you call it. Gonna use cfl's/2 150HPS 1 600HPS and thinking of a 300w led panel. Going to be dedicated next time around lol

However if i had a tiny grow box like the OP's, id slap that 150 in there becauee the space is so small it will be easy as hell to remove heat from there.

If you can get more CFLs, the more lights the better man. If you want the best out of your 2 plants, give them as much light as possible. People say at least 100w (actual watts) per plant, but i believe it should be more.

With a 150 in a 2sft space I can remove the heat using just a small home air filter. I have a Holmes. It pulls some serious air and scrubs decently also. Works great for a small grow. The only thing is that it makes a little bit of noise. Always a good option for 1 or 2 plants.

Well noise isn't much of a problem for me but still I prefer having kinda silent fans..I was thinking of 80mm intake fan and 120mm one to get the heat out and will probably mount a homemade carbon filter on it. Also another thing..what do you recommend, growing like 2 autos at a time or just 1 regular feminised strain? Vegg/flower time doesn't matter (and even if it would, I can vegg the regular plant for like a month or two and leave it to flower for another month or two right?)

My Rule of thumb is not lower than 5k Lumens per Sq. Ft. Works very well.