Do you even CFL bro?!!

hey everyone,


First forum post for me due to the fact that im a brand new member, so go easy on me incase im not doing this in a correct fashion. Anyway not only am i a new member but im also a brand new grower as well! untill recently i only had one plant to worry about so my t5 light setup was perfect for the job.

My new concern comes from the two clones ive succesfully rooted and potted. since i only bought one t5 from amazon ive resorted to usuing 3 standerd CFL lightbulbs set on a 18/5 timer. As of now i just have a few lamps without shades next to them and i know i need to figure out what i need to do fast so here are my questions/concers.

#1.how many cfl lights do i need to succefully veg a healthy clone?

#2.how powerful do they need to be and do lumans take a role in this?

#3.do i need to hang them above the plant or will placing the light next to it work?

#4.do you recomend a different lighting method or will cfl work well on a small 3 plant op?

#5.what brands of light setups do you recomend from personal expierence ?


Okay thats all i have for now, any information really helps since i kinda went in blind and have only had youtube as a teacher till now. I switched to a forum to really connect and share with likeminded people with simular interest. so please send me a message or follow me and ill follow back!


-Do It For Karma

That's a lot of questions with a lot of variables.

This is pretty concise and should answer many of them

https://www.coloradopotguide.com/colorado-marijuana-blog/2015/ocber/17/the-best-grow-lights-for-your-budget/

Oh and Welcome to RIU.
Read all the stickies on the newbie forum when you get a chance. They'll help you move right along in your first grow

For one plant you would want at least 100 TRUE watts of cfl, meaning not the equivalent wattage. Choose mostly cool white cfls for veg, then switch them out with warm cfls for flower; a mixture of both spectrums may suffice better. I would recommend the 23w, cool white and warm white cfls. Use about 4-6 Of them per plant. Keep the cfls on their sides whenever you mount them above your plant, as you will utilize more light that way. Add reflectors behind all cfls to focus all lost light downward on the plants.Keep the cfls 1-3 inches above the tops of your plant throughout the plants life, due to the fact that the light discharge isn't very intense. Each 23w cfl should have aprox 1600 lumens. 4-6 cfls = 6,400-9,600 lumens. That's plenty of light for a small 1 plant op. Good luck and welcome.

How is your grow going?

1 clone you could do with 1 23W spiral at first, then add more as it grows.
I do like the short node length you get from growing under high power COBs.