First CFL Grow

Hi everyone. I was wondering what would be a good lamp to screw a 100-200 watt CFL into as an overhead grow lamp? Is a regular desk lamp adequate?


I plugged in a 30 watt CFL as a test run into the light fixture in my closet, and it totally didn't work (I think my old fixtures might just not be able to take CFLs for some reason), so I want to get a lamp instead.

Also, is there a way to prevent the burning smell CFL bulbs sometimes produce? Thanks a lot, all help is appreciated.

There shouldn't be any smell.... Until the end of their life, sometimes they burn out(literally, they can actually start a fire in rare instances), though most have technology to detect this and stop it well before it happens.

There are also commercial grow fixtures for CFLs.

are u talking about 100-200 watt equiv? or actual watts...and dont use a lamp...go to home depot and buy a bunch of work lights for like 6 bucks and piece and get a bunch of daylight(6500k) bulbs for veg and then when rdy to flower swap them out for soft or warm white(2700k) bulbs. check out my pix and see what i mean bout the work lights...i basically have 6 sockets all with a y splitter. so i end up with 6 cords to plug in and 12 bulbs running. hit me back if u need more help.