Four Strain CFL SCROG Grow

Lord Dangly Bits

Lord Dangly Bits

Well-Known Member
That is a very cool build. But PVC fittings can add up, as do the fixtures and bulbs. It seems like you spent as much money on that set up as it would have cost for a 400 watt HPS. I take it that is as much room as you had to grow in? At least with the CFL's you will have no heat problem, or need for 6" ducting and a vortex fan. I like to be able to move each light with ease when ever needed. SOLO.
Best wishes on your crop. I have a cheap ghetto grow right now myself. I am not doing anything wild or anything. Just a bunch of 8.5inch shop reflectors with Clamps. I have a full 8' of head room, So I can suspend them from braided line and a prebuilt adjustable rack.
 
4

420marcus

Member
awesome set up this is what I am going to try with my limited space. I have found 55 watt cfls at wally world for 12 bucks and I bet putting a few of those down the middle (in between the lights you have) would be a huge benefit. I am gonna try something very similar to this. Thanks for all the pics ake it easy to understand what and how you did it awesome thanks. And to the person asking about HPS . I have grown with both and the HPS is by far superior if you can handle the heat. I am running 14 26 w cfls and only 2 of the big 55's for now on 4 plants . Keep it up
 
MrDank007

MrDank007

Well-Known Member
ShowStopper thanks for all the tips. I didn't even think about the plug fitting in the pipe. Sorry to ask so many questions, but I'm litterally considering getting on this in a day or so. So you said you had run few lights on one cord at one time...did you wire them in parallel or a series? I have a top light, but this design would be great for side lights in a case that does not have a great deal of depth. Ultimately, I would like to get it all to one plug I can just throw into the other side of the timer. Thanks again!
 
MrDank007

MrDank007

Well-Known Member
Thanks. I have to figure out how i'm going to wire this in the pipe, how I'm going to make the base and get some cheap PVC cutter to make it all work. Appreciate all of your suggestions
 
FreeHeeling

FreeHeeling

Active Member
We have a store called GCF (Global Community Foundation). It is like a Goodwill. They had a two pack of CFLs for a buck. I thought they might be crap, but they are not and as far as going cheap, you can't do much better. It didn't matter what wattage...only a buck.
 
ShowStopper

ShowStopper

Member
lord dangly bits,

That looks great, I added 12 lights down the middle but they generated to much heat and had to be removed. I was thinking about using 4 high wattage CFLs, do you know what type of heat they generate compared to the 23w CFLs. Do those run off a standard socket, the ones i've found require a different type of socket.
 
Lord Dangly Bits

Lord Dangly Bits

Well-Known Member
ShowStopper said:
lord dangly bits,

That looks great, I added 12 lights down the middle but they generated to much heat and had to be removed. I was thinking about using 4 high wattage CFLs, do you know what type of heat they generate compared to the 23w CFLs. Do those run off a standard socket, the ones i've found require a different type of socket.
Click to expand...

Yes, it fits a standard socket, you can get them from home depoe for $15
 
ShowStopper

ShowStopper

Member
Went to Home Depot to pick up some of the large CFLs, but they did not have any, so I have decided to completely redo the light arrangement. Plants are on day 14 of flowering, SI, AI, and BB are all showing bud sites. The BM plant has no hairs on it yet, any thoughts.
 
Lord Dangly Bits

Lord Dangly Bits

Well-Known Member
Some strains take longer then others. Or it might just have a bad gene. I once had a Northern light plant that was in flowering for 6 weeks before it showed signs. And the whole time it was in a growth spert. I had it bent over, and it was still touching 8'. I harvested the other northern lights before it even started forming buds. And the buds on that plant were not even close to the grade the others produced. It took this one plant 14 weeks to be harvested, compared to 9 weeks with the others. I should have shit canned it when I harvested the others. But this is a very rare thing to happen. Just have patience, it will start popping buds. Also, if Home depoe does not have that big light in stock, you can have them order them and they will be there in 3-4 days.
 
ShowStopper

ShowStopper

Member
Just a quick update, I am now running 28 23w bulbs(22 2700k, 6 6500k), still want to add another 8 bulbs. I decided to lower the ratio of 6500k bulbs to see if the stems stop growing as quick. I'm running out of vertical room, only about 8 to 10 inches left. I am starting work on a suger/yeast co2 setup, hopefully it will offset the heat generated by the extra bulbs. Any thoughts or links on the yeast/sugar co2 setup are welcome. I learned about it awhile back but havn't done much research. I did do a quick search though and found a recipe for a 2 liter bottle that calls for 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon yeast. I also found that increasing the proportion of yeast causes more co2 to be produced but dies out quicker because it eats up all the sugar. If anyone has a proven recipe that they feel would be better i'd love to hear it.
 
MrDank007

MrDank007

Well-Known Member
ShowStopper when you wired your lights in parallel, did you just disect an extension cord or did you buy lamp wire?
 
sonar

sonar

Well-Known Member
Hey man I don't know much about CO2 supplementation, but based on what I know about physics in general I would think you'd want that cab sealed as well as possible. It seems difficult to do with all the fans and ventilation needed to keep everything cool.

That's a kick ass light setup man. Just curious how you are going to raise that rack if and when you have to? Are the bottoms of thos 3 way corner fitting not glued and you are going to extend the verticle supports?
 
ShowStopper

ShowStopper

Member
mrdank007,

I used a cord I found at Jameco, it's where I get alot of my electronic components.

You can get it here - https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&productId=124434&catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&krypto=9x3mj8umRTossDzYlwQvLooLnI6IYjKoMJkPks%2Fvgav07ryvfekV%2FlM3E4zBWlT3m8dhAWgN7IY2%0D%0AnXSl9oaiI%2FMP2ZqNydlW&ddkey=https:StoreCatalogDrillDownView


sonar,

None of it is glued together, I like to be able to rotate and twist all the fittings so I can direct the light wherever I want.

Current Light Setup -
DSCN0838_01.jpgDSCN0839_01.jpgDSCN0841_01.jpgDSCN0842_01.jpg

I still want to add 8 more bulbs to the back side, but am going to wait until my co2 setup is ready. There are 2 of the front fixtures but I could not get a good picture of the other, they both look the same though.
 
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