How many cfl's to grow 6 plants?

daleh717

Well-Known Member
So would I be better off getting one 250hps light or a bunch of cfl's?Would a 250hps be to hot for that amount of space?I want the best crop I can get and am a little torn between cfl and a hps now.I plan on spending about $400-500 to build a hopefully ok setup and I want to get the most out of my money.So what should I do?
i thought you said he only wanted to know about cfls?
 

Budweaver

Well-Known Member
Buy a single HPS bulb and it goes out for whatever reason, your grow stops until you get another bulb.
Buy a couple of CFLs and one goes out, your grow is still on and you've only lost a small % of your total lumens.

I think this is the real advantage of CFLs for smaller grows.

As to how many CFLs:

A good rule of thumb is 100w per plant. 2 of the 42 watters or 4 of the 23s are great choices.
 

MrBlanco

Active Member
i thought you said he only wanted to know about cfls?
Why are you being a jerk? You said "in his first post he asked..." and now you're looking for any way to spin it back to your favor. He asked about hps lights after someone told him that he absolutely needed one in order to grow.

The bottom line is that this is the CFL forum and you guys are always coming in here saying "just get an hps". Go away if you're not going to be helpful.
 

boogums105

Member
Ok so i have a 2x3x5 foot grow tent i built. I plan on having 3-5 plants. Money is a factor i am only growing personal and want to use cfls i have 2 75 watt equivalent cfls which put out 5500k each. I am housing them in a clamp fixtures. How many more cfls do i need? How many more fixtures?
 

longtail

Member
back to extreme fighters question, you have to balance these answers you are getting from everyone and make the decision yourself on cfl vs. hps. the hps with a digital ballast is going to use a significant amount of juice more than a group of cfls. don't know if everyone knows this but a digital ballast is detectable from a significant distance. there has been a case of a digital ballast being to close to a cable outlet and attracted attention from the cable co., who tracked the ballast to the house that it was running in.
the ballast was causing interference to neighbors cable reception and they called service, who tracked to the house. https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/125462-digital-ballast-rf-interference.html this is just one case. if you google this you will find that there have been many cases and not just here in riu. if you are being stealthy i would suggest sticking with cfls, small grows, easy to keep temps under control without drawing any undue attention.
 
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