How many is Too Much??? Please Help

Im growing in a 2'x3'x4' box with a hydroflora system. I want to know how many lights (cfl) i can put in to maximize my plants potential. I am using power strips at the top of my box with y splitters. How many lights should I be using for veg and flower?? plz help

As many as possible without creating a heat issue. CFLs are a cheap alternative, but you need lots of them and they need to be about 2" from the plants. The light benefits drop off considerably close to the bulbs. I would say that 12 would be a start and add as you need them from there.

i have 11 plants so you think that 12 would be enough for a good start and all must be at least 2"-3" away from plant throughout the whole grow? of just for vegg state? thanks for the info!!

With 11 plants you will need more than that - probably at least 12 for veg depending on how big you intend to veg them and even more for flowering. They need to remain that close for the whole grow.

okay thank you very much littletommy, but in your opinion should I invest in a hps light instead of dealing with over 10 cfl's? i have the money for a hps light i am just unfamiliar with using them throughout a whole grow. I am unsure of what to use for vegg and what to use to flower as far a bulbs go for hps lighting. what would be the best for my set up?

2x3 is 6 sq ft and you should have about 4000 lumens per sq ft in flower so that's 24,000 luments total so that about 400 actual watts. 42 watt are best and you can put them in Y splitters, so you need 8 - 10 of those.

so I need 42 watt hps bulbs (8-10). and these will work for both vegg and flower???

I think Illegal Smile was referring to CFLs.

42w cfl's for flower and 26w daylight 2700k for veg but you can also mix spectrums have a few of each during each cycle just have a couple more of the ideal spectrum for the stage say 6 26w + 4 42w = veg 6 42w + 4 26w - flower. That was just an example you will probably need more.

I'm a newbie. This is what my project cost research has shown me.

42w bulbs in my area are around $10-14 each. For that price you can get two three packs of 26w bulbs from WalMart, three Ys from the hardware store, and have 156w. Even for 6500k, you can get a four pack of 23w bulbs at Lowes for around $10 or a two pack of 26w 6500k at WalMart for $8. Running all 23w/26w bulbs in Y splitters would also give you the ability to use one bulb of each spectrum per Y.