Lighting help!!

alright so pretty much this is my first time growing and ive got a few questions about lighting. I've already read overmany threads about lighting and im sure some of these questions have been answered, but i just forget or missed it, so any help would be sick.

I didnt wanna be blowin alot of cash, cause i simply dont have much, so i found two lights around my house that i've got installed right now, but i need some opinions on how well they'll work, if at all. If one of these lights is completely wrong, lmk so i can hopefully remove/fix it before any damage is done. Im not sure what type they are exactly. The first one is from a reptile aquarium. Its a 150W basking light, and it gives off alot of heat, and right now i've got it like 2 feet above the plants. The other one was just my desk light . It's got around a 6" bulb, and give off more of a blueish light. Right now its at the same height as the other light.

1)Will these lights work? If so should i have them at the same height, or should the one giving off more heat be higher so it doesnt burn the leaves?

2) Should i have both of these lights on for both vegging and flowering, or would it be better to have like more heat in one of the stages?

3)I'm considering getting some fleurescent lights and attaching them to a piece of wood, hanging it, and having it so that it can be raised as the plants grow. Would this likely get me better crop or a larger harvest? The size of my space is 30" high, 12 " deep, and 24" wide. How many bulbs would i need of what wattage? Also, how many of these should be cool white vs. warm white, or would it be best to switch when i start to flower?


I know i got alot of questions in each paragraph there sop idk why i numbered them lol too stoned i guess, but any help would be greatly appreciated, even if u cant answer all the questions. Also any other opinions or tips to make the lighting better / more efficient if i get fleourescent bulbs (how to best arrange them) would be a great help .


Also, not to do with lighting, but since i pretty much need it to smell as little as possible, i need to make the box air tight. I used alot of hot glue on the edges of the box, but ive run out of glue, and before i mission to get some more does any one know of some better ways to make it air tight. I've got a DIY carbon filter right now, with a box around it (i think air tight) and a 12V fan (from xbox) pulling air through (i think). Would it make more sense to put this fan on the other side of the filter, so it more pushes the air through? Theres also a bigger 10V fan inside the box for air circulation. For this purpose would it be better to have it sitting on the ground, or raied higher up to better simulate wind. Also, should i cut a hole from the box and attach it directly to the fan so that theres fresh air? Thanks again for the help guys.

up,, someones gotta have some advice

Alright i was at canadian tire today, and decided to just go ahead and pick up some cheap cfls. I got 2- 23W spiral bulbs, and an 18" fleurescent tube, i think its 15W. I've only got the 18" light installed right now. Would this be enough light at the beginning, or would it be better to install the other 2 right away. If its good for now, when should i add the other lights? (Can also get more if recommended) The long tube is cool white, and the other 2 bulbs are warm white. Also would there be any point in keeping the other lights installed (1 for heat basically, and the others only 9W so i think it would be pretty useless).


again, any help is appreciated cause i dont wanna fuck this up, then find out the next day how i could have prevented it lol

oldmancronic said:

Alright i was at canadian tire today, and decided to just go ahead and pick up some cheap cfls. I got 2- 23W spiral bulbs, and an 18" fleurescent tube, i think its 15W. I've only got the 18" light installed right now. Would this be enough light at the beginning, or would it be better to install the other 2 right away. If its good for now, when should i add the other lights? (Can also get more if recommended) The long tube is cool white, and the other 2 bulbs are warm white. Also would there be any point in keeping the other lights installed (1 for heat basically, and the others only 9W so i think it would be pretty useless).


again, any help is appreciated cause i dont wanna fuck this up, then find out the next day how i could have prevented it lol

Click to expand...

canadian tire probly doesnt have a good selection. If all your using is some tubes + 23 watters, thats not enough. Im going to home depot in a few days and


get these for vegging: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100661903/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

get these for flower: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100663847/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

they are very expensive, like 9 bucks each, but what im going to do when i get there, but its ur call, it to just pocket a 12 pack of each in a big winter coat, because apparently homedepot employees arent aloud to chase shoplifters, and im not paying $180 for bulbs hah

d1zl3 said:

canadian tire probly doesnt have a good selection. If all your using is some tubes + 23 watters, thats not enough. Im going to home depot in a few days and


get these for vegging: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100661903/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

get these for flower: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100663847/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

they are very expensive, like 9 bucks each, but what im going to do when i get there, but its ur call, it to just pocket a 12 pack of each in a big winter coat, because apparently homedepot employees arent aloud to chase shoplifters, and im not paying $180 for bulbs hah

Click to expand...

Thanks alot for the reply bro. And yee big winter coats are probably the best thing about winter lol. I forgot to mention in that other post that i also picked up a 40W cool white, and 40W soft white bulbs.

So ya i guess i'll be good for flowering, but ill definately look at pickin up some of those daylight bulbs aswell.

However, i dont have my license yet, cant really ask parents to drive me to get growing supplies lol, and Canadian tire is the only store near me, so if they dont have daylight bulbs at CT, would the cool white bulbs do the trick until i can reach homedepot?

how old are you? define small budget for me........i consider 300-500 a small budget.

300-500 is alot more than i really wanna spend, atleast untill i get some crop and turn it into cash. I do have money, but dont really want to blow it all on growing equipment. I know the more money u put into the better, but i wanna start off pretty simple. Why you askin, like what would u reccomend if i was down to spend more??

i'd suggest a nice lil diy perpetual 400w hps for flower and like 4 42w 6500k cfls for clone and vegging grow,(veg a few diff plants till ready to put in flower, but when you do take 2 clones from each plant and carefully label which plants clones are which, when the plant you toss into flower shows sex kill the males and any clones from them. veg the clones till the other plants finish flowering, then cut 2 clones of each of the them and put the mothers into flower while their clones root and veg......just repeat the cycle over and over again. the first plants you put into flower their is the chance of males still i'd plant some extra seeds so you can still get a bigger harvest and take as many clones as you can. for a 400w hps perpetual sog you could get 30+ plants harvested every few months(or even more if you had a bigger setup, you'll see some that harvest every 2 weeks and get a qp each time or more.)