lighting

ive got one plant in my house right now, with a 60W florescent light 6 inches above the plant. is this too much or not enough lighting? any suggestions?

It's enough light for now, as long as you bring it closer, like within an inch, 2" max. What spectrum is it? That's important too. You want to go with a more blue light, something close to the 6500K range.

well its just a normal white bulb im not sure to be honest, my GF had them and i decided to try em out. so 2 inches above the plant eh? ty for the advice

Is it a true 60 watt bulb, or one of those CFLs that are only 13 watts, and claim to be a 60 watt equivalent? If that's the case, you want to keep that thing as close as possible, while you are looking for a replacement. Those 13 watt bulbs don't have enough output for growing, and you will end up with stretching problems. You'll need to find something with at least 3000 lumen output, if you want a nice healthy plant. I believe that those 13 watt CFLs are only like 800 lumens, which isn't near enough light.

thanks a bunch for your help =) i found the box the bulbs came in, im on my way to lowes right now to get a better bulb, it was in fact 13 watts and 825 lumens :S

one more quick questions, when i get the correct lighting at 60 watts and 3k lumens, and a blue light (does that mean literally blue?) i should keep it 2 inches away from the plant, correct? and for how long? when flowering occurs how far should the light be from the plant? sorry for the inconvenience this is my first plant and i dont want to mess anything up.

Not really litterally blue. It's the band of light that comes from the high lumen output. I wish I had a lowes. I'm having a hard time finding high watt HPS around here and I don't wanna order them online

you want 3000 - 10000 lumens per square ft, how big is your room? veg spectrum 6500k flowering spectrum 2700k. are you only using cfls, if so keeps them as close as possible without burning the plants. thats through veg and flower. when using cfls i have 2 85w (250w replacement) each has 5,900 lumens that i use in a 2 sq ft area that are kept from 2 to 3 inches away at all times. cfl's are so much cooler than hps or mh.

thanks for the advice. i went out and purchased a growing bulb 60watts. ive got her about 3 inches away from the bulb, and she has went crazy. i have noticed a huge difference in the types of bulbs.

Is a mix of HPS and MH ok to do? I cannot find high watt HPS lights around here (closest lowles or lowes whatever it is, is a bit away). So if i got like 6 100 watt HPS+MH will that be just as effective as one big light?


Edit: Scratch the MH bulbs. Just gonna use HPS. Probably get some CFLs for side lighting later on.

NuBud335 said:

Is a mix of HPS and MH ok to do? I cannot find high watt HPS lights around here (closest lowles or lowes whatever it is, is a bit away). So if i got like 6 100 watt HPS+MH will that be just as effective as one big light?


Edit: Scratch the MH bulbs. Just gonna use HPS. Probably get some CFLs for side lighting later on.

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Honestly, a combo of MH and HPS will beat straight HPS, IMO. The only reason most use HPS is because HPS will outperform MH in bloom, if they have to choose between the two. The blue light of the MH will keep the 'bloom stretch' to a minimum,(and other benefits) while the HPS will give you those nice dense buds that you're looking for. Either way, the MH would be a MUCH better option that CFLs, if you can afford to run the extra wattage, and control the heat.

Add the CFLs too, and you'll REALLY have some serious buddage.lol More is almost always better(as long as you're under 10,000 lumens per square foot).