My best CFL set-up yet

the box


day 6


together


heres a link to my journal with more info.
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/127795-homemade-100-grow-box.html

Me likey! ...........

looking good ..... how many plants are you growing

ummmmmmm no. Just NO

I have 2 plants going. 4, 26w bulbs per plant. I think my set up is pretty clean tho.
I know there are some things I could still improve though. The box is a work in progress. I still need to figure out what to do about the smell in a few weeks. all I have right now is a jar of ONA in the exhaust compartment that I havnt opened yet. the jar says it last for 1 month. for additional smell reduction I plan on using a porous cloth filled with granulated charcoal over the exhaust port. not really worried about it though till later next month or so with the ONA I have.

after 2 more days of growth

day 8

~day 15~
2 inches tall and on its 6th set of leaves


Side view


http://g.imageshack.us/img261/day151ue9.jpg/1/

looks great man.. cfl at the right height do get nice and bushy... i read and tried somewere to put my lights within an inch for a day then the next day move them to 12 inches then back to 1 inch and keep repeating its fucking worked majic for my plant.. nice start keep it up

Thanx for the comment.
I've had the lights 2 inches from foliage the entire time. I'd go closer if I could, but I know I'd burn them really quick. I dont have a fan blowing directly on the cfls yet..

If you could get those small metallic cfl reflectors (no the ufo looking ones...the ones that are just slightly larger than the cfl width (4 or 5 inch diameter ones) )...you could save a bit on electricity now and use one bulb per plant. I used 30w but its not much difference. You should be FINE using 1 bubl per plant til they are 12-15 inches tall or so....save the rest for when you flower. It will save you a couple bucks. I've grown a five foot HEALTHY mother plant in my closet with 4 (originally 5) 30watt cfls. I got a pic somewhere.

found some...these are from years ago...from my first grow. ended up flowering 5 i believe, got an oz per plant not too bad for a first time....it was skunk#1

first is example of the reflectors i was talkin about...2nd of the 5 footer...prolly was 4+ in that pic tho, just after my roomate over ferted it and before I let it go to shit haha.

Are they all connected to that fixture?If so where'd you get that fixture from?http://www.buylighting.com/Non-Dimmable-Compact-Fluorescent-s/75.htm

2supra4u said:

If you could get those small metallic cfl reflectors (no the ufo looking ones...the ones that are just slightly larger than the cfl width (4 or 5 inch diameter ones) )...you could save a bit on electricity now and use one bulb per plant. I used 30w but its not much difference. You should be FINE using 1 bubl per plant til they are 12-15 inches tall or so....save the rest for when you flower. It will save you a couple bucks. I've grown a five foot HEALTHY mother plant in my closet with 4 (originally 5) 30watt cfls. I got a pic somewhere.

Click to expand...

Thanx for the tip. I've tried using cut up pop can reflectors before, But it seemed like they were just reflecting more heat toward the plant. The area was noticably brighter though. maybe a few heat vents at the top of the can would have helped... I kinda just figured the mylar completly surounding the plants would be good enough.
Yeah dude, I agree. At the bare minimum you could use just one 23-30w CFL up to around 12". I guarantee you though, It will not be as dense or have as many sets per inch compared to 100w per plant. Also you cant suround the plant with light with just one small CFL.
For my grow I want to try "per plant" 104w for veg, and 168w for flower and see what I come up with. As a whole I guess thats 208w veg and 336w for flower. Should be good right...

its no good if you plan to grow 2 or 3 ft plants. however, if your flowering plants that will finish at 12-24 inches, using 1 bulb to veg per plant is enough for vigorous growth. They need little light for veg compared to the amout of light they need for a good flower. As long as you have the proper spectrum in too is crucial. if someone was just gonna end up cramming a bunch of 26-40w cfl in to flower, might as well get a 400w hps. if heat is an issue, cooltube it up.

2supra4u said:

its no good if you plan to grow 2 or 3 ft plants. however, if your flowering plants that will finish at 12-24 inches, using 1 bulb to veg per plant is enough for vigorous growth. They need little light for veg compared to the amout of light they need for a good flower. As long as you have the proper spectrum in too is crucial. if someone was just gonna end up cramming a bunch of 26-40w cfl in to flower, might as well get a 400w hps. if heat is an issue, cooltube it up.

Click to expand...

Yeah man, I agree. One bulb would work, if "you" so choose.
I'm doing mine differently though...
This isnt my first grow or even my second...
I know what works for me.

I'll post more pics soon.
This has kinda turned into a picture journal.

I like cfls for many reasons. Im going to be running 460 watts of cfl in a 3x2 sog.. reason why is because the cfls put more light in the corners, ther not as hot, and can be changed for color quickley... I pers sell a little bit and i notice the buds are not as dense as a hps, but my boys usually like the bud because it "fluffier" lol. And i only grow bag seed...

I had time to do it today instead of waiting till tomorrow.
december 29 week 4

The right one.

about 6 inches tall.

Decided to throw a little red in the spectrum before going full 2700k

above shot of left one

Right one

The left plant got a little nutrient burn on some bottom leaves. The foxfarm ocean forest soil already containts a lot of nutes still I guess. I'm using Techna Flora nutes for right now. I watered it with the nutrients on week 3. I'm going fert, water, water, fert... Think I might hold off though till bloom thoguh. Then I can hit it with the Flowering nutes.

I love pictures dont you???
day 29