outside to in

i planted a bunch of seeds outside for the hell of it. they all sprouted, some died, but i got a few that are coming out really nice. i just got em in pots on my back porch, but i want to bring them in eventually. right now i dont have any lighting, and i need to go with cfls, cuz i got no money. i would just like to know how many watts should i use? i want the max power possible. ill probably end up with about 4 or 6 babies. right now theyre anywhere from 2-4 inches id guess. the second set of fan leaves are comin out right now.

I am still new at growing also.But I have been reading alot.Believe me you can find almost any A for any Q.Here is what you need to do first.Pick out were you want to grow inside.Determine the square footage of your area (example in a 4 foot by 4 foot area, there is 16 square feet)
If you have a 1000 watt High Pressure Sodium, that produces (approx.) 107,000 lumens.
Divide this by 16 (your square footage) 107,000 / 16 = 6687 lumens per square foot.
So just divide the total amount of Lumens, by the total amount of Sq ft, and thats your lumens per square foot.
most Fluorescents are 60-70 lumens/watt.For vegetation you will need 5,000k-6,500k.And for flowering 2,700-3,000k.
Im just to lazy to type the rest,copy & paste lol.
In order to efficiently use CFL’s to grow your MJ you will need to position the lights around 2 – 4 inches from the foliage of the plant. If you place the light too close, then your plant will have nothing to vertically stretch to and it will remain short and stocky. (Ex. My First Grow and FarmingToronto’s) Some people combat this by addingCFL’s to the side of foliage instead of on top of it. On the other hand if the light is too far away from the plant, the stem will suffer elongation (stretching), which will result in loose and fluffy bud’s.It is very important to note that when using CFL’s it’s a daily “battle” to have lights in the right spot. Many of us are in our grow areas at least once a day anyway, so to move your bulbs a bit really isn’t that big a deal. Also many people wonder is it better to have many low watt CFL’s or just a few high watt CFL’s. Both way’s are capable of provided you a good harvest but I suggest you chose the configuration that is easiest for you and your grow area.
Oh & I would make sure to spray youre plants with some pesticide before you take them in.Let them sit for a lil while(1-3hrs) after youre done,then take them in.You don't want to bring bugs in youre house.

thats a very good detailed answer. appreciate it. but it doesnt answer the question of how many watts of cfl per plant i should use for now. as soon as i get the money im getting a hps system. and thatll be before im ready to flower, thats all i know. whats the least and most amount of cfls for 4 to 6 sprouts for the next couple of weeks. i need to bring them in soon and i dont want them to get fucked up when i bring them in. and if i wasnt so stoned i would look for the answer, but id rather someone tell me.

If you are liveing in the uk go for the low energy lighting cfl's that kick out the same has a 150 watt normal light,these lights i'm am useing in my cloneing room and have realy impressed me they are bright has [email protected] a day light spectrem.you can get these in warm or cool i got 2 of each and put them on down lighters.just buy the same fixing that u would for a wall bang some cable on and away you go.i would get all cool and one warm the warm one will give you the heat needed to keep the weed happy.i also have a couple of 4 ft flouresnts above on chains for the tops of the plants.but i only use these because i have mothers in that room has well.so i would go down the same way has this lighting set up.the plants look realy happy i could even flower them in that room but this kind of lighting is not gonna give you a big yeiled but it is worth growing in a room that is not gonna cost much to run learn all about cloneing ,growing from seeds and then up the guns to h.p.s .

oh of course, but cloning, hps, all that shit comes later. im just fucking around with bag seed to see what happens. im broke as fuck so i cant do much. i got a 23 watt cfl in my closet with one baby. yea itll probably die, im sure,but i wanna see how long it can make it. now what about regular old florescent bulbs...i got a few under the counter lights just lying around, will that help it too? the bulb is clear, about an inch or so long, and says FC.F on it. not sure what kind it is. and its 25 watts. will it be of any use at all? i got a few of em and the one is probably more wattage.

The clear bulbs are standard incandescent and I would not use those.

You can use the longer 2' and 4' floro tubes but those also need to be in the right spectrum to grow plants. Look for 3000K and 6500K bulbs but DON'T use 5000K. The 5000K emit light mostly in the green spectrum and plants do not use it. 6500K emits light in the blue spectrum (good for vegetative growth) and 3000K emits light in the orange/ red spectrum (good for flowering).

If I were you I would research light spectrums, intensity, lumens, etc. Also research different ways of growing MJ such as SCROG, SOG, LST, Super Cropping, etc.

People have done amazing things with little light and space issues. And since you can't afford a HID lamp right now then I would say that is your best bet.

what about these big ass 200 watt cfls? looks like theyd fit right in the socket. but theyre 2700k. so that means i need 3 of em? that how it works?

fonzirelli said:

what about these big ass 200 watt cfls? looks like theyd fit right in the socket. but theyre 2700k. so that means i need 3 of em? that how it works?

Click to expand...

No, it does not mean you need 3 of them.

The K on the light stands for Kelvin and refers to a guage of the spectrum that the lighting emits. The lower the number of Kelvin emits light in the red/ orange spectrum and the higher numbers emits light in the blue spectrum.

You can't add the Kelvin rating together to get a higher number K. If you had 3 then you would just have more lumens of the 2700K bulb that you have now.

It is confusing I know but study basic light to really figure it out:

http://fuse.pha.jhu.edu/~wpb/spectroscopy/basics.html

Also, you know when you see bulbs that say "Cool Light" and "Warm Light"?

Well, the "Cool" bulbs usually emit light in the Blue spectrum and the "Warm" bulbs usually emit light in the Red spectrum. And remember, you want:

Cool= Veg
&
Warm= Flower

If you look through the journals on here, you will actually see the difference in pictures when people are in Vegetative state or Flowering state. The Veg pics will be bright and clear with a hint of blue and the flowering pics always have a weird orange look to them.

thanks that does help a little.
so i got a 23 watt cfl. how many more of them do i need for 4-6 plants. these are just experiments so all i want is at least a half oz off each plant, or even a quarter i really dont care, and seeds to replant. thats it. and i need the cheaper bulbs cuz i dont have $60 to blow on the huge ones, so with whats available in town, and my money all i can get for now is 23 watt bulbs. maybe a 26 or the next one up but i wont count on it.

how about this: i take the florescent tubes and completely surround the plant on all four sides bottom to top of a box. how many watts before it burns the plants?

Ive just been using a 42w 2,700L 2,700k & a 20W 1,150L,6,500k daylight.
It has been working,but I made a big mistake last night I had it way to close to my 42 & burnt the fuck out of it.Youre idea will work just make sure you have a fan going.2 main things that burn plants are heat and having em to close to youre bulbs,which is the mistake I made.Man I was relly pissed this morning.Don't have a pic of em yet,but here are some.

Edit:What I meant by having them to close to youre bulb I mean even though it may not feel hot,the rays can still cause them to burn.I had some extra time to get a pic up,so here is my mistake.The last 4 pics.

yea mine are taller than yours but theres only like four leaves, rather than yours which has a lot more. i guess that means theyre stretching alot?

Maybe they are.Did it get taller when you took it indoors,or when they were outside?Im relly high right now lol.Sry.I haven't been doing it right either though.I rell shouldve took my plant down a inch or so.Thats why its so short.I think its fucked.It will probly just get kinda fat and not relly grow anymore.If youre lpant is relly stretched(3'+ stem before leaves.).Get a taller pot & pack the dirt up to cover the extra stem growth.If not,it will get top heavy as it grows and droop over.

thanks for the idea. theyre all still outside, i just brought one in to see what a 23 watt cfl would do. im surprised its still alive. but its still growing, definately not as healthy as the outside babies. the ones outside are doing really good though. but i have to take them in by the next few weeks so my neighbor doesnt notice.