Overkill?

So heres the deal, im working on a grow in an area that is 14x30x44 in. Im going to wrap the whole inside of the cab with mylar and have 1 intake and 1 exhaust (pretty big ones too considering the size of the cab). Ideally i would like to grow 2-3 plants in this area without to much hassle.
As for lighting this is where i get scared. Im going with two 125w CFLs (6400k for veg, and 2700k for flower) to hang above the plants and four 26w CFLs (2 6500k's, and 2 2700ks) to put on the side/underside in which i will set up on Y-adapters on opposite sides of the cab. I plan on rotating the plants a quarter turn daily to make sure the smaller CFLs reach all sides.

My question, am i overkilling on the lighting? How much is to much when i comes to CFLs. I obviously dont want to scorch them but i also want these things to nock my socks off. With the fans im using this thing should stay better ventilated than the space in between Bush's head.
So whats the word?

Rooter

Rooter said:

So heres the deal, im working on a grow in an area that is 14x30x44 in. Im going to wrap the whole inside of the cab with mylar and have 1 intake and 1 exhaust (pretty big ones too considering the size of the cab). Ideally i would like to grow 2-3 plants in this area without to much hassle.
As for lighting this is where i get scared. Im going with two 125w CFLs (6400k for veg, and 2700k for flower) to hang above the plants and four 26w CFLs (2 6500k's, and 2 2700ks) to put on the side/underside in which i will set up on Y-adapters on opposite sides of the cab. I plan on rotating the plants a quarter turn daily to make sure the smaller CFLs reach all sides.

My question, am i overkilling on the lighting? How much is to much when i comes to CFLs. I obviously dont want to scorch them but i also want these things to nock my socks off. With the fans im using this thing should stay better ventilated than the space in between Bush's head.
So whats the word?

Rooter

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LOL. Love the "space in between Bush's head" line. Or between his ears. LOL.

Anyway, I don't think there's really such a thing as overkill with CFL's, the more the merrier. Not sure how hot the 125w lights will be though. My grow cab is only slightly larger than yours, and I keep the temps at 78-81 with the same intake/exhaust (passive intake, and also a small fan on the plants) as your plan, only I'm using 3 42w and 8 26w cfls (plus 1 mystery bulb).

You might just have to build it and then test it to see if your exhaust is enough to keep the temps in range.

And, as I'm currently discovering, if you want to fit 3 plants in there, I wouldn't let them veg for more than 3 weeks. I've got 4 in my grow, they've only vegged for 14 days, and I'm gonna have to find a new home for one of them because there probably won't be enough room. They've only been flowering for 10 days. I attached a pic below (doors were taken off for the pick).

GL, and let us know how hot those bulbs get.

nice plants leeguana

Leeguana said:

Anyway, I don't think there's really such a thing as overkill with CFL's, the more the merrier. Not sure how hot the 125w lights will be though. My grow cab is only slightly larger than yours, and I keep the temps at 78-81 with the same intake/exhaust (passive intake, and also a small fan on the plants) as your plan, only I'm using 3 42w and 8 26w cfls (plus 1 mystery bulb).

You might just have to build it and then test it to see if your exhaust is enough to keep the temps in range.

And, as I'm currently discovering, if you want to fit 3 plants in there, I wouldn't let them veg for more than 3 weeks. I've got 4 in my grow, they've only vegged for 14 days, and I'm gonna have to find a new home for one of them because there probably won't be enough room. They've only been flowering for 10 days. I attached a pic below (doors were taken off for the pick).

GL, and let us know how hot those bulbs get.

Click to expand...

Nice plants, its hard to believe those are only 14 day veg. Ide be curiouse to know where you got those Y-adapeters, im going to need some for mine as well.
Also, what size exhaust fan are you using? im planing on installing those bathroom extractors from homedepot there pretty big, but ill have to work out the kinks i guess. Thanks for all the help man.

use as many CFLs as you can , you can get waker ones to and stronger ones so that you can get more of the plant

timmmy2021 said:

nice plants leeguana

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Thanks timmmy.

Rooter said:

Nice plants, its hard to believe those are only 14 day veg. Ide be curiouse to know where you got those Y-adapeters, im going to need some for mine as well.
Also, what size exhaust fan are you using? im planing on installing those bathroom extractors from homedepot there pretty big, but ill have to work out the kinks i guess. Thanks for all the help man.

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I got the Y adapters at a place called Fleet Farm, but you may not have one of these stores near you. If you can't find them at Home Depot or Lowes, try an electrical or lighting supply store.

The exhaust fan I'm using is from a microwave. It's pretty much the same as a bathroom fan. Probably around 100 cfm fan.

Good Luck

more light = bigger buds.... you can never have too many CFLs...

One thing to remember is some of these fans are noisy. I bought a 6" inline duct fan at menards for $30 and it's pretty noisy! You could hear it with the closet door closed! I finaly bought a light dimmer switch and slowed it down so now you can't hear it!
Bathroom exaust fans are pretty noisy so you may have to get a dimmer switch too.

peace man

ive got the 125w cfl bulbs, they are awesome BUT be careful if placing directly above by an inch or 2. I did this and the plant grew into the light and burnt one of my buds

Rope Smoker said:

One thing to remember is some of these fans are noisy. I bought a 6" inline duct fan at menards for $30 and it's pretty noisy! You could hear it with the closet door closed! I finaly bought a light dimmer switch and slowed it down so now you can't hear it!
Bathroom exaust fans are pretty noisy so you may have to get a dimmer switch too.

peace man

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Very true, the noise level on a lot of fans (especially the cheaper ones) can be a little extreme. If you use a bathroom fan for exhaust and you want it to be relatively quiet, make sure it has a low sone rating.

Rope Smoker said:

One thing to remember is some of these fans are noisy. I bought a 6" inline duct fan at menards for $30 and it's pretty noisy! You could hear it with the closet door closed! I finaly bought a light dimmer switch and slowed it down so now you can't hear it!
Bathroom exaust fans are pretty noisy so you may have to get a dimmer switch too.

peace man

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What kind of fans should i get then? The back panel of the cap is 30in long by 44 in tall, and ill need an intake and exaust. Also where could i get a light dimmer.


Leeguana:
I was looking at Y-adapters today at home depot and all the ones i found would require me to do my own wiring to set up. Your appear as though you just screwed the Y-adapter onto a base that was already wired, am i correct? If so do you know the brand of those bases or what they are so i could have a better idea of what i would need to rig. While i could do the wiring myself im kind of lazy and having the base plus wire would be a real convenience.

Yes, the Y-adapters I have just screw into any light fixture. I'll take some closer pics so you can see the setup better (although it's definitely not the BEST setup, but it works for me).

Back in a few . . .

1st pic - hopefully you can see it clearly. The bulbs are screwed into the Y-adapter, which is screwed into a single bulb adapter, and that is plugged into an extension cord. I paid $1 for the regular adapters and $1.50 for the Y's.

2nd pic - 2 of the fixtures are like this one. The bulbs are screwed into the Y-adapter, which is screwed into a light fixture. With this I had to cut the end of an extension cord and connect the wires to the fixture. I then screwed it to a piece of wood and put in hooks to hang it. The cost for this was the same, but it was a little extra work.

3rd pic - All the lights hanging in the cab.

Hope this helps.

There is something called light stress from too much light.
go to faq and check it out. I made that mistake, of overkilling it with cfls. Pay attention to the best looking cfl grows, they have one thing in common, they use few lights and get good yields compared to the people with 20-30 cfls screaming more is better.

Leeguana said:

1st pic - hopefully you can see it clearly. The bulbs are screwed into the Y-adapter, which is screwed into a single bulb adapter, and that is plugged into an extension cord. I paid $1 for the regular adapters and $1.50 for the Y's.

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That single bulb adapter (technical name? for referal purposes) is what im looking for, are those the ones you got at Fleet Farm? Or would i be able to find those at say home depot or menards?
Also do you have your 42s in those? The guy at home depot said those Y's can support up to a 60w in each socket, and that i should go higher than that for them. I dont plan on using higher than 42s but it would be nice to know that others havnt blown up from this lol

Rooter said:

That single bulb adapter (technical name? for referal purposes) is what im looking for, are those the ones you got at Fleet Farm? Or would i be able to find those at say home depot or menards?
Also do you have your 42s in those? The guy at home depot said those Y's can support up to a 60w in each socket, and that i should go higher than that for them. I dont plan on using higher than 42s but it would be nice to know that others havnt blown up from this lol

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I'm not sure on the technical name for the "single bulb adapter" (that's just what I call 'em). And yes, I got those at fleet farm also, a buck a piece.

The Y's easily handle 42w bulbs, don't worry.

I'll try to find the "real" name for those things.

Rooter, I found a few sites online and they usually refer to them as "plug in outlet adapters". "For converting an outlet to a bulb socket".

Thanks man that really helps, now i wont have to spend my spare time wiring all my shit. props

You're welcome, anytime. And yeah, plugging things in is a lot faster and easier than having to splice together a shitload of wires, lol. Good Luck