Questions about CFLS

Hey everyone, I'm fairly new.
Im currently doing my first grow from bag-seed, and it is very, very.. very hard
living with religious/uptight/ parents that have noses like dogs.
Anyways i've got 6 sprouts about a week and a half old.. their each in medium sized cardboar jiffy pots.. and.. Laugh out loud, their getting to big for just one sylvania spot grow 120 Watt.
So I'm planning on going to walmart tomorrow to buy some cfls, going the cheap way out.
I need major help. Im totally clueless about cfls, ive been reading all about MH's and HPS's but the variety of cfls overwhelms me......


So, all the time on here I see people saying that their using "example" 8 26 watt cfls for their grow, or 10 26 watt cfls or 6 18 watt cfls or whatever..
So im thinking to myself why so many bulbs with little watts instead of less bulbs and more watts? Also, are all cfls compatible with growing? Or are meant mainly for housing? And another thing.. The Cfl's that are "example" 120 watts using the equivalent of 40 watts? what does that mean, are they bad? and it confuses me because is it putting out 120 watts of light or 40??

Thanks everyone

hi fairly new, lol, welcome. okay, 1st a quick spanking, since u have no biz growing in ur parents home (regardless of how old u r) without their knowledge or consent.

Okay, when it says the equivalent of a 100watt bulb lets say, that is pretty week & usually only a 9 watt cfl bulb. most people buy them in the affordable range of $10-$15 each, so u can see 6 or 8 can add up real quick & they are usually the ones u see, like the 26 watts. so yeh, a 56 watt or even 125 watt cfl is FAR superior but also more expensive and with cfl's since u can get them less then 2 inches from ur plants, better in this case to have more (which u can place at all angles around the plant if u want) rather then one which can only be hung in one spot (cfl's don't have the light disbursement like hids do)

ur lucky u got as far as u did w/that grow bulb without burning the shit out ur babes or stretching them to high hell.

so what the hell r u going to do about the smell of a 2-5 ft plant???

almost forgot, u should get cfls in the spectrum u need for the growing stage. for seedling through veg u need a cfl white/blue at a 6500k range & for flower u need a red/orange cfls at 2700k range...that is also VERY important!

Aha got ya! Okay you've cleared up a lot so far.
And i laughed at my error in grammar. Lol
Anyways so I know what you mean saying big watt cfls arent good for disbursement.
I still didn't understand the watt equivalent part though..
So the cfls that say 120 watts using only 26 watts or whatever.. then i would buy lots of them right? because they really only put out the 26 watts for growing? Like.. the people saying their using 8 26 watt cfls.. their really using 8 120 watt equivalent to 26 watts?

and ill rep you for this if you can reply, i need sleep, 430 A.M lol

exception pretty much answered everything i was going to say. i would simply like to reinforce how terrible of an idea it is for you to be doing that in your parent's home. 6 plants? as mentioned above, what are you going to do to cover the smell of those biotches, let alone hide them?

Also, at Walmart, what all bulb/watt sizes do they have?

and i think i understand now.. the 26 watts that equal 120 or whatever.. the 120 is incandescant and i should go by the 26 watts for growing.

DONT go by the equivalent. you want to go on what the actual wattage of the bulb is. the equivalent wattage is basically a useless number on the box that you need to ignore. it is saying that the light it puts out is equivalent to a 120 watt incandescent (not in the same way we use them for growing however)

Sheik said:

the 120 is incandescant and i should go by the 26 watts for growing.

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correct

choop said:

exception pretty much answered everything i was going to say. i would simply like to reinforce how terrible of an idea it is for you to be doing that in your parent's home. 6 plants? as mentioned above, what are you going to do to cover the smell of those biotches, let alone hide them?

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Ha ha ha well i like my privacy and luckily my parents have known that before i started growing so when my doors locked it's not suspicious.
my dad gets off later in the day so hes only home about 5 hours before sleep and respects my privacy.
today was terrible, i transfered them in the bigger jiffy pots and used organic cow manure lol. and like i said their religious so no one smokes in the house and we have fragrance all in the house so the cow manure sent the house into fucking stinky/shitty outrage..
Luckily my dog got into a dead animal today and i blamed it on him and sprayed the house all day with fragrance.
I really had thoughts of just forgetting the whole idea of growing today. but i hate dealing with drug dealers and besides that growing truly is a hobby for me, i enjoy the process.

there is a LOT to learn about lighting. Lumens, lux, light candles, etc. Bascially think of ur basic light bulb at 100 watts. So u have a cfl that is only 9 watts, meaning it has minimal watt usage BUT has the same light output of a 100 watt standard bulb or light candles. So if you have 8 26 watt cfls that would each be equivalent to lets say a 300 watt standard bulb for EACH 26 watt cfl....well that is a lot of output of light spectrum but of course it wouldnt be BRIGHT BRIGHT like u could only imagine it would be as a standard bulb. remember most household lights are 60 watt, sometimes in your bathrooms people like the 100 watts. Does that make more sense?

choop said:

correct

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Ha ha yes! I finally put the shit together! i understand! Lol thanks man
Gotta hit the hay, thanks for responding though man, Ill try to rep you guys if i can figure that out real quick,
but yeah 430 A.M damn i'm tired!
Thanks again ha ha see ya tomorrow guys

thexception said:

there is a LOT to learn about lighting. Lumens, lux, light candles, etc. Bascially think of ur basic light bulb at 100 watts. So u have a cfl that is only 9 watts, meaning it has minimal watt usage BUT has the same light output of a 100 watt standard bulb or light candles. So if you have 8 26 watt cfls that would each be equivalent to lets say a 300 watt standard bulb for EACH 26 watt cfl....well that is a lot of output of light spectrum but of course it wouldnt be BRIGHT BRIGHT like u could only imagine it would be as a standard bulb. remember most household lights are 60 watt, sometimes in your bathrooms people like the 100 watts. Does that make more sense?

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Thank you as well! Made me understand this even more!
I wish i could ask more!
Ill try to rep you as well big guy,
Ill be back tomorrow and hopefully we can get this thread poppin again! Lol
goodnight guys

EDIT: repped you two
thanks guys, im coming back tomorrow better beliee that! i love it when people reply to my threads, didnt happen last thread. Lol
Goodnight

man u got a hell of a task to complete, at some point your gona open your bedroom door and the smell is gona just go BANG and you aint gona be able to blag it, cant you grow some other plants aswell, i dont know some tomatoes cucumbers or some shit say your doing it as a hobby at least when it does start smellin you can pull out your hobby plants while your real babys are hiding? fk knows im stoned

i know you think you know what youre doing but let me tell you that you are seriously underestimating the degree to which those plants are going to smell. keeping a door shut is not going to solve the problem . it is dank, and it is constant. your entire house is going to smell unless it is addressed. you are going to need to figure out how to keep those babies in a confined space with a carbon filter if you want ANY hope of successfully completing your grow.

yep defo choop jus said it!