dirtydrukqs
Member
cfl is where its at brothaaaaaaaaas
Tutorial to Growing with Cfl's
- Thread starter Dr.Chronic
- Start date
allen bud
Active Member
I grow easy rider and always use 2600 watt spectrum and its even lower for hps,you auto flower is going to sex in 2 to 3 weeks go with 2600k youll be good to go!
sees in the dark
Active Member
DOC!, high, when growing with c.f.l.,s i think they ment theses been growing and blooming with theses for more than five years. One eight bulb same room VS a 400 watt h.p.s. the eight bulb c.f.l. beat the hid hands down and no heat or extra ducking and mtrs just to cool the light?!? heres the link to the big c.f.l. for growing and BLOOMING TOO! peace and POT!,sees.Tutorial to Growing with CFL’s by Doctor Chronic
What is a CFL?
A Compact Fluorescent Light is a type of fluorescent that was originally designed to replace the standard E26 Edison Incandescent Lamp. The reason being, CFL’s will put out the same amount of visible light using much less power and a significantly longer rated life span. Even though the price of the CFL’s is higher than Incandescent bulb’s, they are generally rated to run anywhere from 8,000 to 15,000 hours. There many advantages of using CFL’s. Maybe you are growing personal smoke, or you can’t afford an HID system, or an HID system just isn’t practical. For some, HID lights aren’t available in their area. However, CFL’s are sold almost anywhere (Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, etc…. CFL’s are in general a much cheaper growing solution, and their just plain simple to use –self-ballastedand it screw’s into a regular light socket. I’m NOT saying CFL’s are better for growing than HID‘s, but in some cases it’s the only thing that will work.
CFL Wattage
Now sometimes there can be a lot of confusion when it comes to power of the light due to poor labeling but we will do our best toclear all of that up. Normally light manufacturers that make CFL’s generally will put two numbers on the box your CFL comes in. One is Actual Wattage and one is the Incandescent Equal. As you can see here on this CFL the Actual Wattage is 23 Watts, and it’s Incandescent Equal is 100 Watt’s. You need to totally ignore the Incandescent Equal and pay attention only to the Actual Wattage of the Bulb.
Color Temperature
You might see a lot of different labels when shopping at the store for CFL’s. Label’s including Soft White, Warm White, Cool White, Bright White, Halogen White, Daylight White, Full Spectrum. And also label’s like 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4000K, 5000K, 6400K, and 6500K. These are all the color temperature of the light you are using. This is a measure of how warm or cool the light given off by a lamp appears, with warmer colors having a yellowish tinge and cooler colors being tinged with blue. What confuses some people is that the warmer a color is, the colder its color temperature is. (ex. Warm White = 2700K). Bulbs ranging in the 2700K-3000K spectrum are usually labeled Warm White or Soft White, bulbs ranging in the 3500K – 4000K spectrum are bright white or cool white, 5000K is labeled Full Spectrum, and finally 6400K – 6500K is labeled Daylight. You can grow an entire crop with CFL’s if you chose the right spectrum of bulb’s. For Vegetation you will want to use 6500K or 5000K, and when you flower you will want to switch to 2700K or 3000K . The reason being, throughout the year the plant’s outside receive more 6500K light because the day’s in summer are long and hot and as Autumn/Winter get’s closer the day get’s shorter, and gradually receives less 6500K light and more 2700K light as the plant flower’s. Do what you can to avoid bulbs within that 3500K – 4000K because they emit very little light that Is useful to your plant. Notice here the difference between the CT of these lamp’s
How to use CFL’s?
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.
Where can I get these CFL’s?
Many low wattage (23-42) CFL’s can be bought at locate retail giants , such as Wal-mart, Lowes, Home Depot, and just about any hardware store you can find. If you are looking to purchase higher wattage (42 – 200) CFL’s I would recommend ordering them online. http://www.1000bulbs.com/2-to-200-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-Screw-In-Light-Bulbs/ has very good prices on CFL’s ranging from 2 – 200 Watt’s. http://www.buylighting.com/Non-Dimmable-Compact-Fluorescent-s/75.htm has a good selection ranging from 5 – 200 Watt’s in a wide range of spectrum’s. I have used both of these sites several times and I would recommend them to anyone that plan’s to grow with CFL’s.
In the end there are many different GOOD setup’s so don’t set your mind on the ONE perfect CFL setup. Just apply these basic tip’s when starting a CFL grow and you WILL see success. If you have any questions or comment’s I would greatly appreciate it. I want to thank the one and only, FarmingToronto for editing this Tutorial. Sincerely
web link...;http://www.nationalgardenwholesale.com/ngw/lighting.aspx?request=pl06&type=subcat&title=Fluorescent Lighting&pagenum=1
Hey guys,
I'm completely new to this whole thing and I was hoping you could give me some advice. I've been digging around and reading a lot of the information on this site and its very helpful. A lot of people are saying that the best light would be hps. But they seem pretty expensive and I don't really have the money to shell out for one. I plan on doing a grow in a box thats about 5ft high, 3 feet wide, and 3.5-4 feet deep. I only plan on growing one or two plants. I was just hoping to get some input on what strength cfls to use. They seem to be more in my price range. Keep in mind that I'm a total noob so don't be afraid to break things down like you are speaking to someone who knows nothing about this haha. But to sum up my questions, what strength cfl, what sockets or fittings will I need to purchase, and should I get a mix of different warm and cool? Thanks in advance guys!
I'm completely new to this whole thing and I was hoping you could give me some advice. I've been digging around and reading a lot of the information on this site and its very helpful. A lot of people are saying that the best light would be hps. But they seem pretty expensive and I don't really have the money to shell out for one. I plan on doing a grow in a box thats about 5ft high, 3 feet wide, and 3.5-4 feet deep. I only plan on growing one or two plants. I was just hoping to get some input on what strength cfls to use. They seem to be more in my price range. Keep in mind that I'm a total noob so don't be afraid to break things down like you are speaking to someone who knows nothing about this haha. But to sum up my questions, what strength cfl, what sockets or fittings will I need to purchase, and should I get a mix of different warm and cool? Thanks in advance guys!
Am I Norml
Active Member
read page 1Hey guys,
I'm completely new to this whole thing and I was hoping you could give me some advice. I've been digging around and reading a lot of the information on this site and its very helpful. A lot of people are saying that the best light would be hps. But they seem pretty expensive and I don't really have the money to shell out for one. I plan on doing a grow in a box thats about 5ft high, 3 feet wide, and 3.5-4 feet deep. I only plan on growing one or two plants. I was just hoping to get some input on what strength cfls to use. They seem to be more in my price range. Keep in mind that I'm a total noob so don't be afraid to break things down like you are speaking to someone who knows nothing about this haha. But to sum up my questions, what strength cfl, what sockets or fittings will I need to purchase, and should I get a mix of different warm and cool? Thanks in advance guys!
DocGreen420
Member
I just switched to 2 68w 2700k and 6 26w 2700k and i seen a major difference in 72 hours. Those bulbs from home depot are bada$$. I was using many low watt bulbs until Am I Normal schooled me on lumens output. Now I have 4100 lumens instead a shit load of 1650's light meter needle even moves now when i put it under lights. Thanks again A.I.N
perkie
Active Member
hi fellow smokers and growers. im going to be starting my first outdoor grow soon in my pc case iv made. im going to be using 2 23w daylights for vegging. my question is.. y do people mix up daylight and softwhite when vegging?. im going to be doing my first fall indoor pc grow aswell if n e 1 has n e tips. thanks in advance
DocGreen420
Member
The soft white is added to make the stems stronger so it can support optimal buds Daylight(6500k)=Foliage growth and Soft or Warmlight(2700k)=Stem growth and flowering stimulant You dont want to add to much during vegging, that would cause a stretched plant. Hope that helps
perkie
Active Member
thanks doc green thats wat i needed. so the plant will have a strong root aswell i guessThe soft white is added to make the stems stronger so it can support optimal buds Daylight(6500k)=Foliage growth and Soft or Warmlight(2700k)=Stem growth and flowering stimulant You dont want to add to much during vegging, that would cause a stretched plant. Hope that helps
im lso going to keep plant close to the light to stop the stretching depending on temps so the rest should be ok.
DocGreen420
Member
Yea the red spectrum also helps root growth keep your lights no more than 2" away all around your foliage since your doing a pc grow then you really have no control over that, but read uncle ben's topping technique you will be able to get all you can out of your small plant if you follow his method. it will allow you to have upto 4 main colas on a short bushy plant. More smoke less space. I am currently in my final stages of experimenting with stunted plants. I purposely stunt growth early in vegging but still allowing them to mature before flowering just to see the yeild change between plant sizes and to my suprise indicas actuallly have more hearty buds than the tall unaltered plants. What strain are you growing?
perkie
Active Member
im looking to grow church, afgan kush x skunk and papyay. its my first grow and i got a good idea what to do, not much really as there going outside but iv read loads and i just need to get stuck in. im looking to start indoor in april and then throw outside in may and let mother nature do its thing.
perkie
Active Member
im looking to grow church, afgan kush x skunk and papyay. its my first grow and i got a good idea what to do, not much really as there going outside but iv read loads and i just need to get stuck in. im looking to start indoor in april and then throw outside in may in subs organic soil and let mother nature do its thing. i have looked at uncle bs tec and that seem like a good idea on the papyay as thats a short plant. what you think?
DocGreen420
Member
With Papaya you can do anything to its gonna pull through, that is one of my favorite hybrids very fast growth and decent yields. Good luck and keep me posted I have just started an afghani seedling and keeping my fingers crossed.
Am I Norml
Active Member
doc ...i too have been experimenting with stunted plants...check out the link in my signature for my thread ...i currently have 3 going and at last count there was over 40 main bud sites due to LST on the stunted plants....they are just under a foot high
perkie
Active Member
kk so ill do that with it then. thanks dude i will keep you posted and good luck with urs bro
DocGreen420
Member
"F"ing awesome man. I am amazed I have not seen that thread since you put the movie in there, just watched it and very nice. Im getting ready to start a thread about the method of stunting growth i use so stay posted. Its a bit crazy but works great so far.doc ...i too have been experimenting with stunted plants...check out the link in my signature for my thread ...i currently have 3 going and at last count there was over 40 main bud sites due to LST on the stunted plants....they are just under a foot high
Am I Norml
Active Member
might want to keep an eye out for mine also ill be putting up a tutorial soon about creating multiple rooting sites on single plants...it creates crazy growth and stamina in your plants....why clip off a lower *SUCKER* branch when you can turn it into a nutrient delivering monster
perkie
Active Member
alright dude just few other questions... do theses afghani kushx skunk like alot of nutes coz im going to be using subcools organic mix. also i know the afghani is an auto flowing plant but is this.
high yield
Member
I have a 150 watt hps and two 200 watt equivelant (42 watt) 2700K CFL's running together for my bloom cycle. Have you heard of any reasons why you shouldn't mix the two types of light? These bulbs are in a 4x2x5 tall mylar grow tent.