Upgrading Lights

So i have my first grow going. I have a 3x3x6 tent. full exhaust. I currently have all CFLs going. 16 -23w. Im contemplating just springing the money for a 400w HPS.

I have 4 random bag seeds going. all 4 sexed female. so Im in need of more light. More cfls just means more sockets and more moving bulbs all over and with anymore bulbs ill pretty much be at 400watts. So im looking at some HPS kits on the zon.

I have my setup in my basement. temps here are turning winter status so 20s/30s outside. basement is heated by a heater right now to 70. tent sees about 77 with lights on and 69 with lights off all night with the exhuast running.

With my current setup should i run a cooltube/air hood or would i be okay with a non cooled setup, and then possibley not have to heat my basement as much and run the exhaust on full to regulate temps? I have a ventech 200cfm fan and scrubber right now only running at like 50%. I would like to maintain good heat with lights on and i can always keep basement heated with the heater at night with the lights off. Just wondering how hot a non cooled setup may get.

Thanks!

You don't need more lights to finish those plants off.

Stick out the grow with the CFLs and use it as a learning experience while you save up for your HPS.

And if you had a cooled-hood... couldn't you always just turn the light's fan off to heat up the tent when you needed it to? Not sure, I haven't bought my first HID yet. That is coming after I buy the Mrs her Christmas, lol.

Hey Buddy,

I would seriously consider a 600w instead, the price difference isnt much & the difference in effeciency is worth it. Actually the 600w are known to be the most efficient lights...many would rather use 2x 600w than 1x 1000w for example. Good luck & happy growing

Zaycor said:

Hey Buddy,

I would seriously consider a 600w instead, the price difference isnt much & the difference in effeciency is worth it. Actually the 600w are known to be the most efficient lights...many would rather use 2x 600w than 1x 1000w for example. Good luck & happy growing

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My understanding is that he already has the CFLs...

Edit: OH, I think I see what you mean.. that he should spring for the 600w instead of the 400w.

Yeah, I would agree. bulbs would probably be cheaper to replace also.

TheYokel said:

My understanding is that he already has the CFLs...

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Oh I meant for after when he or she decides to purchase HID.

money is not a worry. quality is important. these plants are growing and moving so much they keep hitting the cfl bulbs and burning themselves. i would just like to move to 1 bulb. i feel 400 is enough for me and my area, let alone my expertise. bulbs im not worried about i can get them thru work for cheap.

i think ill opt with a cooltube. i know the best setup is to have the fan after the light so its pulling the air thru but with my setup and space i could benefit from gaining more space if i could blow thru the light. would it be that bad with a 400? id pull thru my scrubber then blow thru the light and out the tent into the basement. would help heat my basement aswell. i have 2 regular fans aswell to move air.

thanks guys

Im using CFL's right now because im doing a stealth grow, and dont want the huge difference in electrical bills (not my house). In my opinion if you are gonna use CFL's at least get the horticulture ones (big giant 125w or 250w) they take a different mogul socket, but put out WAY more light than those little household shits, i would only use those for supplemental light. Here is a link to some cheap but decent light: (you can only find them on Ebay, a seller named "lowballer")
http://www.apollohorticulture.com/fluorescent.html
But yea if you got the money for MH/HPS then id go with that for sure.

Cannaboi757 said:

Im using CFL's right now because im doing a stealth grow, and dont want the huge difference in electrical bills (not my house). In my opinion if you are gonna use CFL's at least get the horticulture ones (big giant 125w or 250w) they take a different mogul socket, but put out WAY more light than those little household shits, i would only use those for supplemental light. Here is a link to some cheap but decent light: (you can only find them on Ebay, a seller named "lowballer")
http://www.apollohorticulture.com/fluorescent.html
But yea if you got the money for MH/HPS then id go with that for sure.

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a) the electric bill between CFL and HPS is the same, as long as you are using the same amount of watts. (lets not get into start-up watts)

b) you are telling that man to buy a $50 CFL...

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-Compact-Fluorescent-Growing/dp/B00HG1JCJG/ref=sr_1_24?m=A2WRS4X4C0GMOQ&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1415954629&sr=1-24

crawlintbss said:

money is not a worry. quality is important. these plants are growing and moving so much they keep hitting the cfl bulbs and burning themselves. i would just like to move to 1 bulb. i feel 400 is enough for me and my area, let alone my expertise. bulbs im not worried about i can get them thru work for cheap.

i think ill opt with a cooltube. i know the best setup is to have the fan after the light so its pulling the air thru but with my setup and space i could benefit from gaining more space if i could blow thru the light. would it be that bad with a 400? id pull thru my scrubber then blow thru the light and out the tent into the basement. would help heat my basement aswell. i have 2 regular fans aswell to move air.

thanks guys

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With your temps of 70-77 you don't need a cooltube...just get a good hood. This will help to heat up your basement & remember the ideal temps for cannabis is between 70 & 86. If need be though instead of getting a cooltube get an 'air-cooled' hood as they spread the light better.

TheYokel said:

a) the electric bill between CFL and HPS is the same, as long as you are using the same amount of watts. (lets not get into start-up watts)

b) you are telling that man to buy a $50 CFL...

http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-Compact-Fluorescent-Growing/dp/B00HG1JCJG/ref=sr_1_24?m=A2WRS4X4C0GMOQ&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1415954629&sr=1-24

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Thats the ENTIRE setup, reflector and socket, the bulb itself is $25

Cannaboi757 said:

Thats the ENTIRE setup, reflector and socket, the bulb itself is $25

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Well yeah... you can't use the light without the socket....

I'm just saying if you are paying $50+ for a CFL set-up... you should be looking for a used 600w set-up if you really can't afford a new one.

Well i dont know if you actually READ what i said, but i told him if he had the money for MH/HPS then go for it. And i was assuming he may have a system cord, or be smart enough to buy a $7 adapter. But who the hell wants to buy a used ballast? not me. They are working fine for me, and thats why i commented.

Cannaboi757 said:

Well i dont know if you actually READ what i said, but i told him if he had the money for MH/HPS then go for it. And i was assuming he may have a system cord, or be smart enough to buy a $7 adapter. But who the hell wants to buy a used ballast? not me. They are working fine for me, and thats why i commented.

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;that's a nice grow, how many cfl u have n how many plants?

eazy147 said:

;that's a nice grow, how many cfl u have n how many plants?

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Thanks. I have one 125w 2700k, and one 125w 6400k, i also threw in a 50w LED about half way through the grow. 2 plants, autoflower Royal Dwarf. CFL's would not have been my first choice, but im not too disappointed with them. The whole light setup costed me about $100

Cannaboi757 said:

Thanks. I have one 125w 2700k, and one 125w 6400k, i also threw in a 50w LED about half way through the grow. 2 plants, autoflower Royal Dwarf. CFL's would not have been my first choice, but im not too disappointed with them. The whole light setup costed me about $100

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WiTh out reflector? And yeah that's a good price n I spent more money buying a lot of cfls. I bought 3 cfl 150 watt equivalent and 1 100 watt equivalent. For three plants. I get confused with that equivalent stuff.. so are u giving out more light than me?

eazy147 said:

WiTh out reflector? And yeah that's a good price n I spent more money buying a lot of cfls. I bought 3 cfl 150 watt equivalent and 1 100 watt equivalent. For three plants. I get confused with that equivalent stuff.. so are u giving out more light than me?

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U got more pics of ur plants?

eazy147 said:

WiTh out reflector? And yeah that's a good price n I spent more money buying a lot of cfls. I bought 3 cfl 150 watt equivalent and 1 100 watt equivalent. For three plants. I get confused with that equivalent stuff.. so are u giving out more light than me?

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Are you sure they are equivs? If you spent that much I'm assuming they aren't just 26w'ers?

I bought three 4-packs of 26w lights from Home Depot for $10 each. With chords and adapters I spent like $45 on 300w, and that includes the timer...

120g every six weeks...

TheYokel said:

My understanding is that he already has the CFLs...

Edit: OH, I think I see what you mean.. that he should spring for the 600w instead of the 400w.

Yeah, I would agree. bulbs would probably be cheaper to replace also.

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600 watt bulbs definitely arent cheaper than 400s. My hortilux and smax bulbs run around 90 on the 600. But i agree that he should grab a 600 not 400 for a 3x3. 400 to 600 jump is a big one yieldwise. Also my 600 magnetic seems to run cooler than my 400 watt digital.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Rollitup mobile app

kmog33 said:

600 watt bulbs definitely arent cheaper than 400s. My hortilux and smax bulbs run around 90 on the 600. But i agree that he should grab a 600 not 400 for a 3x3. 400 to 600 jump is a big one yieldwise. Also my 600 magnetic seems to run cooler than my 400 watt digital.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Rollitup mobile app

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Damn, $90 for a bulb? I may have to re-budget my x-mas present this year... or buy the wife a bigger ring...

I have to wonder what the mark-up on that thing is... I'm in the wrong business

eazy147 said:

U got more pics of ur plants?

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Thats with a reflector, but its a cheap one, if your just starting out like me, and dont have a lot of money to dump into it, i think its decent. Im not too sure about the watt equivalent, but the 250w Apollo CFL gives off about 11,000 lumens, if im not mistaken. To me its better to just buy a REAL CFL thats made for growing, instead of rigging a light system together, with household CFL's. You might find that thats what you wanna do though, i just like these better. The best thing for you to do is search YouTube and the net for reviews and stuff, see what people say about them, and decide off that. But like i said before IF you have the money to go MH/HPS thats a given, get that. But a good HPS bulb can easily cost $50+ also.