Rotnpankake
Member
Alright, so I haven't actually started growing yet but I will in the near future. I'm kinda planning ahead, and one of the things I've never really looked into is the watts necessary for lighting. I'm particularly interested in CFL growing because of the low relative cost (well maybe ;P).
The likely size of the area I will grow in is 2w x 4l x 5h, with 3 or 4 plants.
I've done a bunch of simple multiplication and found out that from greners.com that getting 16 of the 125w bulbs (8 of 6500k and 8 of 2700k) would be $200 cheaper than getting 8 of the 250w bulbs (4 of 6500k and 4 of 2700k). This seems fantastic, you get the same watts, more lights for $200 less, but is it even worth it to have more lights? How many watts would even be necessary for the size of my grow room? The total (going with the 125w bulbs) would be $575 or below (depending on how many lights I get). At that price would it be WELL worth it to invest in HPS or MH?
TL;DR Summary- How many watts do I need?
How many lights should I use?
Are CFL's the right way to go?
Any other elegant solutions to lighting that are cheap?
The likely size of the area I will grow in is 2w x 4l x 5h, with 3 or 4 plants.
I've done a bunch of simple multiplication and found out that from greners.com that getting 16 of the 125w bulbs (8 of 6500k and 8 of 2700k) would be $200 cheaper than getting 8 of the 250w bulbs (4 of 6500k and 4 of 2700k). This seems fantastic, you get the same watts, more lights for $200 less, but is it even worth it to have more lights? How many watts would even be necessary for the size of my grow room? The total (going with the 125w bulbs) would be $575 or below (depending on how many lights I get). At that price would it be WELL worth it to invest in HPS or MH?
TL;DR Summary- How many watts do I need?
How many lights should I use?
Are CFL's the right way to go?
Any other elegant solutions to lighting that are cheap?