What is the smallest wattage I can use for a micro grow?

greenrangah

greenrangah

Active Member
:?:Can anyone answer this question?What's the smallest amount of watts I can use to get a pretty descent return on a micro grow?Due to the economic downturn I'm looking to be a little conservative and stealthy at the same time.Thanks in advance!
 
nickfury510

nickfury510

Well-Known Member
i would go with a 70w hps...get them at homedepot or lowes as the security light setup then take apart and reconfigure...its easy to do and i think there is a tutorial on it in the growfaq
 
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icemassa

Well-Known Member
if you run cfl's go with 100 watts or more. anything less is just worthless imo. mix spectrum imo is the way to go. 2400 & 5700 for the whole cycle.
 
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smokinHerbOnDaCurb

Well-Known Member
greenrangah said:
:?:Can anyone answer this question?What's the smallest amount of watts I can use to get a pretty descent return on a micro grow?Due to the economic downturn I'm looking to be a little conservative and stealthy at the same time.Thanks in advance!
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Dude if you wanna keep your bill on a downlow and grow a small amount of plants If you are a serious grower I would not use this light. But otherwise go to walmart and get a plant&aquarium light get a couple of these . These will promote growth but it does not work ass well as the high wattages.
 
Gamberro

Gamberro

Well-Known Member
Thanks nickfury...
A word to the wise, CFL's produce grow-quality light only very close to the source, ie the part that floresces, within about 2 inches. So therefore a gigantic CFL, which would cover less surface area, would just be a more expensive and wasteful way of growing.
Personally, I use 42W mixed-spectrum CFL's interspersed throughout my grow as supplemental light, and the plants love them- occasionally even stretch towards them, choosing them over my 1000W HPS and 1000W MH.

Don't give advice you don't have.
 
OregonMeds

OregonMeds

Well-Known Member
You say micro grow with a decent yield. Define decent...

A 150w hps in <4sf box could yield .5 - maybe 1oz per week perpetually.
 
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icemassa

Well-Known Member
why am i wacked out? i didnt tell him to go out and buy a 100 watt bulb i simply said anything less than 100 watts is useless imo. just cuz you guys cant grow a couple plants with 100 watts of mixed spectrum cfl lighting, doesnt mean that i cant. the guy asked about a micro grow with the smallest ammout of lighting used. this is as small as it gets. i didnt say that he would yeild a pound. sometimes in life you have to work with what you have. 10 years ago i used to grow with cfls and that made me happy. now im running a 600w hps for flower and 100 watts of cfls for veg. its common sence if your running cfls your not gonna want to try to grow monsters. shit im running HID lighting and i dont have to grow monsters, im all perpetual son, you need to think before you speak cuz you just make yourself look like a dumbass. go cook up some rock and leave the green to the professionals. i dont give a fuck of what you think, cuz the difference between me and you is that.... I KNOW WHAT IM DOING SON>:finger:
 
greenrangah

greenrangah

Active Member
Well since 70 watts might be a waste of time,I will probably try a 150 hps grow.I can probably get a way with it if I apply myself.I'll get a friend to use cfls and we'll compare data such as weight variables at harvest and smell at vegging.That way I can get a rough idea of an ideal setup.I've been reading the bible and SEEMOREBUD's material so maybe something good can come from that.The best info has come from RIU because of real life experiences.Thanks to all who added their knowledge.
 
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icemassa

Well-Known Member
that 150 hps will do nice for a microgrow. i used one from lowes like 8 years ago and it did produce pretty nice dense nugs compared to the cfl's. some people do use a 70w hps with pretty nice results. but 70 watts of cfl's will make it difficult to yeild anything nice. if used correctly you could pull .5 grams per watt off of that 150w hps but it will take time to get it dialed in correctly. the hps is my first choice for flowering but you can flower with cfls if you need to depending on your situation. the last time i used cfls i ran a mix of three 24watt, 2400 soft white bulbs and two 24 watt, 5700 day light bulbs and it worked just fine through out the whole grow, veg and flower. it wasnt a great yeild but it did give me some personal smoke. i used what i had and thats all i could do at the time. everyone needs to start somewhere. im not giving bad advice im simply stating my personal experience. i know it works cuz ive done it. peace.
 
Gamberro

Gamberro

Well-Known Member
icemassa said:
why am i wacked out? i didnt tell him to go out and buy a 100 watt bulb i simply said anything less than 100 watts is useless imo. just cuz you guys cant grow a couple plants with 100 watts of mixed spectrum cfl lighting, doesnt mean that i cant. the guy asked about a micro grow with the smallest ammout of lighting used. this is as small as it gets. i didnt say that he would yeild a pound. sometimes in life you have to work with what you have. 10 years ago i used to grow with cfls and that made me happy. now im running a 600w hps for flower and 100 watts of cfls for veg. its common sence if your running cfls your not gonna want to try to grow monsters. shit im running HID lighting and i dont have to grow monsters, im all perpetual son, you need to think before you speak cuz you just make yourself look like a dumbass. go cook up some rock and leave the green to the professionals. i dont give a fuck of what you think, cuz the difference between me and you is that.... I KNOW WHAT IM DOING SON>:finger:
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Make myself look like a dumbass? I thought I remembered getting the thumbs up, but hey, maybe I was just stoned, maybe that was you after all.
What you said was that it's pointless to get anything less than a 100W CFL. It would be a different thing if you made an argument that you should collectively have at least 100W of CFL's, but to say that only 100W/+ CFL's work is completely counterintuitive for reasons I believe I've already stated.
 
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