Whats gonna be the most efficient way?

I have a T12 daylight 6500k fluoro tube, 4 cfls (one 3500k cool white) (three 2700k soft white) I struggle to find more cool whites for veg but this will have to do for right now, can anyone tell me the most efficient way to use these lights during veg my germinated seed will sprout above the soil tomorrow and i dont want the bastard to stretch for light at all.

Hey there MegaBudz97. In short as close as possible. You gotta keep those lights as close as possible to keep stretching down. Those flouro lights lose their effectiveness the further away they are. If you have the option, lining your grow area with mylar or, as i was recently taught by someone on here, even painting cardboard boxes white will help reflect that light back to your plants. The good thing is these lights do not give off much heat so you can get the lights inches away with no adverse affects.

walmart,homedepot are great place to buy 6,500k cfl bulbs, the common way i see cfl grows done is by connecting them togeather through adapters to form one cfl unit, also being that there cfl they do not generate significant heat so keep the between 3-5 in. away to avoid strech.also i would go with flat whit paint as mylar sometimes some times causes heat spots. thou not sure if a cfl would be bright enough or hot to reflect a hot spot

The T-12 may almost not be worth it. You need florescent bulbs as close as possible, and if you look at the length of that bulb compared to the tiny plant, you'll see that very little will be close.

T-12 is the least efficient of the tubes, while T-5 the most - some people do white grows with T-5s and decent reflectors. Since you are doing CFL, try and get as many close to the leaves as possible.

But remember: 6500K (daylight) for growing and 2700K (warm) for flower. You can mix this a bit, but keep it mostly one or the other depending on stage. Other K numbers just take up a valuable light socket and placement.

The other guys are right. Especially about the light spectrum, and distance. 2-3 inches from all leaf surfaces, and they wont stretch at all in the begining. As they get bigger, more bulbs for coverage is generally needed to keep plants tight. Stay away from 3500K and 4100k A.k.a (cool whites) and just for reference.....6500k AKA Daylight (used for veg) 2700k AKA Soft White (used for flower) If using cfl's you want to aim to achieve approx 2000-3000 lumens per sq.ft. in these spectrums. Thats about 1, 42w CFL per sq.ft.

I suppose it may be of use to know that Cool whites are about as effective as moonlight for growing. They lack the blue and red spectrums needed for plant growth.

For CFLs, you need to know the Kelvin temperature and the actual wattage. It can help to know lumens - CFLs range about 50-70 per watt, and more is better. The "equivalent" wattage is a meaningless value from the past - there is no point at comparing anything to incandescent bulbs since they are just micro heaters that barely output enough light for human eyes.

Now some manufactures may label bulbs "Daylight, soft, warm, kitchen, or whatever." They may even label them "Grow." Ignore all that - you need to know the Kelvin temp. So, you want that number to be really close to 6500K for the growth stage, and 2700K for flowering. Since CFLs allow for many small bulbs, we can mix - but the balance should be clearly one way or the other.

If you upgrade one day, there is a really good light that penetrates far - pretty much doesn't degrade over distance. That's the sun. Other than that, all light degrades pretty quickly. One of the main advantages of HID lighting is that this takes place over multiple feet. The light from a florescent quickly degrades over a matter of inches. This is why we need to bring the lights so close to the plant. While the room might seem bright to us, most of these lumens per square foot we strive for have literally vanished by the time the light travels to the surface of the leaves.

My cabinet is lined with mylar - Every possible boost helps - but because of degradation over a distance, I'm not sure you risk hot spots the same as with other styles. If you look at some grows, they have lights hanging all around the plant within inches. The intensity closest to the twists of glass should, in theory, be more than light behind the bulb that's already traveled twice the distance just to the reflector and back.

Umm dont just ignor the manufacturers labels....that is our first reference point, then double check the kelvin specs. And hotspots are not possible with cfl's for the simple reason that they dissipate in a short distance. as u outlined earlier. also cfl light doesnt travel in a liniar pattern and is not focusable enough.

cheechako said:

Now some manufactures may label bulbs "Daylight, soft, warm, kitchen, or whatever." They may even label them "Grow." Ignore all that - you need to know the Kelvin temp. So, you want that number to be really close to 6500K for the growth stage, and 2700K for flowering. Since CFLs allow for many small bulbs, we can mix - but the balance should be clearly one way or the other.

My cabinet is lined with mylar - Every possible boost helps - but because of degradation over a distance, I'm not sure you risk hot spots the same as with other styles. If you look at some grows, they have lights hanging all around the plant within inches. The intensity closest to the twists of glass should, in theory, be more than light behind the bulb that's already traveled twice the distance just to the reflector and back.

Click to expand...

Sgt.Sly said:

Umm dont just ignor the manufacturers labels....that is our first reference point, then double check the kelvin specs. And hotspots are not possible with cfl's for the simple reason that they dissipate in a short distance. as u outlined earlier. also cfl light doesnt travel in a liniar pattern and is not focusable enough.

Click to expand...

I think he was just saying to ignore the catchphrases/slogans that company's label bulbs a (e.g. "Daylight, soft, warm, kitchen, or whatever." ) since the actual bulb specification may vary between company.

Sgt.Sly said:

Umm dont just ignor the manufacturers labels....that is our first reference point, then double check the kelvin specs. And hotspots are not possible with cfl's for the simple reason that they dissipate in a short distance. as u outlined earlier. also cfl light doesnt travel in a liniar pattern and is not focusable enough.

Click to expand...

label - noun - a mark to indicate manufacturer, nature, etc.
label - verb - to put into a certain class

The label contains specifics about Kelvin Temperature, wattage, etc. If it does not, do not buy the bulb.

Manufactures will label their products with all sorts of terms that may or may not be anything.

You need a bulb that is labeled 6500K for the growth stage. You do not need one that comes in a package labeled "Daylight", "Natural Light", or "Flavor Blasted!!!"

So my 3500k cool white basically wont make the plant grow? If not then all I really have left is the daylight fluoro 6500k for veg right now unless the red spectrum 2700k cfl's will work somewhat for veg, will they?

cheechako said:

You need a bulb that is labeled 6500K for the growth stage. You do not need one that comes in a package labeled "Daylight", "Natural Light", or "Flavor Blasted!!!"

Click to expand...

HOLY fuck.....for real eh? Your cracking me up. Weve established whats necessary for veg. My point is in my original statement; Are ya gunna grab a box of CFL's that say "soft white" and check to see if they are 6500K? Likely NOT unless your fucking stupid or don't know any better. What are you more likely to find in a package of "soft white" bulbs......2700k to maybe 3000K (what your gunna want for flowering)! Same with "daylight" or "natural light" You see that on the box, and your gunna check that one first for its spectrum rating if your looking for 6500k. And you mentioned you need 6500k for the growth stage? well since its actually growing through all stages, maybe you can be a bit more specific and tell the guy its for the veg. growth stage.
As for Flavour Blasted bulbs, why dont u go buy one, turn it on , and bite into it. BOO YA! Fuck that was fun.

Correct. Use the soft white for now will be fine mixed in. however look to have em replaced with 6500's until u complete your veg cycle. 6500's are much more effective in the veg cycle..

MegaBudz97 said:

So my 3500k cool white basically wont make the plant grow? If not then all I really have left is the daylight fluoro 6500k for veg right now unless the red spectrum 2700k cfl's will work somewhat for veg, will they?

Click to expand...

Alright, thanks