Compact fluorescent grow lights (CFL grow lights)
– In the old days fluorescent marijuana grow lights were pretty useless as they had low output for a large size. However, the new CFL (compact fluorescent lights) and T5 and T8 fluorescent grow lights with full light spectrum have made them a viable alternative. Efficiency at the high end ranges from 75 to 98 lumens per watt consumed. CFL grow lights emit very little heat and so can be placed extremely close to plants, a couple of inches away. This saves on space and heat extraction problems. Bulbs in the 2700k to 3000k range provide higher yellow / red spectrum which promotes flowering. CFL grow lights in the 5000k to 6500k range are full spectrum with a lot of blue light which promotes plant growth.
Above is a picture of a CFL 300w which is self ballasted, cool running 300w grow light and you can get it in a choice of light spectrums with high lumen output.
*** Marijuana grow light overview – Click here
Real brain power on dspilay. Thanks for that answer!
what kind of lights do i need to grow 2 plants man
self ballast? does that mean i can use a light fixture for it from a hardware store (120vac 60hz) so i can make my own light reflecting fixture with heavy duty aluminum foil?
for 2 plants cfl i personally would use 2 105 watt, one 6500 and one 2700 color temp. you can find them on ebay for 50 dollars for both. the 105 watts have 6500 lumens each thats 12000 total and would be good for 6 square feet. (3×2)
Whats the best light set up if I’m only growing one massive plant with one light?
1 massive plant,,,a sativa it must be!
1 1000w HID is the cure for one massive light hogging sativa.
I strongly recommend either Arjan’s haze #1 or Arjan’s ultra haze #1!!
I get as much as 1200+ gr from haze #1 and 1000gr from the ultra.
Massive sativa high!!!!!GOOEY,STICKY BUDS,,lots of res hash from trim!
BEWARE as these grow to 10-12+ feet high!!! AND,,,,as with ANY strain, don’t forget to put the MH bulb BACK IN for the last 2 weeks of flowering!!! ( This kicks THC levels through the roof by the increase of UVB rays )
if your growing a big plant with only one cfl better get the biggest you can find and add some smaller ones around lower down the plant
4 Sunlite 105 watt cfl. get 2 warm white(flowering) and 2 cool white(vegetive) bulbs. they are huge bright work great you can put them real close to the plants and move them around when necessary.
Recently acquired a 42 watts 2700 lumans bulb, however due to its weight it sags.
Will a modified dog vinyl harness to hold the light in place, if it will burn right through?
PS this is my first grow, and besides a 10/20 gallon pump I have been able to acquire legally all my basic pieces (minus seeds of course)
I dont want to start burning or fire (I’d love to find some U(?) brackets metal to hold it up with but no luck so far.
Please any information about my new light or what I can/cannot use to hold the light in place
THANKS
i a new grower i would like to start with white widow, ligths of jah and super sour lemon haze what type of ligthing for best yeild & quality?
im a new grower i would like to start of with 3 1. whitewidow,2. ligths of jah 3. super sour lemon haze what tpye of ligths will give best resuls ?
i am growing 8 plants from seed and am going from indoor to outdoor is this good. i am also woundering what the cheapest rout to go is as far as lighting? Thanks for any help
Hi guys please help me out!!! I am growing 5 plants and i have them under 6 cfl bulbs. I believe they are 2700k and 1600lm. I had the plants on the balcony with fair sun for 2 weeks and just put them into 12-12 light yesterday under the 6 cfls. Is that going to be enough to finnish a good crop??? Or do i need to add more light? If so please specify what kind of bulbs im missing and how manny. I will appriciate any advice
i use blue/red cfl’s in a tight space… to save electric, i am useing red spectrum. i have 1 plant im flowering, 1 mother, and 1 cutting, i set the light to off during the day, at night, everything goes under the light, by day, mummy and the nipper go on the window ledge, i have noticed that despite being in some sort of light 24/7,(12hours red bulb’ 12 daylight) mummy and baby have also started to flower just as quickly as the biggen (im 8 days into the red bulb on its 12hr cycle now)… noting this, i ask… has anybody ever tried flowering 24/7 on red spectrum cfl’s… does it work- or make them flower quicker… cant seem to find anything online about this.
seems led’s are all the rage, i use cfl’s though, cos theyre a lot cheaper than led set ups to buy, and are also a lot cheaper to run than mh or hps, i have found to get good results, give both stages of growth an extra couple of weeks, and it works fine (this is why commercial growers hate cfl’s… it slows the production line down- however for a personal grow with no ‘deadline’ for finishing the grow, i find them ideal, low cost, low electric, low heat…so can go 2″ off the top of the plant, so good for tight spaces and small grows. couildnt ask for more realy
just use regular 60watt white red and blue cfls. i got one sativa under 1 daylight 1 red and 1 blue cfl lights from home depot works great just keep em close. big bawlzzzz in duh hizzousee!!
I have fiddled with CFL’s. They are quite good for small plants, fostering etc. The HID’s here in the UK are a no no.
CFL or LED seems the way to go. The above picture looks like four 20w CFL’s..
I’M running four 200watt 6500k cfls and four 100watt 2700k soft white,I use mylar film for reflection.Ihave four white widow autos at 6 weeks that are forming nice buds so far,plus 3 sensi kush and 3 early misty,and all are doing well.light are on 18/6.
what is the best light to use for a first time grower with one plant and where is the best place to set it up at??
i have a cfl 300 and i will start 5 plants chunk is it ok? is it proplem if i put also a 200w or 400 w hps lamp
What stores can i get these at?
get a large clamp reflecter an us a 200watt 7500k cfl bulp 18/6 for veging and a 2700k for flowering. Put the light 6to 8 inches from top of plant.
Looking for help with the light set up for my flowering room. I have a 4X4x78 tent. was going for a 300 led light in combination with a 150 hps I already have. Or should I go with the 2700k for flowering. and if so how many would it take to produce the night tight nugs? First time cultivator. So confused! lol Or should I order a 1000 hps?
Vegetative tent(3×3) has 2 200 watt clf’s with reflector. Am happy with my choice there. suggestions please!
If you have a 4 by 4 room that LED ( and I think you are saying it is 300 watts ?) would be good but it is only 1 lamp.
LED works like this. IF that lamp is a 300 watt , 3 watt chip set light with a red bias ( a flowering lamp ) it will get the center of that tent, about a 3 foot diameter circle, well. That’s about 7 sq. feet. You have 16 square feet.
So in your case you cannot mix LED / CFL in that entire tent. You will have to go LED in the center and largely CFL in the other areas. I cannot imagine why you would want to use a 1000 hps?????
Place the LED in the center and get about 10 23 watt 2700 k CFL’s for the rest. Space them at every 1.5 feet around the perimeter at about 1 foot in from the wall.
Now..don’t get stuck on just jamming lights in there. You have to get all those lumens from those CFL’s. It has been my experience that CFL’s directed with their top toward the plants do not produce as much light as those that have their side aimed at the plant. In fact I have tested this with a host of PAR, LUX meters and all say..use the side of the light.
SO you can try this. Go to Lowers or HD. Get a couple of value packs of 23 to 27 watt warm white ( 2700 K ) CFL’s. You will need about 10 or 12.
Go to the aisle that has the repair plug-ins for cords. You will see a bunch of light sockets in that area. Get the cheap black plastic ones. It will look like this:
http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/032664/032664422805xl.jpg
Make sure it has that tab on the bottom! Get one per bulb.
At the end of that aisle are the extension cords. They have some cheap white ones for less than 2 bucks. They are 6 feet long. Get one per bulb.
Next you go get a length of 4″ WHITE PVC drain pipe. It looks like this..
http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/611942/611942109067xl.jpg
about 9 bucks. IF you don’t have a truck have it cut into 2 5 foot lengths.
Now get about 5 lengths of 1/2 in PVC pipe.
What you are going to do: You will cut the 4 inch pipe into 8 inch lengths and then split them into 2 half’s lengthwise. That will serve as a reflector body. You will cut the female plug end off the extension cords, strip the wires back ½ inch and mount them to the wire fittings on the sockets. Then bend the mounting tab on the socket so you can mount it in the reflector. Drill the cut PVC reflector near the bottom center so that you can put a screw thru the tab and into the PVC. You should end up with a socket..slightly tipped outward that allows you to screw in the CFL and have it nestled inside the concave of that white PVC pipe. Its entire length should be within the PVC.
You are going to hang these things along the perimeter of your tent. Each facing the center. So, you will need at least 2 power strips mounted to the top poles of the tent so you can plug in all those lights. YOU can use expanders because those lights pull very little power.
The tent / plant combination dictates how far from the walls the lights will be placed. You will need to rig up some sort of hanger apparatus, bar or rope, to hang the lights from. You can but 4 lengths of ½ CPVC (the tan stuff) while you are shopping and you will have this nailed.
Now cut the ½ PVC into the lengths you will need to hang you lights at the height you desire. I usually drill a 1/8 inch hole through the top if the PVC at about a ¼ down. I fabricate a hanger hook with coat hanger wire and run it through these holes.
Drill a hole thorough the other end of the PVC as well as one in the center back of your reflectors ( it is a good idea to do this prior to mounting the light fixture ). Screw the PVC to the back of the reflector. You now have a ridged drop down light reflector. YOU CANNOT use rope or wire to drop these things down as they will twist all over the place. Hang the reflectors around the perimeter of the tent. Plug them into to the power strips. Add the bulbs. You will have a very intensely lit tent.
You can email me at ralphcurtis at hotmail . com and I can send you some images of this kind of thing. I make them with an adjustable length and light end that allows me to put light wherever I want. I use LED in the center and CFL on the periphery.
hey you can have up too three cfls per plant!! it will only help i usually have one stationed on top in the middle and the other two i put on bottum aiming up through the leafs at the bottum of your bucket or if your plant isnt that big yet just angle the two of them on the sides you will see an increase of light. I woulkd use three 100 watt cfls that is what i am using and they are loving it make sure you have a heater and a fan and foill your walls always!! I HOPE THISH HELPS
GET TIMERS TOO! YOU CAN FIND ALL THIS AT HOME DEPOT OR LOWES!
Also if you have any questions feel free to ask i will let you in on a little bit of my growers secrets i learned along the ways. HAPPY GROWING!!
ANYONE THAT NEEDS HELP EMAIL MY EMAIL I WILL GIVE YOU ANY ANSWER YOU NEED ASAP TO BETTER ASSIST EVERYONE I AM THE MASTER GROWER I KNOW IT ALL!! BEEN GROWING FOR 15 YEARS PLUS!!! EMAIL FOR ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS!!
matthews316@yahoo.com
hi iam rod first time grower using a1600 lumens cflsoft white flourescent my plnnt is budding very slow need to know what i am doing wrong?
Im a new grower who wants to start with WSS Skunk Feminized, I want to do one plant and one light wats the cheapest best light to use and where can I get these locally?
This is my 2end year growing outdoor an now I decided to try and grow some dro. I have two plants about one foot each but I’m not sure if my lighting set up is right I have two 60 watt fluorescent self ballasted per plant. I also try to put them in the widow for a few hours on sunny days only. Will this set up work untill I need to change it up
take yer massive plant and make many clones…go directly into bud cycle one week after cloning….!ta-daaa
roger…get some red spectrum in there…high pressure sodium comes in smaller sizes as low as 70 watt at wallmart hardware places.you have to boost your lumens and red more…assuming u are useing proper nutrients…not the cheap all in ones…or if u have to use an all in one,get for tomato flowering..it will be fine for a newbi
hi. ive got one plant with two 45w blue spectrum anf two 45w red spectrum and also added four 20w 2700k bulbs around the plant. is this good enough for a ok yield? thanks for any reply
Rich
I have 1 blue dream plant and its going to be 3 months 2morrow and it don’t looks like I may not be able to get a lot of buds I would like some help I have it under 2125w cfls and 1 24w cfl and 1 32w cfls as well and I don’t no if that’s good and I want to know if blue dream is a good choice
how do you tell red spectrum fluorescent tube from blue
can you use a self ballasted cfl in a regilar home light fixture or do you have to spend an arm and a leg for the set up please help me out