Strains That Require the Least Amount of Light to Grow
By Eric Wieland | January 26, 2013 11:36:48 AM PST
The art of successfully cultivating cannabis is one of the fastest-growing (no pun intended) hobbies in America and worldwide. However, one of the most unsettling factors about it – especially for those of us who grow only for personal consumption – is the cost; namely the cost of electricity generally needed for a successful grow operation. However, you don’t need a 1,000-watt light – or even a 400-watt light for that matter – to grow your very own marijuana garden. It’s simply a matter of choosing a suitable strain.Auto-flowering strains are always a good choice for strains that require low wattage to mature. Auto-flowering strains are also known as ruderalis. In the world of cannabis, there are three genus of cannabis: indica, sativa and ruderalis. As the name implies, auto-flowering strains are strains that automatically flower without ever needing to have the light cycle changed to 12 hours or less. As a general rule of thumb, most ruderalis strains need only around 70 watts of light to put out their average yield. This varies by a few watts strain-to-strain, but 70 watts is a good general guideline for auto-flower strains. There are a few downsides to growing ruderalis strains however. First of all, they are infamous for putting out fairly dismal yields that are almost never over an ounce per plant. Secondly, many – not all – ruderalis types are also renowned for having a THC content around 10% or less. For some patients this is perfectly fine, but for others it’s simply unacceptable. That decision is up to you though.
Orange crush is a sativa-dominant hybrid that only requires an astounding 30 watts of light to put out around an ounce per plant. This can be achieved by either using a 50-watt or 100-watt HID light (metal halide for vegetation and HPS for flowering). However, as is said above, this may be slight overkill if you really want to conserve the most energy possible. Therefore, you can buy a 30-watt CFL (Compact Fluorescent Bulb) at any one of your local hardware or appliance stores (these are the spiral, energy-saving bulbs). By using 30-watt CFL bulb and an intake/outtake fan, you can keep your monthly electricity bill to around $10 per month when you grow Orange Crush. This essentially means that in just over 2 months you should have around an ounce of weed for $20. If you want to grow more than one Orange Crush plant, you’ll obviously need more lighting. 50 watts for 2 plants will be plenty and 110 watts for 4 plants will be adequate.
A third option for growers wanting low energy output when growing medical marijuana is to grow a strain I’m sure we’re all familiar with: Green Crack. Green Crack requires just 80 – 90 watts to reach optimum yield. This can be achieved with either CFL or HID lighting, such as a 100-watt HPS/metal halide bulb, or a combination of a 50-watt HID light and a 30 or 42-watt CFL.
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Its like anything else, you want the best, you give it your best, regardless of how much it may cost.
Just because people request a thing doesn't mean you should invent something to tell them.
If you wanted to be responsible you'd have talked about various growing styles, perhaps some that create less heat, are easier to regulate, and don't require keeping the lights some distance away just to avoid burning them which wastes a lot of power.
The big problem with your article wrt lighting is that you're spitting out completely meaningless quantities. "Watts" is meaningless and even further meaningless is to give that number without mentioning coverage area. Plant count and wishful yields aren't substitutes.
Your entire article here is total BS and you don't know what you're talking about.
Just because people request a thing doesn't mean you should invent something to tell them.
If you wanted to be responsible you'd have talked about various growing styles, perhaps some that create less heat, are easier to regulate, and don't require keeping the lights some distance away just to avoid burning them which wastes a lot of power.
The big problem with your article wrt lighting is that you're spitting out completely meaningless quantities. "Watts" is meaningless and even further meaningless is to give that number without mentioning coverage area. Plant count and wishful yields aren't substitutes.
Your entire article here is total BS and you don't know what you're talking about.
Good post,poor replys... lol