CFL Lights

I wouldn't even attempt to grow a plant under a single CFL, but here's what I do do. Get a bunch of outlet to socket plugs like so, and a double-rowed (or single, whatever) surge protector. Fasten the surge protector to a board with wire, cram as many CFL-loaded plugs onto it as you possibly can, and put some little hooks on the other side of the board. Instant ghetto fixture. I usually get at least five or six bulbs on one plant this way, as bright as a sodium light.

I've grown using the above referenced book. It works. Now the downside- google "how to properly disposw of cfl bulbs" and see if you still want to use them.

this is how i started when i didnt have the money to get all the HPS lights, i had a box from mc'ds, lined it with foil, put the plants that are in pots and get the top covered except for the lights and vent! it went VERY well

I have yet to try them, but hear great things. A good friend of mine uses and is using them right now and swears he wouldn't use anything but. So there must be something good about them.

My friend told me he was growing with cfl lights and I laughed at him. Now he has 5 plants in their 4th week and they look very healthy.
So I was wrong all along.
It seems that CFLs can be used to harvest plants!!!!
You get what you pay for, and cfls are cheap. If your trying to raise some perfect plants I would suggest investing in more expensive lighting.

So glad I read this! I'm gonna start using them now just to save money on electricity and reduce the temperature in the grow area. Thanks for all the helpful tips everyone!

Does this really work.? It seems to easy to be true, have any of u asctusally done this?

i know of someone very close to me that uses cfl. 55 and 65 watts there are good when they are used right. go for 55 to 85 watts are best, (trash the low watts and only use high watts for over head) because the power used compared with the light dis-charge is the best for the money. if you use your mind you can create some amazing thing its more then possible to use cfl and yield amazing results. ps if you have a fan blowing drericly on the bulbs you can move them closer without creating hot spots.

Yeah, check out the journals section of the website, I'm doing a CFL grow and will have pics up tonight or tomorrow.

I have done a few cfl grows in my lifetime and I will have to swear by this method for the grower on the budget. I use one cfl per plant and grew some nice buds right in my closet. This method takes a little care to setup and isn't ideal for high yield growers, but if you're not trying to start a co-op and just want to have a couple of plants, enjoy the freedom of the cfl method.

This method is ideal for the first time grower. It is low investment with decent results. It doesn't make the super thick buds like HPS, but you don't have to deal with heating issues. Pretty easy to rig up a big light by using electric sockets and splitters to make one that can hold 10-12 bulbs.

Just Started 1 week ago with 2 26watt=100watt 5000k. Is this ok and for how long? They look ok so far

Bump it up to at least 2 42 watt CFL's per plant. That way you'll get at least a decent harvest

I have always thought that having some CFL's running along the walls of a grow would help a bit, Not too much but seems like it would get light into the areas the light beaming from up top can't get to. I plan on doing this once I get my shed figured out and ready to grow my own medicine, a little extra lumens never can hurt. I couldn't imagine growing more than a couple small plants if your only light source was from CFL lights, It's been done though I know that is for sure.

im confused, doesnt the spectrum form these lights give off a blue hue, which if remember clearly is only sufficient for vegetative growth, just as metal halide.... everyone prefers HPS because its spectrum is practically and PURELY awesome for flowering, its colour is in the red spectrum... also for disposing the cfls, you can take a hefty bag of em and leave them in aisle 4 in the lighting dept at your local home depot :D

Get the soft white CFL's which give off more of an orange color, whereas the clean white CFL's are the bluish hue.

I am surprised they recomend a flowering spectrum bulb (2700k) for veging, i use a veg light spectrum (6500k) for veg and then switch bulbs to flowing spcs(2700k). I also use a min of 100 watts per plant (thats 26w cfl) but ya cant have to much. Currently trying some (2) autoflowering plants which are far less light sensitive so i beat 100w (6500k) on each plant and they share a 150w (2700k). Remeber autoflower not light sensitive and cant be tricked into cycles so i decided to give a full spectrum on light from birth.
Now that I think about it I guess the fact that I'm willing to use them with expensive quality seeds in an new experiment says it all.
If ya care my two little baby girls just popped outta the rockwool and I'm already proud of them. If you wanna to know more info or even better if ya know how to nutrient and autoflower please let me know I'm basicly flying blind in that department!

I am surprised that they recomend veging with a flowing spectrum (2700k). I personaly use a veging spectrum (6500k) to veg and swith when flowing comes. I am currenly in an experiment with two autoflowers and am using cfls. I am using 100w(26w cfl) 6500k in each plant and they are sharing a 150w (40w cfl) 2700k. My girls just popped out the rockwool yesterday and they are already standing up tall. I'm so proud of 'em.
Anyway if you would like more info or even better if you know how to nutrient a autoflower (that's most of my experiment,lol) feel free to drop me a line, peace.

Great advice CannaConnoiseur, I would have just bought the clear bulbs but I'm glad I read this first. I think that from looking at your logs the CFLs give a nice yield for personal use, but you have been finishing under other lights right? Maybe the combo works best.

Florescent lights are actually in the green light spectrum. Sunlight is blue and tungsten is amber. I've seen the "daylight" bulbs that are in the sunlight spectrum and had some plants respond very well to them. You usually can find the option of "full spectrum" florescent bulbs. I think that they would be better suited to growing but are also more expensive.

@Thorlos the Red: I don't use just one bulb, I use at least 2 or even 3 per plant so the lummens are well above that.

@lindzzz: I used to do the whole process under CFL and was going to do that for this one to show others how, but it's fairly self-explanatory if you know the basics so I decided to finish under the 150 watt HPS light I have.

has anyone tried this as a replacement for a T-5 light. i would like to use this method during my small to medium veg.

Yeah I think it tends to create a lot more bushy plants with shorter internode spacing than the T-5 fixture, which is what I prefer, but it all depends on what you're looking for.

I used CFLs exclusively for my last 2 grows. They werent 42 watt, and of course the buds were smaller than when I used my HPS, but they were still very decent sized buds and smoked incredible.

cant find any 42 around here , can i use 2 13

That's probably the bare minimum to even make it worth your time, but technically yes, you can with only 26 watts.

ok thats just what i happen to have in the house , guess i gotta go to walmart and get some better ones

Remember, the soft white bulbs are better for flowering, and the clean white are better for veg, although like HPS, you can veg and flower with the soft white.

ok , i just planted again, this time i have to do this indoors , the last plant , i had growing was outside my house , and it was growing good , and then one day. came out side to look at it was deader the doorknob , think my neighbors did something to it , so trying to start indoors
help , dont have a lot of money any ideas

CFL's is the way to go if you're strapped for cash, want some decent buds and want a low electic bill. You can also keep the lights around 3 inches from the plants, unlike with HID.

ok thanks

You all "ROCK" Great info!

You can grow great buds with CFL lights but you are better off getting the 125w 200w or 250 watt from your nursery/hydroponics store or online they are $40-100 but come in 2700k for flower and 5000k for veg. Well worth the investment, they also need a socket. The 125W gives 400watts of light approx 4-6000 lumins
Or go to Home improve store and get 65w (300w equivalent) with standard socket for $17-20

reg. 23w - 45w cfl for the house will disappoint you they don't have enough luminosity or ??? to grow dank but the others do

IT'S GOOD THAT THE KNOWLEDGE IS SPREAD FOR ALL
DID YOU KNOW THAT RAW (UNCOOKED) THC-A WILL NOT WILL NOT GET YOU AS HIGH AS COOKED (250`F FOR 5-10 MIN) WHEN EATEN IN CAPSULES) WOW WHAT A DIFFERENCE!
IF YOU HAVE SOME BLOSSOMS THAT DONT TERMINATE (STOP GROWING) JUST PINCH OFF THE SPROUTING BUDS AND YOU CAN RECOVER SOME LOOSE BUT RIPE BUDS IN JUST A FEW DAYS

"IF YOU HAVE SOME BLOSSOMS THAT DONT TERMINATE (STOP GROWING) JUST PINCH OFF THE SPROUTING BUDS AND YOU CAN RECOVER SOME LOOSE BUT RIPE BUDS IN JUST A FEW DAYS"

I'm totally confused by this statement...

I am using three 200 watt equiv cfl bulbs for 5 plants each are about 9 inches and so far in the veg stage I am able to clip almost an oz. of leaf from them each week.The plants are so bushy that I am gonna have to figure a way to get light to the inner branches. I have my grow area completely mirrored and use mirror in the plant pots to get the light to the lower branches something I have done many times before with great results. I will be pushing them to bud in the next week or so I want the plants about a foot tall before I go to bud. So far I am very happy with CFL this will be my second full grow with.

To be sincere,I'd like LED lights.

home depot has 68 watt (300 watt equiv) about 15 bucks apiece. give off 4200 lumens. big suckers though. get a piece of shiny sheet metal in the dryer venting aisle (very easy to bend into shape) with some light sockets, wire them up and boom a cheap reflector that puts out 8400 lumens of 2700k. perfect for flowering. total cost around 40 bucks. no going to the hydro store or online ordering. throw a few more around the sides with those clamp on workbench type lights with the reflectors and you can easily get over 10000 lumens. which is recommended for a 1 sq ft area.

home depot has 68 watt cfl's (300 watt equiv) for about 15bucks apiece they put out 4200 lumens each. get some shiny sheet metal in the dryer vent section, a couple light sockets, cut the end of a new heavy duty ext cord bend the metal into a reflector (very easy to do) wire up the sockets and boom a reflector that puts out 8400 lumens for about 40 bucks and no trip to the hydro store or online ordering throw a couple more around the sides and you can easily get over 10000 lumens (recommended minumum per sq ft.) They're only available in 2700 k so they can only be used for flowering

yes, it can very well be done. ive had 4 successful grows using nothing but cfls for vegative growth at 18/6 and threw a couple more in for flowering. a total of 6 42watt cfls equalling 7200k which is acceptable for flowering. Each time i grew only one plant and had over 1 oz. per plant could have had more but purposly force flower and LST makes for a bowling ball size plant and long twisted nugzzzz

been growing with florescent for awhile, works for me~!! then change to sodium when budding ~!~!killer

not the greatest but cheep and effective

I have never grown before but plan on it soon i would like to use CFL lights but i need further explanation on the Techniques and different ideas people have message me to explain more Thank you.

i am looking to grow 4 or 5 plants how many cfls would you guys recomend

how many cfls would be good for 4 or 5 plants

If you're going to grow 4 or 5 plants I would use at least 252 watts (6 42 watt CFLs) but more preferable would be around 336 watts (8 42 watt bulbs).

i have 2 55 watt cfl soft white over the top of my plant they put out about 3800 to 4000 lumensa piece plus i have 4 26 watt soft white cfl's surrounding my plant i am trying to flower my first plant will that be enoughor do i need to add more and also do i need to add some daylight bulbs? i think the soft white is for budding and the daylight is for flowering right?

Hey canna connoisseur! You recomend 8 42 watt CFL's, is that soft white or daylight? And should they be used for veg and flower? And I heard some Autos finish from seed in 8-10 weeks, any suggestions on a realy good strain?

Hey CannaConnoisseur you recomend using 8 42 watt CFL's, is that daylight, or soft white? And can these be used for veg and flower? Also as far as autos go, I heard some will harvest from seed within 8-10 weeks, any suggestions on a realy good strain that will give decent yields?

I am starting a grow near the equator and was wondering if i should grow my plants in there vegetative state under CFL's 18/6 then put them outside. The sun is always on a 12/12 here? WIll the plants not respond well from going inside to outside? Would it jsut be best to grow them outside?

I use soft white for flower and clean white for veg. Green Crack is the fastest flowering strain I've found (6 weeks) which gives 2 - 3 ounces per plant. Many autoflower strains go from seed to harvest in that timeframe, but bewared of the low yield's they're notorious for.

This is an awesome article! I have a question for CannaConnoisseur: Im putting the CFL lights into a stealth dresser setup and I have two dressers to pick from one is 23in h x 17in w inside the other one is 18in h x 16in w which one to you think would be better? Im doing micro-growing with femanized seeds any info greatly appreciated thanks :)

Honestyly, the bigger the better in my opinion. I'd go with the 23" x 17" because once you hang your CFL lights, that takes off around 4" of the height you have to work with. Then you need to take into account the height of the pot you're going to be using. That will take off another 3 - 6 inches of height, leaving you between 13" and 16" to work with. I'm assuming you know this, but you'll likely want to LST your plants you allow them to grow without reaching your lighs before they even flower. If you go with the 18" tall one, then you only have between 8" and 11" to work with. If you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer them to the best of my abilities for you.

Thanks brother (CannaConnoisseur) for the advice! :) After taking into consideration what you said about hanging the lights and height of pots I have decided to go with a taller dresser this one is 37"h x 23"w which should allow me to microgrow my plants to around 2.5ft tall or so :) I have one more question I recently bought and read the SeeMoreBuds book which advises always keeping CFL lights 3" from plants at all times for maximum growth but i have seen growbox designs online that keep the CFL lights at the top of the box and place a piece of plexiglass under the lights to keep the plants from ever actually touching the lights which setup do you think is better? Im planning on using (3) 42 watt CFL lights per plant and per your instructions using clean white CFLs for vegging and soft white CFLs for flowering ...

ok i am a 1st timer n this will be obvious frm the ?s im about to ask. im going to raise a single daughter. my plan is to use 3 26watt (2700k) cfl spiral bulbs with bowl reflectors for veg(18/6). then add 2 more at flowering. is this enuff wattage to produce a decent harvest? a guest above wrote that "house cfl bulbs" will disappoint. is this true? my space is xtremely limited ( a 20 gal trashcan ). how long should i veg n how long for flower? i just want to be sure i get it right. thank you for all your help.

The plexiglass thing definitely sounds interesting. I'm not really sure which would be better, since I've never seen a setup like that, but I don't think it would be inferior... might actually be superior to the old way. @Guest, I got around 1 ounce of Chem-4 from using 3 42 watt bulbs on the one lady, so I wouldn't say that you're going to get a massive yield from using 3 25 watt cfl's, but you probably won't be too disappointed. Just don't expect a shitload of bud.

thanks. after a nite of smoking n searching i gathered some much needed facts n info. going to use 2 46 watt with Y adapt. n clamp reflctr during veg. then add 2 26watt in the same manner for flowering. im not as concerned about quanity as much as quality. an oz of some superior dank is my goal. this past wkend i had a blessing frm the ganja gods (and a good friend). i was helping a friend clean out his garage n stumbled upon a very nice ballast with 2 200watt (i believe) cfl tubes in perfect working order. it sucks that i dont have the space to use this rite now but im still excited because its not going to be too long before it will be up nd running. i do have some more ?s canna (or any1 else that can help). because of small space i need to keep my lady short n stocky. i know to keep light just a few in. away so she doesnt strecth. is there anything else that can be done to help? what is micro growing? it sounds like it wld def suit my limited space needs and something i am DEF intrested in. and ive heard of topping and/or tie down. i know how to top. do u just bend ur lady over in U n tie top to bottom (or as close to bottom as flexabilty of lady will allow)? for life cycle i plan on doing 6 wks of 18/6 for veg n the same amount of time for flowering. is this sufficent and/or correct? sry if any of these ?s r 'basic' for lack of btr terms. i live in mid east coast. so far growing for me has been plant mid april or early may, pray all summer that everything goes good and with some luck harvest in oct. i didnt get to do outdoor this yr so i figured now wld be the time to broaden my horizon n learn the art of indoor. something ive wanted to do for a long time. im still gathering all the rite info i need to do it the right way. so far the thing that i like the most is that u have alot more control than outdoor. tho i was always told that mother nature knows best. thanks again for all the help. and any other tips you think may be useful for my very basic set up are gr8ly appreciated

LST LST LST LST LST LST LST LST LST LST LST LST LST LST LST hahaha if you don't know what that means, it stands for low stress training. It's by far my favorite method of maximizing your yield and keeping your ladies to a low profile all at the same time. I recently harvested 3 oz from a plant that was 23" tall due to low stress training. I'm honestly too medicated right now to write out 3 or 4 paragraphs of how to lst properly, but do a thorough google search and look on the articles posted on this site on how to LST your ladies. It literally not only maximizes your yield, but keeps your plants very short. By conducting an LST grown, each individual shoot reaches up for the light source, thereby becoming a "top cola" and ending with anywhere from 6 to 14 top colas.

You can also combine topping and LST'ing.

lol. awesome! i jus noticed something. today is the 8th. it says your last reply was on the 9th? wtf?

I just started my first real grow (I had a bagseed plant once of Sour Diesel, completely botched my way through it to some smokable medicine). Anyway, I made a setup to hold 6 23w bulbs (65k and 5k combo). I also have 2 90 watt ufos. I'm covering 5 plants that I started from seed with this contraption. Seeds were germinated about October 15 and one on the 19th. They are all about 8-9 inches now and very bushy. The youngest plnat has been the besst preformer so far, it's a feminized trainwreck and she's also showing preflowers. I rotate these babies through all the lights about every other day. They all seem healthy and strong....they are gooing 12/12....this Sunday. I did enough reading to give myself a headache on the lighting topic. I wanted to go straight LED but everything I've read suggests "It just ain't gonne be enough and I'll have air bud". ......so the CFLs got added.

Yeah, I think the dates are messed up on this by a day or so.

well the stealth cabinet sucked for lack of a better word lol i ran 6 42 watt CFL's and watched the temperature spike to 90 degrees easy so i threw the damn dresser out and put the setup (lights and plants) on the floor of my closet installed a fan busted out vent holes in back of closet and everything seems to working well :) temp is around 78 degrees during the day and around 70 degrees at night i may put mylar up to increase the light getting to plants. got a female tahoe og kush and two northern lights x ak47 popping if temps get out of control again i have a 5000 btu air conditioner hopefully this works ;)

actually its not mylar its called sunleaves ultreflect will using this in my closet make it hotter? im hoping to increase the light the plants receive from the CFLs what you think CannaConnoisseur any advice?

It will make it a few degrees hotter, yeah, but ventilation is definitely key, you want your inport/export fans to cycle the air in the grow area at least 1 every 3 minutes. The fan should have a CFM power level on the box, which states the CFM is circulates (Cubic Feet Per Minute). If you want to find out if your fan is powerful enough, measure your grow area to find the area of it. Width x height x length. If that sum is more than the CFM listed on your fan, you need to get a bigger fan. I like my CFM to exceed the total by at least 50 in order to keep temps under control. Hope this helps.

Thanks! My plants will be ready for 12/12 in a few more days and the growth is amazing I wish I knew about CFLs years ago but better late than never ;)

I have 4 200watt cfl 6500k mixed with 8 100 watt 2700ks 18/6 I will be harvesting 4 white widow auto's in a week or two plus 2 sensi kush and 3 early misty's that i have that are not tall enough to force to flower.any questions let me know.

I have 6 200 watt 6500k a 8 100watt 2700k on 18/6 all my girls are doing well, and my white widow auto's will be ready in about 10 days.

I have another question for CannaConnoisseur: right now Im using 42 watt (150w) CFL's to grow my plants but I notice home depot also has 68 watt (300w) CFL's can I use these bigger and stronger bulbs on top of grow to get more light to my plants or will that be too much wattage? Also if I switch to the stronger bulbs should they be placed 3 inches or less from my plants? Im guessing the closet will get alot hotter with the stronger bulbs right now my temps are around 80 degrees any advice greatly appreciated thanks! :)

That female tahoe og kush plant has grown into a monster its 5 feet tall in a 7 gallon container very branchy with flowers everywhere and one main spear cola I should have supercropped or topped plant I was able to use CFL's up till recently then to combat the excessive height i replaced CFL's with a 400 w HPS and plant looks awesome! 3 more weeks and I can harvest her thanks for the advice on this site guys :)

No problem and congrats again. Just out of curiosity, how far is your HPS light from the plant? That could be the reason she is stretching slightly, if it's far away from it.

1x 3x10 start/grow room.
1x 9x10 bud room
1000 watts of CFL's bulbs all together.
18 HOURS 6500K CLF.in grow room
11 hours budding 1 2700k bulb to 4 6500k bulb ratio in bud room.
no dirt. (dirt tast better but it costs more and it's dirty;).
the trick is to put one (1) plant per week into the budding room.
Than in 10 weeks you take one Plant per week out.
PROS>you play god and never run out.
CONS>Bugs will kill everything.
if it's not medical, the cops will too.
PS, always us a carbon air filter.

how to stop bugs?

Just wondering for a first timer - Should I buy a set of lights strictly for the growth stage and then a different set for the flowering stage? If I was to grow five plants, that would be approx 8-12 lights for each stage making it 16-24 lights total? Or does a combination work just as well to save money?

Can you use the tubes. Not the little ones I have 4 4ft long tubes and 3 little tubes I mixed up the long tubes to daylight warm daylight warm ones and all the little tubes are daylight as well I need help email me hude11420@gmail.com n ill send pics of my grow cabinet. Plzzzzzz help me thanks n.b growing afghan kush

I have a maroc growing under 2 cfl light bulbs first week into flower and it's getting alot of pistils they work great

Yes, you can use the tubes, they work great for veg, and although I've never tried them for flower, I'm sure they would do fine, since the other CFLs seem to.

CFL's just don't have the needed lumens to grow the high quality buds null that dispensaries want. Please don't hate. Just my 2 cents.

I've only successfully grown 1 once in my life. And after doing some research I actually choose the CFL method, and I actually used the book described in the article. I started with 2 plants, one turned male and was quickly destroyed, but the female grew extremely well I was really surprised with the results, both the total yield and the quality of the herb. I really recommend the CFL method, it produces great results, and can be done in a very small space, seeing as CFL's can only raise a healthy plant up to 2 feet due to the amount of heat penetration or lack there of, and still get a large yield.

@Jburner, the above comments reflect what you said... we're not saying it's going to give you dank ass weed, simply that it's a proven and cheap way to cultivate Mary Jane.

@Jburner, But you can grow dank ass weed with CFL's. Your right, its all about the lumen. Your wrong too...I just harvested almost 2 lbs from 9 plants..100% CFL with two sickly mite ridden low yeild plants. I did some research as well, besides growing medically in Oregon for three years+ exclusively with CFL's. What I found out might surprise some of the HPS "purists". A quality 1000 watt HPS bulb (when new) will produce roughly 150,000 lumen. That is a lot of lumen! But, what they don't tell you is that only 13% of that 150k is usable to your plants!So you end up with roughly 19,500 lumen from a brand new HPS 1000 watt bulb.
Most people try to go CFL watt equivalent output to watts against HPS or MH but CFL's don't produce the same amount of lumen per watt output.
Example: a 23 watt/ 100 watt output CFL will produce 1600 lumen, so 10 of those will produce 16,000 lumen.
So you'll want at least 12 23 watt 100 output CFL's to replace a 1000 watt HPS unit.
I use 1400 watt units (i mix 2 or three 6500k color bulbs with 11-12 2700k bulbs) I bought from a local guy in Portland a few years ago. I was hella skeptical but man I gotta tell yea...I love the money I'm saving and my bud is WAY better than it was before under just HPS in flower...dense, crystallized high THC content DANK! He's got a website now at CFL-GrowLight.com and he's doing pretty well.

I decided it would be fun to try and grow some of my own. I'm in a tiny studio apartment and stealth is key.
So anyhow.. I rather stupidly set up a grow box out of two rubbermaid tubs out of stuff lying around my house.
Its got a nice airflow, a carbon scrubber, and so far is very stealth. But I have yet to actually start growing cause of a few reasons.
1 - Its only 18 inches high.
2 - Its only 18 inches high.
The only storage boxes I had were 5 gallon tubs. So combined together they dont even make two feet tall. Which sort of sucks for me.
I have wired in the lights and chosen a pot. So now I'm down another 6 inches. So now I only have 14 inches to completely grow and flower. I plan on LST from an early age. But am not too sure how much that will help.
Also not sure what the strain is. One day a backpack appeared in the back of my truck. It had a jug with around 50 seeds and they have just been sitting around for a few years so I decided to give them a try.

I have a tendency to ramble.. sorry..
Anyhow.. What would be your approach to this situation?

I would get a bigger grow area. If you really can't, then as long as you LST properly, the height shouldn't be too much of a problem.

WHY HAVEN'T YOU LEARNED ANYTHING?

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GO BUY OFF THE WALL BY MICHAELJACKSON IF U OWN IT BUY ANOTHER COPY FORSURE;] OHYEAAAAAAAA M.J.J

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^^^????

for vegging...one REAL 125 watt(not the crappy little 26 watt or whatever; its a good sized bulb) output 6500k cfl per plant, switcing to one 200 watt(250 is better) 2700k per plant during flowering. You will only need 3 bulbs for 3 small plants. Obviously the more light the better but this works fine for me. Stick to the smaller plants, most autoflowering strains will work beautifully. Oh yeah, you want some great effing lights spend a couple extra bucks and get yerself some LED grow lights...more than worth it, puts HID to shame...

I have 6 65 watt 4200 lumen lights in a portable closet, i have 25,200 lumen total for 11 plants. Its about 3 feet squared,pictures coming soon
~Mayflower~

Hi how high should i have my lights from my plants at each stage of growth?

as close as possible without burning them

Hey cannaconno its my first time trying to groe and money is tight but question to you is how many cfl soft light bulbs are needed for 8 plants in (dwc)deep water culture????

I would say use 12 - 16 42 watt CFLs. Also, at the height question, I have mine anywhere from 1" to 3" away, which is close to provide lumens, but won't burn the leaves.

CannaConnoisseur- hi im a new grower to indoor-soil-cfl's,I have 6-65 watt cfl's 4200 lumen each in portable closet with 3 fans.heat was an issue until i switched the lighting schedule to 12p-6p dark, because its the hottest part of the day.I have 11 plants,but Im trying to add 10 more today for the sea of green effect.Any suggestions?

What is the size of your closet and what is the CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute) on your 3 fans? The CFM should be able to circulate the air in the room at least 3 times per minute IMO. If you are trying to add more plants I would personally add more lights. Do you know much about the SOG style of growing?

Yes the SOG style is what I'm going for.The closet is 3 feet long by 20 inches thick anf 5 1/2 feet tall.I dont know the CFL for the fans.the way I have it set up is the plants sitting on a box fan thats on top of a rubermaid container without a lid.here is the best way to explain it.look at the drawing below.W=Wall 8=Lights F=Fan ^=direction of air P=Plants C=Container
^
W W W F W W W W
W 8 8 8 W
W 8 8 8 W
W ^^^^^ W
W __P___ W
W^^^^C^^F^^C W
W F C C W

http://www.flickr.com/photos/78185768@N06/7163064486/

Link's not working. The CFM is really important to know if you want to control heat. I would suggest checking the CFM on the fan or the box it came in.

Just got the link to work. By the looks of it on two of those actual pictures, you are going to be doing a SCRoG, not a SoG.

im trying to do sog,just haven't had time to find some good clones,my clinic was full of moldy clones except for the 4 in the picture.heat is not a problem,i run my lights at night when its coolest.

I only said it looks like a SCRoG due to the screen... let us know how your grow goes, maybe in the journals section, if you feel comfortable.

ive useed cfls thru veg and is great way to xtend life of ur mh/hps globe.. i do add a mh after a couple of weeks

how long does tahoe og flower for?

how long does tahoe og take to flower?

how long does og larry take to flower?

I made prints on how to make your own light fixtures. lined with foil and 2 cfl bulbs and my plants look great.

Glad to hear that CFL are decent light's for a cheap grow. I am currently using (x2)Flouresent 17watt 75 equivilant bulbs, along with a 14 watt 75 equivalent CFL. Mylar cover space. Plant also get's 4 hours of full sun. Will this combo be worth my time?

nope. 14 watts is not much. go at least with a 32 watt cfl daylight 5000k then go to 2700k for flowering

Thats what i figured. I picked up a 32 watt cfl 2700k. She is about 18 inches tall and preflowered.Just giving her time to bush out a little more. Thanks for your advise.

I grew for three years using cfl... I used the small (100 watt equivalent) cfl soft white, and had about 24 per plant! I also do a unique hydroponic self-sustaining system, which seems to be superior to other hyro methods.

I wannto use a 20W cfl on my single plant which just sprouted is dat good ??

20W cfl will be fine for a seedling.Keep the bulb as close as possible without burning the plant(1-3 inches).

@Guest with all the questions of flowering. All those strains and flowering times can be found on this website under strains.

Trying to grow two girls hopefully, i got them germed and although they are four weeks old to this day, they happen to only be about 2-2 1/4 inches in height. I have them each very close (2-3inch)under their own 26w 6500k [1610 lumens] CFL. Just switched them over from 24/0 to 18/6 in hope that they sprout up a little more. Feedback Please??

^ That is plenty of light for the size of the plants.Maybe you can try and raise the light from the plant a tad to cause them to stretch a bit. Also make sure they are getting enough nitrogen along with adjusted the PH. Good luck!!

is two bulbs at a total of 150 watts cfl good for one young plant in a root pouch in 2 sq ft of grow space?

ok, I'll chime in. I'm currently growing a hybrid strain with an indica [spready] look [critical super silver haze] with six 45 watt Alzo full spectrum cfls. My bulbs hang from their cords and I adjust them daily. The air flow using that array is good.

I am using a 65 watt cfl bulb atm, from germinating, i have created a little box for them aswell, its like a metre high by about 60 cm length and width, i have the 65 watt above the plants in a reflector by about 3 inches, i have just bought a 300 watt dual cfl light aswell and thinking of switching it with the 65 watt one and keeping the lower one for the lower level of plant, so far i just planted the seeds in doil and water them with a little baby bio and water. i am not sure if the lights can produce the temp, by the way the seeds are white chronic, custard creams and kc crop automatic. do you think this will be ok for my plants?

i got a question about spectrums...for one plant could i jus use one 42 watt 6500k bulb and one 42 2700k bulb? and if so, would it be benifitial for me to rotate the plants regularly? Ive heard of people using similar technics but with numerous bulbs. i didnt know if it was any diffrent because of the fact i will only be using two bulbs to one plant. Im wondering if anyone had tried a similar setup?

I'd use much more light in flower than one 2700k 42w bulb and one 6500k bulb. So yes, multiple bulbs are much better. The bad rap CFL's get is due to not using enough of them during flower. More light = better yields and better bud. Period. I use 1400 watt and 2000 watt units from http://CFL-GrowLight.com. They are pretty cheap but work well and last a long ass time.

oops here's the link: http://CFL-GrowLight.com

this is the worst but of info ive ever come across not at all 42 watt bulbs give off 2700 lumens it depends on the type the ones i use give off 5000 lumens each and they are 40 watt, what a waste of time making this site must of been

I'm using two thirteen watt 5000k cfls on one seedling working on it's third set of leaves. The lights are placed about two inches away. If someone with experience with cfls could tell me if this is enough for now or no it would be much appreciated.

I came up with a cheap dual light reflector you can make from parts from the hardware store. It's pretty popular and many people have built it.

Here's instructions on how to make it: http://www.tomorrowsgarden.net/content/cfl-grow-light-information

I picked up seven multiple light fixtures with eight sockets on each for a buck a piece [The kind found around mirrors with the 40W globe incandescent]. eBay has 48 CFL Compact Fluorescent 23w=100w soft white 2700 degree Kelvin Light Bulbs for $62.95 free shipping at:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/48-CFL-Compact-Fluorescent-Light-Bulbs-23w-100w-Flourescent-23-Watt-100-Watt-/370686127736#vi-content

that are 1600 Lumens each. So 3 of these 8 bulb light fixtures would use 24 of these giving a total of 38400 Lumens using 550 Watts.

I plan to get the 80 bulbs for $80 (free shipping) because they are handy to have around, and I have enough sockets to use 56 bulbs (yea... 89600 lumens would be nice and under 1300W. Like I said, I plan to use 3 of them for 38400 Lumens):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/80-CFL-Compact-Fluorescent-Light-Bulbs-23w-100w-Flourescent-23-Watt-100-Watt-/230901778261#vi-content

These are also available in the 6000K rang but I lost the link. I will use LED, two T4 grow tubes, and a few 2700K CFLs for vegging.

A site for 105W 6,200 lumen bulbs that will fit a regular light socket for $28.29+ shipping is:

http://www.elightbulbs.com/LongStar-00199-FE-IIIB-105W-27K-5-8-Tube-Screw-Base-Compact-Fluorescent-Light-Bulb

have 3 1000 watt sodium lights in a room and notice some dark areas was wondering if i can put some led or cfl lights on lower side of the wall to give the lower part of the plants that needed light

Ok everyone wondering about using CFLs needs to read this article http://www.420magazine.com/forums/grow-lighting/111680-cfl-light-tutorial.html. It explains how CFLs are efficient, and which wattage to buy.

So for about 36 plants grown sog with 4 240w leds and then 4 accent cfls would produce magnificent results?

using reflectors and having mylar on the walls helps get best output for them too i use them to clone now i have some nice LEDs to use instead and they fit in the tents easier can use less fans and also emits less heat

I'm sure I'm just going to repeat what others have said BUT it is often reassuring to know that others have gone down the same path and succeeded.

I have 6 plants in veg. stag. I have about 12 CFL's. Total ACTUAL wattage is about 350. Half are cool white (the blue spectrum) and half full-range (the yellow-red). Running 20 hours on and 4 off (I just think the plants should "sleep" for a few hours). The CFL bulbs are VERY close to the plants (4 to 6 inches) and it is all in a mylar tent. DO NOT USE ALUMINUM FOIL - mylar reflects back all light frequencies, aluminum absorbs some and can become hot (this is fine for a heat-sink, to wick heat away, but you need to reflect ALL frequencies and the heat back). Because of this moving the air around is a good idea, I use an old computer fan placed as low as possible (as the coolest air is at the floor).

Anyway, my plants are growing LIKE MAD. And it is flat growth. When flowering comes I will most likely switch to HPS. But for the veg. stage CFL's RULE!!! They are cheap and chep to operate. What's not to like?
Victor

this is my first attempt using cfl can I use the 4ft lights or does it have to be the small ones

and trying to use 2 40 watt soft white 4fters. will it work?