Indoor clf help from a pro

[DQ]

I was wondering who is the cfl pro on the site? I got a couple of ? Like how much light is needed for my space? My space is 4ft x 2.5ft x 8ft. The other ? Is I have read sooooo much on lights a lot of people say use all 6500k and some say use all 2700k and some say mix of both..... right now I got 4 65watt lights that are both 6500k and 2700k and 4 23watt lights that are 2700k. That's the watt usage and not the equivalent light out put. The 65watt light says it has 4300 lumens and the 23watt are 1650 lumens. So that's 23600 if my math is right. Any help is great!!!!

 

[teflondummy]

I believe that would be me right now. I use a mix of spectrum. The mostly red in other words 7 or 8 out of ten bulbs in my set up are in the red spectrum. I have the blue spectrum bulbs on one side of my space that I use to start plants under then they move a little to the left in the same space under the red spectrum. As for bulb count I use a lot to cover 4x4 space

 

[TshirtNinja]

I was wondering who is the cfl pro on the site? I got a couple of ? Like how much light is needed for my space? My space is 4ft x 2.5ft x 8ft. The other ? Is I have read sooooo much on lights a lot of people say use all 6500k and some say use all 2700k and some say mix of both..... right now I got 4 65watt lights that are both 6500k and 2700k and 4 23watt lights that are 2700k. That's the watt usage and not the equivalent light out put. The 65watt light says it has 4300 lumens and the 23watt are 1650 lumens. So that's 23600 if my math is right. Any help is great!!!!

Well I started out with cfl bulbs exclusively. You want to mix them the daylight ones work better for veg while the orangish ones work better for flowering. I honestly moved on to led for a small grow space 4x4. I still use cfl but only to bring up the heat in my tent and I'm in flower so I'm running 258 watts of the orange ones. I get my new led panels next week so I will be evaluating that again. Just use more soft white in veg and more orange in flower but still mix it up. Btw guys lumens mean nothing in the eyes of that plant. It's how much PAR light is given to the plant. They also enjoy spectrums that produce no light and therefore no lumens. In theory you could flower24/7 with par light that specifically targeted these waves. My understanding is that a few hydro shops are testing this tech out now and one I spoke with this week said they were excited with the results.

 

[DQ]

Thanks guys that's all good to know. That's what I got to start with I guess I'll add light as I need it. Tshirtninja what kind of leds do you use? I have been thinking about geting one. And btw guys I am only growing 4 plants at a time.

 

[TshirtNinja]

me and auto-dude both use lighthouse hydros blackstar series with good results so far. Both my 240w panels are going to be in on monday according to ups. I will be posting a ton of pics once they get in. But honestly for the money they are the best bang for the buck when it comes to leds but this is from experience not a sales pitch. But do your research and decide for yourself but remember you need a full foot of clearance between your plant and the led otherwise you will bleach the plant with that much light too close.

 

[auto-dude]

Hi dusty quik,when i added the cfl 2700k (wich is the color temprature for flowering) to my led that have more of the 6500k spectrum and differnet nanometers,the plants really showed they liked it,as far as i can say they love the whole spectrum (6500k and 2700k)
Good luck to you.

 

[D.Q]

Hey this is DQ that started this befor my name was DQ it was dustyquik then one of the mods so nicely changed it for me. Its been 2 yrs since I been on I have been away for awhile and now go back into the swing of things...... if ripster, wiz or stitch see this is there any way to get into my old account?? I cant add none of you to my friends!!!
P.s to all that see this pass this on to one of them!! Please n thanks

 

[Joe383]

Something that will help you out is too keep a fan on those bulbs. I started out using 6 26w a few years ago and have switched over to a T5 set up but have grown great stuff on CFLs. I took a temp reading on my bulbs after they started to smell hot the first time I used them. I had a fan in the room but my Fluke temperature probe hit 140* F before I turned off the lights which I had on for around 20 min in a 65* closet. After placing a fan on them they never got over 80* and it helped my room stay cooler due to the lights not getting heat soaked. I have never just ran one spectrum I mix every time. Use to use 4 blue and 2 red during veg and would use 4 red and 2 blue during bloom. With my T5 I use a 50/50 mix and it works great.


I have had 2 autos in the past have a few herm flowers that were grown under a 250W 2,700K CFL, not sure if it had any thing to do with the light or not. Honestly I would use all 26W bulbs as I believe they have the most lumens per W out of any CFL and there cheep. I believe in 5,000 lumens per SQ FT so I would only use 1/2 of your grow space and shoot for 1OZ per 5,000 lumens.

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations everyone,

I took a temp reading on my bulbs...

This is something i've got on my mind for quite a long while because i consider the trade-off ends up being global heat production when using multiple CFL bulbs.

Suppose i target a total output flux of 40000 lumens and those are the solutions available to me:

15.4 x 2600 lm/40 W (65 lm/W)
13.3 x 3000 lm/45 W (66.7 lm/W)
25 x 1600 lm/23 W (69.6 lm/W)
​

In theory the 23 W model should convert power into light more efficiently than its peers but i'll need 25 of them and hence this would translate to as many ballasts. Now, lets take for granted that all ballast sizes correspond to a comparable power conversion loss of 20 % (e.g. heat) mainly dependent on a same technology, then i guess these are the losses i should expect for each lamp:

40 W x 0.2 = 8 W
45 W x 0.2 = 9 W
23 W x 0.2 = 4.6 W
​

Finally, taking the number of units into account it would lead to this i presume:

8 W x 15.4 = 123.2 W
9 W x 13.3 = 119.7 W
4.6 W x 25 = 115 W
​

But it turns out there are no .3 or .4 lamps so the final numbers would become:

8 W x 15 = 120 W (40 W)
9 W x 13 = 117 W (45 W)
4.6 W x 25 = 115 W (23 W)
​

In your opinion, does my estimation reflect reality and if not where did it go wrong?

Also, there's the necessary wiring that comes with all those bulbs while in comparison a 2 Watts difference seems trivial (23 vs 45 W) relatively to the requirement for a wide-opened window (provided it's cold enough outside, otherwise it certainly calls for an air conditioner as i found out)...

Finally, i'm seeking your thoughts while looking at the structure illustrated below:

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Any input would be appreciated.

 

[D.Q]

Great info guys that will really help out the newbies!!!