Considering how inexpensive the 23w bulbs are you would do yourself a favor to maximize output and grow an extra half ounce or more by improving your light efficiency. Or at least add a few as supplemental. Well worth it [emoji6]
New Grower Highest yield with CFL only?
- Thread starter supernaan
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I had 24 23w cfls both spectrum I got under 2 oz on both my plants I grew (first grow horrible nute understanding) lights worked well though. Had I not gone nitro deficient I would have got a better harvest. My 2 cents
supernaan, You can have a look at my grow here on this forum for a current 300w cfl auto grow if you like. Its my first time using a CFL too, but not growing.
I realized before I started with this light that the main issue with theses bulbs is not there overall output but the depth of penetration achievable with them. So by keep the plant as short as possible and wide rather then tall and narrow your be giving yourself the best chance of maximizing the overall yield. There is No point having a 3 ft plant if the light can only penetrate the top 12 inches or less, unlike an hid setup.
A 60 x 60 CM space is about the maximum area of coverage. ( I think ) for theses bulbs and that is now keeping the bulb 4 inch above the plants canopy since the stretching has stopped. While the buds set and stretching was going on I kept it at about 6 inch's away.
Right now my plant is 50 x 60 CM by about 3-4 inch high. So train your plant to fill that area. This is where a lot of work comes in... Pin everything down nicely one night but 3 nights later you have to unpin and start all over. This gets harder once the plant starts to flower and you have multiple branches to move. Pin one branch down only for two more to pop up, pin them down only for more to show... I was glad once the stretch had finished and I could leave the plant alone to get on with flowering. Now all I do is tuck leaves out the way or tuck them some place where they wont receive much light and they yellow up and die a kinda natural way to remove leaves from the plant rather then cutting.
I am still in two minds as to whether these bulbs are any good or not. ask me in about 5/6 weeks
I realized before I started with this light that the main issue with theses bulbs is not there overall output but the depth of penetration achievable with them. So by keep the plant as short as possible and wide rather then tall and narrow your be giving yourself the best chance of maximizing the overall yield. There is No point having a 3 ft plant if the light can only penetrate the top 12 inches or less, unlike an hid setup.
A 60 x 60 CM space is about the maximum area of coverage. ( I think ) for theses bulbs and that is now keeping the bulb 4 inch above the plants canopy since the stretching has stopped. While the buds set and stretching was going on I kept it at about 6 inch's away.
Right now my plant is 50 x 60 CM by about 3-4 inch high. So train your plant to fill that area. This is where a lot of work comes in... Pin everything down nicely one night but 3 nights later you have to unpin and start all over. This gets harder once the plant starts to flower and you have multiple branches to move. Pin one branch down only for two more to pop up, pin them down only for more to show... I was glad once the stretch had finished and I could leave the plant alone to get on with flowering. Now all I do is tuck leaves out the way or tuck them some place where they wont receive much light and they yellow up and die a kinda natural way to remove leaves from the plant rather then cutting.
I am still in two minds as to whether these bulbs are any good or not. ask me in about 5/6 weeks
If it makes a difference, I got over 1.5oz of straight bud and another 1oz+ of frosty trim and popcorn nuggets using CFLs for about 85% of my grow.. Started with a couple 6500K and a couple 2700K and about halfway through, went to all 2700K. I will admit I did have a couple small LEDs that were in there, but I don't think they made much of a difference..
I switched to HPS about 10 years ago. The main problem for me was positioning and mishaps. CFLs are fine for vegging, but for good hard nugs, you have to go HPS, MH or good LEDs. By the time you buy power strips, sockets and cfl bulbs, you can get a 150 Watt HPS from 1000 bulbs (Like $55) Plus, you can use the CFLs you have for side lighting
I'm not arguing that CFLs are bad, just such a remarkable difference now that I thought I'd add my two cents. You'll thank me later
I'm not arguing that CFLs are bad, just such a remarkable difference now that I thought I'd add my two cents. You'll thank me later
I have not grown TD.
I believe CFL's can give very decent yields if set up correctly and tended carefully (keeping the light height above plant to a minimum is critical for success; touch and they will fry the bud(s))
My first (and only) grow was White Widow (Ministry of Cannabis) under 8 CFL twisties for the entire duration. After seedling stage, wattage varied between 184W and about 225W. Sixty three days from germ. to harvest
I made a number of rookie mistakes but obviously did a lot right (Even a blind squirrel finds some acorns.)
Yield from two plants was 4.5 zips. The plants were LST'd late (almost midway through flowering) for light purposes only and NOT for auxin (IAA) flow manipulation (lateral buds become increasingly less susceptible to the apical bud's "imposition of inhibition" the deeper you go in the flowering stage.)
Grow space was a converted wine cabinet with interior dimensions of 21" x 21", adjustable height. Plants never got over 18" tall. (I want compact bushy plants.)
Grow journal is here: https://www.autoflower.org/f5/journal-white-widow-ministry-cannabis-first-grow-31968.html
I didn't realize till now that I never posted images of the dried bounty. Here is most of it in 1/2 gallon Masons and a few shots of some being weighed.
I have another grow going right now, same White Widow. I hope to, and think I can, do better than my first grow assuming I don't make the same mistakes twice or make entirely new ones. We'll see... (I'm at Day 13 of my second grow.
Good luck with your grow!
Subin (My Thai given name.)
I believe CFL's can give very decent yields if set up correctly and tended carefully (keeping the light height above plant to a minimum is critical for success; touch and they will fry the bud(s))
My first (and only) grow was White Widow (Ministry of Cannabis) under 8 CFL twisties for the entire duration. After seedling stage, wattage varied between 184W and about 225W. Sixty three days from germ. to harvest
I made a number of rookie mistakes but obviously did a lot right (Even a blind squirrel finds some acorns.)
Yield from two plants was 4.5 zips. The plants were LST'd late (almost midway through flowering) for light purposes only and NOT for auxin (IAA) flow manipulation (lateral buds become increasingly less susceptible to the apical bud's "imposition of inhibition" the deeper you go in the flowering stage.)
Grow space was a converted wine cabinet with interior dimensions of 21" x 21", adjustable height. Plants never got over 18" tall. (I want compact bushy plants.)
Grow journal is here: https://www.autoflower.org/f5/journal-white-widow-ministry-cannabis-first-grow-31968.html
I didn't realize till now that I never posted images of the dried bounty. Here is most of it in 1/2 gallon Masons and a few shots of some being weighed.
I have another grow going right now, same White Widow. I hope to, and think I can, do better than my first grow assuming I don't make the same mistakes twice or make entirely new ones. We'll see... (I'm at Day 13 of my second grow.
Good luck with your grow!
Subin (My Thai given name.)
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I grew four DP StarRyders in soil, each in a 2L pot, under a Plug and Grow 250W CFL with ten inch u-tubes (most u-tubes aren't that long).
My light gave 19,500 Lumens, not that Lumens matter to plants, as is demonstrated by the low Lumen values of LED lights.
I got four ounces in total :
You have to keep the CFL very close after they are a couple of weeks old :
and train them around the bulb :
All the best,
steely
My light gave 19,500 Lumens, not that Lumens matter to plants, as is demonstrated by the low Lumen values of LED lights.
I got four ounces in total :
You have to keep the CFL very close after they are a couple of weeks old :
and train them around the bulb :
All the best,
steely
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