Ed Rosenthal Say's CFL's May be Better than HPS for Micro Growing

[Hydro-Soil]

i think you can squeeze 2 more bulbs in there, one on the back wall and one across where your door is gwan 330w

Physically they'll fit LOL

I'd have to upgrade my ventilation first unless I move to a colder climate. Keep in mind that fan only keeps my cab at 7F over ambient temp. That means as soon as it hits 70F in my room I"m kinda pushing things.

Once I upgrade the ventilation and air-scrubber I'll definitely be putting in more lighting. Already have another 220W ballast ready to go.

 

[jtk707]

Hey I just wanted to tell everyone to check this thread out http://icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=114711 This guys got a box and cfls , anyway theres alot of cfl vs hid discussion and it needs some solid evidence like i have seen from some of you ,Theres far too much bullish going on in the thread anyway check it out PEACE


CFL HID

 

[Thundurkel]

shit you guys would hate my temps cuz my cabs stay at 85 and I still get good results and yea I know it's not ideal and I need to mount my fans and hook up my exhaust but cannabis is amazing I mean maybe it's my strain but when I started out last summer we had a new roof put on our building and they shut my air off making my girls live in 103 degree weather for a week and didn't wilt or look stressed in any way although I was watering my ass off but yea I've been shocked at how hot they can get without dying but I don't recommend trying I'm just scraping by, I can't wait to get my can to ambient temps cuz then it would be down in the low 70s and probably help my yield a little bit so far I can see the difference from putting all the mylar up on the walls and ceiling it's amazing how much light I was losing cuz my cab is 20% brighter now I've been thinking about putting mylar on the floor of the cab then the light would be reflecting off everything cuz I'm getting a roll or 2 of foil tape for my 20oz bottles to be covered in so I get the most use of my light........ disperse periods as you wish

I want to have 2 26w Daylight bulbs and a Reptile UV CFL inbetween them in the open space in the middle then I'd have a perfect spectrum and get some more resin production going and of course the UV bulb would be on a seperate timer and only come on a few times a day for a very short amount of time so I don't damage the girls

 

[puffmadizm]

cfl for me,my situation,right now

cfl for me,my situation,right now

i have a small rubbermaid grow,got 8 females ,i have 4-23 watters and 2- 42 watters....THEY RULE, if i did'nt have roomates i probably would have a 400 watt hps,i have seen the results,my friend has a dwc setup in an old tv cab,grows coke can cola's..but 176 watts of flouros in my small rubbermaid has made some beautiful plants no taller then a foot..with nugs all the way down to the dirt..plus i have never had to step foot in a hydro store,or ordered anything online,so i'm happy with flo's..for now,for the situation i am in

 

[jtk707]

Clean setup thundeezy , pretty bright space , if you add pac man shaped pieces of reflective material to the top of your pots , youll have 100% reflectivity . PEACE

 

[LLCoolBud]

LONG LIVE CFLS. I Tried with a 150w HPS first it was cool and all but it glows makes alot of noise and heat so over all its got three negatives for the price of being slightly better then CFLS. I think if you got proper ventilation a comination a 150W hps and cfls would be the best route.

 

[AP KUSH]

Happy to hear it, cause im gonna be setting up a cab with 200w of CFL real soon.

The usuable light theory makes a lot of sense. Flouros more accurately emulate light from the sun to create bud that seems to be of higher quality than hps grown bud.

On the other hand, HPS light is so bright and so strong, it will grow large crops in large spaces,and the bud will arguably be dense than flourobud because of the incredible light intensity.

All in all though...
The finer spectrum, the lower heat and lower cost, all make CFLs the most convenient way to grow a good crop in a small space.

And it was nice to have this confirmed by Mr. Rosenthal.

Nice thread

 

[ScrubNinja]

Brilliant thread chaps. Thanks for droppin' the knowledge everybody. I had my browser open for 4 days, reading it any chance I could.

One light I've never seen mentioned or used in a grow is those circular T5s. When I saw them in the store, my mind immediately envisioned several of them stacked to form a tube, with a plant inside the tube. Thoughts? Know of any grows like that?

 

[Thundurkel]

That could be good for a single spike grow cuz I don't see a bush fitting in that circle without touching the bulb...

 

[Burnzy]

good shit dude. this makes me that much more confident with cfl's in my pc case. Great post man.

 

[AP KUSH]

YESSS finally got the cab up and running. This is a single 200w CFL (i have a 6400k bulb for veg and a 2700k for flower) running at about 14,000 lumens in a space thats 32" long and 16" deep.

Thats about 3.5 square ft of space, approx. 4000 lumens/sq ft. A little bit less then i would like but im confident that this baby will beam out some delicious herb.



This baby gets bright..... and the reflector definitely does its job




enjoi,
AP KUSH

 

[Thundurkel]

Congrats on your setup AP you should get the small Air Pots asap and you will get a WAY better yield.. My buddy's mentor said if he isn't using Air Pots then he is losing and wasting money. His mentor used to grow in 3gal pots with drip feeders and now he uses 1.5 and 2gal Air Pots and his plants are twice the size they used to get in 3gal pots!!! So I'm going to get the small ones soon and run 15 of them all at once using coco and Luca Formula with Flora Nova and I should be able to pull 1/2lb under 252w of CFLs since I've got 12+ grams in 20oz bottles then I should get 1/2oz or better each in these Air Pots!!

 

[AP KUSH]

thundurkel, thanks for the feedback.... what are these airpots of which you speak? right now i have 4 liter square pots that intend to fill with biobizz all-mix and use bio-grow and bio-bloom with top max. I was thinking this shoule be adequate for my first run, but im definitely interested in those airpots.

Please point me in the right direction.

thanks,
AP KUSH

 

[Mr.Backwoods]

It makes perfect f'n sense to me. I've worked with CFLs and then switched to a 150W HPS and you can just tell the little ones soak up that light better under the CFLs.

Example:

SWIK's first grow was 2 plants in 4g pots (Dutch Passion WW and Ultraskunk). He dealt with all the usual noob problems like bugs and under/over watering, nute burn, and the like and still managed to pull an ounce of nice bud per plant (22" and 24" respectively). This was done under 7 sporradically placed 26w 5600k CFLs...the wrong color!


So here's a question...How many of you are still using HPS now that you've read this thread? Why? (no drama please, serious question)

 

[Hydro-Soil]

So here's a question...How many of you are still using HPS now that you've read this thread? Why? (no drama please, serious question)

You'll find a number of reasons for the micro grower I'm sure.

1# Not wanting to venture past an excellent familiarity with HID lamps
2# Existing equipment is HID
3# Not a DIY Gal/Guy
4# Not quite ready to switch?

Keep in mind that every situation is different. I would personally like to build a 250w or 400w CMH cab for the long flowering sativas I have. Possibly a 250w CMH and another 220w of CFLs?

I'm also itching to break out my 1000K HPS but haven't the proper space for it at the moment.

Even then, my 220W CFL cab is F'n beautiful for a personal medical grow and will keep any 24/7 user in meds between harvests for sure. I'll be using her for many years to come.

 

[dimebagdk]

i HAD to buy a 250w hps bcuz where i live neither i can find nor can order big cfl's, nothin' bigger than 23w. if you know an online european shop for big cfls at a human price pls tell me.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

i HAD to buy a 250w hps bcuz where i live neither i can find nor can order big cfl's, nothin' bigger than 23w. if you know an online european shop for big cfls at a human price pls tell me.

You can buy THESE and you're complaining? I can only get the 3000K, not 2700K over here. The 55w with the 2G11 base there is the most efficient you can get on the market right now.
Edit: Ok... the lamp linked to uses a different type of base but it's the same lamp as the ones I use.

If that lamp is too big for you (size wise) then you should look for the 36w and 27w lamps. Shorter, wider.

Be happy that you can't get the inefficient coiled, self-ballasted types over there. Takes a bit more to wire a ballast for the nice lamps but you'll really benefit in the long run.

 

[Thundurkel]

The PL-L's are nice but I'm doing fine with my coiled self ballasted CFL's lol I'm getting my coco this week and I have been using the Luca's Formula with Flora Nova and I'm back on track so I should be seeing 8-11g a plant and harvest 4 a week this summer!!

 

[dimebagdk]

You can buy THESE and you're complaining? I can only get the 3000K, not 2700K over here. The 55w with the 2G11 base there is the most efficient you can get on the market right now.
Edit: Ok... the lamp linked to uses a different type of base but it's the same lamp as the ones I use.

If that lamp is too big for you (size wise) then you should look for the 36w and 27w lamps. Shorter, wider.

Be happy that you can't get the inefficient coiled, self-ballasted types over there. Takes a bit more to wire a ballast for the nice lamps but you'll really benefit in the long run.

wiring was not the problem, cost of the gear was. i've got a full 250w (socket, ballast and bulb) for 40 euros, those pl-l (the 40w ones) are 8 euro the bulb, from 2 to 5 euros one socket (2 the not locking one, 5 the one with the red button) and 10 euro every ballast, wich make a total of 20x6=120 euros for 240w
three times the 250w hps.

i'm doing sog like drbud and i know that multiple light source is the key of a good buddage development but i was short of cash when i've built my flowering cab.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

wiring was not the problem, cost of the gear was. i've got a full 250w (socket, ballast and bulb) for 40 euros, those pl-l (the 40w ones) are 8 euro the bulb, from 2 to 5 euros one socket (2 the not locking one, 5 the one with the red button) and 10 euro every ballast, wich make a total of 20x6=120 euros for 240w
three times the 250w hps.

Don't forget the extra money in equipment to cool your HPS and then silence the air and fan noise(if you have to be stealthy.)

Also, remember to replace your HPS lamps every 2-3 months for optimum output (PL-L's are up to 2 years).

You've already covered the single light point yourself.


You'll do well with your 250w HPS, especially if you pick up a CMH lamp for it . Just wanted to point out that cost of the light shouldn't really be a selling point, especially if you're going to be running it for a number of years.

The good thing is that, once you're up and running, you won't be spending petty cash on smoke anymore.

Edit: as for buying multiple ballasts... why? There are electronic T5HO ballasts that will run multiple lamps.