CFL Light Fixtures - controlling them individually

[sub]

Hello,
So I'm starting a growbox, and I plan on using about 250w of 6500k CFLs for veg. All the CFL light fixtures I see are a flat panel of bulbs. I'd like to have some sort of swivel arm or SOME kind of way to control the CFLs in groups of 2.
What I thought of doing was getting 3 short extension cords, 3 socket adapters and 3 socket Y adapters, so each extension cord would have 2 CFLs at the tip. I was thinking of maybe setting up 3 thin PVC pipes in the box to clamp these lights to, but I would rather have something a bit less ghetto.

Am I worrying too much about this? Should I just put them in a 2x6 grid like most people? I just really want to be able to place the CFLs around the plant instead of all 6 above it.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[durka_durka420]

why use cfls if your planning on using 250w of them just get a hps they create more lumens and use same ammount of power......i can understand heat issues and stuff but id go with hps alot easier and only one bulb.....dont need to worry about wiring and garenteed if you put 250w cfl up against 250w hps hps would win due to the ammount of lumens...just easier less wiring to deal with and to screw up dont need to worry about adjusting a ton of bulbs and might even be less heat as you only have the bulb in there not the ballast also like with cfls....if i was gonna use cfl for flowering id just use PLL lighting...remote ballast..but do as you please just letting you know my thoughts on cfls over 100w

 

[sub]

Oh woops, I meant 150w HPS, my bad. I thought CFLs were superior to HPS when it comes to Veg, making the plant grow more dense.
I just bought 8 26w CFLs and planned on using them for veg.
Would all 8 get me through veg? Should I use the HPS for veg anyway? Maybe with some of the CFLs?

 

[dramamine]

it'll depend on how many plants you'll have under them. with a lot of plants, you'd want to run more lights.

 

[sub]

I started building the light fixtures today. More realistically, I've decided to make 2 fixtures at 12" x 9", each with 4x 26w lights, bringing the total CFL light fixture wattage to 208w. This is all for one plant. I will post the fixtures as soon as they are done.. I will probably have to run back out to the hardware store, though, These brackets I got aren't really ideal to hold the light sockets.
It's coming along nicely, though

 

[infinitylimit]

Saw these the other day; I'm sure their available elsewhere but the flexible arm is what caught my eye.

Flexible Light Socket
(tiny dot cc/a2icp)

Add your Y tube and mount to have a nice flexible light system for CFLs.

 

[sub]

haha, nice! It's a shame, though, I've already started constructing my fixtures. I probably still would have had to make some kind of fixture to hold the arm, so it may have ended up being more of a pain.
I went with PVC, I made 2 9" x 12" frames and mounted a wired Y-adapted to 2 corners, making a box of 4 CFLs. I need to grab one more light mount because somehow I left the store with 3, even though I paid for 4! Good thing they're only 65 cents. So yeah, Just need to get that and some hooks and chain, then it'll be time to move on to the next step

 

[sub]

Here are the 2 fixtures:

and a close up of the lighting mounts. I still may change this around as it's a little awkward having the clamp mount attached by only one screw, but it will do for now. I'm just picky.

Just need to add little hooks to the corner, I bought 8 lengths of chain to hang them.
I'm happy with the outcome! I think this is a good sized step in getting the first box done