Need some input in CFL light placement

[HumbleGrower]

Hello all.
I am HumbleGrower and I am about to start another journey down the green path. I have my bulbs and my lighting all ready to go but I have some questions.

Heres what I have going: a 1'4" x 1'4" x 3'11" tent with (2) 55watt (250watt equivalent) CFL bulbs, one 2700k and the other 5000k, each putting out 3,600 Lumens, for a combined total of 7,200 Lumens in roughly the space of one square foot.

The sides of the tent are covered in a reflective material, as are the top & bottom.

My question arises in the placement/hanging of these bulbs. I have been reading some posts on here and it seems most of the light from CFL bulbs comes from the sides.
Hanging them horizontally isn't an option. I have one of those "Y" splitters, and using this thing, it creates the typical Y-shape light fixture that you see so many of the users here using. I have read that this position is a good one for CFL bulbs.
These bulbs are rather large and heavy though. Will the typical Y splitter that so many of us here have/use hold up to the increased weight?

It seems as though it will and seems sturdy enough, I would just like some input on this.

How about hanging them separately & vertically?

I have heard that this is the worst position as very little of the light comes from the bottom tip. Using a reflector helps this, but the small size of the tent makes this hard and the heat buildup that would occur right under the reflector causes me concern.

If I hang them separately, bare as in no reflector and vertically, do you think that they will work well seeing as it is such a small space and it is covered in a hammered reflective material throughout?

I was thinking of trying to hang them vertically and get them down in-between the plants as they grow, but, as they grow and get larger, one side of the plant would receive mostly blue light, and the other red, which is not what I want; I want a mixed spectrum. Envisioning this, I see that the only way to hang them, if hung this way, would be above the plants.

So which way do you guys n gals think I should go?

Y-splitter or vertical basically.

Thanks you so much for your input.

Peace.


HumbleGrower

 

[HumbleGrower]

Hello all

Kinda a goofy post, I know. I did some more reading here and other sites and yeah, it seems as though verticle CFL light placement is a light waster. I will be using the y-splitter for better light delivery & penetration.

Peace.

HumbleGrower

 

[Nicoli]

Both are very effective it just depends on your style/personal preference. If you place CFL bulbs vertically you can utilize the extra space around the bulbs and surround it with plants/branches , almost like a vertical scrog without a screen. (Does that make sense?) You get to squeeze plants in around the bulbs and utilize the entire bulb. Horizontally you don't really get to make use of all of the light output, one side of it is bouncing off of a reflector or a wall, etc. Either way it doesn't matter i've grown with bulbs in both positions and I still use them in both positions. My veg box the bulbs are vertically mounted, my flower box they are mounted horizontally. Hopefully this doesn't add to your confusion.

Do what works for you.

 

[darko_G]

i dont know exactly what lights you r using but the lower wattfls's are quite short and stockymeaning there wouldnt be much diff whatway you hang them... with no reflector id say hang them vertically as their so small but if you have a reflector type thing that fits them all close enough then go hgorizontally

 

[stoney917]

put them in a position where they will be as close to the plant as possible and hittin the right spots. dont be afraid to getem in tight spots. especially in between and undercanopy,
good luck

 

[Anti]

1.4 * 1.4 = almost 2 sq ft (1.96) I am using 252w of CFL in 2.01 sq ft and am currently in the process of upgrading.

I do not think you are going to get anything that will knock your socks off yield-wise in that sort of space without adding considerably more than 2 55w cfls.

That being said, I mount 6x42w CFLs horizontally, with 3 pairs equally spaced across the ceiling of my grow.

I don't recommend you attempt to use your entire 3ft height either. Your lights will rapidly lose penetration the further they are from the plant, and only the parts of your plant that are within 6-12" of the light are going to produce anything worth smoking, in my experience.

So... again. I recommend doubling or tripling the # and wattage of lights you are intending in your space.

Good luck! Don't forget that it's a learning process and we all start somewhere.

 

[HumbleGrower]

Thank you all for the input. I will be trying to upgrade and add a bit more light when my budget allows.

Peace.

HumbleGrower

 

[fishman]

does it matter that he has 7200 lumens or does he need more lights dont 400 watt Hps put out 7000 lumens

 

[TurboDog]

If your doing CFL's I would recommend mixed spectrum's and I also would do side lighting to maximize the effect of using cfl's. With a powerful HID you wouldn't really need to worry about side lighting in the right sized space, however doing CFL start to finish will end you better results if you can surround the bushes with more side light. and you will need as many CFL's as you can while keeping temps down. Whats convenient is getting power strips and those modual socket bases that have the 2 prongs in them and the socket to screw a bulb into, that you can plug 3-4 of those into each power strip and you also use the light socket modual that turns it into 2 sockets. So if using 25 watt(actuel watts, not comparison to incandecent watts) each power strip will yield you 150-200 watts of actual light.

 

[Anti]

does it matter that he has 7200 lumens or does he need more lights dont 400 watt Hps put out 7000 lumens

He has 1.7 sq feet. His lights combined lumen is 7200 at a distance of one foot. 7200/1.7=4235 lum/sq ft.

an average 400w HPS puts out about 51,000 lum at a distance of one foot. At a distance of two feet, it's putting out effectively 1/4 of that. (12,750) At a distance of three feet, it's putting out 3187 or so.

The problem with the CFLs is that if he mounts them 3 feet up and they put out 7200 combined lumens... after 2 feet they're effectively putting out 1800... at 3 feet they're putting out 450 lum/sq ft.

Quite a difference.


Here's something to consider (and this is the magic of CFL/PLL)...

Within 6" of the bulb... instead of 3600 you're getting 14,400

Within 3" of the bulb you're getting 57,600.

So keep your plants close to those bulbs kids.. and get as many bulbs as your temp and electric bill can handle.

And then vary the spectrum.

I use 6500k/2700k

 

[HumbleGrower]

The problem with the CFLs is that if he mounts them 3 feet up...

Here is a pic of how close I have the lights to the plant currently:

Here is a better pic of the whole cab:

I have the lights as close to the plant as I can get them without too much heat building up (yes, these things put out a fair bit of heat; my temps are around 80-82F). These pics are from Veg and she is now in day 3 of 12/12. Mixed spectrum, one 2700K and the other 5000K. Here is my grow: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=196475

Peace all & thanks for all the tips

HumbleGrower