690 watt CFL "micro" grow

Hey all, been playing with 370 watts of CFL power in my perpetual flowering room - decided to up it to (30) 23 watt CFLs in my 3X3.

Effectively, at 16 CFLs in a 3x3 I get similar results as a 400w hps. I want to see if 30CFLs is similar to 1000w hps. While I think Im going to end up somewhere around 800w equivalent - CFL requires no AC or vent fans, thus keeping my total power consumption down.

For those wondering;

(30) 23 watt bulbs - (10) 2700k, (10) 3500k, (10) 5000k
attached to 2 boards covered in mylar and suspended via chains / "j" hooks
45,000 lumens
76.6 watts per square foot

Heres how things are as of last week:

Square-nobyl is a Chernobyl Thaitanium I have been training into a perfect square with a flat canopy top. Now that shes in flowering I wont be as much of a nazi about training her, but Im going to retain the name for the duration of the grow. Shes about the same size as the chernobyl that just came out of flowering, so I think shell yeild more than a piddly 3/4 oz like my last one did. (of course as anyone will tell you, 2-3 hits of chernobyl and you're out to lunch for a while...)


The La Confidential is a stretchy, leggy, mess that I am continually trying to wrangle in.


G13 Airborne is again a perfect example of a prime commercial grower in my eyes. It doesnt have issues, it just looks great and grows.


Purple Warhead (sdXfireogxgrapeape) is coming along nicely. Ignore the minor PM, I sprayed her after the pic. Again with the OG kush and the super finicky humidity issue..


Rascal's seems to have really started to take off.


Chocolope smells funky. Like chocolate and cantaloupe rinds. I cut a couple of lower branches.. Speediest high I think I've ever had.


Alien Cherry smells great, looks great, has been deadly potent since 6 weeks (Grow Tech will agree lol) and seems to have no signs of losing any flowering intensity as we move into the 9th week. I think I may have to push her for a few more, ice is coming soon...


So now we'll see how they swell, the alien dawg is a great representation of what 16 CFLs will pull, but as you can see, they're nowhere near as large as HPS nugs, so its time to step it up!

God Damn that is a beautiful bunch of killer strains, serious, I'll be pulling up a front row couch for this ride, Good Luck with it all.

R.I.P. Jack Herer

Peace an Respect

Hell yea voo! No more playing around! You have more watts than me now.

Why do beautiful things always have to die by my hands?

The alien dawg is at 10 weeks (70 days) and is getting the axe on tuesday after she spends some time drinking RO.







As you can see, nug size is lacking at 368 watts over a 3X3.thus my addition of numerous lights bringing the current total to 690 watts.



Chocolope is at 60 and looking very, very solid.



Rassie's Fire OG seems to be responding VERY well to my increased lighting efforts. If she keeps growing like this I expect her to about double in size here in the next few weeks.



Schnozzberry (sdXgrapeapexfireog) is starting to smell very grapey-apey. Yes, we have changed the "working title" of Purple Warhead to Schnozzberry.



G13 is just cake to grow..



La Confidential is a mess. Shes nothing but buds, so... thats fine.. but shes leggy, and branchy, and I think Im heading down to Armstrongs to buy a tomato cage and some chicken wire.



Here's Humble's Thaitanium at 9 days, or "squarenobyl" as I've been jokingly calling her.





Thats all I've got going, next week I'll be tossing the joint Northern Lights #5 X Durban Poison & Lifesaver pot into flower..

wow very nice line up you have there, how many lumens is your lighting putting out all together?

thats a ton of bulbs, looking good so far, keep it up

Sweet, what type of light fixtures are those? They look nice.

45k lumens

the fixtures are standard "security light" fixtures available at home depot (already painted white) for about 10 dollars. The base plate is $3, the fixtures screw in and are $2.50 a piece.

I think they look better than those goofy plastic splitters and theyre INFINITELY more adjustable with a standard phillips screwdriver, making them easy to setup for your particular grow.

Got pics of your setup?

this is why you should just use a hps :/
i would never go balls out with cfl like this as you are having the issues that i would expect to happen. the light from those bulbs does not reach very far/deep. the best ways i can think to counter that, is to use 42w cfls instead of the 23w? you are using. and to use a better training method, try scrog, seriously.

did you say you dont need ventilation fans?? you have no intake/exhaust?? or do you mean no fans needed to blow across canopy

wow dude they all look as dank as ever could look.

that la con looks sativa, thought they were indica? i can not tell if you have reflectors over lights, if not, that would about double your lumens.
ok, i read that you have the lights on mylar covered board. still, if you wanted, reflectors that were say an inch above the lights would really boost things. i have two 26 watt cfls in y adaptor in 11 inch clamp reflector and they are vegging 5, 5 inch plants. all bushy and no stretch. how you have it will work fine too tho, good luck.

BoomBoom said:

Got pics of your setup?

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Its shown above, here it is again:

smokeymacpot said:

this is why you should just use a hps :/
i would never go balls out with cfl like this as you are having the issues that i would expect to happen. the light from those bulbs does not reach very far/deep. the best ways i can think to counter that, is to use 42w cfls instead of the 23w? you are using. and to use a better training method, try scrog, seriously.

did you say you dont need ventilation fans?? you have no intake/exhaust?? or do you mean no fans needed to blow across canopy

Click to expand...

This post is why I went CFL. While he is correct that the penetration of the bulbs is not nearly as intense as HPS, with correct training CFLs can produce exceptional buds up to about 18 inches from the lights, which with proper LST, means the whole plant is going to be flowering strongly.

Now, I could go to 42w CFL and run less bulbs, but I built this setup using simple, easy to construct parts, available to anyone and everyone. Not to mention that 23w CFLs produce less heat, and therefore can be placed closer to the canopy, making them more effective on a per watt basis.

Scrog - meh, if I was running a room that wasn't perpetual, then I would. Since Im always pulling em out and turning them and so on, it wouldnt work for me.

Vent fans: don't have em, don't need em. CFLs don't produce heat. My temp averages 71-74 degrees daytime, night time is 63-67 degrees using a sole 12 inch oscillating fan.

#1cheesebuds said:

wow dude they all look as dank as ever could look.

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yesum said:

that la con looks sativa, thought they were indica? i can not tell if you have reflectors over lights, if not, that would about double your lumens.
ok, i read that you have the lights on mylar covered board. still, if you wanted, reflectors that were say an inch above the lights would really boost things. i have two 26 watt cfls in y adaptor in 11 inch clamp reflector and they are vegging 5, 5 inch plants. all bushy and no stretch. how you have it will work fine too tho, good luck.

Click to expand...

lol yes, there are reflectors over the bulbs - you're right, how I have it will work fine

exceptional buds? no mate they are small, i can see it in the pictures and even you said it yourself further up. a single bulb 18" away is as good as useless, if i had a seedling 18" away it would likely die!, you may get 1% of useable light that far and your only getting tiny popcorn buds that far down because its getting a small amount of light from many bulbs.
42w cfls will reach further, so what if they run hotter? you use less of them, so the total heat output is similar.

smokeymacpot said:

exceptional buds? no mate they are small, i can see it in the pictures and even you said it yourself further up. a single bulb 18" away is as good as useless, if i had a seedling 18" away it would likely die!, you may get 1% of useable light that far and your only getting tiny popcorn buds that far down because its getting a small amount of light from many bulbs.
42w cfls will reach further, so what if they run hotter? you use less of them, so the total heat output is similar.

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You are judging buds based on the previous 340watts in the 3x3 space. I have only had 690watts for 2 days now. I do like the 42s though, I just decided to use the home depot specials to show anyone could do it.

INCREDIBLE grow man!!! Killer strains to boot too!!WOW!!
I will definately agree with you on the cfl's..with the proper LST and and technique, you can grow nice, dense buds...I grew TW with cfl's( only 169 watts in 1.35 sq. foot space) and the buds are ALL tight, right down to the popcorn buds...
keep up the great work!!

Its saturday and ska/punk is blaring in the grow room, it must be time for an update.

So I promised everyone a couple shots of the setup:



Fire OG is nearing completion.


G13 turns purple..


Chocolope is god damn ridiculous.

wow what an awesome job!!!

Im currently trying to decide between cfl's and led. I'm currently having a cab built that is 35x20x25 inches. Good Led's like LEDGirl's are expensive but when done right seem to come close to 1gram/w assuming correct strain footprint grow skill's....

+K on ur setup looks sweet!

That's a great CFL grow and I appreciate the passion regarding CFL as alternatives to larger lights but with all respect those buds are small IMHO especially that close to being finished. You could [ I'm sure you're aware ] fit a 400w HPS into that space perfectly that would save you money on your electric bill, and the buds would be much, much larger.

Sometimes I wonder why people feel the need to prove anything with CFL. They obviously work in a true micro situation for a small personal grow but are far from the best available option.

Good job voodoo. Great strain collection also.

Work2much said:

That's a great CFL grow and I appreciate the passion regarding CFL as alternatives to larger lights but with all respect those buds are small IMHO especially that close to being finished. You could [ I'm sure you're aware ] fit a 400w HPS into that space perfectly that would save you money on your electric bill, and the buds would be much, much larger.

Sometimes I wonder why people feel the need to prove anything with CFL. They obviously work in a true micro situation for a small personal grow but are far from the best available option.

Good job voodoo. Great strain collection also.

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690 watts have been in place 1 week. Was flowering with 340 watts previously. That would explain the small bud size. Give me 11 weeks to change your mind.