CFL Layout Question

[bounty29]

I've seen people with CFLs setup in several different ways, and I've been wondering, what is the most efficient way of setting them up? Would it be better to have them horizontal, vertical, or diagonal as I've seen with some grows. Is there any information to prove which way is better, or is it all just opinions?

 

[Maj.PotHead]

Is there any information to prove which way is better

all i can say is hang the light tip above the plant up and down see how much of the plant gets covered and how much peneration ya get from 1-4 inchs. now hang them at a 90 degree angle to plants tops, now instead of the bulbs tip you have the bulbs side lighting the plants. see how much of the plant gets covered now and the peneration from same distance. then add my hints and tips from overgrow i put in the 100w lowryder grow and you'll see a differance.

in six weeks my plants went from a transplanted seedling to 16-18 inch plants i kept the lights 3 inch from plants tops whole veg. now im i 5th day flowern under a 400w hps in a scrog screen i have 80 tops above or at the screen now and plenty more a coming. you can see the proof in my cfl grown in my grow log link in my sig

 

[GreenStreet]

Hi bounty,
Your right that many growers use various layouts when it comes to Cfls. You should choose a layout which best suits your grow. I grow in a cab thats 1.5' x 1.5' and prefer to hang my bulbs vertical. They should be kept about 1" - 2" from the tops and their easy to adjust as the plants grow. I have a fan which is pionted towards the bottom of the cab which has an open top that allows all the heat from the bulbs to escape. This keeps the temps nice and cool while providing good air circulation.
GS

 

[Guest]

bounty

Just wanted to throw out something for ya....... I've discovered that Home Depot sells vanity or bathroom light fixtures that are (imho) perfect for cfl growers. They have one row of 3 or 4 sockets and the fixture is chrome plated. So, it acts like a reflector when you hang the bulbs vertically. All you need are hooks & chain & a power cord. One could hang 2 or 3 side by side and alternate cool white & warm white bulbs in a fairly small space. Full spectrum lighting....low cost (fixtures are 10 dollars or less) and low heat.
Wish I'd have discovered these before I went out and spent a lot more on some other stuff.

Check it out!!

Bh

 

[Guest]

Hi Bounty,
I have found that vertical is the way to go. You can keep more of the light on the leaves this way-instead of just the top of the plants.



...and here is some finished.


Hope this helps,
Seed

 

[mushupork5]

those are some serious CFLs, are they the 200 watters? also, nice bud shot. like maj.pothead said try out different configurations to fit your space. that fixture idea from home dePOT seems pretty solid as well. the growfaq has a cheap way to make a reflector for a CFL if you keep them horizontal.

from what i understand, CFLs only have a short throw distance (ie they are only effective for short distances) so regardless of your method keep em close

 

[bounty29]

I was planning on doing something like that, to minimize the vertical space wasted. It would be a lot smaller, like 14"x20", with six 26w CFLs in there. If they're horizontal, they'd only use like 5" of space, whereas if they're vertical that'll be almost a foot. I'm trying to keep the grow space to a minimum, so would it work?

 

[GreenStreet]

I think that setup would cause too much streching for your plants. If your gonna use CFLs they have to be close to the plants and should be adjustable to accomodate their growth. That setup is only going to light your grow space, its not going to benefit your plants light requirements at all. You can hang some 42w cfls from the top if thats your only setup. If your gonna use cfls, bigger is better. Alot of little ones defeat the purpose of cfls. The envirolites I feel are too expensive, I use 42w cfls from Home Depot for $9 a piece. Thats probably the most efficient way to go.
Good luck with your grow,
GS

 

[bounty29]

ALright, sorry I didn't explain better, I was in a hurry last time.


I'm going to set it up like that, the frame is gonna be made with 2x6s. There will be 6 sockets in there, alternating. The lights might be interwoven closer, I'm not sure how that's going to work yet. I'm just going to put a piece of flat white plywood or something on the top of it to reflect all the light back down. I'll have S-hooks or something on the corners of it so I can hang it and adjust it's height.

I'd like more lights of lesser wattage so I can cover more area, and also it seems like the higher wattage CFL you get the less of a life span it has. Plus, the 26w bulbs are a lot cheaper in comparison to the 42w. I might end up hating the 26w bulbs but I'm pretty sure that's what I'm going to go with for my first grow.

I was originally goign to get a C25 cabinet, a nice HPS, carbon scrubber, the works. But then I had some money issues, and stealth became more of an issue, so I'm working on a $150 or less total grow. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for all the information in this thread, everyone has been very useful.

 

[Makavellian]

^- hey bounty, thats a nice setup, 20x14 is a lil less than 2 sq ft i think, so the 6x26w cfls will be fine. i used that same amount of wattage last grow and got about 1.25 oz