Autos under cfl

[Nocturnal]

This thread died over two years ago, but whatever.

but then would need more cooling stuff wich cost more....

350 watts of lighting will create more heat than 250 watts of lighting, particularly if the 350 watt lighting is of a less efficient type. Those watts have to be burned somewhere, and anything that isn't turned to useable light is dumped as waste heat. The light itself will also end up as heat eventually, but i'm straying from the point I am trying to make.

HIDs feel hot close up, due to the type of light and heat emitted, but overall, you would have a cooler room with a 250 HPS, as opposed to 350 watts of cfl. The heat from cfls can be easier to deal with, since they convect a lot of heat upwards instead of radiating it downwards, but the same amount of extraction will still be needed to shift the heat from an equal wattage of either light.

On the subject of extraction, and to address your argument about having to have more expensive extraction systems for HIDs, the smallest fan/filter combo (4") will easily cool a 250 HPS. If you don't have this most basic requirement, you really shouldn't be growing anyway. PC fans and DIY just don't cut it for smell control, particularly when you are talking about grows of a couple of hundred watts or more.

Edited February 17, 2013 by Nocturnal

[nibblebit]

That last paragraph of the above post says it all - spend the money and reap the rewards.

I went from crappy DIY to crappy shop-bought and that made a huge difference, so i look forward to midrange shop-bought ;+}

You get out what you put in.

All the best,

nibs.

[jbwwfc]

I used to grow with a 250 watt red cfl and yes u can get decent results. I lst mine and used to do 2 plants in a cupboard n got an oz of half decent gear. For people who can afford the equipment (cos i ended up payin 275 for a tent, 400watt hps, fans, filters, pots, soil n nutes), or simply dont have the space or are worried about having high powered lights in their home then cfl is perfect anybody can do it. The HPS i have just bought is notably better tho the plants seem stronger n the buds develop much faster plus i never worry about burnin the top of the plants and yield will double. Depends on wat ur after i suppose as for the cost of light i could make that bak by selling an oz for 200 which is normal for my area some chargin upto 240. The bottom line is if ur not growing ur losing out so everyone get on it :-)

[gingerninja]

Perfectly good tight buds can be grown using CFL

Dont listen to the haters

[Trikie]

I am on my first grow of autos and have a 400w hps I can use this but temps get rather high and I would have to keep a fair bit of distance between light and plant but that will cause them to stretch. I have just ordered a 300w dual spectrum CFL as the plants are still less than a week old and was planning on switching off the hps for now and getting the 300w CFL right up close and personal with my little ladies and when they hit flowering putting the hps back on along with the CFL. Would this be OK or should I then switch off the CFL bearing in mind its dual spectrum total wattage would be 700w combined.

On a different note can I ask another quick question? Once they are ready I will put them in to a flood and drain set up my flood table only takes 1min 30 until it reaches the overflow and 2mins to drain the medium will be clay pebbles how long should I flood for and how often?

Edited March 14, 2013 by Trikie

[nibblebit]

I am on my first grow of autos and have a 400w hps I can use this but temps get rather high and I would have to keep a fair bit of distance between light and plant but that will cause them to stretch. I have just ordered a 300w dual spectrum CFL as the plants are still less than a week old and was planning on switching off the hps for now and getting the 300w CFL right up close and personal with my little ladies and when they hit flowering putting the hps back on along with the CFL. Would this be OK or should I then switch off the CFL bearing in mind its dual spectrum total wattage would be 700w combined.

On a different note can I ask another quick question? Once they are ready I will put them in to a flood and drain set up my flood table only takes 1min 30 until it reaches the overflow and 2mins to drain the medium will be clay pebbles how long should I flood for and how often?

This should really be in the growing questions thread but here goes.

The 300W DS CFL sounds perfect. I would do a straight swap with the HPS during flowering and not have both.

I have never tried F&D so can't answer that bit.

All the best,

nibs.

[rttsvw]

I do autos only using a 250W flowering CFL, i have them on 20/4 all the way through.

My last crop i tended very well and got 4 ounces from 4 x 2-litre pots in only a 2x2x3 feet high growbox.

So the yields can be good if you keep the plant close and train it around the light, check my third grow in sig.

All the best,

nibs.

not bad goin quite fluffy bud?

sorry to say i think you may f only got 2.5-3 oz goin by the amount of stalk on there while on the wales still top effort