Need Link 2 Successful CFL Grows !?!??

[Ekoostik_Hookah]

hey dudes and dudets.
can someone please post a few links to a sucessful CFL grow, like a grow journal or something.
I just want to see some of the results that people get with CFL.
My buddy once grew with cfls, b4 it became popular, but his set up sucked, and the results were like an 1/8 per plant...dried.

so hook it up with sum links guys :)

[Dr.Dro]

Why don't you browse through the GJ threads:huh:
Dro:cool2:

[akirahz]

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15262&highlight=floro

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3023&highlight=floro

[octobong007]

those links aren't a cfl grow, they only used them in vegging. i'm doing a complete cfl grow in my hydro, at flowering i was using full spectrum tubes and changed over yesterday and let me tell ya...holy sheet, their looking all perky like they got a purpose...i'll post a little as i go. i'm using 8 23w, 4 26w, and 4 85w all are 2700k except the 85 is 3000. here's the link to the 85w...looks pretty impressive. http://www.1000bulbs.com/85-Watt-Compact-Fluorescents/9182/ i was going to go with hps, but changed my mind, wanted to try something else out.

[Dubbaman]

flowering with CFL or flos will always be a lesser harvest at time due to the very minimal penetration of light but it can be done it will be a slower flower with creeping progress but should be ok, and yield size will depend on plant size more than lights used while HID grows bigger buds its only because of the higher density and spectrum that they put out vs CFL and flo.

[octobong007]

dont forget that big sweet electric bill with those hps's

[JerseyFreshB]

Check out the link in my sig. I flowered them with CFLs for the first.....I'd say half or little more than half of the flowering phase. Then i switched to HPS for the rest....

I guess my grow could be half useful lol...

I would really try to set up some side lighting if going with CFLs, because as dubbaman said CFLs will not penetrate like a HID light would....

[octobong007]

Check out the link in my sig. I flowered them with CFLs for the first.....I'd say half or little more than half of the flowering phase. Then i switched to HPS for the rest....

I guess my grow could be half useful lol...

I would really try to set up some side lighting if going with CFLs, because as dubbaman said CFLs will not penetrate like a HID light would....

hps's out-performance against cfl's has been proven a thousand times. some people CANT afford an hps or wants to pay a much bigger lite bill, but i gotta tell ya jersey, up till the time you got your 400 watter, those cfl's look like they did really good and lots and lots of trich's. someday i'll probly get to go to hps, but till then this ole hillbilly's sticking with the best possible CHEAP route. thanx a million for the pics, i'm impressed with what you did on the cfl's.

[Dubbaman]

i think all of you would be shocked at how little it really costs per month to run an HID depending on size mine is a 400W and it only costs me about 15 bucks a month to run it alone my entire grow room is only one thousand watts to begin with (thats fans and all) and i have 3 stations for different periods of growth. while i do use flos for seeds clones and veg again 400W total split with 2 ballasts and then the other 3 ballasts for the actual veg and i can flower up to 5 8' tall plants every time with 5 more in for veg and 2 clone moms 1 bean and my bubbler with 4-6 clones in it thats up to 16 plants total and runs about on the high end of 50/month for all of it. and lets not really forget that i used CFL and flo for my flower of the ladies in my sig.

edit:the pics of the plants in my sig were flowed for 8-10 weeks (8 for the smaller one and 10 for the taller) and they only had at best the last week and a half under an HID:shocked:and that was just the one

[Mutt]

I did a CFL grow. Was happy cuz got what I expected. http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17286&highlight=Mutt%27s+Fall+micro

What I don't get is the cost comparison.
I spent more on three CFL bulbs more than it woulda cost me for a HPS the same price. Plus the wattage was less so made it even cheaper. I did a grow to see how substantial the difference is.
I would recommend using CFL's for veg (for the spectrum) then spending 40-50 bucks for a 100W HPS for flower (for light intensity).

I've grown outdoors, indoors under CFL's and 250W HPS.
Outdoors was #1 can't beat it.
Indoors HPS #2
CFLs #3
Beleive it or not HPS was cheaper all the way around than CFLs. Paid some $$ up front, but ended up paying the difference come elec. bill time.
I am running 70W HPS and its doing better for the plants than 150W of CFLs. The growth is massively different in veg.

[Growdude]

i think all of you would be shocked at how little it really costs per month to run an HID

Especially if your running 8-12 cfl's you can ditch them and run the HPS for the same or less money.
The amount of added bud you are going to get will pay for itself.

[audix2359]

Not that I've done this, but ScROG seems to be a good way to go if you're going the CFL route. There are a ton of journals on the IC forums where people are growing crops with only CFL's or floro tubes. If you go through the micro grow topic on IC you should find plenty of examples of high quality grows using only CFL's. Most of these people use ScROG, and some are able to pull 1 g/w. Also, most of these are PC, speaker box, Rubbermaid, etc. type micro grows.

[octobong007]

I am running 70W HPS and its doing better for the plants than 150W of CFLs. The growth is massively different in veg.

i got 4 plants in a resevoir, around 20" x 30" (guessing), how many 70w hps would i want? i want to grow them probly 4' high with cola's...or wouldn't a 70w be strong enough? was thinking of getting a 250 after this grow, but rather go as small as possible.

[audix2359]

If your area is 20"x30" you've got just over 4 square feet. You would need a 400 watt HPS for that kind of space. I have a 70 watt HPS and it doesn't put out a ton of light. I'm using it for a little over 1 square foot and I think it'll work well for that. If you have a 4' high plant, I don't think 1, 70 watt HPS would be enough light.

If you want to go cheep, you could get some 150 watt HPS security lights (maybe 3 of them) but with your space you'd probably be better off going with a "real" setup.

[Growdude]

i got 4 plants in a resevoir, around 20" x 30" (guessing), how many 70w hps would i want? i want to grow them probly 4' high with cola's...or wouldn't a 70w be strong enough? was thinking of getting a 250 after this grow, but rather go as small as possible.

you need beetween 12600 lumens and 20500 I would go for the 20,000

A 70 watt HPS gives off ~ 6000 lumens
A 150 watt HPS gives off ~ 16,000 lumens
And a 250 HPS gives off ~ 29,000 lumens

[octobong007]

well, i'm torn at the second on which route to go cause i just looked at my little ladies and their definately into puberty...after literally 3 weeks (been keeping a little journal) we have nice hairs on all 4...i've been using 4 24" full spectrum tubes (5000k) and yesterday morning i switched over to cfl's...i'm very sure that the 250 hps would do better, but as perked up and the flowering starting in the past 2 days i think (for now) i'm sticking with the cfl's. one question tho, in another thread it was mentioned about the heat of cfl's, in comparison to hps, in a stealth box, who'd be hotter than who? with example 250 watts...i want to know what to expect for the future cause someday i will get the 250 hps.

and if i seem to be ramblin, its cause i harvested a couple micro plants about a week ago and reminds me of a cool mountain stream, passing by a quiet campsite with the smell of ganja throughout the air and a bird flying to the earth at about 50 miles an hour then ccrraasshh....in other words, i really appreciate how ya'll shared how to cure properly. ;-)

[Ekoostik_Hookah]

ya but Dubbaman, what if i have a really good CFL set up, with all the 150w above the plants, and i have Under lighting, and side lighting.....and i think if My Lumens are correct, then i could have a great grow.

JeseyFreshb~ Your Journal has given me alot of hope, but i got a few questions:: How many CFLs were you flowering with??
and when you said " got HPS on wendsday" the pictures you had on that post, was the progress of flowering just from cfl, in thoes pictures.....because it looked dam good.

Thanks alot guys for the great info, im going to try to go all out with this CFL grow...i kinda wish i didnt switch to 12/12 so early though..:(

[mastersativa]

Check out my all cfl grow, i think shes pretty nice lookin.

[JerseyFreshB]

JeseyFreshb~ Your Journal has given me alot of hope, but i got a few questions:: How many CFLs were you flowering with??
and when you said " got HPS on wendsday" the pictures you had on that post, was the progress of flowering just from cfl, in thoes pictures.....because it looked dam good.

Thank you...

You are right Ekoostik. The pics that are in that post are 100% CFL. I think I had them on HPS maybe 1 days before I took those pics. and i have 8 26w and 3 42w CFLs

Peace,
B

[Ekoostik_Hookah]

ok then i should be good with 8 of the 150w equivilant bulbs then?
I will also, add 2 more bulbs for underlighting. and either mylar or white walls will be present.

[Mutt]

I found for flower 6,000 lumens per square foot of CFLs for flower was a must to get an alright harvest. 50W of HIDs is a good mark per square foot if you can cool the bulb and have the heat flow through and exhaust out the box even more wattage.

Please forget the "incadescent equivilent" wattage...it is a totally worthless number... ALL that matter when it comes to CFLs is:
1. Kelvin Temp
2. Actual wattage used
3. lumen output

[mastersativa]

I have 4 sq/ft and six 2700k 26w bulbs and 2 6000k 26w bulbs, all at 1700 lumens each. So 1700x8=13,600 lumens, 13,600 / 4=3400. So i have 3400 lumens per sq/ft. I was thinking i needed more lumens when i was heading into the late stages of flower to get a good yield but i was wrong. More lumens would certainly help things, but it isnt necessary, as long as you have 3000 lumens per sq/ft you should be fine. I havent updated pics on my journal this week but when she is awake and i get a chance i will get some new ones posted.

[Ekoostik_Hookah]

whats the ideal Kelvin Temp? 3000k??
i have a few extra 3000k ones lying around.

[mastersativa]

3000k ones will be good, they are geared more toward the flower end of the scale, more "red" light.

[Dubbaman]

so long as your lumen out put is the right ammount for the space you should be fine just be sure that you have the right color spectrum for veg and flower.

[md.apothecary]

http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-journals/140651-1st-grow-cfls-northern-lights.html

This grow was pretty remarkable for CFLs and a determining factor for me.

Lumens and proper coverage is key. Here is a final picture of his product... INCREDIBLE!

[Ekoostik_Hookah]

http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-journals/140651-1st-grow-cfls-northern-lights.html

This grow was pretty remarkable for CFLs and a determining factor for me.

Lumens and proper coverage is key. Here is a final picture of his product... INCREDIBLE!

wow man, wow.

that is very remarkable.
whats up with the CFL's you had there??? i have seen them before, but it didnt look like it just screws into a normal socket?
how do i go about hooking thos lights up? and arent they more $ than the normal cfl??

[md.apothecary]

wow man, wow.

that is very remarkable.
whats up with the CFL's you had there??? i have seen them before, but it didnt look like it just screws into a normal socket?
how do i go about hooking thos lights up? and arent they more $ than the normal cfl??

The picture above isn't mine, it's from the link I posted with it. But those look like the screw in type.

He said his setup included the following:

My grow setup is a box I built measuring 2 foot x 2 foot x 3 foot high

I am using 3 x 125w envirolites 6400k for the vegative growth and 3 x 125w envirolites 2700k for flowering.

I have a Vortice extractor fan that moves over 350cfm 125mm (this is outside the growbox)

A 6" computer fan to move some air around (not alot however)

but that's ALL he used was a total of 6 CFLs and 3 for each phase.

[Ekoostik_Hookah]

3 x 125w envirolites 2700k for flowering. .:goodposting:

....Thats what i need. i think they run about $20 each...either way, iits worth it :).

thanks a bunch for the info bro .:goodposting:

[jash]

this is a nice cfl GJ : 19 days of 12/12 - Growing Marijuana Forum (http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14738) and another one smaller :cfl grow since march 1st new shots - Growing Marijuana Forum (http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15456)

[IV:XX]

those links aren't a cfl grow, they only used them in vegging. i'm doing a complete cfl grow in my hydro, at flowering i was using full spectrum tubes and changed over yesterday and let me tell ya...holy sheet, their looking all perky like they got a purpose...i'll post a little as i go. i'm using 8 23w, 4 26w, and 4 85w all are 2700k except the 85 is 3000. here's the link to the 85w...looks pretty impressive. http://www.1000bulbs.com/85-Watt-Compact-Fluorescents/9182/ i was going to go with hps, but changed my mind, wanted to try something else out.

????...You could be running a 600w HPS and it would be cheaper than all those bulbs(620watts)...Your yield would be much better as well!

[octobong007]

????...You could be running a 600w HPS and it would be cheaper than all those bulbs(620watts)...Your yield would be much better as well!

and how would the heat be in comparison to 2 cfl's? i'm using an enclosed stealth box that i built, and the cfl's i'm using NEEDS the fan, i couldn't imagine a 600watt hps in this box...of course it could help heat my house lol.