Halogen along with CFL's

[Bohica1a4]

I was wondering if adding a halogen lamp over my cfl's might help during flowering. My budget is low and I have a halogen worklight (I believe it was 150 watts) that I was using in my first grow. Other that the heat output, it seemed to help out. I had a fan with a thermostat and I was able to keep the temp at around 82. The plants seemed happy and perky. Unfortunately, I had to put plants outside (police visit on an unrelated matter) and the whole environmental change from inside to outside (it was late Augus) shocked them to death.
Any opinions out there? My grow space will be kind of big for few plants. When I used the halogen before, it was a closet grow and the halogen was hanging over while the CFL's were close and off to the sides. I was also using LST (I love this and so did my plants).
Also, is it really necessary to close off the grow space if there are only a few plants (probably no more than 5-6 at a time)? I could have the plants openly in a corner of the room (outside view is totally obstructed). I could build a box, but would rather not have to.
I have several ways to conceal but it isn't absolutely necessary. I'm in a house in a quiet neighborhood and my house doesn't sit very close to the other houses. The grow room is (will be) in the basement.
Just wondering.....

 

[iClown]

as far as I know halogens are no help at all. if you are going to put your plants outside and are afraid of shock put them in deep shade, they will still get alot of light but not enough to shock them.

hehe what I did to save money on lights was walk around my town at like 3am with a friend, and we went to all the stores and unscrewed the CFLs they had outside there shops.

 

[Mutt]

If you on a limited budget. I woul ditch the worklight (spectrum is no good for growing) and get compact florouscents at wal-mart/home depot/lowes that screw into regular sockets.
Or...go to homedepot or lowes and get an MH (metal Halide) or HPS (High pressure sodium) flood light. 50watts are 50 bucks and 70watts about 70 bucks. I've grown 2 plants and got over an ounce using these types which pays for itself. CFL are cheaper but ya can do a lot with them.
I'd get a space together and figure out sq.ft. and let us help ya pick out a light.

 

[Growdude]

Halogen = no good, you need a enclosed grow area or you wont be able to have 12 hours of total dark for flowering.

 

[Bohica1a4]

It was the light spectrum that I was interested in. Thanks for clearing that up. Why add the heat with no real benefit? The first time I tried to grow, I was in a closet and was having good luck with the CFL's for vegging.
The room I'd be vegging in is more open space. The flowering would be in a room that has no windows and is closed off (22x18x8). In the vegging space, I was going to section off a corner (4x4x8 in an 25x18x8 room). At flowering time, I would transfer plants into the closed off room.
There used to be a darkroom (dad was a photog) but there is too much mildew from non-use and leaks from the kitchen. I was checking it out a couple of days ago to use for all of the grow space but the mildew odor was more than I could stand for very long and no doubt not a good space for keeping the babies disease free. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the mildew would be great.
I live in a house with a full basement that is mostly unused. The rooms were once lived in but aren't now. It's just lots of space. Privacy (stealth potential) is no issue. The only other person in the house is semi-disabled and cannot get down the stairs. Yeah, it's almost too good to be true. I actually have a few different choices for configuration. I hadn't really thought about the possibilities until just now. And I don't plan to have a lot of plants; personal daily consumption (with a choice of strain) and sharing. Maybe 10-12 at any given time.
For all the time I spend in HD and Lowe's, I'm surprised that I never noticed the MH and HPS floods. Thanks for that. I'm all over that. I just now looked at the HD website and saw a 400w MH for $29. That's more like the budget I was looking for.:woohoo:
I'm looking forward to sharing my grow(s) with you.

 

[Dubbaman]

Kills for the mould and mildew in the room, and that 400W light at HD is most likely just the bulb

 

[ugmjfarmer]

$29 is the bulb only. Your gonna be looking at another price for the fixture and if it comes from home depot it will have to be adapted to garden use.

My best suggestion is to go with a cheap 400w setup from HTG Supply. Use what CFL's you have to increase the "blue" spectrum. I'd buy CFL's above 5500K if I was in your position, which I am. My startup budget was $600 and I easily spent $1000. Kissing the black market goodbye, priceless.

 

[Bohica1a4]

Time spent waiting for black market to get back to me = sometimes 24 hours. Time spent driving to HD or Lowe's = 10 minutes. Yep... I'm most definitely seeing the benefits.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

as far as I know halogens are no help at all. if you are going to put your plants outside and are afraid of shock put them in deep shade, they will still get alot of light but not enough to shock them.

hehe what I did to save money on lights was walk around my town at like 3am with a friend, and we went to all the stores and unscrewed the CFLs they had outside there shops.

I hope that you are joking. To advocate stealing light bulbs to save money is, IMO, not even the slightest bit humorous.