Completely noob..lol

[omnigr33n]

Ok so basically I should turn it into a reflecting space altogether. Put up sme mylar and get some refelectors. Im going to have to buy a 400W HPS soon for flowering. Ill be posting new pics to update as the grow progresses. Through all my readings no one has mentioned from any sort of personal experience what kinds of buds they have grown with just CFLs as lighting. I guess Ill have to dig deeper for more examples. But some more opinions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sin inc]

Hey i started out just like you ad my babys are becoming nice and full oyur going to need the hood it help so much some time you tell that they have been growing after 3-6 hours under a hoof for your cfl i am now runnig 1 27watts cfl and one 13watt cfl and thier dong just fine so. i amplanting on going down to a fl fixture retailer and getting a 4 blub 48'in t12 fixture each bulb runs at 40 watts each 2 cool white and 2 soft its going to run me about 6o$ so its not going to run your pockets this should beable to hold you off until you can get the right light you really want.aslo gook luck and keep up the good work

 

[omnigr33n]

Hmmmmm.

 

[omnigr33n]

Hey i started out just like you ad my babys are becoming nice and full oyur going to need the hood it help so much some time you tell that they have been growing after 3-6 hours under a hoof for your cfl i am now runnig 1 27watts cfl and one 13watt cfl and thier dong just fine so. i amplanting on going down to a fl fixture retailer and getting a 4 blub 48'in t12 fixture each bulb runs at 40 watts each 2 cool white and 2 soft its going to run me about 6o$ so its not going to run your pockets this should beable to hold you off until you can get the right light you really want.aslo gook luck and keep up the good work

Thanks for the advice. I am going to have to get two of those T12 fixtures. I didnt get it earlier because I didnt know you could plug them in. What a fool I be. Im also definitely going to have to get a 400W HPS.

 

[Dirty]

Cool thing with the flo set-up is you can get the HPS later and add to it and use flos for sidelights. Or make a whole new cab. and use the flos for veg and donors and HPS for flowering clones. you can get a 400W HPS for under 150 bucks at insidesun that will do wonders. Its all in what you want to do. and yes more lumens the better. but it also HAS to be the right spectrum of light. Mercery Vapor floods and things like that DO NOT WORK. ONLY High Pressure Sodium, Metal Halide, Florous (cool or soft white...cool for veg...soft white for flower).

Just curious , if Mercury Vapor lights are also HID like the Metal Halides and High Pressure Sodium lights then why wont they work ?

I got this: Metal halide lamps produce a bright white light and are highly efficient members of the HID family. The efficiency of metal halide lamps is from 1.5 to 2 times that of mercury vapor lamps. The metal halide lamp is very similar in construction to the mercury vapor lamp. The major difference is that the metal halide lamp contains various metal halide additives in addition to mercury vapor. from http://www.kwhlighting.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=L-MH

This whole lighting issue is really blowin my mind.

 

[KADE]

It says it has similar construction... not similar composition.... and ''major difference is that the metal halide lamp contains various metal halide additives in addition to mercury vapor.''

 

[Dirty]

Yeah , I found on another forum board that it has to do with the color spectrum .... I can understand that.

This stuff is alot harder than I thought it would be. Ive had better experiences growing outside and never would have thought that emulating the sun would be such a difficult or costly task.

 

[KADE]

not really a big task! just need flouros for cloning... and a hps for the rest.

 

[omnigr33n]

Now I have to just figure out how to use these chains and hang up the HPS bulb I got w/ the reflector LoL.

 

[Dirty]

Im still trying to locate a cheap HPS or MH lamp. Had a plant doin pretty good and was in the early vegitative stage but have had to move it because of prying eyes and now I believe it may not be with us much longer. Have started 5 new seedlings and Im hoping to get the propper lighting in the cabinet before they suffer the same fate.

Would anyone happen to have maybe an older lighting set up they may be willing to sell for cheap?

 

[Elephant Man]

All great advice above, mind if I jump in? How big is the room exactly? You can screw an outlet adapter right in to that socket. You can get a 4' shoplight fixture at wal mart, home depot, lowes etc. for $8-10, 2 bulbs will cost $6-8 more. Reflector is built in, and IMO they run much cooler than cfl bulbs.

Being new also, I messed around with different pot sizes, and smaller are much easier. I have several plants that were transplanted 3 or 4 times in 30 days to progressively larger pots and they have outgrown the girls that started in big pots. Watering is much easier, most new guys (myself included) tend to overwater, and big pots with seedlings are not very forgiving.

I like wind on my girls, little more than a breeze, 16" oscillators are great, get em' dancing. Wind does alot more than promote stem strength, also improves ventilation, and helps with pest prevention.

Depending on your goals, and how much equipment you intend to add in there, you might want to consider a few other things before buying an HID fixture (yes you need the entire fixture and the bulb). A few flourescents will raise your temp a couple of degrees in there, but an HID with no additional ventilation will turn that into an oven in a matter of minutes. Any of us could help you figure what else you will need to control temps with an HID, but keep in mind you will need something. Not sure how far you want to go with this, but if you wanna keep it simple or cheap, you can go from seed to smoke with flouros, just gonna take some calculations and couple extra weeks flower time.

Good Luck

 

[Dirty]

Im lookin to keep it simple and cheap , the time it takes to produce some nice bud is of little concern to me.

The space Ive been workin on setting up is probably 3' wide X 3' deep X 6' high. I have all my new seedlings in small styrofoam cups and had even kept the first in its cup until it reached vegetative stage then I transplanted it to a 1 gallon pot . Still not dead yet but I think its just barely hangin in there. There is some new growth but the leaves at the node directly below the new growth look crazy sick. Ive pretty much given up on that one but really wish to see the new plants go all the way . Ive been watering every third day.

That 4' shop light your talkin bout ... what exactly is it? A fluro? Using just plain fluro bulbs?

If thats the case I have a 2' fluro light fixture and had even considered using it but with all the emphasis on the HID lights I wasnt too sure if it would work.

 

[Pappy]

I'm also growing my plants under fluro lights. I've got two going right now, and for vegging I kept them in a 2 x 1 area covered in mylar that was lit by two 40watt 1900 lumen 4-foot "plant lights." I added extra aluminum to the ballast so I could channel the extra 2 feet of overhang back into the space. That was plenty of light to have them growing healthy.

HOWEVER, whenI switched to the 12/12 for flowering I decided to purchase two additional small fluoros. I opted to just go for the 18 inchers because I don't feel I need another 4ft ballast. At just under 800 lumens each, I didn't think those little lights would have much of an effect... but all I can say is WOW!

They've only been under those lights for 3 days and they're already bushing out like mad. I know that flowering causes the plants to become a bit larger, but that much difference in 3 days just from changing the light cycle? I doubt it!

Anyway, the point of this is that enough light is fine, but alot is WAY better! My grow space is incredibly small and as a result a few lumens go a LOOONG way. I suggest you spend like $12 and get a ballast for the 4 footers if possible. It's alot cheaper than HPS and it certainly wouldn't hurt!
(my 4 foot ballast and two plant lights cost LESS than the two 18" ones with cool white)

 

[Elephant Man]

Im lookin to keep it simple and cheap , the time it takes to produce some nice bud is of little concern to me.

The space Ive been workin on setting up is probably 3' wide X 3' deep X 6' high. I have all my new seedlings in small styrofoam cups and had even kept the first in its cup until it reached vegetative stage then I transplanted it to a 1 gallon pot . Still not dead yet but I think its just barely hangin in there. There is some new growth but the leaves at the node directly below the new growth look crazy sick. Ive pretty much given up on that one but really wish to see the new plants go all the way . Ive been watering every third day.

That 4' shop light your talkin bout ... what exactly is it? A fluro? Using just plain fluro bulbs?

If thats the case I have a 2' fluro light fixture and had even considered using it but with all the emphasis on the HID lights I wasnt too sure if it would work.

Yes, regular shoplight, regular daylight or warm bulbs. That 2 footer will help alot.