Flowering with CFL?

[thedonofchronic]

like 2 weeks. imo.
shell need all her energy for producing great smoke for you,
you just cut her head off, let her recooperate a little.
the more stress you put on a plant the more chance of a hermie..

 

[MeNtAlPaTiEnT]

Hey, CFL's are pretty good for flowering, but HID's would give you more quantity for the extra wattage and cost of materials. Here's what I grew last year using about 220 watts of CFL.

 

[purplefingers]

Hey, CFL's are pretty good for flowering, but HID's would give you more quantity for the extra wattage and cost of materials. Here's what I grew last year using about 220 watts of CFL.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=67106&d=1215411341

Wow! that's a big one! unfortunately I don't have the space for something that size. I think I'll try about a total of 100actual watts of CFLs to start with.Will keep you guys posted.

 

[MeNtAlPaTiEnT]

Yeah, with a smaller plant, you would get thicker colas and nugs than with a bigger plant using cfl's in my opinion. With a bigger plant, there's so much area you need to cover, it's hard to concentrate the light on all the buds. So smaller wouldn't be so bad .

 

[SPEARCHUCKER]

I was just looking at some CFLs. Which of these is better.
23w at 1600 lumens
42w at 2800

The 23 has a better lumens per watt rate. But does the 42w deliver with more power behind it, or does that even matter with cfls like it does LEDs.

 

[MeNtAlPaTiEnT]

You'd be better off with the 42 watters. They make more heat though, so be careful. The 42 watters have better penetration and such.

 

[ShecallshimThor]

imo sreen of green would be ideal for cfl lighting
ive done a force flower with lst and got tight nugs then revegged and had was so much plant to cover i couldnt get the lower nodes that well even with side lighting now im on my 2nd reveg and i have enough lighting for veg but will build a screen for flower so i only have to light the tops

 

[MeNtAlPaTiEnT]

I've got a few 5 watter CFL's that I could install right inside my plant if I wanted to... just a thought haha.

 

[zipflip]

imo sreen of green would be ideal for cfl lighting
ive done a force flower with lst and got tight nugs then revegged and had was so much plant to cover i couldnt get the lower nodes that well even with side lighting now im on my 2nd reveg and i have enough lighting for veg but will build a screen for flower so i only have to light the tops

i almost got the equivalent to a screen of green but wit just some good LST i got almost perfect even height wise canopy and numerous tops per plant. all side tops are all bout same height as my actual tops now.
i tried for this simply because of the law of lighting and cfl vs HPS etc etc... this way i can maximize wat lumens i do have on even surface area(canopy)
very simple to do lst. just hook an pull her down wherever u want and fasten her. i used landscaping staples and just thik wire cut an bent like staples.
i just posted some side shots of my girls last nite showin the lst from the side. in current grow journal

 

[purplefingers]

Ok guys here's the updates on my plant. Everything was growing well. Feeding with 30-10-10 then suddenly this......crap.Anyone know whats going on and most importantly how do i fix it? here are the depressing pics.The bottom leaves are starting to wilt/turn brown,yellow .The top part of the plant seems ok.

 

[ivor]

y top? i hav never topped been told a plant that grows naturally turns out more potent.im using fls also from start to finish 3x 3ft w white 3x 4ft white 6x cfls 3 w white and 3x white 1 extraction fan 1 bottom fan temp 23 deg and 4 th week of flowerin.pretty happy so far. hps wud be perfect but i cudnt control temp so fls r my only choice.thinkin of gettin more specialised tube from hydro store does any 1 no anything bout them?last grow was 1 pakistan valley 1 blue cheese 1 jack herer under fls start 2 finish harvested approx 2.5 ounces but plants wer only bout 1.5ft wen flowerin started except jh which was just under 2.5 ft.results were good was well stoned:stoned: :watchplant:

 

[zipflip]

hey purple fingers. if ya usin a soil wit any added ferts or even organic and dependin on age of ya plant an wats already in soil you may not even need to feed ya plants according to instructions on box. i also have the same 30-10-10 type nute. but was told to use it only if i need an N boost in my NPK lineup. even still when i did use it the timei did i used it at half strength. it is some pretty strong stuff.
from looks of pix i think that just wat ya gettin. is an N nute burn.
also befor eya rule it a deficiency or even a nute burn(overdose) IME so far.. check ya ph an make sure ya water nute solution is goin in at the right level as well as testin ya runoff and if ya between 6.5 and 7.0 i think you should be fine with the PH of ya runoff.
now i too am still green my firend so im tellin you this outta experience learned the hard way bro. if ya aint got a digital PH tester.. trust me man yu really do need one wit all the water in the world today an tap water bein all chem'd up etc etc...
them liquid testers that change color wont work right wit nute solution as most nutes turn water a color themselves. as well as with testin ya runoff unless if some weird chance ya runoff is crystal clear lol.
but wat kind soil ya usin how have ya been feedin up til now an wit wat nutes NPK? as well as dosage amount etc..
also wats ya ph of ya runoff as well.
but im guessin either N burn or simple as most the time wit all us newer grower... the ph problem.
hope it helped ya at least be able to determin an narrow it down a bit easier.

 

[zipflip]

y top? i hav never topped been told a plant that grows naturally turns out more potent.im using fls also from start to finish 3x 3ft w white 3x 4ft white 6x cfls 3 w white and 3x white 1 extraction fan 1 bottom fan temp 23 deg and 4 th week of flowerin.pretty happy so far. hps wud be perfect but i cudnt control temp so fls r my only choice.thinkin of gettin more specialised tube from hydro store does any 1 no anything bout them?last grow was 1 pakistan valley 1 blue cheese 1 jack herer under fls start 2 finish harvested approx 2.5 ounces but plants wer only bout 1.5ft wen flowerin started except jh which was just under 2.5 ft.results were good was well stoned:stoned: :watchplant:

i topped 2 plants out of the 4 of one strain i got. and the topped ones are definately showin laggig in production vs other that werent topped for sure. dont know if this the topping is exactly why the growth was stunted or not but i doubt i'll be toppin again in future grows. i definately prefer LST hands doen myself

 

[Sir_Tokie]

Those bottom leaves look like their dying from lack of light, and also looks like you may be over watering a little bit. Let your pots dry out longer between waterings because your using CFLs and your pots will stay wet/moist longer, deeper in the soil then if you were using a HID light. HID lights will dry soil out faster because they penetrate deeper through the plant then CFLs can penetrate. Thus the soils from CFL grows dryout slower than HID grows. Roots thrive better in moist/dry conditions when using soil, this is how they receive oxygen, as the soil drys oxygen is released into the root zone so if soil only has to dry from moist to dry rather then wet to dry your roots will receive oxygen more often. Thus making your plant more healthy and happy. I only water my plants just enough to wet the root ball and make the top of soil moist. I have hardly any runoff, if any when I water...take care..

 

[NYC_Diesel x Jack_Herer]

I will never understand why people flower with CFL's.
HPS is preferred by the plants
HPS lights put off more lumens per watt
HPS lights give off less heat per watt
HPS lights are cheaper in the long run because they put out more lumens per watt. (You either pay more for an HPS now, or pay more in electricity costs to get the same lumens out of CFL's.)

So instead of using an array of CFL's why not use a smaller array of say 75 or 150 watt HPS lights? I don't get it. Just seems odd that someone would take the risk and time to set up a grow, and leave out the most important element.

 

[zipflip]

i'm flowering with cfl's right now an seem to be doin just fine. im bout 3 weeks into 12/12 and already have buds goin on. just only thing i did to keep an even canopy to keep as much light to all parts of plants as possible was i kept them short(LST) and vegged only few weeks was all.
tho i am almost certain that an hps would suffice more better for the watt per lumen ratio and as far as lesss heat for lumen output . i got 16 26 watt cfl's on and im sure if i got an hps of equivalent lumens output as my 16 cfl's i'd have alot less watts bei drawn and less heat given off.
at the moment i just dot feel as skilled an confident to have a dire need to grab a 150-200 plus $$ light set up. just not yet anyways.
also im certain theres alot an many of us current growers who werent sure of the growin thing at first try either. and im sure some have gave up an walked away. now i'd hate to go buy all hi dollar equip my first time an decide it wasnt for me and be out that muych money for nothin.
and im sure thats the same wit many who use cfl's. most are new and dont know better such as myself even. an spite all i or anyone may read sometimes. that curiousity is still there an ya just have to do it in order to actually know it for yourself.
and probabaly most cant afford a hps or mh at first
i mean anyone can rag on me an express all the facts an opinions they want of cfl's vs hps. its still not gonna change the fact that i already have money invested in cfl's im gonna use em a lil at least an just see for myself.
but also from wat i gather an wat i am seein so far with my lights(cfl's is that if done right and able to control the heat to keep that many lumens output goin... ya can still get good/decent results. and for a beginner on a tight budget etc.. thats still alot further to bein on top of the world feelin than ya were before. and also im sure is wat has inspired most of you who have also upgraded to do just that....

 

[SPEARCHUCKER]

What about Colored CFLs? Anyone tried them? Anyone know the spectrum of Red or Blue they use?
Seems if you could turn only using 15-20% of a regular light. These would be a heavy boost. Like they could even outdo LEDs at the moment because of having muscle behind it.

Heres a look at some.
hxxp://www.buylighting.com/Compact-Fluorescent-Colored-s/194.htm
(standard, replace the xx)
I mean, even if you are using an HPS. If you can get some pure quality red to toss on the plant for a few watts and dollars. Wouldnt it be worth it?
I just cant seem to find the value of the red that any of them produce. All Ive found is that yellow will keep away bugs, and black produces UV lighting. If those work that way, wouldnt the Red/Blue work the plants way?

 

[zipflip]

just checked em out spear chucker. i also asked of these before on here but really got no definitive response on em tho. but it doesnt say lumens output on the product info. just 24watts
i'm wonderin if its bout the same as a regular 24watt cfl in lumens output tho?

 

[purplefingers]

hey purple fingers. if ya usin a soil wit any added ferts or even organic and dependin on age of ya plant an wats already in soil you may not even need to feed ya plants according to instructions on box. i also have the same 30-10-10 type nute. but was told to use it only if i need an N boost in my NPK lineup. even still when i did use it the timei did i used it at half strength. it is some pretty strong stuff.
from looks of pix i think that just wat ya gettin. is an N nute burn.
also befor eya rule it a deficiency or even a nute burn(overdose) IME so far.. check ya ph an make sure ya water nute solution is goin in at the right level as well as testin ya runoff and if ya between 6.5 and 7.0 i think you should be fine with the PH of ya runoff.
now i too am still green my firend so im tellin you this outta experience learned the hard way bro. if ya aint got a digital PH tester.. trust me man yu really do need one wit all the water in the world today an tap water bein all chem'd up etc etc...
them liquid testers that change color wont work right wit nute solution as most nutes turn water a color themselves. as well as with testin ya runoff unless if some weird chance ya runoff is crystal clear lol.
but wat kind soil ya usin how have ya been feedin up til now an wit wat nutes NPK? as well as dosage amount etc..
also wats ya ph of ya runoff as well.
but im guessin either N burn or simple as most the time wit all us newer grower... the ph problem.
hope it helped ya at least be able to determin an narrow it down a bit easier.

I'm using normal organic premix soil.I have been feeding the plant with Miracid 30-10-10 lately.1 teaspoon to a gallon of water once every 5 days or so.After the first time the plant grew extremely fast and the leaves were huge so i did it again.Over the last week the leaves started to change color.I have flushed the plant twice so far with p.h 6.5 plain water. The last time I checked the run off was about 7.1 on the ph pen.

Now my big problem is I don't know if it an 'over' or 'under' fed situation.Should I just leave the plant as it is to dry out after 2 flushes or feed with 30-10-10.I hope someone can point me in the right direction.Thanks a bunch

 

[SPEARCHUCKER]

Doubt it would be the same exactly Zip. But it wouldnt need to be.
Regular bulbs put out all kinds of colors. And your only using 15-20% of the majority of them. I think if you can upgrade and use 50+% or more. Sacrificing a few lumens doesnt matter.
Red LEDs are said that 90% is useful light. But their bulbs are still in the weak stages. If a colored CFL can put out just 40 lumens per watt of pure red (usually seen it at 65-70 lumens per) but it should be a big help.

I dont know. But if they arnt the right red specs. Someone could make a billion dollars making ones that are the right red specs.

I also been wondering about colored reflectors. Like breaklights on a car are red. If they make a positive red shield the right red specs to grow. But got no way of measuring what band its using off hand to see, and cant find a place that shows that either.