Some short CFL Q's.

[bullseye]

forget flowering with cfl's. it's not worth the power.

if you have no previous grows to compare it with then you'll think they're doing really well, but they'll be at about an 8th of their potential. cfl's good for vegging.

fluoro light gives out fuck all lumens (strength of light) and hence your plant gets bugger all energy from the light. go the 400W.. use money to fund next grow.

good advice that was already given by other member=)

[dirtyman]

hey amdrew im sorry to say i have to agree with jimbojones and bullseye

dont waste your time with them if you are gonna be a tight arse with power get a 250 watt hps even though there about the same price as a 400 and dont even give out half as much light they will still give you better bud then the fluro's there only good for veg

[BaronS]

FYI: a little chart I recently came up with, while looking at lights.

 

Some people would read it and say 'SEE, CFLs have low lumens/watt', others might suggest that it's:

a) more important about 'useful lumens' (further investigation required, and planned, spectrum analysis)

maybe the reduced need for heat extraction using CFL offsets the raw lumen/watt rating.

Edited July 6, 2009 by BaronS

[ldawg]

I agree that CFLs are a waste

 

I recently grew for the first time with 1 of those 48W CFLs from bunnings (and 2 other 20Ws)

I guess it was an OK setup just to mess around with and learn a bit about growing

 

But for my next grow I will definately get a HPS lamp, Will be worth the money, and they are pretty cheap off ebay anyway

[dirtyman]

thats the way idawq,

but hey baron s all that chart proves is how shit c.f.ls are compared to h.i.d and thats a fact i no from experience mate i have grown two plants in my cupboard under a 125 watt 3600k cfl and 2 twin t8 tube 18 watt fluro,s 1 on each side and the comparrison in bud compared to the plants that are grown under my 400 hps is somthing stupid the bud is so much denser,compact ,crystaly and koota as opposed to the stuff under the cfls wich is airy and shit but thats just mine and about 1000000 other peoples opinion world wide but hey each to there own bro you dont no what your missing out on hey. im a big believer in not nocking something till i try it and i have tried it so maybee you should do the same and buy a h.i.d light then you wont be talking up your crappy fluro,s but hey as i said they are good for clones, mothers and veggin your plants and thats about all i got to say on the matter amdrew dont waste your time with cfl get a real light invest in some h.i.d all the best bro

dirtyman

[BaronS]

OH, for pity's sake. Do you know what you just said?

 

CFL's are shit because 151W of CFL does not do as good a job as 400W HPS.

 

Does that not sound more than a little silly? You were pumping ~1/3rd the power in, to what area of grow?

 

OTOH: even if you pumped 600W of CFL into it I would expect the light intensity (lux or lumen) to fall short. Do you save by not requiring 200W of heat extraction? Does it depend on the volume of the grow area? Do plants under CFL do better because you can have the light source significantly closer to the plant?

[Amdrew]

The only reason I have to go to CFL is coz I have no proper ventalation, 250w HPS would that create a fuck load of excess heat? Its a closet grow with a tight budget, but i guess CFL's will end up costing same amount as a 250w HPS.

[flatcat_auz]

I think the overriding consensus is that as I previously stated CFL's are simply just not up to the job as yet. Maybe in a year or two but save your money guy's and buy the right gear first time round.

 

 

As my previous post stated........have tried the 'cheap' road with poor results.

[Amdrew]

I think the overriding consensus is that as I previously stated CFL's are simply just not up to the job as yet. Maybe in a year or two but save your money guy's and buy the right gear first time round.

 

 

As my previous post stated........have tried the 'cheap' road with poor results.

Thanks heaps guys, Im gonna try n get a 250w HPS and work on ventalation.

[flatcat_auz]

Thanks heaps guys, Im gonna try n get a 250w HPS and work on ventalation.

 

 

Sound like a great idea.....and I stated early, after a few 'grows' the money you've saved on smoko get's 'reinvested' for room improvements.

 

As they say you gotta spend money to make money