Lighting questions..

[dazza]

I guess this one is probably for experienced growers who have experimented with different light sources, or those who read a lot..

I am wondering about using fluros in the veg cycle. Will they give me as much light as hps(400's)? or will the plants growth be slower with fluros? I believe the best fluros to use are the tri-phosphor, is this correct? Is there a combo of fluros you can use?

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using both. I know i am asking for a lot of info but have always used fluro to seed/root or clone and then hps to veg and flower.

I realise the fluros dont make as much heat and cost shitloads less to run but is this their only advantages? I found heaps of fluro fittings in perfect condition during the hard waste collection and want to put them to work.

thanks

[Guest Wilderbud]

My plants really like the 48W CFs Ive added and I think 6 of them would light up a small space as good as a 250W HPS [according to my memory and judgement]. If you mount them so that the bulbs are horizontal they will give more light [the intense spot is the same size as the bulb so theres more coverage when horizontal].

 

I have only used 2x48W CFs for a few days but Im pretty sure you can let the plants grow to an inch away from the bulb as long as theres direct air movement [a vented homemade hood would be good].

 

A natural white 48W CF gives off 5000k lumen and a warm 48W CF gives off 3000k lumen so its a lot of light for a little bulb - I hear theres 125W CFs now but I havent seen them in .au - see if you can track some of these down and a few of them would definately be as good as a 400W HPS.

 

My plants are probably only slow growers because of my bug infestation and not the flouro lighting as plenty of other people have grow coverages that show flouros growing plants fast although never as fast as an HID.

[Luke Skywalker]

The 3000k and 5000k are not references to the output in lumens. It's colour temperature in kelvin.

 

Thing is, if you use 6 48w cfs you're using around 300w... A 250 hps will give out more light than that and at better spectrums, for less wattage. But if you're thinking micro grow I feel they could be used effectively. And I feel they have a heck of a lot of potential in small prevegging and supplimental lighting.... I have a 28 watt daylight one on my clones.... doing great.

[lokm8]

hey wilderbud, where u find these 48watt cf ? Ive looked local and couldnt find anythingh higher then 22w. Maybe down here in Shellharbour we're all povo.

 

Dazza, Fluros are fine for veggin. Actually I would recommend buying about 3-4 (2ft twin fittings) and fill them up with cool whites and youre plants will love you for the first 4-5 weeks of their lives. You can actually slow the stretching with these babies cause you have them very close to the plants without burning the leaves, therefore the plant develolps tighter nodes.

In the vegetation stage, the plants use photosynthesis to grow more foilage, they rely mainly on the blue- light spectrum at this time. Hense having them under a MH light / Fluros, is the way to go.

The HPS lights cover more the red-light spectrum where the flowers are growing, and to me, it seems like an overkill to be using a HPS for a plant thats only developing its structure.

Also, If youre thinking about flowering with fluros don't forget to swap every second cool-white tube with a warm white.

I think Old man Mozz once told me to try the Tri-phos. tubes but I haven't tried them yet, so I cannot tell you if they are good or not.

 

I'd def.go for the fluro's in veg, you already have the fittings ? just might need a decent powerboard to cover all the cords, or if you have too many cables then get urself a J-box ( junction box) from bunnings' and join up all the cords to the one outlet so it free's up the sockets for other stuff ( fans etc..)

[dazza]

I have used tri-phos. for seedlings and clones and they love it big time. I was just unsure whether the plants liked the fluros during the vegging or not.

cheers

[jaikai]

hey dazza, how are ya?... mate, id use the hps for the big jobs and put mothers and cuttings or seedlings under your fluros. cant go wrong...

 

JAIKAI

[Guest Wilderbud]

hey wilderbud, where u find these 48watt cf ? Ive looked local and couldnt find anythingh higher then 22w. Maybe down here in Shellharbour we're all povo.

I got them from Bunnings.

 

Theyre made by Nelson Lamps [nelsonlamps.com.au - the bulbs dont appear to be online though]. They come in a box instead of the plastic moulded package and I can take a pic of the box if you really need it [itd take me 5 mins so I hope yopu dont want it - heh].

 

PS. these lamps are causing ambient heat problems for me after a few days in use so they dont really offer much but a cheap growlight IMHO [ill still use them for clones and mother but probably wont try budding under them as theyre running as hot as Id expect from an HPS [i havent tested an HPS in this growspace but Im sure it couldnt be much worse]. If you have the money to invest just go for HID lighting but a few CFs are OK for vegging IMHO [it works - just doesnt work excellently].

[jaikai]

hi all, i put up a post about these cfs a while ago (big cf`s) in this forum. 23$ at bunnings. ive been smackin` an old pantry cupboard around and its come up o.k... got a 18W in the top with a little yates propagator in it and a couple cuttings just rooted. in the bottom, i had 2 18W, they put nice warmth thru the shelf for the bottom of the cuttings. other day i got a 48W and put that in instead...no heat dramas at all

hey wilderbud...what light type is yours?...warm/daylight/cool white?

 

JAIKAI

[Guest Wilderbud]

I have 1 warm and 1 cool for now - Im getting another cool bulb when I get some spare change as Im going to use 1 cool bulb for cloning and the other two for a mother plant [red induces branch growth so its good for something youll be cloning from].

 

I am also going to use the heat from 2 bulbs to warm my cloning chamber up - it works nicely.

 

I do think the bulbs are hot but it wont bother my plants as they will be a foot away when the cupboard sees normal usage.