So, im growing one plant right now. I have another on the way (about to pop through the soil tonight actually); I am going to purchase one 125W CFL and five 20W CFLs. My older plant is going to be switched to 12/12 next Sunday; and will be going into a flowering closet. In the closet I will have a light setup of five 20W CFLs for the flowering period of my plant. Does that sound like a good plan for the amount of plants that I have?
The closet area is about 20in. x 20in. And it’s about 4ft. tall.
You will need to make sure You get CFL bulbs in the right kelvin rating. That would be about 2700 for flowering. Hopes that helped you. Mac and Latewood are really great help. Read the grow bible it’s free to down load. Most of your questions are already in it.
Tom
I just bought x2 150w hydrofarm dayspot grow lights what size grow tent should I get, I am thinking about getting a 24x24x48 or a 32x18x36 what size tent should I get ? the plants I am growing are autoflower . also is x2 150w dayspot grow lights enough ? this is my first grow I have no idea on what I am doing
Most household CFLs that are equivalent to a “old school” household 150 watt incandescent light usually use only about 40 actual watts, as in that is the actual draw they use if plugged directly into a watt meter.
With CFL lighting, you probably want about 40-50 watts per square foot.
You can get away with about half the light during veg, so you are probably ok in the short term. You’ll probably need 2 more lights for flowering.
24 inch x 24 inch=2ft.x2ft.=4 square feet. 4x40 watts=160 actual watts.
I just purchase a 125watt CFL 6400k for my vegging plant and I purchased 5-20watt CFL 2700k for my flowering plant. I made a hood reflector homemade, so now I am waiting for the light in the mail and once my project is complete I will post pics
wow that’s a lot of lights , the auto flower strain I got is made for cold weather on the website I bought it from it says they will grow as long as its over 10c so that’s like 50f I am hoping I can get away with using x4 of those fake 150 watt real 30 watt lights , would it be ok to start with x4 fake 150 watt real 30watt lights from the beginning to the end ? I can cut down on space like get a 18x12x24 tent instead if you think that would help and I can put the seeds in 1/2 gallon flower pots instead of the 1 1/2 gallon flower pots I was planning on using
What does the temperature requirements have to do with anything?
Temp is a consideration, but it doesn’t have as much to do with growth or yeild as does the strength of your light. Any less light and you will get a thinner smaller bud yielding plant.
You really need near 45 watts per square foot with CFL lights.
By the way, the equivalent watts number really means nothing. It really is absolutely useless. It is a made up number from the manufacturer that has very little to do with the actual energy output of the light.
so I really need around 200 real watts for a 32x18x36 tent ? so the lights that I got now is good just to put on the side of the plants, what kind of light should I get and how much would it cost ? I want to do a 32x18x36 grow tent and do x2 plants
yes I just want to put a small tent in my closet, dam I spent $50 on those lights i can only afford to spend another $150 and i still got to get the tent that cost $72, what should i do ? i am lost rite now i am a real noob at this
576 square inches equals 4 square feet no matter that in the 32x18 is arranged a little differently.
4x40 watts still equals 160 actual watts, 4x45=180 and 4x50=200
So yes, you could use as much as 200 watts in that size tent.
To give a good idea of how important watts is to yeild, pro and experienced growers use a formula of 1 gram finished dry weight per watt of electricity used by the lights.
Now this number needs to be kept in perspective, this is under actual horticultural HID plant lights like high pressure sodium. It is often much harder to get as good of yields with fluorescent lights, and then auto-flowers are also known for not being as high yielding as their regular photo-period counterparts, so you are not likely to come anywhere near this with your first grow, regardless of auto or not. But it does give a better idea of how directly proportionate the strength or intensity of the light is to the expected outcome in yeild.
well i got 60 real watts now can i get another 100 real watts for under $75 ? i don’t want to get more dayspot lights they they will take up to many sockets, i just want x1 good 100 real watt light, these stores try to confuse you they really don’t advertise the real watts of the lights
I would use the lights you have now for your seedlings and for early veg, and yes, do some homework and you could get a good LED that fits your area for maybe about $65 on ebay or something.
You want a LED with at least 120-150 actual watts for a 4 square foot area. You can get away with as low as about 30-35 actual watts per square foot with a good LED.
