How to Grow Plants using CFL and Florescent Lights - Growing Indoors Cheap, Easy and Effective
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- In a recent episode we discussed a few of the different grow light technologies including compact florescent, high pressure sodium and light emitting diode. Based on the resounding feedback and a few requests we are going to dive a little deeper into growing with Florescent lights.
Florescent lights and Compact Florescent work on the same principal. Electricity excites mercury atoms emitting ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light is converted to visible light when it hits the florescent coating.
Compact Florescent bulbs are more compact versions of regular florescent tubes, and have effectively facilitated the nearly worldwide replacement of incandescent light bulbs.
The benefit that Florescence bulbs have for those of us who want to grow indoors is they are able to emit the wavelengths that plants need for photosynthesis. For more information on the wavelengths needed for growing and a discussion on Kelvin Watts and Lumens there will be a link at the end of this video and in the description below.
So lets talk about how we can use them to get an early start on our summer crops and grow vegetables over the winter. The first thing you will need is a warm space and electricity. The location of your grow room is important. Generally I recommend keeping the humidity down and temperature around 21c or 70F. If the soil temperature is too cool you may have decreased germination and increased pest issues such as fungal or insect. In a basement like mine keeping the plants off the concrete floor helps with both humidity and temperature.
Some of my favorite childhood memories are of gardening with my parents and brothers. This channel is about low cost organic urban gardening in zone 3. I am by no means an expert gardener however I love to share my experiments and journey garden year round. Please feel free to join the conversation and if you think you might like this channel subscribe. Have a great day!
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very comprehensive approach to the subject! I usually grow my seedlings under fluorescents next to a sunny window. They seem to like the mixture.
I have done that in the past and your right it works fantastically well !
I'm glad you enjoyed the video !
Great information! Something you alluded to indirectly in your video that's worth noting is just simple observation of the plants and how they respond to the light you're giving them. A simple rule of thumb for me was to just make sure light was covering the footprint of the grow trays. Also the distance of the lights from the plants seemed to be a determining factor. If the lights were too high, the plants became leggy trying to reach the light, even though they were directly overhead, so keeping them close to the plants and raising them as the plants grow seemed to work well.
exactly! great points!
Excellent information on growing with CFLs and florescent lights, Stephen!
Thank you Patrick !
Thanks for a great video. Clear, concise, edited well with visual examples. Well done. I appreciate that you take cost into consideration. I found your crop production numbers so interesting - nothing compares to the sun! I am in Zone 4 but with a north-facing property and heavily treed back yard so I plan on chasing the sun with portable sub irrigated planters. I did want to start seeds indoors to get a head start. Thank you for the science behind the light - makes more sense to me now.
I am glad I can help my friend! getting a head start is important up here in the lower zones!
Great info Stephen! You were very thorough. I really enjoyed this!
I'm glad you enjoyed it Luke !
You guys both are the best!!! Thanks for helping all us newbies out! Blessings from Nova Scotia
Very nice video Stephen. I've been starting my plants 2 months early in the spring using your method.Years ago, I first started with regular shop lihgts with T8 bulbs but last year switched to High Performance shop lights, they focus 90% of the light down to the plants, with 40watt T12 bulbs. I bought everything on sale so my cost for 4 lights & 8 bulbs was about $70 US. I also use them for my houseplants over the winter. The nicest part is that my electric bill budget plan went from $85 last year to $79 this year and my plants love them!
I am very glad you enjoyed the video ! It's kind of nice how simple it is and enjoyable to grow :)
I'll have to see what my bills are next month :)
I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Man this channel is frickin awesome I love this guy. Really appreciate the amount of detail you go into explaining everything from basic terms to calculations and what not. Cheers
I am so glad I can help!
Stephen, I hadn't watched this before and was very impressed as to how much information I was able to glean from your video on lighting. Thanks for putting out so much information; it is going to help with my first attempt at having a fresh tomato in winter.
If you ever need help my friend please let me know ;)
I love to learn and share TH-cam Lets me do both!
I understand, I'm the same way. Thanks for your offer for help, I did receive bulbs in the mail today and out of 2, one was broken. I'll def. take you up on that offer of help, I'll send you a video of my set-up in a few days and you can make suggestions. Thanks again. Kim
You know Kim Home Depot sells T5 bulbs and if you watch my other lighting episode it will explain why you need a 6500 Kalvin and 2100 and you can easily get goring today with no post breakage ;)
***** No, I didn't know that. I'll be going there. thanks for that!
My pleasure
Thanks for the information, you just answered a question I had about lights. I have a Tower Garden, which is a vertical hydroponic, aeroponic tower. This will be may 3rd winter to grow inside. I have been using T5 grow lights and I went from overhead lights to vertical last winter, but even though I had better results, I now realize I didn't have my lights close enough to my vegetables. Hopefully, now my flowering plants will do as good as the non-flowering. I use both the 6500k and 3000k bulbs.
I am very glad could help you grow better ! I have seen those vertical systems and always wondered how they worked. If you don't mine I would love if you posted a few photos on my Facebook page !
I grow my autoflowers (one at a time) in a 18" square by 4 ' high box using a 5 bulb fixture with 4 26w 6500k and 1 26w 2700k bulb. I got 1.3 oz of dry flowers from it last plant that grew 2' tall. Autoflowers work great with CFLs
EXCELLENT VIDEO! THANKS FOR THOROUGHLY EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCES IN UNDERSTANDABLE TERMS THIS HELPED TREMENDOUSLY
+PHAT4LifeTV I am glad I could help my friend!
***** VERY HELPFUL! i was getting confused and bogged down in lumens and other techinical terms that really didn't answer MY main question "Can I use this to grow?" LOL I've chosen a desk lamp due to the compact size of my germination station. The bulb is 6500K, is that too much for the germination stage?
Nope not too much. How many watts is the bulb ?
This is the best video I have seen on this topic. I will be revisiting this video. Thanks for the effort you put in to it.
Excellent video Stephen ! Very informative your info helps and explains a lot my friend keep up the great work
I am really glad you enjoyed it my friend! Its good to hear it makes senesce to another experienced indoor grower!
Thanks for the info Stephen. Enjoyed the vid.
Your welcome Sam :)
I started with CFL bulbs for my indoor grow space. Quickly got up over 300 watts of CFL bulbs going and still needed more light. Switched to a 400w HID setup and am much happier with it. CFLs made a quality end result but the yield was exceptionally poor for the wattage being used.
Thanks SO Much for All the Info .. Looking froward to Seeing More of your Videos !
Very informative Stephen, great job once again!
Thank you my friend!
I’ve only used CFU for certain “medicinal herbs “ was curious if they would work for just my “regular “ garden plants” ie veggies and other non edible plants. Thanks for the info, very clear and concise ❤
Very good Stephen! I just kicked my indoor hydroponics lettuce into gear yesterday. I am wanting to start a few peppers but I know that I should hold off a couple more weeks. I want to give those Jimmy Nardelo peppers a good head start.
I was going to increase my indoor grow area a little this year but I am cheap and I want to try to hit a sale on shop light fixtures like I did last year. I bought some T8 fixtures for $5.30 each and the store had an 11% rebate going on top of that. I will not need the new area until about March. So, I am going to hold off a little.
I'll be starting my peppers next month for outside including the ones you sent it will give them time to get pruned and big again :)
Wow that's a great deal ! I wish I could get that lol.
***** I bought two cases of 6500K T8 lamps to go with them. They were also on sale at the time and I got 11% back on them, as well.
Wow that's fantastic !!
Great info, Stephen! The lighting technology is getting more interesting all the time!
You know LED is coming and one would assume going from 27% energy efficient to 65% will change the game!
Absolutely my point ; )
I know the new systems will cost a lot but I might think of investing ;)
Oh, absolutely! But like every new thing, they will eventually come down in cost over time.
One day ill have one :) one day!
thanks! exactly what i was looking for
Love your videos bro very informative 👏🏽👏🏽👌🏾
This is very helpful, thanks for posting this :)
+Kelly D I am very glad I could help!
Nice upload, mate! I wasn`t going to grow anything in my plant room this winter, but I`m starting to change my mind. This fall has been so dark and clouded here, that I need some light and plants to look at in winter.
A row of 6500K`s gives a good boost in the dark months. :)
All the best,
Halvor.
Halvor I know the feeling! I grow indoors for fun and the therapy that the lights can give! I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark now too. The grow lights are as close as I get to light :)
***** For us "northerners" a growroom with lots of light can be very beneficial for both plants and people. :)
Your right! I suffer from seasonal affective disorder and growing all winter has really helped me ;)
*****
Glad the light helps you mate. Many people here in Scandinavia have the same problem, and it said that light is one of the best things to cure it. It`s also belived that eating more sea fish meals can help with the issue as well. I`m not to fond of seafish, I`m an "inlander", so I rather prefer the light, hehe..
I'd prefer light lol :)
I just did some calculating of lighting costs for my hydroponic setup. I thought you might be interested in what I discovered it would cost to operating different lighting types for 1 bulb or fixture for 18 hours per day for a month.
1 65watt CFL bulb (actual wattage, not equivatent) $3.16
1 45watt CFL bulb (actual wattage, not equivalent) $2.19
1 33 watt CFL bulb (actual wattage, not equivalent) $1.61
1-2 bulb 48inch shop light $3.62
I used "calculators" from 2 different websites.
So, for germinating seedlings on an on-going basis using 4 shop lights, it will cost me $14.48 per month.
For growing one 48 inch long shelf of non-fruiting greens with 12 - 33 watt CFLs it will cost me $19.32 per month.
For growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers on one 48 inch long shelf with 12 - 45 watt CFLs it will cost me $26.28 per month.
Or, for growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers in 24 in long by 36 inch high shelf area using 6 - 65 watt CFLs at the top and 8 - 33 watt CFLs midway down along the sides, it will cost me $31.84 per month.
Typically from what I've heard other people, for a combination of on-going germinating seeds, growing greens, and growing fruiting vegetables, it typically costs about $50 per month for lighting.
How does this compare with the operating costs of lighting that you have found?
Thank you ! I have been looking into exactly this to see if I can calculate the break even point between LED and CFL for indoor growing.
***** Here are the links I used. energyusecalculator.com/electricity_cfllightbulb.htm and comohomestead.com/2012/02/the-cost-of-running-seedling-grow-lights/ Please post your results and you figure out the cfl/led costs. Thanks.
threedogwrite Absolutely I will!
nice stash! lol good info i have got great results with my cfl lights. but i will be phasing them out here shortly for 3 led spot lights that run a total of 90 watts instead of the 500 watts i am using on the CFL now.
If your running large amounts of lights the conversion makes sound investment sense :) one day I'll upgrade too lol.
yeah lol and i have found the big CFL bulbs i have just don't do well when it comes to light drop compared to LED, LED has a much better range of usable light so you don't have to keep them super close.
TheItalian Garden for ease of use your right LED is way better. I just find the light colour being sent out hurts my eyes quite a bit !
ohhhh yeah it does is very unpleasant to look at, but very pleasant for the plants lol. its like you have to sacrifice your eyes for low energy and high intensity lol.
This is a handy video. Thanks for producing it.
I am glad you enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun making the clip! Did you see the one I did on LED vs HPS vs CFL?
No, I'll be taking a look shortly!
Let me know what you think. I'll put the link below
th-cam.com/video/CU3NhvUusp4/w-d-xo.html
I am giving my Trinidad Moruga Scorpion seedlings a mix of sunlight and several 4100-5000K fluorescent and CFL bulbs. I am hoping they like it! Living in Pennsylvania, I am not entirely sure if the scorpion peppers will start producing by the fall cool down, so I might end up expanding my indoor plant growing operation!
+Jav Sarge plant them in black pots and you should be good. I can get them to produce here as long as they have lots of heat and water.
Great information. Thanks.
the best bulbs for growing indoors are the HPSodium, I cant afford that so ive gone with 2 20W florescent grow bulbs. my only complaint with these bulbs is the lack of heat produced. These have been good enough to clone or start plants but 40w total is just not enough for full term. Great info thx for the share.
I could not handle HPS with all the extra heat. I don't have a problem with the soil temperature but I live in an area that my furnace runs all winter just 10 feet away.
I think mine are 32 watt bulbs and they do the trick :) I will add a CFL when they start flowering !
I'm glad you enjoyed the episode !
great video! definitely subscribed!
+Chase Guindon fantastic! I am glad to have you!
Stephen, good video as always. I did notice in the last video as well as this one you left out one of the most important lights- Metal Halide. With the cost of HID systems continuing to drop, it just doesnt make much sense to use CFL if you are doing any size. I've wired CFL systems in series running 4x6 and 4x8 bulb patterns, and with the amount of lamp failures you will get with that number of bulbs, you are taking a loss. To each their own though. Nearly everyone who takes up indoor gardening will start out with fluros, then move up. I started with tube flouros 25 years ago.
Your right I left HID out again. IN order to give the subject the justice it deserves i had to break it out into another video. When does running a CFL system start to cost more then the higher investment more efficient systems? I have to do some math but Id assume once I have all of my CFL running I am getting close.
Ill also admit I don't know much about HID except for they have waste heat and I don't need any of that in my home :) if I could take advantage of it in my heating system I might but its a few research projects away :)
Stephen, there are good quality digital ballast 400 watt HID systems available now for under $200 US. They produce such little heat that they require no special in-line ventilation like the older magnetic ballast types. The reason I had mentioned Metal Halide earlier as opposed to HPS, is because metal halides are a much better stand alone bulb. With the enhanced blue spectrum, you get tighter node spacing, and better production for leafy crops if you choose to grow them indoors to maturity. Down here in Florida, I use HIDs', and to a lesser extent, CFLs' to get a head start on both my spring and fall crops. To put it into perspective on the cost issue, I would spend $168 US to relamp a 4x6 bulb pattern CFL rack I built myself. It would adequately light a 3ft x 5ft area well enough to bring any garden veggie to transplant size. That system used 1,008 watts. With a 400 watt metal halide, it costs $23 US to re-lamp, and covers a 5ft x 5ft footprint with over double the lumens per watt than my CFl rack.
Oh man your light prices are fantastic ! After the last episode when we spoke about it I looked at my local shop and it was 600$ starting and going up from there. The bulbs were nearly 100$ each.
My whole Florescent light system cost me 80$ Canadian
Is there a duty tax if you order from the US? Alternative garden supply carries the Sun Systems digital 400 MH/HPS for $208. I'll tell you how I've gotten around paying exhorbitant prices for horticultural bulbs. I use the phillips compact metal halide standard clear. Since its designed for flood lamps, it will fit into any grow unit. The stats are 3000K, 39,000 lumens, and avg. life is 10,000 hrs before it really drops off. I did a price check today since I need to relamp before Jan, and they are up to $29 US now. Hope that helps if you decide to switch over. Maybe I helped convert someone else into HIDs.
On a side note, I've noticed a trend that it seems to be Canada-wide, that so many items are extremely expensive. Most of the products I use in my trade are manufactured in Canada, yet they are reasonably priced here( reasonable for high-end products).
There are lots of taxes on imports or even domestic stuff like this. It sounds like I might need to go to the US one day and see what I can grab :)
Thanks for creating these videos. Really appreciate taking time out to share the knowledge. You have been taking about energy requirement of plants - high energy requiring ones are tomatoes or peppers, and there are some low energy requiring plants.
Is there any list somewhere which says which plants need how much energy in terms of units that can be measured whether be it kelvin or lumen?
This will help growers or wannabe growers to do the right crop selection based on the lighting setup amongst other things.
Would be great if you can shed some information. Or any link in the internet where this can be found.. or may be right search strings for google :)
Cheers:)
Subham Sarkar unfortunately there are no lists that I know of however things like herbs are low energy, anything that puts off fruit is higher and a general rule of thumb is the larger the fruit the more energy is required.
I am really glad you enjoy the videos!
Great video! I'm just starting out now. I have a question for you if that's alright? I'm just curious at 2:30 you said we want to aim for 2100k and 6500k. How can we aim for both? Is it either / or? Many thanks
Hello Steven! Thank you so much for posting your very informative video series! I am in the process of setting up my own indoor grow system and plan on using two, 48 inch florescent tube lights in a light fixture. To achieve optimum growth and fruit yield, should I have one light that puts off 6500K and the other at 2100K to cover both spectrums of light that are ideal for photosynthesis? To me this would make sense, however the lighting kits at my local hard wear store seem to contain only tubes that produce 6500K. Am I missing something here?
Sean you are dead on. I have a Home Depot set with one bulb of each !
I am glad you found my video useful!
Very informative
I am glad you enjoyed it my friend !
Great video!
Thank you!
***** I got a few jalapeno plants growing, about 8 of them, 4-6 inches, just to see what will happen. I put 2 100w cfl's above them, we'll see what happens. Thanks
Good luck my friend!
TY!
Awesomes videoss, thanks a lot, i have plants indoors that get sun a lot of time but not always directly so as a help for them to grow them bigger i was planning to use CFL lights after seeing your videos but i will have to put then like a regular lightbulb because its on the front garage so i want to put then in a way that it looks like a regular illumination in a house, it will improve a little at least if i use strong lights or it have to be close to grew plants to have an effect? thanks in advancee and awesome work!!
glad I could help my friend!
What wattage would you recommended for growing peppers? You make very useful videos btw.
Glad I can help! The higher the watt the better for peppers.
Minimum would be mid 30 watt range
Ok. Off to Home Depot. Thanks, man.
so what is a best light schedule for a plant that is approx 10 inches tall? i have all the requisite lighting but just wanted to start with just one clone since its my first grow....can anybody help me out? when do i move the plant to a bigger pot? how big for 1 plant?
Good stuff. I have been having good luck with my 6 bulb T5 setup for starting plants. The MH light is just too hot for small plants.
I have had great luck with my system as well. If I could capture and use the heat in my house that would be different lol.
***** What heat!
Metal Halide (sp?) generate waste heat. CFL and LED do not :)
***** And they produce crazy growth with the right bulb.
I have seen people do that its nuts how fast they grow!
intresting that you start off on a 12 12 cycle! i use 18 12 then 12 12 2 months in
its not been a bad things with the crops I have grown. that said fruiting crops you are right 18 hours on works better
Growing indoors with CFL and Florescent Lights can be simple easy and cheap. On todays episode I show how I will be growing Tomatoes, Peppers, and Herbs among others indoors this winter.
#cfl #florescent #cfllight #florescentlights #indoorgrowing #growop #tomato #tomatoes #pepper #peppers #hotpeppers #herbs #basil #thyme #cheap
th-cam.com/video/g2UZc1j0rkc/w-d-xo.html
Complicated but very understandable.
Your video offer's me to find a larger space for growing indoors.
There are now 100-watt CFL's.
If I was to use Florescent-tubes../
...there would be difficulty removing the lights from that close proximity.
My last attempt w/tomato's.
I used 60-watt CFL's.
Shooting light as a X-across the bushy plants.
4-light fixtures.
And a shiny aluminum foil tent.
I never did pick a single tomato.
===
I will try again.
This video is interesting as to growing peppers.
its fairly easy to do my friend :) if you have questions let me know!
*****
I will.
I watched the other video explanation of lights.
Peppers would be very intense, they are a great food.
let me know how you do!
I grow indoor vegetables using shop light 32 watts bulb,tied three of them together with small pieces of wood and screws.Each panel will have 6 bulbs.The way I calculate it is for 16 hrs on daily is 32x6 x16 x30=92,160 watts per month.With the electric rate $.10 per kwh that would be $9.216/month.Am I correct,is there other way to calculate?
+Prasid Vongsnakorn I belive so. My system is a little larger and my power a little cheaper and I run about 14$ a month for power when I am up and running.
I moved what few cfl lights out side ,because if broken in your house the mercury content means all furniture in that room must be removed and destroyed.
I use a turkey baster to water my indoor seedlings.
Question: Would this work with aquatic freshwater plants ?
Hi Steven, another great little video of yours I've come across! When buying CFL lights, are lumens a factor I should look out for? I'm thinking of setting up a grow room to start chilli seedlings and maybe if it's cost effective, overwinter my plants. Is there a minimum range of lumens I should be aiming for? I have around 4 23w (130w equivalent) CFL 2700k 1450 lumen bulbs, and have just purchased 5 23w (125w equivalent) 6500k 1500 lumen bulbs, I'm also wondering if I should use something reflective, maybe Mylar, or reflective paint (which I prefer the sound of) would really appreciate your advice 👍🏻
As much as I don't like to reply to a well thought out comment with a link I do a much better job describing what you are looking for in this video :)
th-cam.com/video/QJjKQbbQqXM/w-d-xo.html
Thankyou Steven 👍🏻 I know what I'm looking for now
Glad I could help!
Looks awesome. Will you want to try our lights. We provdie LED plant grow light with special spectrum different plants to get better yield and less energy consumption.
I just need to put my sow seedling under the light until it is safe then transplant them in the ground. flower the vegetable seeds. Big dreams little space.
i HAVE 130w CFL GROW BULB. 6400K .WHATS THE IDEAL DISTANCE FROM THE PLANTS WITHOUT BURNING THEM. COULD YOU PLEASE SUGGEST.THANKS
Kat litter will also lower humidity
What do you recommend for a lemon tree that's about 4 ft, a banana tree thats 2 ft and a mandarin tree also 2 ft? I just got the banana tree and mandarin ealier this year and Ive had the lemon for about 4 yrs. they aren't fruiting yet. The lemon flowers but no big lemons as this past summer. I have a shop light I can mount and use.Just need to know which lamps I should get. T-5 will be good for these kinds of trees? Also how far away should the lamp be? The banana doesn't require direct sunlight believe it or not so Im thinking maybe a foot or two above them all and rotate them out and around. Hope to hear from you.Thanks for great videos
You will likely need something a little more powerful or mount a bag of lights in a cent-circle around your plants. The crops you have are tropical and usually need the most sun even through winter.
Hope that helps
Ok thanks for the response. So the T-5s wont be enough you think? If not what kind of bulbs/lamps should I get for the lighting fixture?
T5 are the best but they will likely not be enough to keep your plants happy.
So I have a 40W Sylvania Gro-Lux T12 and a Philips Plant and Aquarium T12 40W (24,000K). Do I need to invest in a 65,000 K bulb for vegetable seedlings, small indoor vegetables, and baby greens? Thanks for your help... I have read so many websites today and am pretty confused. Especially what is confusing is if the bulb itself looks like a cool light but can give a red spectrum.... Also, the websites don't seem to give the explicit Kelvin rating. What am I missing?
Are the tube lights the same as my lizard tanks have as my lizard is no longer would like to use the bulbs many thanks
So one of the bulbs I have is good I should probably switch out the 3500k for the 2100k, in your opinion do you think that would make a noticeable difference? Thanks again for all your help. My first attempt at growing this year was a disaster with the most leggiest plants I've ever seen. LOL
+Dan Swanson it should be alright. if you have issues with your plants looking weak you could swap them out at that point
What happens when I can't get any T5, can T8 or T12 be okay to grow lettuce, kale, and broccoli, or radish? or should I be
looking for cfl? thanks
Thanks hope next video u can make sub.. im not englsh natv speaker . So my listening was badd wkkw .. its easy to read than listen 😁
PAR with LEDs. Cheapest most reliable by far and no mercury vapor if broken.
I have built myself an indoor greenhouse that uses 2 4 foot t12 fluorescent bulbs and one 24 inch plant/aquarium light in the middle that works out great for getting things going and hold them over for a few months. but I'm looking to build a bigger indoor greenhouse will the colored party lights work for growing plants?
+Robert Stark no the colour party lights dont work as its simply the glass that is painted and not an actual amendment of the wavelengths. Might I suggest finding T4 fixtures for the new system? the send out more usable light per watt for your plants.
+Alberta Urban Garden Simple Organic and Sustainable ..... ok, thank you for the info ... I will see about getting another light fixture to copy what I already have and go from there and maybe add a few more lights to it.
Let me know how you do! I just finished building my new grow area and I cant be more happy!
Is there better bulbs I could get to do a better job than the ones I have? I have 40 watt fixtures?
6500k and 2100k are optimal and the higher the watt of the bulb the better.
I can't find T8 or T12 florescent tubes that emit the 2100K spectrum. Any suggestions? I would prefer a tube vs a CFL.
Hello, I'm getting ready to bring in my dwarf musa banana trees. I have a hydrofarm 400watt metal halide setup. I want them to grow just like they're outside and keep producing leafs. Could you give me any advice.
You may need more light on them. They are tropical so keeping the humidity right is important as well.
Good luck !
When growing from seed, do you keep the CFL's on 24/7, or do you run on a timer set to say 12 hours on, 12 off? How would you modify this light schedule after germination?
I just leave my lights on for 18 hours and off for 6. I don't change anything through out the season.
+Alberta Urban Garden Simple Organic and Sustainable thanks for the reply! Another quick question:
I have two normal metal construction lampshades and packs of 2700 (I could not find 2100 CFLs locally) and 6500 CFL's. The problem is, it is not possible to get the lamps close enough to the starter tray while also getting good overlap between the light from the different bulbs. So, during the germination/green growth starter stage, would you recommend continuing to use the different bulbs and rotating the tray 180 degrees halfway through the day - or - would you recommend just using the 6500 until into the stage where I want the plants to flower?
I know my setup is not ideal, but it is what I have and was the cheapest option readily available.
Thanks again.
it should work well enough to get some good plant growth.
Hello, I already have two T12 4' shop light fixtures with two 6500k bulbs and two 3500k bulbs is that good enough to germinate some tomato and pepper seeds indoors with heat mats under my trays? I just want to start indoors then move to outdoors.
Yup it should be good. It's just less efficient.
Is it possible for you to have to many watts of cfl when it's an inch above the plants? My clone looks like it's burnt or dying and idk why?
so when purchasing bulbs, i wanna look at the kelvin number, and get ones close to 6500 and 2100? not the lumens? why does this have to be confusing TnT
You want 6500k and anywhere between 1500-2000 lumens
What's the best company to get led grow lights that can be rebated by the government of ontario?
I am not sure my friend. I am unfamiliar with the system in Ontario.
Can someone just sumerize what type of light I should use
Here you go. Summary view video. th-cam.com/video/QJjKQbbQqXM/w-d-xo.html
So if I start seedlings with the lights,can they continue to grow into mature plants with the same lights?
Yes they can.
My friend said he thinks you would look good with a pony tail.
iget it grow a little in each corner cool it add up to about 2pounds
Well done.
but does it work for marijuana
Meanwhile......2023: Everyone using quantum boards LED's
Just buy led
Cheap NOT
Get a LEC and quit playing with toys