CFLs

[Baphomatt]

Greetings all,

I have learned so much from this site and I expect I will gain knowledge exponentially now that I've joined the forums. Thrilled to be here!

There is a fantastic article here at GWE on growing with CFL's. But (unless I misread) the only mediums mentioned are hydroponics and coco coir. Is there a reason CFL's don't work with soil as a medium? Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Baphomatt

[Masi808]

Cfls can work with any medium the trick is getting enough light....would be better off going with led or t5 imho

[Baphomatt]

Thanks! I get that there are better light choices, but thought CFL's may be a great option for a very small and or stealth grow. I do appreciate the quick response! (Disclaimer: My interest is academic. I live in a state where cannabis remains illegal and would not personally attempt to cultivate it until such time as our great leaders realize the multitude of benefits from legalization!)

[Potted]

CFLs work fine in soil for veg.will work but don't expect a large return in flower lol

[Green75]

I disagree with everything everyone has said...

Cfls work great..through veg and flower...great return...

Any medium...

Here is a pic....



This is an auto...

[Potted]

Wow,how long did that take? Looks like a lot of CFLs, any info would help.

[Green75]

12 bulbs...Two months

[doxiedaddy69]

I disagree also, 48 inches tall 2 ft wide. I definitely will upgrade to led in the future. Growing in fox farms soil, fox farms nutes! 16 cfls split 50/50 on daylight/soft white bulbs.

[PigSquishy]

I personally do not like CFL's because of the mercury vapor for one, I mean seriously I won't argue the negative points of using CFL's but you can look up the EPA's recommended hazmat clean up procedures to clean up if you break one of those bulbs and see the points people make on this are true and valid for those who choose to be concerned. By the time its all said and done, CFL's, clamp shop lights, a surge protector to plug them all in, and figuring out a way to make a small wood stand to clamp all the lights to... I'd personally just rather spend $40 and buy a HO T-5 by Sunbeam with a Nano-Tech reflector to increase the light return by 300% (they make that claim) and know I got the right light spectrum, and if you want to join it into making a T-5 panel for $10 they sell you the bar to join I think its a total of up to 5-6 of their T-5's together and come in varying lengths of 2-foot. I have also found the HO T-5's will run cooler than the CFL's, I can also buy the Red or Blue spectrum T-5 bulbs for reasonable prices if I wanted to stick to T-5's...

On the other hand I've seen a super bright LED panel, the P-150 by Platinum LED for $229, and still if price is a real issue I've bought the Grow Light from Walmart for $20 before which is just a standard fluorescent with a cover over the bulb to diffuse the light which worked rather well for the cheap price. Another cheap option I've used if the standard 4-foot fluorescent Shop Light which doesn't come with bulbs and costs $20 at most box stores back in the lighting-electrical department where they sell light bulbs like Walmart, then the bulbs cost you another $10-$20, and they even sell black lights for it too if you wanted to repurpose it later on for something else.

Before anyone considers Mars Hydro, I would take a moment to check out their company videos on YouTube, especially the one titled "We Are Mars Hydro" as I really like to dig into the company's I buy from, once you spend the money, if you have a problem later on with their product; I want to know what to expect in terms to the kind of help and support to expect from that company later on. I've used all of the above mentioned lighting at one point and time or another over the years, with the exception of Mars Hydro.

[Masi808]

Bossled on ebay is another cheap led and so is spyder farmer although spyder farmer have veg and flower on dimmers

[Masi808]

Cfl in veg ok it will work but for flower cfl is not good it wont get the yield even for a small grow u will be much happier with a small full spectrum led

[LuckyAcres]

I use green's recommended cfls 42w soft white as an addition to the leds and t5 above. Just a little extra light in dem corners. id use more but I ran out of amps, dunno where they went...oh wait...

[Green75]

Cfl in veg ok it will work but for flower cfl is not good it wont get the yield even for a small grow u will be much happier with a small full spectrum led

You are mistaken my friend...

[PRIMO]

I'm with you green.

[PuravidaC]

I only use CFL's (for now) for small, one plant, stealth grows and have had very good results. Of course strain has a lot to do with yeilds but I have gotten 5, quart mason jars full from one plant with CFL's.

[Baphomatt]

Thank you all for responding, you have been very helpful! So, yields aside, is there a significant difference in temperature and electricity consumption compared to, say, a 400W HID/ballast system?

[Soilscience]

Watts are watts. So a 400 watt hid will use approx the same amount of energy as 16 23 watt CFLs. Really more like 17 or more since the ballast uses more than a couple of watts.
The big difference is the penetration and distance issue. CFLs need to be adjusted daily for maximum effect. At least that is my experience. They can be very effective with proper defoliation.
All bulbs of any type will ultimately underperform a quality LED system. But there is a lot of experimenting with LED before we'll know what qualities we're looking for.
Because growing is done on a plane, rather than a circle or sphere, there's always a good bit of poorly utilized light emitting from the wrong side of a bulb. A flat LED, such as a COB, puts all of its energy in one direction. Notice in the pic I used the same number of lines to indicate light.

[PuravidaC]

No question there are better grow lights than CFL's. But for low cost, small grows, CFL's can produce good results.

[Green75]

Yes they can...holy moly

[Canyon Grower]

I have had very good results with cfls. They take a bit more tinkering, but that is half the fun of growing. Have used 14-16 35watt units at once. Did produce some heat, which had to be managed. But fun good grows nonetheless.

[PigSquishy]

Here is a fair comparison, that is a single T-5 Nano Tech 2-foot fluorescent by Sunblaster on the bottom facing upward, and the P-400 by Platinum LED on from the top and this photo was taken to prove the point of how deep down the LED is clearly penetrating through the canopy of the plants from the top down. It was questioned if the canopy was actually dense and just how much depth was I really getting the LED through, so this photo was set up to try to answer that question. But you can see for yourself the kind of light penetration each of the two lights is making through the layers of foliage.