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Im thinking of buying this 100 watt cfl to go into a box with a 250 watt hps. Would it help it out alot? Or should I use it for a veg room. Im also thinking about just buying fixtures and adding a few normal light bulb cfls instead of the one 100 watt cfl. Anyone using one of the 100 watt cfls? Im just looking for suggestions.
the light I looked at was a whole fixture like with a reflector, single 100 watt cfl. It said something about having or using 1000 watts.
I'm using two cfl's and they work out just fine. So to answer your question about using it with your hps, i say go with it. It would only boost the grow the way i see it, but i'm still learning the whole light process and everything so i'm interested in seeing other answers too
on my last grow i used 2 ,75 watt cfl's because of the space and heat issue. the buds came out pretty good, not as good or a dense as the hps but it was not a bad harvest at all.
lets compare the 100 watt cfl (not the 26 watt 100 watt equilivent type cfl). To a 100 watt Metal Halide. Im choosing between these two. Im also considering A 400 watt MH if I can come up with the cash.
HID lights (MH&HPS) put out more lumen's but they are lumen's most suited to be visible to humans or appear brighter to humans. that is not the light best suited for plants. 2700Kelvin is the optimal flowering range, 6500k is the optimal veg. range. even though the HID lights put out a significantly increased amount of lumen's, they are not actually all absorbed for growth by the plants. I think it's around about 65-70 percent of those lumen's are actually what plants need. They also run MUCH hotter and that also adds to loss of power over the distance you must keep them away.
CFL's don't produce as many lumen's but the lumen's are available in the ranges for the optimal plant growth in both phases. (2700k flower, 6500k veg.) they also burn cooler so you can get them much closer which means more lumen's absorbed.
that's really the basics of it..but hopefully that helps you understand the differences and reasons why getting either one.
Quote: Agent 47 said: HID lights (MH&HPS) put out more lumen's but they are lumen's most suited to be visible to humans or appear brighter to humans. that is not the light best suited for plants. 2700Kelvin is the optimal flowering range, 6500k is the optimal veg. range. even though the HID lights put out a significantly increased amount of lumen's, they are not actually all absorbed for growth by the plants. I think it's around about 65-70 percent of those lumen's are actually what plants need. They also run MUCH hotter and that also adds to loss of power over the distance you must keep them away.
It isn't just about lumens, but also about the intensity of the light and its ability to penetrate further down to the plants. With fluorescents, there will be problems with only the tops of the plants really developing. Also, even though MH or HPS lights might produce lumens that do not fill the needs of the plants, an HPS light produces quite enough red light for plants that are in the flowering state, and Metal Halide lights produce quite enough blue light for plants in the vegetative state (Ceramic Metal Halide producing enough of both ). Temperature is a concern that results from HID, but a MH is definitely going to be more capable of providing for a plant's vegetative needs than fluorescents will, and the same for an HPS for plants in flowering.