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 God
Yahweh
Registered: 09/26/08
Posts: 434
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 Veg lighting 
#290569 - 10/02/09 01:04 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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My veg area is 2.5'x3'x3' tall (7.5 sq ft). I'm trying to figure out the best way to light the area using cfls. I've read that 2000 lumens per sq ft is the minimum I should be aiming for. This means I need at least 15,000 lumens. I've also read that bigger cfls have a higher heat/lumen ratio than smaller ones. I just can't imagine fitting 10 1500 lumen bulbs in that small of a space.
Should I just go with larger bulbs and stop caring so much about efficiency? Any suggestions welcome.
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 moogles
Registered: 09/23/09
Posts: 196
Last seen: 13 years, 2 months
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: God]
#290610 - 10/02/09 02:11 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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My vote would be to get some 2' T5s.
Here
20k lumens right there, and probably less hazard than
sticking a bunch of CFLs in a small space like that.
Look around for a better deal on some T5s, just giving
you a rough idea.
Hope this helps.
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Harry_Ba11sach
cannoisseur
Registered: 04/20/08
Posts: 11,753
Loc: Nepal 
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: God]
#290696 - 10/02/09 04:50 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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most hardware stores sell sockets that plug directly into an outlet and power a bulb for only about $2 each. I just got a Couple power strips and plugged about 10-15 of those in to get good dense, even coverage.
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Tcrib
Stranger
Registered: 09/03/09
Posts: 125
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: God]
#290731 - 10/02/09 06:03 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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Use something similar to these...
http://www.growell.co.uk/g/443/Sun-Mate-Grow-CFL-Reflector-including-complete-kits-
A couple of those would do the job perfectly. I'm not recommending that site I have no experience with them but those would do fine.
On another note CFL's produce more heat per watt than MH/HPS lamps...So if you used 2 of those I see no reason to just not get a HPS of a similar wattage n make it work.
I guess its the amount of money you have to spend.
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Harry_Ba11sach
cannoisseur
Registered: 04/20/08
Posts: 11,753
Loc: Nepal
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: Tcrib]
#290744 - 10/02/09 06:22 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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such a waste of money for those things. the primary advantage to CFL's is the cost, why shell out a couple hundred bucks for a system that I promise won't be as nice of a yield as a bunch of smaller bulbs from the hardware store
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Tcrib
Stranger
Registered: 09/03/09
Posts: 125
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Convenience...That's about the only reason...Fuck mounting all those tubes.
I do agree the tubes are better if you want to take the time to do it correctly, but I'm lazy.
Its just easier to hang 2 of those things and practically get the same coverage as a dozen of the other bulbs.
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moogles
Registered: 09/23/09
Posts: 196
Last seen: 13 years, 2 months
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Quote:
Harry_Ba11sach said:
such a waste of money for those things. the primary advantage to CFL's is the cost, why shell out a couple hundred bucks for a system that I promise won't be as nice of a yield as a bunch of smaller bulbs from the hardware store
Harry, I do agree with your sentiments.
CFLs are cheap, efficient, and can grow tasty buds.
I used them my 3rd go around with 1 T5(other one was never returned ).
One lady blossomed into a crystally treat for her short size. It was my first real success.
Many other people have also used them effectively.
The only arguments I have heard/experienced against CFLs are:
a) they are very hazardous if they break
and
b) they emit a lot of heat, the more you have
the more you have to deal with temp.
I love bargain growing, don't get me wrong.. but if
you have the money to spend, it's worth getting a good MH+HPS!!
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God
Yahweh
Registered: 09/26/08
Posts: 434
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: moogles]
#291667 - 10/04/09 12:09 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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Thanks for all the replies!
I've looked into t5's, they seem great as far as watts to lumens and lack of heat output, but the 4 bulb 2' system has this to say: "2,000 lumens per lamp, 8,000 total lumen for this fixture." since I could probably only fit one in my space (and can only afford one!), it seems like my lumen problem is still unsolved.
I may get a 250w hid, but I think I'm just going to go with cfls for now. I have 6 fixtures to wire up together, probably run out and get a few more today.
Either way, I have a 600w switchable hid for flowering, so I may use that for veg in the first round.
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moogles
Registered: 09/23/09
Posts: 196
Last seen: 13 years, 2 months
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: God]
#291866 - 10/04/09 06:59 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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Edited by moogles (10/04/09 07:03 PM)
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God
Yahweh
Registered: 09/26/08
Posts: 434
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: moogles]
#292015 - 10/04/09 09:52 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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That's the 4' model, which is unfortunately too long for my cab. The 2' model is only 8000 lumens, which doesn't seem worth the $130.
So I was wiring up my light sockets today, adding a socket, plugging into wall to see if it works, adding a socket, plugging, over and over to note which sockets work and which don't. One thing I noticed was that each time I added a socket in series, all the lights on the wire got dimmer and flickered more (23w cfls). I don't know a lot about electricity, but I was under the impression that I could hook a bunch of sockets together in series on one extension cord. Am I doing something basic wrong?
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Harry_Ba11sach
cannoisseur
Registered: 04/20/08
Posts: 11,753
Loc: Nepal
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: God]
#292063 - 10/04/09 11:16 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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stretching 20,000 lumens over 8 sq feet seems a little deficient in my opinion
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moogles
Registered: 09/23/09
Posts: 196
Last seen: 13 years, 2 months
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: God]
#292194 - 10/05/09 05:15 AM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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This entire time I've been seeing the 4' as a 2'.
My bad, God.
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God
Yahweh
Registered: 09/26/08
Posts: 434
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: moogles]
#292237 - 10/05/09 09:45 AM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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It's cool, moogles, I appreciate your help.
Harry, what sort of lumen/sq ft ratio would you recommend? Most people seem to suggest >2000, but I've seen more.
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Harry_Ba11sach
cannoisseur
Registered: 04/20/08
Posts: 11,753
Loc: Nepal
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: God]
#292243 - 10/05/09 10:02 AM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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I would like to go more. I just go with the solar constant of 1346W/m^2 hitting our planet at the top of the atmosphere and roughly half being deflected/absorbed by various atmospheric particles and molecules leaves about 400W-600W (depending on latitude and altitude) per square meter at ground level. I don't usually deal with lumens in my atmospheric science classes, but if you can get 250W-400W in your cabinet without heat issues you will see a HUGE increase in quality and yield over those T5's
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God
Yahweh
Registered: 09/26/08
Posts: 434
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This is just the veg cabinet, though. I have another chamber with a 600w hid for flowering. Shouldn't 2000-2500 lumens/sq ft be acceptable to keep some moms and clones happy?
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Harry_Ba11sach
cannoisseur
Registered: 04/20/08
Posts: 11,753
Loc: Nepal
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Re: Veg lighting [Re: God]
#292558 - 10/05/09 09:25 PM (15 years, 1 month ago) |
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oh just for mom's and clones? then yeah, that should be fine. I like to veg under a little more light than that just to keep the internode length to a minimum, but for moms and clones that's pretty much perfect.
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God
Yahweh
Registered: 09/26/08
Posts: 434
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I'm thinking I'll have more light concentrated on the vegging plants than on the moms and clones, but have them in the same chamber for convenience.
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