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InvisiblephychotronM
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Registered: 02/17/11
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Re: growing one plant question (NOT an autoflower) [Re: cannabispatient]
    #816473 - 07/05/16 02:49 PM (8 years, 6 months ago)

CFL's can get some dense bud if done properly, but they're not ideal and tend to cost a lot more in the long run with bulb replacements. The do produce a considerable amount of heat that needs to be dealt with, more so than an LED but much less than HID.

When using fluorescent lighting I prefer it as supplemental light rather than a primary source. T5 fixtures are good for side lighting and can help get a much heftier harvest by getting deeper into the canopy than the primary light. You get the REALLY close to the plants with fans on them and they will fill out well. What's nice is when you have T5's you have the option of mixing the bulbs up so you can put a bunch of 2700k and a few 6500k to fill out the spectrum, or in veg you can just swap the bulbs out.

I've never used the large CFL's but those tend to be too expensive for what they are, but also not as good as a T5 since it spreads the light out very evenly. (ebay, don't buy a used T5, people just buy new fixtures to get the new bulbs then sell the old bulbs/fixture)

My HPS plants are not nearly as happy as the LED plants, they tend to need more attention to counteract the effects of the bulb on the environment(fans, exhaust, A/C, dehumidifier). The HPS heats everything it shines on and all the walls and leaf needs to be cooled, not just the air temperature.

I normally don't recommend low end LED fixtures but people with low yield requirements can benefit the most from those. $1-200 on a cheap LED might be all you need. Warning: don't just buy a cheap LED, their are some generics that work better than others which might be a glorified light-bright that won't produce anything.

If you went with an auto-flower you could just leave the plant in any room with a small fan on it with no ventilation. Just gotta make sure that room doesn't get super hot in the summer, if its humid open a window, or not since its probably just a temporary weather spike.

With a non-auto you'd also need a small tent (or light proof enclosure) and a small exhaust fan no matter what the light source is. I'd just keep the fan running 24/7 on low, crank it up on hot/humid days. I like the walls of the tent to suck inward, it seems to help the plants when under negative pressure.

On a side note, Lumens (LUX) are a measure of human eyes ability to see light. Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) is what the plant sees. LED grow lights are commonly rated by PAR value since its the most accurate way to tell how much light your getting to your plants. The light from an HPS for example is 80-90% unusable by the plant (as heat/IR/light.) 

Each light source has its benefits and applications, HPS are the cheapest to get into for the light they produce ($200 for a xl hood, 1000w bulb and dim-able hps/mh electronic balast, vs $1500 for a 600w LED that compares) and the area they cover. CFL's are cheaper to get started with, especially if you have a fixture laying around already. If you buy a few extra fixtures and the 26w bulbs and some power strips and extension cords... the price starts to add up but still can get started with under $100 but you won't have nearly the flower power had you gone with 150w HPS.

LED's are a tricky subject since they are still in development. They are the way of the future and I think the ideal light source for the plant when you get a good quality fixture. They plug right in to either 110/220V, just gotta hang it. They produce less heat than both aforementioned types and project less useless light onto the plants, and in turn heat the leaf surface less. The majority of the heat is exhausted out the top of the fixture directly into the air and can be readily sucked out with ventilation. HID's excessive useless light shines on everything: the walls, equipment and worst of all the plants. That turns to heat that needs to be shed from the leaf and equipment into the air first, then exhausted. The reason why the temperature needs to be lower in an HID environment is to drive the heat off the plant faster, through temperature differential.


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