I need some advice on picking a grow light for my small grow space.
First off the grow space is 24" wide x 60" long x 60" tall. I am having trouble deciding whether I want to get a 125watt CFL with a reflector or get a 2' - 4bulb HO T5 bulbs are 24watts each. Could someone please guide or provide some information to aid me in my decision.
TF, i'm another newbie grower, but after scouring this forum, i'd come to the conclusion, that for the first grow, the biggest bang for the buck was CFLs, but not the 125W - 42 watt CFLs can be had on amazon for $9 (FEIT brand) - i got two of the 45W (they were $14) and donlt like them as much as the 42 watt ones at $9 - they're advertised as 40 watts but bulbs are marked 42
my thinking was a)cheaper b) i could spread the light around over a wider area of the grow space as the plants grew - those clamp light fixtures with a reflector bowl that painters use can be had at home depot for $9, and with one of the "Y" two into one socket adaptors means i can put two bulbs in one socket. And i can redirect the angle of the lights as need be. the bulbs are lined up kinda of like a domino with 8 dots, one pair every 12"
my grow space is 2' X 3', and i ended up getting two more of the clamp light fixtures with two more of the 2 into 1 socket, so now i've got a double set of bulbs every 12 inches. Built my reflector using roofing aluminum (24" wide) that bent real easily, cut a pc of 3/4" X 2" X39" strip of scrap wood and voila, i've an economic grow light. Total cost $72 for the bulbs (incl shipping), $32 for the clamp light fixtures. Roof flashing aluminum i already had. So for $104 i've got 336 watts (or 22400 lumens +) worth of light. Bulbs can be had in 6700K or 2700K, and what i plan on doing when the plants (3 plants) hit flowering stage, is switch some out to 2700K bulbs
the 8 bulbs are maybe a little excessive for the plants in the first few weeks, but when they're bushy, i'm going to want all the light i can get
btw, those painters fixtures are rated for 150 watts, so i could still double up and add another set of 2 into 1 socket adaptors and add 3 bulbs per fixture (to keep a margin under the 150 watt limit
but with the 8 bulbs, my cost is $0.74/day
what gave me confirmation on the pig tail CFLs was this thread here - in fact there's some good info on LSTing the plants - think i'm going that route, definitely means more buds per plant
https://www.autoflower.org/f43/my-one-plant-one-light-theory-20676.html
fwiw - hope it helps
