Outdoor Northen Lights Auto Grow Journal

[MisterHarpy]

i hear ya brother , but what if thats all you got? skint is skint in any language, if ya paying out silly money for shite weed and ya decide ta try and grow ya own with cfl then its cheaper , only saying coz thats my plan , but i hope ya get my point , it aint always about watt/gram/yield, its about love /respect necessity

No one was saying anything about watt gram yield , my point was she said she was gonna go get that fixture so I assumed she was going to go buy it, I've seen a fixture similar at Walmart for $30 with 6 bulbs that's already $40, and for 2 plants I don't think 6 bulbs is enough like the grow posted above he has 14 cfl, so 2 of those fixtures would work assuming shes buying them that's $80 in two fixtures with bulbs,so its preferable to dish out an extra $20 and just have a led, you understand now? if she has the fixtures laying around then yes it'll be cheaper, or just buying y-splitters and sockets and making a diy light, but position is key, and reflectors are also, as you will have light lost if you don't direct it towards the plants. I'm not saying anything about cfl being bad, I use cfl during veg, have a room just for veg with 6700k CFLs, and my plants love it. My point was if she's dishing a bunch of money on lights and fixtures and needing 2 different bulbs(spectrums), its a bit smarter to go with a led panel that will go from seed to flowering.

 

[hairyman]

No one was saying anything about watt gram yield , my point was she said she was gonna go get that fixture so I assumed she was going to go buy it, I've seen a fixture similar at Walmart for $30 with 6 bulbs that's already $40, and for 2 plants I don't think 6 bulbs is enough like the grow posted above he has 14 cfl, so 2 of those fixtures would work assuming shes buying them that's $80 in two fixtures with bulbs,so its preferable to dish out an extra $20 and just have a led, you understand now? if she has the fixtures laying around then yes it'll be cheaper, or just buying y-splitters and sockets and making a diy light, but position is key, and reflectors are also, as you will have light lost if you don't direct it towards the plants. I'm not saying anything about cfl being bad, I use cfl during veg, have a room just for veg with 6700k CFLs, and my plants love it. My point was if she's dishing a bunch of money on lights and fixtures and needing 2 different bulbs(spectrums), its a bit smarter to go with a led panel that will go from seed to flowering.

rBother , i seen ya grows , seen ya knowledge , seen ya love ,i respect ya , i wasnt having a dig , its just some times , skint is skint theres no point saying get a led , get a what ever from debay , hell if ya said get some lime ide be struggling, sometimes people have ta survive thats all ,

 

[guerilla]

Dont by lamp make a box and get cheap sockets.

 

[MisterHarpy]

If you already got the lamp, maybe putting a y splitter on each end that way it can hold 2 bulbs. They're only a couple bucks each. Maybe one daylight and one soft in each to get both spectrums.

 

[Spanglish]

If you got the cash and planning to run a few indoor grows then no doubt getting a cheap LED would be the way to go for sure. But if you are on a strict budget and/or are planning to grow outside most of the time then a cheap CFL box or cupboard is a great option, the lamp would be a waste of money though, would be cheaper and more effective to DIY it.

You would need reflection as mentioned before to stop light loss, Mylar is the best option by far and not to expensive if you can find somewhere that will sell it by cut lengths and not a whole roll, otherwise less effective but still a viable option is to use white paint won't provide as much reflection but still would be enough, don't use tin foil as this is even less effective and a waste of time, not to mention noisy with a fan blowing against it.

Just get the sockets for the lights and splitters if required will be alot cheaper than that lamp and give you full control how you position the lights. If you are capable of making up some DIY reflectors for the bulbs even better, but if not they will still get the job done just not quite as well.

Better still if it's only a couple of plants and they can be moved carefully and safely, use the box as supplemental lighting and when possible grow outside, but when the weather is cloudy or raining, and in the mornings and night when the sun is off the plants, put them under the lights.

You can check out the link In my signature for my grow where I made a CFL box from cardboard for these exact reasons as that was as far as my budget would stretch, I used 1 big CFL but in future will be adding more small sockets for extra lighting, is something I have learnt from this first grow in the box and will improve greatly how it works in the future, if you are on a budget then be creative and you can still have some nice grows, Neko said in my thread "utilizing what you have to its best potential" and he was spot on. If you can afford it then go with the LED for sure, but if not here are a few things to think about.

 

[oldster]

Hi Jessy, you want about 3000 lumens of CFL per sq ft now and about 4000 once plants are larger in a few weeks. Get a mix of warm and daylight color bulbs if possible. Putting the lights directly over the plants now but as they get bigger you want to be able to put some around the sides in order to give the most even lighting.

As other folks have said rig up something to help reflect light back onto the plants, this could be as simple as some white garbage bags, plywood painted white, etc. Good luck

ps if you want your thread moved to the CFL or indoor sections let us know and what you want the new title to be

 

[greenjeans]

I have seen this lumens per square foot claim before, and always wonder what it means exactly. A square foot is a linear measurement. Are we talking about cubic feet? If so, would that be cubic feet BELOW the lights? for instance, in a cab that is 2x3x4, are we talking a straight 24 cubic feet, or if the lights are actually a foot from the top, and the plant a foot above the bottom, is a grower to calculate for that lost space? In other words, if that were the case, you would be accounting for 12 cubic feet, rather than 24? If it is actually a linear, rather than cubic measurement, is it calculated by the height and diameter of the plant itself?

 

[greenjeans]

Because I gotta be honest, if I put that much light in my 2x3x4 cab, there is NO WAY I could keep it below 100 degrees.

 

[oldster]

I have seen this lumens per square foot claim before, and always wonder what it means exactly. A square foot is a linear measurement. Are we talking about cubic feet? If so, would that be cubic feet BELOW the lights? for instance, in a cab that is 2x3x4, are we talking a straight 24 cubic feet, or if the lights are actually a foot from the top, and the plant a foot above the bottom, is a grower to calculate for that lost space? In other words, if that were the case, you would be accounting for 12 cubic feet, rather than 24? If it is actually a linear, rather than cubic measurement, is it calculated by the height and diameter of the plant itself?

It is sq ft, recommendations for grow lamps in general are given in terms of how much you need to illuminate an area of floor space.

 

[MisterHarpy]

I've used this before to calculate but Idk hoe effective it is http://www.cannaversity.com/calculators/lighting.php