G
Guest
Hello,your interested in the use of fluorescent lighting for growing.
Good choice.
You are not scared away by the abundance of negitivity directed at fluorescents, are you brave, insane, feel a need to be diffrent? No.
There are plenty of ney sayers and myths out there about the inabliity to utilize fluorescent lighting as the primary source of light for growth. This is primarly due to 1. Hear say,"I herd there worthless once, so now i tell eveyone that" 2. Fluorescents are seen as beginer gear and not given seccond thought. 3. Lots of newbie growers use fluros due to there somewhat inexpensive cost, Newbie growers dont know how to grow and end up blaming their gear instead of their abilities. Futher adding to the bad rap of fluorescent lighting.
Fact is you'r probly at a point were your looking for lights to run through out your plants vegitative stage.Or mabie a low cost alertnitive to other grow lights.Looking for a cooler solution to HID lighting. No matter your problem fluorescent lighting can probly provide a solution.
Flowering with fluorescents is possible and can be done. The results are more often then not a lighter more airy less dence bud structure then can be had from HID lighting. This is almost always the case unless a skilled grower with the propper setup and knowledge is behind those fluorescents.
I personaly will never atempt to flower plants with fluros.
With that being said if fluros are your only means to run a grow then go for it with time and the information provided on this site, in time your efforts will be rewarded from the knowlegde gained during the growing experience.
So Now your all ready to go out and get some fluorescent lighting for your self.
Ok your back home now confused CFL, T-8, T-5, T-12, Ballast, Pulse start, Electronic start, Whatcham duhikkie, oooo my head hurts time to medicate.
Ballast: an electrical device used with fluorescent or HID (high intensity discharge) lamps to supply sufficient voltage to start and operate the lamp but then to limit the current during operation.
Color Rendering Index (CRI): a measure of a lamp’s ability to render colors accurately. The scale ranges from 1 (low pressure sodium) to 100 (the sun). A CRI of 85 is considered to be very good.
Color Temperature: a measure of the color appearance of a light source which helps describe the apparent "warmth" (reddish) or "coolness" (bluish) of that light source. Generally, light sources below 3200K are considered "warm;" while those above 4000K are considered "cool" light sources. The color temperature of a lamp has nothing to do with how hot the lamp will get or how much heat is given off by the lamp. The letter, K, stands for Kelvin.
Rapid Start: a fluorescent system that does not require starters and takes 1 to 2 seconds to emit light. The ballast preheats the electrodes within the fluorescent lamp and initiates the arc without a starter or the application of high voltage.
Wattage: the amount of electrical power consumed by a lamp or light fixture measured in “watts”. One watt is equal to the power dissipated by 1 ampere of electrical current flowing across a resistance of 1 ohm or the power produced by 1 ampere of electrical current under an electromotive force of 1 volt. One horsepower is equal to 746 watts.
Formulae: watts = volts x amps, P = V x I, electrical power = electromotive force x electric current.
Instant Start: refers to fluorescent lamps that start instantly without pre-heating the cathodes and without the need for starters.
Efficacy: a measure used to compare light output to energy consumption. Efficacy is measured in lumens per watt. A 100-watt light source producing 1750 lumens of light has an efficacy (efficiency) of 17.5 lumens per watt (L/W)
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL): a generic name used for a whole family of small, single-ended fluorescent lamps with a folded, bridged, or spiral glass tube design and with high color rendering (CRI>80) and a long life (>8,000 hours). Cfl's have self contained ballasts.
FluoreX - Is a CFL Made by lights of america designed as a security flood light, can be used by growers for lighting. The bulb is 65w.I belive they only sell the white/blue spectrum bulb for their application.
Envirolights - Are are CFL's With Higher wattages specificly designed with the grower in mind, avalible in both blue and red spectrum
* I've Used both Enviorlights and FluoreX, I disagree with both.
I dont advise the use nor preach any benifits to CFL's
I feel they take up more wattage and give off more heat then a fluro should.
With a fluorescent light you have a faster rate of light intensity drop with in a smaller distance then other lights, as the light is less intence. With CFL lights getting as hot as they do it defeates a main benifit of growing with fluorescents wich is being able to place your plants .5 - 4.0In From the Bulbs, wich can not be done with CFL's as they get to hot and give off to much heat.
-------------------T- This T- That
T- stands for Tube
T12's - The standard shop lights hanging in our garage, that we thought would grow us a forest of pot when we first got the idea to grow. little did we know we were right. Now while thease are not the best there getting close they hold a decent watt/lumen ratio and stay cool enough to be able to counter their heat with a small fan. And most inportantly stay cool enough to get those lumnens there giving off practicly touching the plant with no harm.
T 8’s - Now You got it, This is is to me this is my holy grai for fluorescents.
A very good lumen to watt ratio. Smaller bulb then the t-12, stays significantly cooler then the smaller t'5s. 2850Lumes give or take for the average T8 bulb gives us an efficency of
87 lumens per watt. Pretty dam efficent for my money id have to say. 4ft 32watt T8 blubs on a homemade rack packed close, works great for growing.With a small breeze on the bulbs they can stay cool enough to not burn the plants if they happen to grow in to them. a small fan on the ballasts also helps keep things running cooler.
T5’s - If you wanna give thease a shot they have a greater intensity and more penitration power. i recomend thease to those who have their temperature under control or were a hotter light is not an issue. Thease lights are to hot to let the plants touch them. I would suggest useing thease in conjunction with t8’s.
T6’s - ive herd of this but have not looked much in to it.
I don’t want to touch to much on any other fluro’s becides the t8’s and t5’s as these fluros have more far more benifits then down falls in my opinion and i can not say the same for other types of fluros.
In the following i will describe the design insipred by Overgrows Dubphiend.
First This Persons avitar in dedication to the man with the plan the caused me and im sure many to give fluros a shot.
Seccond a Diagram With some instructions on buildding the lighting rack.
Wiring diagrams
And not the best view, but a shot of a completed light rack with moveable levels. You can also devide this to be droped and hightend with some sort of pully system if youd rather move the lights then the level of your plants.
And just some final notes, Plants can be grown under very low amounts of light, im not saying to do so or that theres any benifits, just that a plant is capable of growing under very under lits conditions. This is all from one observation- the following a male plant grown under 60 watts of fluros with little to no special attention payed to it.
Lastly heres a plants vegged under my t8's
Added slightly after submission - Dubphiend is around icmag, guess the last thing i did was check for that anyways take a look at his pix for some good pix of the lighting rack.
* The contents of this thread are a work in progress.
Good choice.
You are not scared away by the abundance of negitivity directed at fluorescents, are you brave, insane, feel a need to be diffrent? No.
There are plenty of ney sayers and myths out there about the inabliity to utilize fluorescent lighting as the primary source of light for growth. This is primarly due to 1. Hear say,"I herd there worthless once, so now i tell eveyone that" 2. Fluorescents are seen as beginer gear and not given seccond thought. 3. Lots of newbie growers use fluros due to there somewhat inexpensive cost, Newbie growers dont know how to grow and end up blaming their gear instead of their abilities. Futher adding to the bad rap of fluorescent lighting.
Fact is you'r probly at a point were your looking for lights to run through out your plants vegitative stage.Or mabie a low cost alertnitive to other grow lights.Looking for a cooler solution to HID lighting. No matter your problem fluorescent lighting can probly provide a solution.
Flowering with fluorescents is possible and can be done. The results are more often then not a lighter more airy less dence bud structure then can be had from HID lighting. This is almost always the case unless a skilled grower with the propper setup and knowledge is behind those fluorescents.
I personaly will never atempt to flower plants with fluros.
With that being said if fluros are your only means to run a grow then go for it with time and the information provided on this site, in time your efforts will be rewarded from the knowlegde gained during the growing experience.
So Now your all ready to go out and get some fluorescent lighting for your self.
Ok your back home now confused CFL, T-8, T-5, T-12, Ballast, Pulse start, Electronic start, Whatcham duhikkie, oooo my head hurts time to medicate.
Ballast: an electrical device used with fluorescent or HID (high intensity discharge) lamps to supply sufficient voltage to start and operate the lamp but then to limit the current during operation.
Color Rendering Index (CRI): a measure of a lamp’s ability to render colors accurately. The scale ranges from 1 (low pressure sodium) to 100 (the sun). A CRI of 85 is considered to be very good.
Color Temperature: a measure of the color appearance of a light source which helps describe the apparent "warmth" (reddish) or "coolness" (bluish) of that light source. Generally, light sources below 3200K are considered "warm;" while those above 4000K are considered "cool" light sources. The color temperature of a lamp has nothing to do with how hot the lamp will get or how much heat is given off by the lamp. The letter, K, stands for Kelvin.
Rapid Start: a fluorescent system that does not require starters and takes 1 to 2 seconds to emit light. The ballast preheats the electrodes within the fluorescent lamp and initiates the arc without a starter or the application of high voltage.
Wattage: the amount of electrical power consumed by a lamp or light fixture measured in “watts”. One watt is equal to the power dissipated by 1 ampere of electrical current flowing across a resistance of 1 ohm or the power produced by 1 ampere of electrical current under an electromotive force of 1 volt. One horsepower is equal to 746 watts.
Formulae: watts = volts x amps, P = V x I, electrical power = electromotive force x electric current.
Instant Start: refers to fluorescent lamps that start instantly without pre-heating the cathodes and without the need for starters.
Efficacy: a measure used to compare light output to energy consumption. Efficacy is measured in lumens per watt. A 100-watt light source producing 1750 lumens of light has an efficacy (efficiency) of 17.5 lumens per watt (L/W)
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL): a generic name used for a whole family of small, single-ended fluorescent lamps with a folded, bridged, or spiral glass tube design and with high color rendering (CRI>80) and a long life (>8,000 hours). Cfl's have self contained ballasts.
FluoreX - Is a CFL Made by lights of america designed as a security flood light, can be used by growers for lighting. The bulb is 65w.I belive they only sell the white/blue spectrum bulb for their application.
Envirolights - Are are CFL's With Higher wattages specificly designed with the grower in mind, avalible in both blue and red spectrum
* I've Used both Enviorlights and FluoreX, I disagree with both.
I dont advise the use nor preach any benifits to CFL's
I feel they take up more wattage and give off more heat then a fluro should.
With a fluorescent light you have a faster rate of light intensity drop with in a smaller distance then other lights, as the light is less intence. With CFL lights getting as hot as they do it defeates a main benifit of growing with fluorescents wich is being able to place your plants .5 - 4.0In From the Bulbs, wich can not be done with CFL's as they get to hot and give off to much heat.
-------------------T- This T- That
T- stands for Tube
T12's - The standard shop lights hanging in our garage, that we thought would grow us a forest of pot when we first got the idea to grow. little did we know we were right. Now while thease are not the best there getting close they hold a decent watt/lumen ratio and stay cool enough to be able to counter their heat with a small fan. And most inportantly stay cool enough to get those lumnens there giving off practicly touching the plant with no harm.
T 8’s - Now You got it, This is is to me this is my holy grai for fluorescents.
A very good lumen to watt ratio. Smaller bulb then the t-12, stays significantly cooler then the smaller t'5s. 2850Lumes give or take for the average T8 bulb gives us an efficency of
87 lumens per watt. Pretty dam efficent for my money id have to say. 4ft 32watt T8 blubs on a homemade rack packed close, works great for growing.With a small breeze on the bulbs they can stay cool enough to not burn the plants if they happen to grow in to them. a small fan on the ballasts also helps keep things running cooler.
T5’s - If you wanna give thease a shot they have a greater intensity and more penitration power. i recomend thease to those who have their temperature under control or were a hotter light is not an issue. Thease lights are to hot to let the plants touch them. I would suggest useing thease in conjunction with t8’s.
T6’s - ive herd of this but have not looked much in to it.
I don’t want to touch to much on any other fluro’s becides the t8’s and t5’s as these fluros have more far more benifits then down falls in my opinion and i can not say the same for other types of fluros.
In the following i will describe the design insipred by Overgrows Dubphiend.
First This Persons avitar in dedication to the man with the plan the caused me and im sure many to give fluros a shot.
Seccond a Diagram With some instructions on buildding the lighting rack.
Wiring diagrams
And not the best view, but a shot of a completed light rack with moveable levels. You can also devide this to be droped and hightend with some sort of pully system if youd rather move the lights then the level of your plants.
And just some final notes, Plants can be grown under very low amounts of light, im not saying to do so or that theres any benifits, just that a plant is capable of growing under very under lits conditions. This is all from one observation- the following a male plant grown under 60 watts of fluros with little to no special attention payed to it.
Lastly heres a plants vegged under my t8's
Added slightly after submission - Dubphiend is around icmag, guess the last thing i did was check for that anyways take a look at his pix for some good pix of the lighting rack.
* The contents of this thread are a work in progress.
Last edited:
yer pal gp 
