300w Giant CFL Grow

Wu Wei · Apr 7, 2014

Hi I am new here and also new to growing, I have just set up a little room and would really like some advice or info if possible.

I am using a 300w giant CFL (dual spectrum) I would like to know if this light is any good? I have just heard they are useless for flowering, is that correct? Feeling gutted because I payed £56 for this light with reflector, and I could have purchased a 600w HPS for the same price!

My room is 0.7m (W) 0.6m (L) 1.5m (H) cheaply done (foil for reflection) I have a 6inch clip on fan, no extraction or air comming in but the bulb is not exactly hot I can touch the bulb.

The strains I am growing are big buddha cheese and green house seeds Kalashnikova.

Thanks you for reading all and please feel free to share advice. Here are some pics of the plants at day 1 (today) and a pic of the light because I would like some advice on it if possible.

Jellyfish · Apr 7, 2014

It should work.
A 600 HPS adds plenty of heat to a grow, CFL's hardly any. That's the main advantage, imo. HPS users will tell you CFL's won't work, but they're dead wrong.
Might be a little too much for those little seedlings, though.

Wu Wei · Apr 7, 2014

I hope it dose, I have faith! I have been looking through the CFL club and people are producing some nice looking buds... I have heard that the HPS lamps produce high heat and I do not want that so CFL is the best option then! I might heighten the light now they do look a bit funny maybe it is too much for them, this bulb is HUGE! And thank you for the advice and help Jellyfish!

lost in a sea · Apr 8, 2014

the seedlings will be ok just keep the light at least 18" away till they get a bit bigger.

the cfl will work perfectly well for flowering, you have 50-100 watts per square foot which is a decent amount, and the light is new so is kicking out it's full amount of energy, and those lights (cfls in general) are much better for vegging than HPS imvho.

you will need a small clip on fan to get some air movement and you might ditch the foil because the crinkles in it can focus the light and burn leaves.

vegging plants quite like a misting once or twice a day. but try not to water them very much as they can't drink it hardly at the moment, being only on dicot leaves at the moment, about 150ml every few days would suffice unless your box is hitting very high temperatures. if you weigh the pots by hand they should be quite light indicating they are just nicely lightly moist throughout and not soaking.

make sure the light isn't heating the box area up too much as well, around 18-25 celcius is ideal but the area between the seedlings and the light may get above 30 so like i say watch temps and get a small fan or you may dry them out/burn them. At the moment they would get enough light from a 20 watt cfl..

Wu Wei · Apr 8, 2014

I am glad they will be ok I heightened the light because they did not look right, the leaves were strange but they seem to be growing more now.

That is great the cfl will be fine for flowering, I did read that cfl's are really good for vege but terrible for flowering that is why I was weary about the flowering stage. Yea the light is brand new and very bright which is great.

I have ordered a 6inch clip on fan, thought it would arrive today but it did not so hopefully tomorrow... I know what you mean about the crinkles in the foil there is quite a few, I did not know it could burn the leaves though, thanks for telling me! I am thinking of buying a 0.8m by 0.8m tent when I have the cash though, definitely before I flower the girls.

I was unaware that the seedlings only like a bit of water, it was quite dry in there earlier and I watered them from the bottom but gave quite a bit and now the soil is soaked all the way to the top, At least I know now. The pots are not light now but now I know for future watering while they are small.

I don't think its too hot in there but I don't really know to be honest, it feels like a nice kind of warmth, I will have to purchase a thermometer very soon though to find out how warm its getting in there. My fan should definitely be here tomorrow so that will make things a bit better and move air around, it dose feel a lot warmer between the light and plants. Yea I did read that seedlings can grow on one 20w cfl but I thought the more light the better, but now I understand that seedlings do not need much light.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge and advice, peace brother.

lost in a sea · Apr 8, 2014

yeah they can take being overwatered a little just don't leave them perpetually soaked.

many people can't use HPS so use cfls or leds and get some great results, part of it is attempting to prevent stretch by pinching stems and topping growth tips to get a nice even canopy, ideally you would want the cfl quite near to the nugs in the end to get the best results but it's is all part of the learning process.

well it wouldn't take long before a 20w light wouldn't be enough, but for the first couple of sets of leaves they will grow equally well with very little light.

I actually use those same cfls in a few of my veg boxes so i know they do a good job.

the heat from it will probably be fine, i just wanted to mention that because new growers often don't think about temps spiking around babies..

Wu Wei · Apr 8, 2014

I won't be watering them so much next and I will pick up the pots to feel the weight like you said, that is a really good way to see how much water is in the pots.

I think I will just stick with the cfl lights, the thought of the high temperature from the HPS is a bit worrying and I might get another 300w to flower so I will be pushing out 600 actual watts close to 45000 lummens. I have looked at LED's but they are too expensive for me.

I have been reading a lot about getting bigger yield and learning about topping, super cropping, lolly popping and LST, I think I will top them and LST them to try to get the evan canopy because I read that cfl dose not push the light as far as HPS, so if I can get a evan canopy and lolly pop them hopefully I could have some nice top nuggz! Yeas it is all about the learning process and I am very happy to be learning growing is a lot more interesting than I thought.

I did not think a 20w would support growth for a while, I did read that we can start seedlings with one 20w but then they would start needing more lummens fast.

That's awesome that you use the same cfl's for vege, have you ever flowered with one? Do you think two of these lights would produce some tidy nuggz in the flowering stage, if I put the effort in too its obviously not just about the light.

Yea the heat dose not seem boiling or anything, I don't know how warm it should feel in there but I know it should not be hot! Yea no worries I understand you are just helping me and I am grateful of that!

Granger2 · Apr 9, 2014

Wu Wei,
You've got about 3.75 sq. ft, lit with 300w. That's 79w/sq.ft. That's plenty. Keep your plants short, and lollypop them. Don't top them after the last week of veg. Just lollypop and remove entire limbs to ease crowding. Acomplishing a good canopy just before flipping to 12/12 is where the skill comes in. Height is your enemy, especially with CFL's. Your scissors and pruners are your friends. Have your daylength no longer than 18/6. You'll want to remove any more than 4 growing tips/sq.ft., which would be about 15 total in your space. I'm mean at the top of the canopy. Good luck. -granger

Wu Wei · Apr 9, 2014

Hi Granger, ah right that is good then that the light is enough but now I have no reflection on the walls because I ripped all the tin foil out earlier because it was just terrible, noisy and full of crinkles.

Ok I will do the best that I can to keep them short for the best results! No problem I will not top them a week before and I will lolly pop them to remove bottom growth.

I was reading a awesome thread with one of big buddha's techniques where he tops at the 5th node then continues growth for one week, ties the whole plant down and then ties all the branches to create a evan canopy, the plants grow like a real ball shaped bush with evan canopy. Have you ever heard of anyone using this techniqe?

Yea that's what I would like to acheive, a nice evan canopy. Haha yeas my scisors and prunes will be my friend!

Why should I have my daylight no longer than 18:6? I am running them now on 24/0 is that bad I read they actually grow more and don't need darkness through vege?

I don't quite understand what you mean about removing 4 growing tips/square feet? I was only planning on topping once then some LST

Thanks for the help brother!

Jellyfish · Apr 10, 2014

Wu Wei said:
Why should I have my daylight no longer than 18:6? I am running them now on 24/0 is that bad I read they actually grow more and don't need darkness through vege?

People do it both ways (and in between, like 20/4).
Read up on it to decide what's best for you.

Wu Wei · Apr 10, 2014

Jellyfish said:
People do it both ways (and in between, like 20/4).
Read up on it to decide what's best for you.

I have done some reading on the lighting times and Iam going to keep them on 24/0 untill they are two or three weeks old and then drop it to 20/4 and continue with vege untill I flip them

Wu Wei · Apr 10, 2014

These two girls arrived today (sweet seeds cream caramel fast version) ( Auto blue diesel) and have been put into germination :woohoo:

Well · Apr 10, 2014

HPS is like "king of the hill", BUT you can do a great grow with CFL as well, i´v done many grows under CFL light, just keep the plants close to the bulb (without them leafs burning).
CFL is fun to play with, you dont get the heat issue and all that, and that gives you opportunities for some bad ass ninja stealth grows

Dame, i missed growing weed so bad

but now im up n running again, with some cool shit

Wu Wei · Apr 10, 2014

Well said:
HPS is like "king of the hill", BUT you can do a great grow with CFL as well, i´v done many grows under CFL light, just keep the plants close to the bulb (without them leafs burning).
CFL is fun to play with, you dont get the heat issue and all that, and that gives you opportunities for some bad ass ninja stealth grows

Dame, i missed growing weed so bad but now im up n running again, with some cool shit

Yea I have been told I can get the CFL close to the plants, I hope all goes well and I don't burn the leaves or buds! What kind of yield's have you had with CFL? My room is not exactly stealth size but its not big either...

That is really good to hear you are back up and running your grow! You got a thread or any pics? What strains you got on the go? :ying:

DeepestCover · Apr 10, 2014

It is true that the heat produced by that cfl is nowhere near that of a hps lamp. But I can tell you that it wont be exactly "cool" either. You will still need something bigger than just a couple of computer fans.

I used to grow with a 250w cfl and it definetly did it's job. I recommend you look into LST(low stress training) so you can atchieve the best possible results as cfl's have fairly poor light penetration.

Granger2 · Apr 10, 2014

Buddha isn't growing in a 2x2. 24/0 and 20/4 I fear will cause excessive height unless you stay on top of it all the time. Plus, you get diminshing returns on growth/power consumption. Since cfl's don't penetrate very far, you don't want height. Ideally, the plants will be no taller than the light will penetrate. Or, they can be taller, lollypopped, so that light can penetrate to the bottom of the canopy. Just don't have too many growing tips at the top, or you'll cut down on light penetration and get a bunch of very small buds. Get some indoor, scrubable, 0 VOC, flat white latex paint for your walls, ceiling.-granger

Wu Wei · Apr 11, 2014

DeepestCover said:
It is true that the heat produced by that cfl is nowhere near that of a hps lamp. But I can tell you that it wont be exactly "cool" either. You will still need something bigger than just a couple of computer fans.

I used to grow with a 250w cfl and it definetly did it's job. I recommend you look into LST(low stress training) so you can atchieve the best possible results as cfl's have fairly poor light penetration.

Yea that is what I want not too much heat and its bang on 24 degrees Celsius where the plants are, I have a 6inch fan and it keeps the room perfect! How much did you yield using your 250w cfl?

Yeas I have been reading a lot about LST and I am definitely going to train them and top too, hopefully it will all work out and I will get some nice bud :ying:

Wu Wei · Apr 11, 2014

Granger I now that buddha is not using a 2x2. I sure know that Ed Rosenthal veges with 24 hour light because I read a write up about him and he states cannabis will grow up to 33% faster with 24 hours light! This is my first time but I have read enough the past few months... And CFL actually give very short node spacing through vege, CFL is better for vege than HPS, so they are not going to get too tall! The kalashnicova has tiny branches at the first node already, they are only four days old!

I really don't understand what you are on about sorry, I thought it would make sense to have as many tops as possible considering the light dose not penetrate far, why would I want to grow the bottom when I have low light penetration? I already have my seeds, cheese, kalashnikova, cream caramel and blue diesel (auto)

Granger2 · Apr 11, 2014

I'm not "on" about anything. Just telling you what I would do. Take it or leave it. Growing is always a learning experience. Good luck. -granger

Well · Apr 11, 2014

Wu Wei said:
Yea I have been told I can get the CFL close to the plants, I hope all goes well and I don't burn the leaves or buds! What kind of yield's have you had with CFL? My room is not exactly stealth size but its not big either...

That is really good to hear you are back up and running your grow! You got a thread or any pics? What strains you got on the go?

Well, dont remember how much i got with CFL, (not that much doh)

No pics yet, but i might start a thread later on..
Im running some ICE, pure kush, and some of my own strains

300w Giant CFL Grow

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