How many watts of cfls for 1-2 week seedlings?

[Xtensity]

About to start an indoor grow, and was wondering how many watts of cfls would I need if I'm just starting like 5 or so auto flowers inside?

and they shouldn't stink in the first 1-2 weeks should they? I'm just getting them big enough so they can survive outside.

 

[Ramius]

You can use as many watts as you like, but I wouldn't go too low if you want to give them a quick and easy start. A few 45w daylight 6400k (blue spectrum) bulbs will see you through until you plant outside

 

[Xtensity]

You can use as many watts as you like, but I wouldn't go too low if you want to give them a quick and easy start. A few 45w daylight 6400k (blue spectrum) bulbs will see you through until you plant outside

A few?? I was I thinking like 2 23 watts at the max, specially if they're just seedlings...

I've seen someone grow 5 excellent LR2's under 80w's of total cfls, a few 26 watts or so.

What I should have asked is do the seedlings and young plants need as much lumens as the bigger plants.

 

[Ramius]

No they don't, a few 23's will do fine to get them started

 

[~pHaNtOm~]

anything over 42watts will do fine...the more the better like a bunch of 23watter or a few 42watters or a PL-L fluoro which are the best thing in fluoros right now

 

[freeworldorders]

Hi Xtensity what strain are you growing? I use a 125W cfl on my seedlings and cuttings, and it seems to do the trick for me

I had some AF AK47 ( http://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=15665 ) last year that grew from seed to harvest under 18/6 of 400HPS, turned out awesome, but i was paying the electricity at the time so i didnt mind.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

i have 6 26 watt cfls in my sprout chamber. i can do 27 seedlings in 16 oz cups with great growth.

 

[Presto_D]

I've got three 23w bulbs over seven seedlings. They're doing good for my first grow.

But they began to put off an aroma at about 12 days. Not strong, but very apparent if I put my head in the cab.

 

[bakelite]

A few?? I was I thinking like 2 23 watts at the max, specially if they're just seedlings...

I've seen someone grow 5 excellent LR2's under 80w's of total cfls, a few 26 watts or so.

What I should have asked is do the seedlings and young plants need as much lumens as the bigger plants.

Xten, (2) 26 watt CFLS will be fine for seedlings. Anything bigger for small grows is overkill if you ask me. I've been using (2) 26 watters for many grows now and the plants come out awesome. I grow my plants up to about 4" using this same setup before moving them to more powerful light.

Some suggestions: As your seedlings get bigger you may want to get them as close to the bulbs as you can without burning them (I get mine within 2", but I have a sheet of glass between my lights and my plants to minimize heat). The plants really respond well to this.

Also, you may want to look into getting cooler color temperature CFLs (5000k or better yet 6500K daylight which is what I use). This will help keep your seedlings nice and leafy and short. Plus they will help you get a better female to male ratio at the same time.

Hope this helps,
-bakelite