Compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) bulbs are one type of lighting method to use when growing cannabis plants.
CFL bulbs are cheap, like incandescent lights, but don’t produce any of the heat that incandescent bulbs do, making them the ideal light fixture for an indoor garden that doesn’t have a lot of space.
Table of Contents
- How many CFLs are needed per marijuana plant?
- The benefits of growing with CFLs
- Buy indoor marijuana seeds
- How high should my CFL be from my plant?
- How do you grow autoflowers with CFL?
- How many CFLs for a single plant?
- Conclusion
- FAQs about CFLs
- FAQs
- Are CFL light bulbs good for growing weed?
- What CFL is best for growing weed?
- How many watts CFL for seedlings?
- What is better CFL or LED for growing?
- Can you use CFL for flowering?
- How far should CFL lights be from plants?
- CFL Lights For Growing Weed
- Compact Fluorescent CFL Grow Lights
- How Many CFLs Per Plant – (Using Watts And Size)?
- How to choose CFL bulbs for your home grow – Weedmaps
- How Many CFLs Per Plant – Grower Today
- CFL Lights For Weed Growing Indoors – Green CulturED
- Growing Cannabis With CFL's – Percys Grow Room
How many CFLs are needed per marijuana plant?
Download my free marijuana grow guide and start growing your own high-quality marijuana strain.
- Grow with my Quick Start Guide
- Discover secrets to Big Yields
- Avoid common grow mistakes
So, how many CFLs for one plant do you need?
‘How many CFLs per plant?’ is a question that growers often ask, especially those working with compact setups.
Surprisingly, there are different answers to this question depending on who you turn to.
Some growers might say that six CFLs are the best, while others argue that four are more than enough.
To know how many CFLs you need for your setup, you need to understand these three factors (wattages, sizes, and color temperatures) because they can influence the overall yield of your marijuana plants.
There are different answers because CFLs come in various wattages (W), sizes, and color temperatures.
- Wattage: You need to get around 150W per plant to yield 1oz of bud. The more watts your CFLs have, the brighter the light they will emit. Bright light is essential for effective light penetration that your plants need to grow.
- Size: Generally, larger CFLs have higher watts and generate more heat since they’re too close to the plants.
- Color Temperature: Color temperature is measured in kelvins (K). Don’t be alarmed since that measures color and not the actual temperature that the bulbs generate.
So back to the initial question, how many CFLs per plant?
- 6 if using small CFLs
- 4 if medium-sized CFLs
- 3 if large CFLs
| Amount | Size | Wattage | Color Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3x | Small | 23W | 6500K |
| 3x | Small | 26W | 2700K |
| 2x | Medium | 42W | 6500K |
| 2x | Medium | 40W | 2700K |
| 1x | Large | 65W | 6500K |
| 2x | Large | 65W | 2700K |
The benefits of growing with CFLs
When it comes to indoor growing, CFL bulbs offer plenty of benefits for your cannabis plants.
They’re a better alternative to incandescent bulbs since they don’t produce as much heat.
Another advantage to using CFLs over incandescent bulbs is that they’re much more energy-efficient than incandescent ones, which helps with lowering the overall cost of maintaining your indoor setup.
They can also help with the overall vegetative growth of your plants since CFLs offer effective light penetration.
In other words, every part of your cannabis will get adequate amounts of light.
Buy indoor marijuana seeds
- Easy to grow
- Guaranteed germination
- Beginner friendly
- Grow guide available
Speaking of light, CFLs offer a range of color temperatures that goes from warm to cool light.
The color of light matters to your plants because cannabis grows more effectively under certain light colors.
In the case of their vegetative stage, plants will do better under cool or daylight colored CFLs (6500K).
Meanwhile, during flowering, they would prefer warm-colored CFLs (2700K).
Lastly, CFL bulbs are a lot easier to place than other light fixtures because they can come in a range of sizes and don’t generate nearly as much heat, which allows you to place them as close as possible to your plants.
Easy placement makes them ideal grow lights for small setups that don’t offer much space.
Do CFLs help plants grow?
CFL bulbs help your plants grow by providing the light they need for photosynthesis like most grow lights.
They’re better than other grow lights by being energy efficient and providing adequate light for your cannabis.
Are CFLs good for flowering?
It depends on the color temperature of your CFL bulbs.
Typically you would want CFLs with a color temperature of 2700K because they will emit an effective amount of warm, orange light on flowering cannabis.
Is 2700K good for growing?
You can use CFLs with a color temperature of 2700K throughout the entire growing process, but use them especially when flowering cannabis.
Is CFL better than LED?
Generally, LED lights are better than CFLs in increasing the yield of your cannabis.
LEDs are far more efficient than CFLs, and they last three times longer.
However, the downside to LEDs is that you need to keep a minimum distance of 12-18 inches from your plants, making them unsuitable for compact setups.
How high should my CFL be from my plant?
Where you place your CFLs depends on how you choose to grow your cannabis plants.
Typically, you need to ensure that every part of your plants gets adequate light.
The rule of thumb here is you need to put CFL bulbs on any dark spots around your indoor setup; this means having to put CFLs on the sides or even at the base of your plants.
However, if you’re growing topped cannabis, you won’t need to hang any of the CFL bulbs anywhere except over your plants.
Remember that you still need to avoid placing the bulbs too close to your plants, as doing so can put your plants at risk of being burned.
Placement of your CFLs can also depend on the bulb size and its wattage.
Typically smaller bulbs with low wattage can hang much closer to your cannabis than larger bulbs.
How do you grow autoflowers with CFL?
Growing autoflowers with CFLs isn’t that different from using any other type of grow lights.
Growing with CFLs is similar to using metal halide, and high-pressure sodium HID lights on large-scale indoor setups.
During the vegetative stage of your plants, you need to use CFLs that have a 6500K color temperature, which is the equivalent of using metal halide HID lights that produce a cool white light.
While your autoflowers are vegging, you must ensure that the canopies remain short, which is not tricky considering most autoflowers are compact plants.
Once your autoflowers enter their flowering stage, you need to switch the CFL type from 6500k to 2700k.
The 2700k is the CFL version of the high-pressure sodium HID lights, producing a warm orange glow.
How many CFLs for a single plant?
The number of CFLs you need for a single plant depends entirely on their wattage.
To get the best yield possible, you would need 150W worth of CFLs for one cannabis plant, either 6 small 23-26W CFL bulbs, 4 medium 40-42W bulbs, or 3 large 65W bulbs.
If you plan to have exclusive lights for vegging and flowering, you would need to purchase double the amount of bulbs.
Remember, vegging CFL grow lights need a color temperature of 6500K. Flowering CFL grow lights need a 2700K color temperature.
If you’re having trouble finding the sweet spot for your setup, you can always try to mix and match different bulb wattages to provide an adequate amount of light.
Conclusion
CFLs might not be as energy-efficient or long-lasting as LEDs, but they have their advantages.
They’re the only type of grow light for cramped or compact setups that don’t have enough space for LEDs and HIDs lights.
Hopefully, this article answered those ‘how many CFLs per plant’ and other related questions.
If you want to know more about growing, you can download my Grow Bible so you can start growing like a pro.
Happy Growing,
Robert Bergman
FAQs about CFLs
How many CFLs do I need for seedlings?
CFL bulbs are a great source of artificial indoor lighting that you can use for your seedlings. One 6500K CFL bulb is enough for two seedlings.
Are CFL bulbs fluorescent?
Yes, CFL bulbs are a type of fluorescent lighting. They operate the same way as regular fluorescent lights – agitate a gas inside the tube to produce light. This method of producing light makes CFL bulbs generate low amounts of heat.
FAQs
Are CFL light bulbs good for growing weed?
Unlike high-intensity discharge (HID) lights that are often used to grow cannabis, CFL bulbs don’t need special fixtures or setups ? they will screw into any lamp you already have for incandescent bulbs. This ? combined with the fact that they don’t generate a ton of heat ? makes CFL bulbs good for small grow spaces
What CFL is best for growing weed?
It’s optimal to use ‘daylight’ (6500k) colored bulbs for the vegetative stage and ‘soft white’ (2700k) colored bulbs for flowering, because this more closely matches what the sun is doing in summer and fall, but you can use any color spectrum CFL during any stage of life and your cannabis will grow well.
How many watts CFL for seedlings?
Seedlings need approximately 32 watts per square foot of growing area for LED grow lights and 100 watts per plant for CFLs. They also require the right color temperature to grow and thrive, so choose a temperature range of 3,500 to 6,500 kelvins.
What is better CFL or LED for growing?
LEDs need to be kept much further away from plants than CFLs, which means that CFLs are better suited to short grow spaces without a lot of available height. LED grow lights generally need to be kept 12-18+? away from the tops of plants, while CFLs can be kept just a few inches away.
Can you use CFL for flowering?
Best Soft White CFL Bulb
It’s a bit pricey, but quite efficient and does a great job during the flowering phase for most plants. Keep in mind that you’ll need to buy at least 4-5 of these to get enough light intensity to actually produce flowers and fruits on your plants.
How far should CFL lights be from plants?
Adjust the lights as the plants grow, making sure that the plant does not touch the light. Maintain a 2- to 6-inch distance from the light to the plant.
CFL Lights For Growing Weed
CFL Lights For Growing Weed CFL Lights For Growing Weed Let’s take a look at CFL lights for growing weed. There are quite a few options for lighting when looking to grow cannabis indoors. CFL lightbulbs are becoming more popular because they are beginner-friendly and easy to use. The best CFL lights for growing weed will help you produce more marijuana in small spaces than you thought was possible. If you have a small space that you want to utilize for growing ganja, CFL lights may be the best option! What Are CFL Lights? CFL is an acronym for compact fluorescent lighting. Compact fluorescent grow light setups are easy to build out because you can buy CFL grow bulbs at almost any store that sells light bulbs! They are just like fluorescent light bars seen in stores and offices but packed into a small lightbulb, allowing the user to reap the benefits of fluorescent light without a large lamp setup. They come in a variety of different bases, so flexibility when designing a grow operation won’t be a problem. CFL lights don’t use excessive energy and don’t heat up as high as some other specialized grow lights for marijuana. CFL Light Bulbs For Growing Weed Using CFL bulbs for plants and producing marijuana on your own doesn’t have to be complicated. CFL lights are the most beginner-friendly setup. They are also the best choice for small spaces. Beginners shouldn’t grow too much for their first experience, meaning CFL lighting is a win-win for cannabis growing for beginners. Using CFL bulbs allows you to use daylight mimicking CFL bulbs during the vegetative stage of the plant’s life and use a softer light for the flowering cycle. You don’t want to use a soft white CFL for vegging as it is closer to the sunlight in Autumn when plants start to flower. However, if soft white is all you can find, it will still work as long as you have enough wattage to supply ample light to each plant. How To Grow With CFL Growing cannabis with CFL lights is simple to set up and maintain. Each plant will require around 80 watts of light, although more can be better. Since CFL light bulbs for plant growth don’t produce enough light exposure beyond around 12 inches, the lights will have to be adjustable with height to account for plant growth. You can grow marijuana with CFL grow light bulbs in soil or hydroponically. Regardless of the growing medium, light needs remain the same. While the wattage of the light produced by the CFL bulbs is more important than the spectrum of light, optimizing the spectrum is a good idea. The best CFL for vegetative growth will be somewhere around 6500K. A softer spectrum around 2700K will be a good choice for a CFL flowering bulb. These spectrums mimic natural daylight spectrums in Spring/Summer during the growing cycle and Autumn for the flowering cycle. However, this doesn’t make or break your cannabis growing operation. If you don’t use a warm white CFL for flowering, you won’t ruin your marijuana. This…
Compact Fluorescent CFL Grow Lights
Compact Fluorescent CFL Grow Lights CFL lights are the “Tom Cruise” of grow lights: ubiquitous, efficient and perfect for short spaces (up to 4’). Another Tom Cruise-like attribute is that they are considered the ideal candidate to take up the “Mission Impossible” of growing in confined spaces. In the old days growing marijuana under fluorescent (CFL) grow lights was pretty useless as they had low output for a large size. However, the new CFL (compact fluorescent lights) grow lights that between them cover the full visible light spectrum have made them a viable alternative. But what exactly are CFLs? As you probably know by surfing the internet and this website, there are many different light types. HID (HPS, MH), LED etc., are competing for a place in your grow room and every one of them has an ace up its sleeve. CFL stands for (Compact Fluorescent Light). Chances are that you have already come across a forum debate that outlines the pros and cons of each lighting type. We too are going to attempt a comparison between the different lighting options, but for now, let’s just focus exclusively on the CFLs. CFL Pros and Cons Pros They can be found anywhere: CFLs are obtainable in every hardware and grocery store (WalMart, Sears etc.). There are also huge offers to be found on Amazon and Alibaba; Cheap as chips; Ideal solution for your makeshift PC tower grow box, cupboards and similarly confined spaces; They run at considerably cooler temperatures than traditional light fixtures. That makes them considerably safer due to lower fire hazard; Their chiller temperatures also mean that they do not need too much external cooling to stay at normal levels. Cons Not particularly strong. HID light fixtures are considerably more powerful, so consider these if you are after bigger grows; Unsuitable for larger grows. Like everything else in marijuana growing, it all comes down to your personal needs and preferences. There is no one stopping you from installing an HPS lamp in a 2’x2’x4’ closet (good luck with that!), but this is the consensus among growers from all over the world. People who should go for CFLs People who want to grow a plant or two for personal use; People who have turned their obsolete PC tower or their grandma’s commode into a grow room; People who want to try growing a plant but don’t want to spend much. On the other hand, if you are looking for massive yields and a more automated growing setup, steer clear of CFLs. The rule of thumb here is that when you need something more than 250W of power, you are better off with some other type of light. We have a whole section for you to choose what suits your needs best! A little bit of science There are a lot of variables to consider when choosing grow lights. Grow light science can confuse you a little bit at first, but after a while, you should know what you are looking for. If you want to learn more about the scientific jargon, it is strongly suggested you do so by visiting our relevant page. If you believe that you are fairly knowledgeable about the facts below, you can skip this part and go straight to the shopping list. The rest of you, take a deep breath and follow us to the exciting world of lighting science. Wattage and the Kelvin Scale Your objective when buying CFLs should be to purchase the wattage (W) that is the highest possible for your grow area. Usually, more wattage means more power, which in turn means more light, and thus, more food for your plants. If you want to determine the suitability of the lights, you will want to also check the lumens (lm) to understand their output. Generally, each plant should be covered by around 10,000 lumens. So if a standard CFL bulb gives…
How Many CFLs Per Plant – (Using Watts And Size)?
How many CFLs per plant? Compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) bulbs are one type of lighting method to use when growing cannabis plants. CFL bulbs are cheap, like incandescent lights, but don’t produce any of the heat that incandescent bulbs do, making them the ideal light fixture for an indoor garden that doesn’t have a lot of space. How many CFLs are needed per marijuana plant?The benefits of growing with CFLsDo CFLs help plants grow?Are CFLs good for flowering?Is CFL better than LED?How high should my CFL be from my plant?How do you grow autoflowers with CFL?How many CFLs for a single plant?ConclusionFAQs about CFLs Download my free marijuana grow guide and start growing your own high-quality marijuana strain. Grow with my Quick Start GuideDiscover secrets to Big YieldsAvoid common grow mistakes So, how many CFLs for one plant do you need? ‘How many CFLs per plant?’ is a question that growers often ask, especially those working with compact setups. Surprisingly, there are different answers to this question depending on who you turn to. Some growers might say that six CFLs are the best, while others argue that four are more than enough. To know how many CFLs you need for your setup, you need to understand these three factors (wattages, sizes, and color temperatures) because they can influence the overall yield of your marijuana plants. There are different answers because CFLs come in various wattages (W), sizes, and color temperatures. Wattage: You need to get around 150W per plant to yield 1oz of bud. The more watts your CFLs have, the brighter the light they will emit. Bright light is essential for effective light penetration that your plants need to grow. Size: Generally, larger CFLs have higher watts and generate more heat since they’re too close to the plants. Color Temperature: Color temperature is measured in kelvins (K). Don’t be alarmed since that measures color and not the actual temperature that the bulbs generate. So back to the initial question, how many CFLs per plant? 6 if using small CFLs4 if medium-sized CFLs3 if large CFLs AmountSizeWattageColor Temperature3xSmall23W6500K3xSmall26W2700K2xMedium42W6500K2xMedium40W2700K1xLarge65W6500K2xLarge65W2700K The benefits of growing with CFLs When it comes to indoor growing, CFL bulbs offer plenty of benefits for your cannabis plants. They’re a better alternative to incandescent bulbs since they don’t produce as much heat. Growing marijuana using CFL lights Another advantage to using CFLs over incandescent bulbs is that they’re much more energy-efficient than incandescent ones, which helps with lowering the overall cost of maintaining your indoor setup. They can also help with the overall vegetative growth of your plants since CFLs offer effective light penetration. In other words, every part of your cannabis will get adequate amounts of light. Buy indoor marijuana seeds Easy to growGuaranteed germinationBeginner friendlyGrow guide available Speaking of light, CFLs offer a range of color temperatures that goes from warm to cool light. The color of light matters to your plants because cannabis grows more effectively under certain light colors. In the case of their vegetative stage, plants will do better under cool or daylight colored CFLs (6500K). Meanwhile, during flowering, they would prefer warm-colored CFLs (2700K). Lastly, CFL bulbs are a lot easier to place than other light fixtures because they can come in a range of sizes and don’t generate nearly as much heat, which allows you to place them as close as possible to your plants. Easy placement makes them ideal grow lights for small setups that don’t offer much space. Do CFLs help plants grow? CFL bulbs help your plants grow by providing the…
How to choose CFL bulbs for your home grow – Weedmaps
How to choose CFL bulbs for your home grow Whether you’re a minimalist just looking to grow some cannabis in your window or an enthusiast looking to invest in a more fleshed-out system, chances are you already know how important light is for your plants. (And if you don’t, the answer is very!) Aside from the finer points of nailing down your supplemental lighting game — distance from the plants, the quality and spectrum of the light, lighting schedules and timers — perhaps the best place to start your journey is with the bulbs themselves. While you can park a plant in a window and let it do its thing, if you want to coax your indoor plants into optimal productivity and yields, supplemental lights are the way to go. There are lots of lighting options available to the home grower, but for now, let’s dig into one specifically: compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Widely available and simple to use, CFL bulbs are often employed by home growers of all skill and interest levels. So let’s unpack them for you. Widely available and simple to use, CFL bulbs are often employed by home growers of all skill and interest levels.Photo by: Dimitri Newman/Weedmaps What are CFL bulbs? Compact fluorescent light bulbs use a combination of argon gas and mercury vapor to produce light. When exposed to an electric current, the argon and mercury combination generates an invisible ultraviolet light. This light hits a fluorescent coating on the inside of the tube, and voila, visible light. CFLs were originally developed to replace incandescent bulbs, which are not all that energy efficient. Compared to incandescent bulbs, CFLs last 10 times longer and generate much less heat (which is actually a good thing for indoor cannabis grows). Thanks to LED lights, they’re no longer the most energy-efficient option, but they do require less wattage to deliver the same amount of lumen output as incandescent bulbs. What is better, LED or CFL bulbs? Speaking of LEDs, which is better? LED lights have quickly become quite popular with indoor cannabis growers, and with indoor gardeners in general. Aside from being useful in growing devil’s lettuce, LED lights can be useful in growing regular lettuce, along with kale, herbs, and other consumable plants. While many indoor cannabis growers will definitively conclude that LEDs are better, both CFLs and LEDs have pros and cons. LED lights have quickly become quite popular with indoor cannabis growers.Photo by: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps The pros of CFL bulbs We’ll get into the shifting legal landscape of CFL bulbs in a minute, but generally speaking, CFL bulbs are still pretty easy to find at local hardware stores and even grocery stores in most states. Unlike high-intensity discharge (HID) lights that are often used to grow cannabis, CFL bulbs don’t need special fixtures or setups — they will screw into any lamp you already have for incandescent bulbs. This — combined with the fact that they don’t generate a ton of heat — makes CFL bulbs good for small grow spaces. CFLs also come in a variety of temperatures, meaning you can adjust to the plant’s need in the vegetative and flowering stages of growth. Finally, CFL bulbs require the smallest initial investment compared to HID and LED setups. When thinking about electricity bills, CFLs are the middle of the road when compared to expensive HID lights and inexpensive LED lights. To summarize the pros of CFL bulbs, they are: Easy to findEasy to use, no special or custom fixture neededGood for small spacesCooler than HID lightsCost-effective in the short-termAvailable in a variety of temperatures for vegetative versus flowering stages of growth The cons of CFL bulbs On the flip side, you will need to adjust your setup regularly as your plant grows. CFLs have a limited range of efficacy, and the plants need to stay fairly close to the bulbs. Do the “back of the hand test” by holding your hand over the top of the plants for 30 seconds to see if it’s too hot,…
How Many CFLs Per Plant – Grower Today
How Many CFLs Per Plant – Grower TodayLast Updated on August 20, 2022 by CinthiaCFLs are one of the most common grow lights used among indoor growers. It is the wish of every grower to satisfy the lighting needs of their plants. So, if you want to know how many CFLs are required per plant, we will let you know in this post.Now, we can’t just answer this question without obtaining more about your garden information. We will require some information such as the wattage of the bulb, the size of each of your plants, and grow room size.So, keep reading to learn how many CFLs are required per plant.Growing With CFLs LightIndoor gardening with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs is a nice source of light supplements you can provide your plants. They will offer your plants awesome growing benefits such as affordability, easy to use, minimal heat, consumes lesser power, and so on. With CFL lights, you can be sure your plants receive the appropriate light wavelengths for them to flourish.The compact fluorescent light bulb does not emit too much heat, unlike the conventional incandescent bulbs or fluorescents. However, they only supply moderate light intensity in contrast to sunlight. Therefore, your plants may need multiple bulbs for your plants’ growing needs.How Many CFLs Is Required Per PlantLike we said earlier, we need to know the plant size and bulb wattage to determine how many CFLs are required per plant.The general standard we use in determining the plant’s lighting requirements is the plant size and it is measured in square feet. If we know the square foot of the plant size, we can deduce how many CFLs are required per plant. Also, it’s better to answer this question using square feet of space rather than how many plants.How Many CFL Watts Per Plant?How many CFL watts per plant are around 60 to 100 watts per square foot. This is ideal especially for high light demanding plants. You can however go a bit higher even as high as 150 watts. We recommend these values for the flowering phase.When considering the vegetative phase, seedlings phase, or cloning, you can use half of this value for your plant’s growing needs. This value can as well be used for low light-demanding plants.In a similar fashion, when we’re looking at about 2 to 3 plants which usually contain 1 square foot, then 150 wattages or less will be required.Actual Wattage vs. Listed WattageMost grow lights usually have two different wattages: the actual wattage it draws from light and the wattage listed by the manufacturer.For instance, if you see your CFL grow light labeled 500 watts, that’s not the actual wattage consumed. If you dig through and search your package, you will find the actual wattage used. Usually, if it’s stated that a grow light is 500 wattages, it may actually consume just about 150 or 200 wattages.The labeled 500 watts is the amount the grow light offers while consuming lesser power. This implies you get more output with lesser power consumption.Therefore, when you are considering how many CFLs per plant are required, focus on the actual wattage, not the labeled wattage.Durolux DL822N T5 HO 2Ft 2 Fluorescent Lamps Grow Lighting SystemExtra TipsAs we mentioned earlier, CFL grows light only supplies moderate light intensity. Thus, if you want to get more light intensity, you may need to use multiple…
CFL Lights For Weed Growing Indoors – Green CulturED
CFL Lights For Weed Growing Indoors Another type of fluorescent lighting is called Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL’s). Their lights are larger in diameter than regular CFL lights for weed lighting but have a great impact on small indoor gardens. These lights have: Increased power Smaller in size Utilize electronic ballast CFL bulbs come in many different wattage sizes ranging from 40 – 250 watts. These systems are perfect for growers who only have a small space to use FCL lights for weed while not wanting to have too much heat being generated. The CFL lights run much cooler than HID lighting and require minimal ventilation to keep your garden cool. Compact fluorescent lamps create light by passing electricity through gaseous vapor under low pressure, which is the exact same way as traditional fluorescent. CFL lights are generally produced in two (2) main shapes that are either a spiral glass tube or with one or more ‘U’ shaped tubes. A CFL light will normally last 10,000 – 20,000 hours while their ballast will last from 50,000 – 60,000 hours of operation. If you are purchasing CFL lights for weed growing that have built-in ballast you are wasting the ballast since you have to throw it away in the trash when the light bulbs stop operating. If the ballast is separate then you will only need to throw away the light bulb itself. These CFL lights for weed can be used as a supplement of the reddish-yellow spectrum that HPS lights produce. When the bulb or ballast goes out either one or both will need to be replaced. Let us know what you think. (NOTE: Before you can optimize training, you must do is get a clear picture on WHO is learning, HOW do they make an impact, and WHAT their requirements are. Download our proven “Cannabis Training Optimization Strategy” now and get clear on what’s needed to learn.)
Growing Cannabis With CFL's – Percys Grow Room
Growing Cannabis With CFL’s In some situations, regular HID lights, or LEDs, are either too expensive, or burn too hot for a small space. Growing cannabis with CFLs, is a great way to provide your plants with enough light to grow, but keep heat and energy consumption low. CFL stands for compact fluorescent lighting, and though they are not high intensity lights, they can still produce quality cannabis. Though, you will getter a better yield with LED or HID lighting, sometimes CFL is your only option. The grow may take a little longer. But you can grow good cannabis under CFL’s. You just have to use them correctly. If you are growing cannabis with CFL, or think it is your best option, then feel free to ask for help in our cannabis growers forum Reasons to Grow Cannabis using CFL’s CFL’s will run cooler than most forms of grow lighting. Because of this, you can place them as close as 2-3cm from the top of the plants. Also, because they do not burn so hot, they require far less extraction to keep the room cool. You will still need extraction to remove stale air from the grow room. But you have the option of using smaller extraction, or a dimmer switch to slow the fans speed down. Growing cannabis with CFL’s will also use less electricity. It is not a huge difference, as you have to use many bulbs to meet the lumen needs. But any cut in energy consumption is good. Plus, with HID lights, a lot less energy is wasted as heat. CFL’s are best used for grow rooms under 1m squared. They can also be used by growers on a budget as these lights are reasonably cheap to buy, or you may already have some around your house that you could use. Your CFL grow can be up and running for under the price of a few grams of cannabis from the black market. Growers can use a few 20w CFL’s and a couple of PC fans to grow cannabis in a small box or cupboard! This is called stealth growing. If you would like to grow cannabis, but have no space for it, you could grow using CFLs, in an old PC tower, with a few PC fans. See our guide on stealth growing for more information. Using CFL’s as Supplemental Lighting CFL’s can also be used as source of supplemental lighting. By adding a few into the canopy of a HID/ LED grow, they can provide the plants with additional lighting, where the bigger lights can’t reach. Also, because of the low heat output, these lights can be hung in between flowering plants. This will increase yield and improve the overall quality of your cannabis. How to Grow Using CFL’s You can grow good quality cannabis using CFL’s, you just need to know how, and follow some simple rules to offer the best light you can to your plants. Keep Bulbs Close Keep the bulbs as close to the foliage as possible. 20w CFL’s can be as close as 1-2cm, but 250W CFL’s need to be between 2-5 inches from the canopy. Due to the inverse square law, your plants get alot more lumens from the bulb when it is closer to them. This is another reason why CFL’s can be used to grow cannabis. Because you can get them so close to the plants, you are delivering a lot more light than you think. Plants Should be Topped and Trained When growing cannabis indoors, you should always top your plants at least once. This is especially important when growing cannabis with CFL’s. You need to keep the canopy level, to offer the best spread of light to the plant. Top your plant, and low stress train the side shoots with garden wire. Doing this will “spread” the plant out horizontally, and allow more of the plant to receive a good amount of light. This will ensure a level canopy, and the whole plant will be an equal distance from the light. This would not be the case…