MistaMoonman

Tell ya what guys. depending on the budget you have for an electrical bill and security around your grow chambers. Florescents are the most Compact, effective, cost efficient, Lighting you can ever have Indoors..
plz note for those who dont know much about flos that theyre are also High density Discharge Flos!. those really are Great!!!!!!!!!

fun_merlin

Well I drove all over town lookin for the 65 watt Flourex...all I found was the 30 something watt one (about 2700 lumens), and the 20 something watt one.... the 30 watt one was $40 at home depot, and put out the equivalent light of a 200 watt HPS...so said the box. Lowe's didn't have them, and neither did wal-mart(big surprise)

I found it cheaper just to grab a bunch of 30 watt compact flourescent lights (the "twister" ones that fit into a normal light socket, $8 at wal-mart, put out 1500 lumens.) and build some kind of multi-light fixture...I'll post some pics if I actually get one built. I may order a few of those 42 watt "mega-lights" from the LoA webpage...the ones like the "twister" but puts out like 3200 lumens and are only 20 bucks...maybe put two of those and 4 of these 25 watt ones...thats only like 80 bucks and 12000 lumens or thereabouts...plenty for small space...

Ah well, only problem is now I get to try to build a reflector and power circuits with carboard and aluminum foil and some lamp chord wire I got sittin around

fun_merlin

Yes, these twister lights seem to be running hot
oh well...I hope its not that bad...I may have to keep an eye on them...maybe build a fan into my "cardboard ballast" I'm making

cue

did u say $40 at homedepot?too much if u did.here in chgoland area HD sells 'em for $17.95 & i paid $9.95 at menards.my 2 20w were $5.95 per..thats like $22+tx.so i have like 5300 lumens in about 3 sf.flourex is about $34.something aint jivin'.you in US?oh and try to pick up some mylar at a party supply shop i think youll like it its paperthin silver stuff peace

MistaMoonman

DUDE. watch it with the cardboard... u dont wanna wake up one morning.... wait, if u wouldnt wake up one morning and took a journey through clouds towards a light and jesus's voice said "Your cardboard burned down your Crib Dude".
Play it SAFE EVEN WITH FLOS!~ layer the board with cheap towels or foam paper wrapped with aluminum sheets or foil! If you wanna do it cheap N safe.

fun_merlin

I started working on my cardboard ballast last night, and don't worry, I took care of the fire hazards

Actually I need to post a picture of this thing, its pretty impressive so far... I shaped the fixture out of cardboard and tape, and then covered the whole thing with alluminum foil. I used electric tape to hold it all together and also anywhere remotely close to the wiring. The lights are attatched to regular incandescent plugs I got at Wally World for really cheap... and in such a way that all of the hot parts of the bulb no not touch anything...

It all came together well...I used really hard cardboard, almost wood like...very sturdy. The whole thing is shaped just like my flourescent 2 foot light fixtures, so I can hang it just the same way...It'll hold 6 compact flourescent light fixtures, so thats like a possible...3200 (LoA Mega-light) x 6 = 19200 lums

and I thought the whole thing up after smokin some...amazing what you can come up with sometimes

fun_merlin

And to answer your question cue, yes I live in good ol' North Carolina... But evidently the Home Depots here don't carry the 65 watt (input, not output)version, just the 30 something watt one. Crappy...But I picked up some of the curly "twister" lights for like 7.99 at Wal-mart. So they'll do...I just have to do the wiring on my cardboard ballast now, and I'll have mucho wattage for really cheap...

One good thing...it looks like the smaller compact flourescents the plug into light fixtures have a more red spectrum. I got two GE brand ones (15 watts, 900 lums) and they are really red...The Twister lights are alot brigher than the GE ones (they are higher wattage though) and have more of a natural looking spectrum...but still down in the red is range...so this may be good for flowering, who knows.

I'm too broke to buy anything expensive, so for now I think I'm just gonna keep adding compact flourescent lights whenever I have the money...the wattage is so low that it really is cheaper in the long run, and these things are all so damn cheap to buy.... One day I'll buy a real light, but until then, I'm sticking with my compact flourescents... I saw this circle light thing (actually it wasnt' a circle, more of a rounded square with a box thing in the middle) that was made by G.E...I think...but it was only $16.00 at Wal-mart and put out like 2700 lumens...I may get two of those and put them on the sides of the plants...we'll see...

Oh and the aluminum foil is just temporary till I get some Mylar. Its also cheaper. I got this monster sized Food Lion aluminum foil roll

steveMJ420

how big of a grow space would 1 of these 65 watt lights support?

Highbear

I am using just one for 4 plants that are in about a 1.5ft2 are right now. I plan on adding compact fluorescents as the plants get taller and to increase my lumens/red spectrum for better budding. If all 4 are females I am going to have to get another one though. I dont think that 1 will take 4 plants all the way very well, even supplemented with twisters. I CAN tell you that I have no heat problem with this light at all, it is the coolest blue light I have ever seen. Since I bought this new light my plants have been taking off like crazy. The foliage is a lot greener too. Plus this is only 65w!!! I think it is a good light so far.

fun_merlin

Well to answer your question steve, I think the general rule of thumb is the closer to 7000 lumens per square foot the better... The bare minimum is like 2000 lumens per square foot.

The 65 watt compact flourescent light has somewhere around 8000 lumens (different people are saying different things..I'm thinking there may be a couple of different models that they're talkin about)

So you could get by with about 4 square foot per lumens, but I think it be better to use one of these plus some supplemental lighting...

To really take advantage of this light, I'd suggest getting two if your using a grow space bigger than 2 square feet, which you prolly are... 4-6 square feet with two of these bad boys plus some extra lights would be really kickin...