The How to: Cannabis Growers Q & A With CFL Grow Lights

The How to: Cannabis Growers Q & A With CFL Grow Lights

Questions on How To Grow Cannabis with CFL Grow Lights:

 Hey fellow cannabis and aspiring cannabis growers! This time I'm doing a Q& A for how to grow with CFL grow lights. I get a ton of questions every week about how to grow with CFL's, and some of them should be shared with everyone and anyone interested in growing indoor marijuana. So this is a blog where I'll do my best to answer your questions about growing with CFL grow lights. If you'd like to have your question answered here or in private, you can email me at stankx1@gmail.com, or ask it in the comment section below.
 So lets get to the first question or questions. This is from a recent email and its rather long, but filled with good information. 

 Question:

 Hi, I'm considering your lights, and need help very quickly to make an
informed buying choice.  I have not used my name YET, but you can be assured
when if order it will all be legit.  I want to grow at least 10 plants so
that I can sample different varieties.  More plants, will need more light
and space, but how much is where I'm confused.  I am looking at your 2000
watt Mixed Spectrum CFL Grow Light Unit and wondering if that's about right.
 If it wasn't, I was thinking perhaps two of them, but would rather not
spend for more lights than I need.  But if I needed two, I could also have
more flexibility, and the power usage is within the OK range.  On on
different sites, trying to look up how much lumens is needed per square foot
etc.

But when I try to think of equivalents to MH HPS etc, it can be confusing to
determine what's the same, and also if even those would be ok for 10 plants.
 Then going on, I saw your new for 2014 MegaMax 4800 Watt CFL Grow Light
Mixed Spectrum.  I really liked that, however at 1260watts it's approaching
pricey (for me) for electricity.  Yet it's still considerable.  But what
attracted me was the idea that it can support a 12 x 8 area.  Then I think,
yeah, but at how far away?  People like to put these things up to 2 inches.
But then it's so powerful, that's not needed?  In other words, it's so
bright, I could pull it further away from the plants, and then grow more
plants, right?  But would they produce big buds?  How far would I pull it
away to get that and still achieve big plants, like 10 - 12 13 to 15 would
be better, but 12 is enough)?  As you can see, my head is going in circles
trying to figure out the smartest decision here, lol.

But if I got one of those MegaMax's, maybe it could easily handle my needs.
If so that's great, maybe I'll get it.  But I'm still weighing out the 2000
watt mixed spectrum grow lights, and maybe getting two and spitting them up.
 Two of them would only use 920 watts, and that's much more reasonable to
electric for me.  Also having two, might help me spread the light out
further so I could do two rows of 5 plants, or 6 plants with one light
dedicated to each row.  But the thing is, if I think ONE megamax can more
than handle that, and maybe it's a bit brighter than two of the smaller
units?, then that's also of interest provided it can cover the same area.
What bugs me is it's all in one unit, so the only wat to get the coverage is
to raise it.  But again, if I do that, and that light is as good or better
than the two 2000 watt cfl  lights, then it may be a good choice.

If you could maybe shed some *light* on this or have thoughts/ideas, I'd be
interested to hear them.  If I knew what to get, I could make a decision
sooner.  I guess I will have to think and decide, but hopefully some of what
you say might help me decided.  Thanks in advance.
 
 Answer:
Z,
 Before I start, I'd like to first thank you for considering my lights for your grow room. I'd love to "shed some light" here. Pun totally intended..lol. I completely understand your dilemma here. I see you understand that CFL's work in flower, but how many? how far away? number of plants? ect... I get those questions a lot, understandably.

  As far as growing  (flower/bloom) 10 - 20 plants under two 2kw CFL grow lamps or a 4.8kw, yes you can (not quoting Obama...lol) , but size of plants/pots, and method (hydro,dirt..etc) are the mitigating factors that determine how many you can grow. For example, for the last two years I've been flowering in 1 gallon pots, and I yield on average about 35 - 40 grams of dry finished bud per plant, (with good strains & co2) BUT I can put as many as 12 under one 2k supermax unit. I might be able to put a few more under it but I'm restricted by my ebb flow tray's dimensions (4' x 2 1/2). However, I've got a good friend (does some of the music on my video's), who grows 1 1/2 lb to 2" plants with the 2kw supermax units. He scroggs, lollipops, and grows in these 22 gallon storage container buckets, while using one 2k unit per plant.

 Its sometimes difficult to compare lighting types without side by side comparisons, but there is kind of a "holy grail' standard that some of us canna growers try (mostly in vain) to meet. That's the 2 grams finished dry bud per watt goal. With say a 1k HPS lamp, you'd need to yield someplace around 2800 grams to equal that. Most HPS growers are doing around .6 to 1.5+  grams per watt for the very best growers. I'd say less than half are over .8 gr per watt. Remember, a HPS unit is not hitting you with just he bulbs wattage, but also the ballast (125w -200w), and the extra cooling system. Heating and cooling water and air are the two most expensive uses for electricity and the cost varies.

  Looking at the examples above, you can see that I'm coming in at around .9+ grams per watt, while my friend is at 1.5 - 2 grams per watt. His results are comparable in yield and quality to what I've seen done with one plant under a 1k HPS lamp under similar conditions. Don't expect results like his, only because he's a master grower who's been growing and farming (veggies) for over 30 years, so his results are not typical with HPS or CFL's. My results are more typical, as I don't consider myself to be a master at all, but more like a hobbyist. I get my results using natural co2, and its 100% organic. So I could certainly raise my yield by scrogging,better nutes or just spending more time cropping my plants better. 

 Couple other considerations when comparing the two light sources. Personally I do not like the equivalent ratings on CFL's. To me they are misleading.They are about 20% less light equivalent than stated IMO. That is why I don't recommend replacing a 1k HPS with 1k in CFL equivalent. I also don't like the lumen ratings on HPS bulbs either. Also very misleading. The best 1k HPS bulbs these days produce from 150k to over 160k in lumen. Now if that light or lumen was even half way useable by plants, hell nobody would grow outside anymore. That would exceed  what the sun produces (around 8-10k lumen per square foot) on a mid summer day in Arizona. About 13% of the lumen  from HPS lamps in delivered in light color spectrum's plants can photosynthesize or use. The rest is distributed in spectrum's like infra red (HEAT) that contain zero beneficial qualities for your plants. Thus, that 1k HPS unit with 150k in lumen is really giving you about 20k in REAL lumen your plants can use. Meanwhile, with CFL grow lights (in the correct spectrum) nearly 100% of the lumen produced is in spectrum's beneficial to your plants. In fact the 2700k and 6500k spectrum CFL grow lights we use, fall smack dab in the middle of the cannabis plans main chlorophyll producing spectral bands, while HPS lamps usable lumen comes in at the very low end of the bloom spectral scale at 2100 and 2200k. Still acceptable, but not optimal.

 So when replacing a HPS with a CFL lamp. I would recommend at least using the 1400w supermax unit because it produces about 22,400 lumen that plants can use. While the 1400w unit is a good replacement for the 1k HPS, and It was my most popular unit for over three years, the 2k unit has replaced it as the most popular 1k HPS replacement unit. Its also our most popular unit overall coming in at around 32,000 usable lumen. One sorta advantage HPS lights have is their light penetration. Because they are one intense light source (think flashlight) and its a lot of overall light, they penetrate pretty far and have an effective grow area of about 4 ft, starting from about 2 ft from the light source. The challenge some growers have with is with the shadowing created by having one light just one source, (heat & cost prevent multiple HPS's units in small spaces). which is why some growers use light movers with their HPS lights. CFL grow light's (the 1.4k & 2k) actually have close to  the same effective grow area of about 3 1/2 ft from the light source, more for the Mega Max.  I recommend having them about 1 or 2 ft from the units for the best results and good light spread.

 The MegaMax will  be able to handle your needs in that space, however there are certain drawbacks to the megamax unit, and the edges may be a bit under lit in that space. That unit is pretty much not upgradeable in the future, as its already using the largest bulbs that fit in a standard base. Speaking of bulbs, the most cost effective and watt to lumen bang for the buck comes from smaller 23w to 30w CFL bulbs, and they are far easier on the pocket book to replace when they need replacing, while the larger bulbs are less efficient and more expensive to replace. With that said, the 4800w unit still has its applications, and your right, it has a great spread and can be used to cover a big area. Its also good for those who want to just get the most light in a small space, but really I believe two 2k units are in some ways more effective. With the two units, switching from veg to flower is much easier than with the 4.8k unit cost wise, and the two units lend much more flexibility with positioning and light spread. To be frank, I made it because we wanted the most powerful grow light on the market, and customers asked for it, but I almost always end up recommending either three 1400w units or two 2k units.

 
"I have another, 2nd question.  If early summer vegging (blue skies), need
4000-6500k, and late summer (flowering), needs 2700k.  Then does that mean
if I buy a mixed spectrum light that's say 32,000 usable lumens, that it's
really like the plants only get 1/2 or 16,000 during vegging because that's
all they want and are looking for? Or is it not really that bad because the
flowers can use both spectrum's?"
 
 Great question Z! No these plants can use both spectrum's to varying degrees during all stages. For example, adding some 2700k or red light in veg promotes vertical (stalk and stem) growth in plants, while the blue light promotes leafy vegetative growth with close flower (bud) nodes. I like adding extra red over my indica dominant strains during veg to get them to stretch out a little and that results in bigger yields for me. With sativa's, I'll go with strait 6500k (blue) light because I want as little vertical growth as possible and I  want my flower nodes closer. For 95% of whats out there I use a 85/15%ish mix, like 17 6500's and 3 2700's in my units.
 

 For the bloom cycle, I'll do almost the complete opposite. I'll do a 80/20 or 90/10 mix there. Not for bushy growth though, but for the THC and CBD to fully mature and give me all she's got to give. Buds grown under just red light alone are missing much of the CBD's and THC's (hundreds of different thc's & cbd's) that only develop under the blue spectrum's. Growing like that will most likely give you a CBD type of "couch lock" experience regardless what strain your growing, as many of the THC & CBD molecules are not mature. Remember the sun is never the exact same spectrum day to day, or even the same day from start to finish. Having a bit of good blue light in your flower room helps cure the flowers much faster, give's your buds the true aroma, and gives the different strains your growing more pronounced differences in their medicinal qualities.

 Z, I hope I've given you some ammo without confusing things. I know I get deep sometimes but I really love what I do, and I love growing pot with CFL's

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"NO OTHER GROW LIGHT PLACES MORE OF THE EXACT LIGHT YOUR PLANTS NEED IN THE CORRECT KELVIN SPECTRUM'S THAN THE MEGAMAX"  GROW MASSIVE COLA'S! CLOSEST TO NATURAL SUMMER SUN! LESS HEAT IN YOUR GROW ROOM   The 4,800 watt MegaMax CFL Grow Light unit delivers over 74.400 lumen in the CORRECT spectrums to your plants without wasted heat or light. Compare to 1,000w HPS with 150K total lumen & ONLY 20,000 in the CORRECT spectrums your plants need to thrive! "NO MORE REPLACING BULBS EVERY FREAKEN CYCLE" CFL-GrowLight.com