Can I use cfl bulbs on white widow auto flower?

Ok, and so 3-23watt 2700k’s and 3- 23watt 6500k’s will be good for 2 plants white widow AF in a 3x5x8 area. Each one in ten gallon plastic pots with drain pans. I’m getting the complete pkg of chemicals and seeds from ILGM the 149.00 kit.and I’m in rural Oklahoma so not a big variety of soils.Walmart is the main source of everything.lol so any advice on what I need to do there ? Please forgive me for piling on the questions, I am very new to this and I have to do it right. I am growing this for my cancer and it is so expensive here , we just legalized it and supply is low till we get some production in, I’m sure you know what I mean. I want to thank you for all your help and patience.you and PigmanBBQ have gone above and beyond and I’m grateful !! This forum and the members of it are true pro’s ! God bless you. Sorry but I really needed to tell y’all that . Ok so what do you think? Am I going in the right direction ?

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I think 10 gallon pots are awfully big for a CFL grow. If you’re working with 6 23 watt bulbs I would consider one plant in a 3 gallon pot in something like a 2x2 space. I also like the 6500k for veg and then mixing in some warm whites for flower. You just don’t want to trigger longer node spacing early with reds. Will be difficult enough to do with low intensity.

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Hello, I am grateful for any and all advice I promise you that. I was planning on using 4- 23 watt 2700k and 4 -23 watt 6500k on two white widow af plants. I am working with a very limited budget and I am growing them for my battle with stage 2 cancer. The prices here in Oklahoma are very high due to limited supply,we just legalized it a few months ago and until more product is available the prices will be high. I am doing this white widow complete pkg from ILGM because it’s hopefully 8-9 weeks and I won’t be at the mercy of the dispensary. Just wanted to let you know where my head is. I’m brand new at growing,but I’m a veteran at fighting cancer. Now the pots you said we’re too big, is that something I should change ? The area I have to grow in is a closet 3x5x8 and I am extremely limited on where I can grow. I am going to try to do every single thing I have to get this first grow done right. It is the medicine that helps me live a better life till the end . So anything that you can help me with is greatly appreciated and taken to heart, I am very intelligent and very broke.lol I’m going to do everything you advise me to, restricted only by the mighty dollar ! So please share your wisdom and I will be honored to receive it ! Oh, my name is Tracy Powell ,U.S.Army Retired. 21 yrs as a Sgt.1st class, Special Forces, Green Beret. So I’m very good at shutting my mouth and opening my ears! Thank you sir. Tracy

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No need to shut your mouth here lol, thank you for your service and I hope you kick cancer’s ass.

Your closet will be fine to grow in too. I was more or less suggesting that maybe you could hang a curtain or make a wall out of something reflective within the space. Everything about your grow is going to be based off of how well you can maintain a good growing environment. Cfl’s will definitely grow weed, but the light intensity from them is really weak. If you have 8 to work with it’s not really enough to justify two plants. What I mean by that is your two plants with roughly 4 bulbs each likely won’t yield anymore than 1 plant with the 8 bulbs would. So instead of trying to fight underpowered plants and potentially wasting a seed, doubling down on the one plant is worth considering. Especially if it’s your first time growing in the space.

The recommended flowering intensity for cannabis is between 600 and 1000 umols per second per square meter. If you follow this link and scroll through pics there’s one that shows the light intensity from 8 23 watt CFL bulbs.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FB61CH3#immersive-view_1546581990369

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I see what you’re saying, I planned on having 2 plants first because I need the medicine ASAP because I have had to stop buying it and if I don’t get back on it I won’t be growing anything, it makes the treatments tolerable and I’m not able to do anything but stay in the bed. so getting to the first harvest is so important for me to be able to continue this all out fight to the death I currently live in. And I don’t think that one plant will be enough to get to the next harvest.So what can I do to resolve the lighting problem and be able to have 2 plants that will produce a respectable harvest.I have no illusions of a bumper crop harvest. I just need to stay able to fight. So now I need to hear a wonferfull solution with a thrift store price ! Lol just give me the news quick, they say it doesn’t hurt as much .lol thanks so much for your time and help with me. So

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I hear you. What seems to be a popular with homemade grow light crowd is to grab a multi way bulb splitter and use household led bulbs with diffuser removed. I think Amazon sells 5-7 bulb holders for around $10. Bulbs like a19 or a21 can also be bought on Amazon or around locally for a couple bucks per bulb. If you do something like that per plant you’ll have better luck than with cfl’s. The led bulbs usually run around 25-30% more light per watt, and that goes up a little more once diffuser is removed.

Getting lighting in order to grow weed on a tight budget is difficult. I do a lot of custom led builds as a hobby, basically getting tg end super high end components and assembling them myself for about half the cost. Even building myself to do a good light for that size space would run me about $600. Cutting some corners and doing a so so light probably $300. The alternative there is you can get into a hid light for probably under $150. But you’d likely end up spending more on other stuff to manage temperatures.

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I’ll just agree with this statement @Tracy1
And from one Vet to another Welcome to the forum

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Thank you very much, I think it was a real blessing that I happened on this forum.Yeah us vets gotta stick together ! Hooahh!!!

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I can’t thank you enough for all the time you have taken helping me. Ok so I need 8 or 10 LED bulbs and remove the diffuser right? Can you tell me exactly which ones to get I’m not at all familiar with them. I also need to build a hood to mount them to correct? Anything else I should start on ? I’m ordering the seeds and grow kit on the 18th and then I will really bug the hell out of you! Lol.

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I would start with finding bulb splitters and go from there. I would just shop around for bulbs some, sometimes you can get them really cheap in a place like Walmart clearance aisle. Amazon has plenty of choices too. But what you’re looking for is a19 or a21 bulbs. Probably a mixture of warm white cct and daylight cct.

You wont need a hood with this kind of setup. Once the diffusers are removed the bulbs will be directional. You would want a reflector or whatever if you did cfl’s.

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Ok , I got you ! How many should I get so I will get the right number of splitters. I want to make sure I have the lighting set up so the plants will get more than enough light. So if you tell me 25 then I’ll get 25 ready to go. Lol, again thank you for your time and wisdom! I am going to find a way to show my appreciation for all this work you are doing and all the work and time and money you have saved me! I’ll make you proud and I will always do all I can to help someone else when I can. I truly hope ILGM knows how lucky they are to have you !!! I know for sure that they will know how you went above and beyond to help me!! Guaranteed!!!

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Don’t worry about me haha. I’m happy that you are trying, and hope you are successful.

I do think that if you’re really wanting it to be great you would try to avoid using household bulbs altogether. The information I’ve given to this point is based on that being the only option. If you have the budget to do an extravagant bulb build you may be able to get into something better. What is your budget for lights? Keep in mind you’re going to need some fans for ventilation, pots, growing medium, nutrients, and some tools.

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Well, I will have to do the cheapo bulbs on this first grow, but by the time I am ready to start the next one I will be able to buy anything I need to get. It’s only an issue now because I’m having hell with my VA for my treatments and I had to pay 75 thousand in cash and that stung more than the damn cancer! Lol. Also I am ordering the complete grow kit, it’s supposed to have everything to care for 20 plants.but you know about those I’m sure so you tell me.

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There’s a lot of them. No telling what may or may not be in there.

These seem to be popular.

https://www.amazon.com/8T8-Splitter-Standard-Converter-Commercial/dp/B06ZZ6RY4H/?tag=greenrel-20

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Hey brother, how would this work for our lighting project?

You mean the link above?

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<img style=“vertical-align:bottom;border:none”

How would this work for our lighting?

I had to delete your link as they require exchanging email information to get access, sorry.

If you can post an image or screenshot that would be better.

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Yeah, I found this on Amazon when I was looking at bulbs and splitters and it is right in line with my budget lol ! But you can maybe look it over and let me know.1546662826604-1860585793

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Can you link it? Amazon links are welcome here

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