Indoor CFL GG Auto Grow

Day 1: Running half Veg and half Flower CFL, 20-4 light schedule
Put 3 popped GG Auto seeds into grow medium on 10/26/19
Lifted pots to 24 inches below lights. Temps are 80-85 F with 14% humidity.

2 Likes

Welcome to the forum. I have to recommend you read up on the CFL lights. Those need to be a couple inches away from the plant to be effective. Even though am sure they are bright as H____
I started my first grow with CFLs. They work great but were hard to keep positioned at 2" from the plant. You can keep the 125w a little farther away. I ended up buying a cheap LED light. it used a lot less electricity and covered a 2x2 area at 18" @Myfriendis410, do you know and growers in here that could help here with CFLS :grin:

8 Likes

@Liljoe used them before. He may be able to advise. But he hasn’t been around much lately. :v:

2 Likes

Welcome to the aforum.

1 Like

My first grow I used CFL. @Not2SureYet is correct, you need those lights a lot closer

4 Likes

@TokerGuy you def need to get those cfls within a few inches of ur plants. Yours are way too high, best if u can make lights adjustable.


U can make simple fixtures such as above and hang them. Old 4 socket bathroom light fixtures with splitters work great too, 8 bulbs each and can b hung as well.
But with them hangin as high as yours, u r wasting ALOT of light that ur plants can be gettimg if they were 2 or 3 inches away

5 Likes

@TokerGuy … Welcome to the happy community!

Thanks, everyone!!! I have them now about 12 inches from the lights. They do produce a lot of heat any closer. At 12 inches the surface temp at my pots is about 84-88 degrees with an exhaust fan running just below the lights to pull out the hot air. Without the fan, the temps were 88-92 degrees. Does this really matter at this early stage of seedlings since it is below ground still? Or should I go ahead and move them within 6 inches regardless of the heat until they see light? They should be peeking through the dirt in about 24 hours I’m thinking. Thanks for everyone’s input here, Lord knows I need the grow support. lol

Do u have a fan circulatin the air inside ur tent? 81-2 is good for startin seedlings. A fan will help temps abit too

1 Like

Yeah, I have another exhaust fan I reversed into a blow fan and have it pulling fresh air return from my hallway near my AC vent. It’s bringing in cooler air, that helps the temps too. I have them in a dedicated small walk-in closet that I covered in foil to reflect light so I can do some small adjustments to the room construction wise, but don’t want to make anything permanent like exhaust fan to the attic stuff. lol So I will be making some improvements based on popular opinions here. My next will be to make a homemade pull system for those lights. It would be cheaper than buying a couple LED panels since I have so many CFL bulbs. lmao, like 50 each of Veg and Flower CFL’s.

3 Likes

I will get u some pics later of acouple fixtures I made for cfl lights. If u have a used building supply store, ReStore for example. Those r good places to get simple multi socket fixtures, I payed 4 bucks for 1 and 5 for anoth.
Will pkst pjcs later for u, need to take some. I also made a few LED fixtures aswell. Work great, alot less heat and no need to keep them as close as cfls

2 Likes

I only use these for my lights. I love them as it makes my job so much easier.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0098R0600?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_dt_b_asin_image

2 Likes

I have some of those, I’m just afraid they aren’t strong enough for the weight of my lights. @Liljoe You have any pics of how you built the LED fixtures and the cost of what you made? Would def be interested in upgrading for my next grow. I only popped 3 of the ten seeds I bought this time around. So more fun to come in January.

@TokerGuy I used them on my Viparspectra PAR600 light and I think it weighs almost 13.7 lbs. I had one for each corner where you hook the lights up to hang.

I’ve bought a total kits of these 4 times. I don’t know how much my HLG 260xl rspec kits weigh but I do know they are not light either.

2 Likes

Those hangers will hold a decent amount of weight. Just tale a look at where they are tied before using them. I have only had one that come un done out of about 10 sets I have bought. You can also run 2 on each side if you wanted, kind of like a back up. They are pretty cheap to buy. @dbrn32 can help if you build some lights. He helped with 2 of my QBs :grin:

2 Likes

@Not2SureYet @MrPeat Thanks! I will def be looking up @dbrn32 for info on how to build an LED from scratch instead of a kit. I know how to do some electrician work, so I can install and wire w/o problem. I will get two more of those grow ropes now and will just get two more so I can have the weight distributed by 4 instead of two.

1 Like

@TokerGuy That is why I have one for each corner so it helps with the weight distribution since the poles to the grow tent are not designed to take a lot of weight.

1 Like

Updated pic.

Deceptive, but that’s about 16 inches from the dirt, I set the numbers at six inches for measurement ref later. The fan u see here is a fresh air fan, also positioned to help push out heat from the lamps. The fresh air fan helped drop the temps at bowl level to 84 degrees now so under the dirt should be in the 80’s I hope. I guess I can use a meat thermometer to check the soil temp. Anyone ever use one that way? lol

1 Like

#3 broke ground today! Only 36 ours after being dropped.

1 Like

Good luck! Happy grow!!!

2 Likes