Growing with Incandescent Bulbs

[Trix Are For Kids]

First off I realize that this is a stupid idea. However, for scientific purposes, I want to conduct an experiment that uses only incandescent bulbs for growing versus other methods. I want to try it in a confined area, and I want the plants to be no more than two feet high. Say I set up an area that is 2*5feet, so 10 square feet total. How many incandescent bulbs would I need in order to do this? Would it even make the plant grow, or would it be in a vegging state until it got proper lights?

[Dose Me]

You need to know which bulbs exactly you plan to use and you need to know exactly how many lumens those bulbs put out.

The reason people use CFL's isn't because they're new, pretty and energy efficient...

it's because they are the only bulbs of that size that can put out enough lumens to satisfy photosynthesis requirements.

Give us some numbers and we could definitely help you out more. (Like lumen output of the bulb u wanna use)

[Optionryder420]

CFLs are used not just because of the light, but the heat to light ratio.

[tariel]

There are no two ways about it, incandescants put out too much heat per watt, and also give out very few lumens per watt. They are next to useless for growing.

CFL'S are, on average, about half as efficient as HID lighting on a lumen per watt basis. 270w of CFL with the bulbs I can get is about 14k lumens, compared to 28,000 lumens for a 250w HPS.

Eventually the heat from CFL'S does become a problem, and you still need to refresh the air in the grow area. Unless you're going for super stealth, HID will always be better. It's really not hard to deal ith the heat of a 250w HPS unless the area is incredibly small.

[Dose Me]

CFLs are used not just because of the light, but the heat to light ratio.

Yeah this is what I was getting at.

Good info from tariel as well.

He did say he wanted to experiment. I mean yeah if you could still try it but the data says improbable.

[Trix Are For Kids]

Well this is going to be a challenge. Pretty much nobody does this, and it's obvious why with other types of light being so easy to get. But I keep getting different results on lumen output. Some places say anywhere from 10 to 100 lumens per watt. (I really doubt the 100 though.) Let's say 20 lumens at best. If I used one bulb at 100 watts, that would be 2000 lumens. Say if I merely wanted to keep a plant sustained and vegging at a very slow rate, would this work? What about auto flower strains, what would happen with those? My guess is that if I want to keep the plant alive at all my best chance would be to spread the plant out laterally by topping, right?

[zombo.com]

"pretty much nobody does this"

^ there's a reason for that, it's been mentioned a few times already, heat, low luminosity, etc.

The common incandescent light bulb emits some of the frequencies of light the cannabis plant can use, but it also emits a high percentage of far red and infra-red light which cause the cannabis plant to concentrate its growth on the stem. This results in the cannabis plant stretching toward the light bulb until it becomes so tall and spindly that it just weakly topples over.

to combat this you'd want some supplemental blue lighting as well.
and of course a good fan for all that extra waste heat you're producing....

why would you want to experimentally grow shitty plants?

[GreatToKnow]

First off I realize that this is a stupid idea. However, for scientific purposes, I want to conduct an experiment that uses only incandescent bulbs for growing versus other methods. I want to try it in a confined area, and I want the plants to be no more than two feet high. Say I set up an area that is 2*5feet, so 10 square feet total. How many incandescent bulbs would I need in order to do this? Would it even make the plant grow, or would it be in a vegging state until it got proper lights?

I have a 125 one and a 30watt both shining down on my plant and now its one big ass mother.

You need one of those evirolites "Massive CFL"

[Trix Are For Kids]

why would you want to experimentally grow shitty plants?

It's not really an experiment on the plants, it's an experiment on grow room setup. Trying to gather data on maximizing profits in a confined space. Obviously people use SCROG and other methods to control plant height, and they work great, but I'm researching alternative methods of growing.

[tariel]

It's not really an experiment on the plants, it's an experiment on grow room setup. Trying to gather data on maximizing profits in a confined space. Obviously people use SCROG and other methods to control plant height, and they work great, but I'm researching alternative methods of growing.

If you want to know how to minimize yeilds and profits for any space....go incandescent.

[Trix Are For Kids]

No shit incandescent sucks. It's fucking clear to me. BUT, I'm doing this for quantitative data, as in numbers. I don't need any qualitative results other than it still being alive at the end of a 3 month period.

[GreatToKnow]

No shit incandescent sucks. It's fucking clear to me. BUT, I'm doing this for quantitative data, as in numbers. I don't need any qualitative results other than it still being alive at the end of a 3 month period.

Kind of stupid using crap lighting to grow plants. a red spectrum CFL @ 125w would grow decent bud

[Dose Me]

I say go get your quantitative data Trix...fuck all these guys.

Post that shit too because I want to see it.

[Vigilante]

I say go get your quantitative data Trix...fuck all these guys.

Post that shit too because I want to see it.

Agreed. I mean what the hell can it hurt.. have any of you ever done it? Like really done it? I mean sure, maybe when you were younger and thought you were going to grow a plant under your desk lamp or in a closet.. But I mean, putting all the other variables in there too.. nutrients, water and monitoring ph levels, quality soil, ventalation.. ect.. I can't say I've ever seen or heard of anyone doing it.. err.. right.. but with the use of incandescent bulbs. I'll be more than interested to see how it turns out.. Nothing wrong with trying new things.. You may learn something completely new.. Either way, the research will definitely be of use to the cannabis culture regardless of the turn out, because atleast then there will credible evidence to prove or disproove.. well.. whatever happens or is expected..