Asked by: Honoria Tsagareli
home and garden outdoor decorating

Can any CFL be used to grow?

13
It's optimal to use 'daylight' (6500k) colored bulbs for the vegetative stage and 'soft white' (2500k) colored bulbs for flowering, but you can use any color CFL during either stage and your plant will grow well.


Considering this, can CFL be used to grow plants?

CFL bulbs provide the light wavelengths that plant need for growth and produce much less heat than conventional fluorescent or incandescent bulbs. Compared to sunlight, CFL bulbs produce far less light intensity, so multiple bulbs may be needed to provide enough light for healthy plant growth.

are CFL grow lights any good? I decided to start with the cheapest, most basic types of light out there: compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs. They're a great starting light for beginners because they're cheap, easy to find, and do a damn good job of growing many different types of plants.

Subsequently, question is, which CFL bulbs are best for growing?

The Best CFL Grow Light for You

  • Apollo Horticulture 60 Watt CFL Compact Fluorescent Grow Light Bulb for Plant Growing – 6500K.
  • Hydroponic Full Spectrum CFL Grow Light Bulb 60 Watt Bulb 5500K H60.
  • Philips 433557 100-Watt Equivalent, Bright White (6500K) 23 Watt Spiral CFL Light Bulb, 4-Pack.

Can regular LED lights grow plants?

Technically, yes you can use any LED lights to grow plant, but that doesn't ensure your plants will grow healthy or efficiently, as regular LED lights will not contain enough color or light spectrum which plants need to Photosynthesis. So if you want to grow indoor, It's better buy a specialized LED grow lights.

Related Question Answers

Guendalina Heintzschel

Professional

Is 5000k good for plants?

5000k-5500k have the most PAR light than any other flouro all you need is that bulb. 5000k is also really ideal for seedlings and clones. personally if i was doing CFL i would do a mix of 5000k and 6500k for veg and 5000k only for flower.

Anyelo Lourenço

Professional

How many CFL lights do I need for one plant?

Just aim for about 150W of CFLs in Total Per Plant to Start, and stick to relatively smaller size bulbs if you can! If you want them to screw into regular light bulb sockets, use ones with a “medium base”.

Carme Gallego De Lerma

Professional

Can I use daylight CFL for flowering?

It's optimal to use 'daylight' (6500k) colored bulbs for the vegetative stage and 'soft white' (2500k) colored bulbs for flowering, but you can use any color CFL during either stage and your plant will grow well.

Aquiles Jdanko

Explainer

Is 6500k good for plants?

Foliage growth is generally best around 6500K, though many plants need a period of warmer light, around 3000K, in order to produce flowers, and thus fruit. In other words, if your goal is to simply produce seedlings, leafy green vegetables, or root crops, you only need higher spectrum bulbs.

Roca Zehner

Explainer

What Kelvin is best for flowering?

These “high kelvin” bulbs are optimal for vegetative growth. These CFL bulbs mimic the color temperature of the sun during Spring/Summer. Bulbs with a more yellow/red tint are listed as “Soft white” colored with a Kelvin of 2700K. These “low kelvin” bulbs are optimal for the flowering stage.

Aruca Rohatsevich

Explainer

How many CFLs do I need for 2 plants?

So the answer is that for 2-3 plants, and each plant contains 1 square foot, you should need not less than 150 wattages. In terms of lumens, it's always great if you can have as much as possible as long as your space can handle the heats, up to around 10000 Lux. That is the case of CFLs.

Moner Moldoveanu

Pundit

Is CFL a full spectrum?

There is no technical definition for full-spectrum lighting, so it is difficult to measure what defines it specifically. Full spectrum lighting generally falls within two larger lighting types: Incandescent and fluorescent.

Cisne Chorincas

Pundit

Which is better LED or CFL?

LED bulbs require much less wattage than CFL or Incandescent light bulbs, which is why LEDs are more energy-efficient and longer lasting than their competitors. The lower the wattage needed, the better.

Carissa Landarbaso

Pundit

Is LED or fluorescent better for plants?

When your grow requires a long daily run—particularly in the vegetative stage—LEDs can offer a smarter and more efficient choice. Although LEDs often have a higher installation cost, these bulbs last longer and use less electricity. While fluorescent options emit heat and light in all directions, LEDs are directional.

Eghosa Arguez

Pundit

How many lumens does a plant need?

Minimum amount of lighting needed is around 2000 lumens per square foot. Mid range is around 5000 lumens per square foot. Optimal is 7000-7500, or higher, lumens per square foot.

Enriqueta Steinhausser

Pundit

Can you use regular light bulbs to grow plants?

Seedlings grow best when provided with light that provides both red and blue light wavelengths. Fluorescent full-spectrum lights work best because they provide the necessary wavelength and don't heat up, but an incandescent light bulb can work in a pinch.

Nasko Solier

Teacher

Is led better than CFL for growing?

They are however much more powerful than CFL lighting setups. Further, high-quality LED grow lights are more expensive to buy than their comparable HID equivalents. LED Lighting Pros: More powerful and effective than CFLs. Much less heat output than HIDs.

Safina De Roca

Teacher

What size grow light do I need?

The Size Of Your Grow Space
When growing cannabis, a good rule of thumb is to use a minimum of 50 watts of light per square foot of grow space. We want to flood our plants with light ( food ) so that they have lots of energy to produce big potent buds.

Abu Sais

Teacher

How many watts does a CFL plant need?

When using CFL bulbs to grow a plant with a high light requirement (like cannabis), you want a minimum of 60 watts per square foot. Ideally, you want 100 watts per square foot. And it doesn't hurt to go higher (though there's not much point going over 150w). You really can't give your plants too much CFL light.

Lisandro Lyon

Teacher

How high should my t5 be from my plants?

The best height for a T5 grow light is about 6-8 in. above the plants, but you should increase that gap to 12 in. if your plants don't like heat or they are in the seedling growth stage.

Felipa Albiar

Reviewer

Etor Ayzenschtat

Reviewer

What is the best type of grow light?

Types of Grow Lights
  • Incandescent bulbs cost just a few dollars and are the cheapest option.
  • Fluorescent lights are the most popular choice for home growers.
  • High Intensity Discharge solutions like Metal Halide (MH) and High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights are good choices, though expensive to purchase and operate.

Arnette Caseda

Reviewer

What is the CFL equivalent to 40w?

The Philips 9-Watt T2 Soft White CFL Light Bulbs (4-Pack) replaces a standard 40W incandescent bulb with a miniature size. You can save up to $160 in energy costs through these bulbs.

Bogdana Baulo

Reviewer

What are the best LED grow lights?

TOP 25 BEST LED GROW LIGHTS 2020
  • Spider Farmer SF-2000 LED Grow Light.
  • MARS HYDRO Reflector 960W LED Grow Light.
  • Advanced Platinum Series P300 LED Grow Light.
  • G8LED 240 Watt LED Grow Light.
  • BESTVA 2000W Full Spectrum Dual-Chip LED Grow Light.