At each stage of marijuana plant growth, overall wattage is more crucial than its specific hue spectrum. Buy CFL bulbs that provide the highest true wattage you can afford at the lowest possible cost.
Make spacers out of extra 5-gallon buckets you have purchased or assembled and use them on top of your main grow container for optimal grow performance.
Light Frequency
CFL bulbs can be an ideal choice for new growers who wish to experiment with marijuana cultivation but lack both space and resources for a full grow room setup. Their cost per watt compares favorably with that of an HPI-D lighting fixture while still providing adequate illumination that results in good harvest results.
Tumblers do have one downside, however; they produce too much heat which can damage your plants or make maintaining the proper temperature difficult. To combat this problem, fans and other strategies can help circulate air around your plants to help regulate temperatures in the bucket.
Start off your small bucket grow right with five-gallon buckets from most depots or hardware stores at an economical price, preferably white ones to minimize heat build-up within your container.
After gathering your supplies, the next step should be obtaining some type of power strip and CFL-compatible light sockets – these can typically be found at most home improvement stores or online. When it comes time for flowering phase use “daylight” CFL’s for vegetative phase and “warm white” for flowering as they foster different growth characteristics.
Once you have all of the components assembled, it will be time to wire your lights and fan to a power strip. Solder or wire nuts may be needed to splice together wires before zip ties secure them further away from potential fire hazards. It is also vitally important that power strips and light sockets remain elevated from any possible ground hazards to ensure optimal results.
Your space bucket requires its own ventilation system for proper functioning. While proper ventilation is key for any indoor grow setup, space buckets require special consideration as heat will build up inside them without proper airflow causing plants to suffer and potentially perish. Designing such an system may take some creative improvising but should be easily achievable using fans and scrap duct work.
Light Color
CFLs come in an assortment of colors. To achieve optimal results with CFLs for vegetative stages and soft white (2700k) for flowering phases, daylight (6500k) colored bulbs should be used, since their hue mimics what the sun looks like during these points in their cycle. However, their exact hue won’t have as big of an impactful as giving your plants enough wattage at one time.
Use of sufficient lighting is of utmost importance for any small bucket grow setup. At minimum, start out by including two 40W “daylight” CFLs (equivalent of 150W incandescence bulbs). As your plant starts flowering, more illumination may become necessary and you may require more than your original pair.
Your growing setup requires light sockets and weatherproof rubber wire connectors, which will connect lights and fans to a power strip connected to a GFCI outlet in your room and providing electrical power for growing setup. A fan should also be installed for proper air circulation within your growing setup as this will keep space bucket cool while preventing heat build-up; without ventilation your plants may become susceptible to fungal and bacterial infections.
Light Duration
If you plan to use CFL lights in a bucket grow, I advise using at least two 40W “daylight” bulbs and adding one or two 42W warm white bulbs during flowering for optimal results. Warm white bulbs will help your plants produce larger buds.
Additionally, it is advised that you use a power strip to power your lights and fans. This makes changing bulbs easy while keeping all electrical components off of the floor for added safety.
Important to keep in mind is the need for air circulation with your plants, as without this essential step heat can build up inside your bucket and potentially kill or cause fungal or bacterial growth. A fan is essential in providing enough oxygen in your container so they can thrive – some Space Bucket users even choose to install their fan on the outside of their bucket.
Light Emitting Distance
Finding ways to provide enough light for plants during their growth process is of the utmost importance in indoor cultivation. If sunlight is unavailable, several options exist for providing sufficient illumination. One is compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which are an easy and inexpensive solution. Another approach can be using reflective walls of a space bucket such as painting with special white latex paint for reflective purposes – both methods offer good results with minimal investment required.
Selecting the proper CFL bulbs is of utmost importance, and selecting those between 23-42 watts will provide the optimal balance between heat output and lumen output – any larger could pose potential safety issues. Furthermore, look for bulbs that produce 100% par output; that means they provide all of their usable light in full measure. Finally, keep in mind that overall wattage matters more than spectrum when it comes to CFLs; get those that provide maximum wattage value at minimum cost.
The key to successful small bucket grows is making sure the bulbs don’t get too close to your plants, otherwise they won’t receive enough light and may begin to stretch out. An ideal distance would be 4 to 5 inches between bulbs and plants; to test this properly use the “back of the hand” test; if your hand gets hot from doing this exercise too often then too close bulbs exist.
Be sure to monitor the temperatures of the bulbs so they do not become too hot to touch, otherwise this could deprive plants of enough UVB light required for photosynthesis. A heat shield made of glass or plexiglass should do just fine for protecting these bulbs against too much heat; acrylic may not provide as much durability.
LEDs are usually the ideal lighting choice for space bucket grows, particularly once flowering begins. LEDs produce much more light than CFLs while being more energy-efficient; their broader spectrum and versatile nature also make them superior options. However, CFLs may be appropriate if budget constraints prevent this option.
