Redesigning the small closet grow room

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ugmjfarmer

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I am redesigning my grow closet. I want to switch from a 250w to a 400w HPS for flowering, however my clone and veg room is giving me troubles.

For flowering, I would like to run a SOG or a stadium grow. I have around 4.5" of room to go upwards, but only 31" x 14" for floor space. If I use 1 gallon grow bags, 12 can be squeezed into the area. Every Vertical room i draw up will not net me anymore plants, so it would be simplest to use a 400w HPS and keep it simple with a flat SOG.

The area I have to work with for cloning and vegging mom is 31" W x 14" Deep x 32" tall. I don't want much stretch at all and my light will have to work for both clones and the mother. Would using a Sun System Spectra Max 246w 4) 2' T5 + 150w HPS ballast work for me? Or is it just going to be easier to use a 4) 2' T5 and/or CFL's?
 
thats calling it real close with a 400 watt hps or mh in 4.5 ft i would defintly get a cooltube reflector. also maybe a scrog would be better fitted for your grow dimensions instead of sog, also most people dont know this but sog is ussually from all clones so you have to have some current clones to throw in their if you did do a sog.
 
To get a SOG going you will have to get a perpetual cycle in motion. start seeds, wait for preflowers or flip at maturity, take clones from females, flower the females from seed. Chooses a mother or two, take clones from them and begin the SOG.

It's a lot of work but worth it in the end.As far as your closet goes, a 400 would be fine for that area, however getting your ballast outside the general area will be key to keeping temps low. Also, a cool tube or cool shade would allow you to keep the temps at optimal. If it were me I would stick with the 250hps in the flower room though. A couple strips of 2 ft flourescents on the sides for supplemental lighting.

Like i said before though a 400 is feasible. Its going to take more work to cool it though.

With your mom room i would just stick with some cfl's or 2ft flourescents, preferrably t5's. Cfl's would work fine in there though. 2 foot flourescents would be optimal for that small of a space though. You don't need a serious amount of wattage for a veg or mom room. You just need enough.
 
Any ideas on watt's per sq ft i should go with for T5's for mothers?

Oh and this is going to be perpetual but I want to do one harvest every 2 months. The key will be to get the clones to finish in 6-7 weeks so I have 1-2 weeks to hang and dry them with lights off. I am hoping that limiting their pot size to 1 gallon and packing more clones/sq ft will get me more yield. Hopefully, with an air cooled 400w I can pull 300-400g's every 2 months.
 
Any ideas on watt's per sq ft i should go with for T5's for mothers?
Not sure on how low you could go.. if you only need clones every two months.. but I've grown mothers under 4 4' T5s, in a 2ftx4ft space, and the canopy filled up quick.

As a guestimate, I could proabably grow under 2 4' T5s, and get enough clones.
 
I use a T5 for clones and vegging--I have a 4' 4 tube T5 in a 2 x 4 x 4 closet. Internodal spacing is tight and the plants are green and lush. I have a 400W MH that I no longer use.

I do not see you pulling 300-400g per harvest, especially with only 6-7 weeks from clone to flowering. If you get 1/2 g per watt of light when first starting out, consider that excellent. IMO, to get 1 g per watt you generally need to use some kind of advanced techniques and a lot longer veg time.
 
YA BETTER OFF USE T5 OR CFL, for cloning, and babies growing, t5 is better for mom
 
So okay then, I have settled on a single Sunleaves 2' 4 tube light for my veg. Its T5 with around 7600 lumens. My mother room will only have around 28" of height, which is perfect.

I have settled on ventilation. I will use a 445 CFM 6" Inline fan at the top of the chamber. This will cool the Hydrofarm Cool Tube and vent the box. Venting air will be through a 6" carbon filter. Intake will be done with my existing 4" 175CFM inline fan, split between both rooms with a simple Y. I will use an intake filter to make sure that nothing bad like bugs and pollen get into the room.

Flowering light will be a Lumatek Digital 400w Ballast with a Hortilux 400w HPS Bulb. I should have around 32" of height before the plants hit the glass.

Any comments?
 
Ok-

The following have arrived:
Lumatek 400w 120v Digital Ballast
Hydrofarm Cooltube 6"
Hortilux 400w HPS bulb
Sunleaves Pioneer Jr. IV
Light Lifters
Diesel Ryder Seeds
Aurora Indica Seeds

The Following are coming today:
6" Growbright Fan
6" Carbon Filter
6" Duct parts
4" Duct parts

Incoming Seeds:
Auto-AK47 Feminized

I have decided to add a 6" carbon scrubber to grow the stinky stealthy, also increasing my ventilation. I will be using a scrubber on the intake and reusing my 4" inline fan, both on a speed controller. We'll be moving air around like crazy! I cannot find room for CO2, so that is out of the question.

I will be showing the build process as best as I can. Hopefully to shed some light into how hard it is to grow in such a small space as mine.
 
ugmjfarmer said:
Ok-

The following have arrived:
Lumatek 400w 120v Digital Ballast
Hydrofarm Cooltube 6"
Hortilux 400w HPS bulb
Sunleaves Pioneer Jr. IV
Light Lifters
Diesel Ryder Seeds

The Following are coming today:
6" Growbright Fan
6" Carbon Filter
6" Duct parts
4" Duct parts

Incoming Seeds:
Auto-AK47 Feminized

I have decided to add a 6" carbon scrubber to grow the stinky stealthy, also increasing my ventilation. I will be using a scrubber on the intake and reusing my 4" inline fan, both on a speed controller. We'll be moving air around like crazy! I cannot find room for CO2, so that is out of the question.

I will be showing the build process as best as I can. Hopefully to shed some light into how hard it is to grow in such a small space as mine.

WOW. It sounds like you have really planned for this and done your homework. With as much air moving around as you have, you don't need supplemental CO2. Your girls are going to be happy.

Keep us informed.
 
i have a similar closet setup...my carbon filter and new fan should be coming 2day! :) Ill be watching this one and maybe get some new ideas!
 
Fan parts came in. The new 6" Inline is huge! I'm going to have to get creative and give up some more canopy space to make it all fit in. It looks now like 16" off the top will be used for the fan and carbon filter, which will get hung vertically in the corner now instead of horizontally over the light.

I also have some concerns about using a duct reducer for my output. I already have a 4" hole cut into the attic, so making a bigger 6" is not too hard to do, but I'm making too many holes in this house. Anybody think that reducing the duct line from 6 - 4" will make a huge difference?
 
OK!!!!! I've been busy.

My contractor came in and installed the 6" fan into the attic, with the vent pipe coming into my closet. Airflow is amazing. The lights and carbon filter are installed at the moment, but I am stalled out because its my 1st Anniversary w/ the wife. Babysitter is coming in a moment.

But- Good news, my Hydroponic system!

8) 1 Gallon black buckets
1) 10 gallon reservoir 12x12x18"
Ecoplus 265 pump
Drip feed design, drip stakes, 2 GPH drippers.

The design is much like you would see from the ebb/flow buckets, however drip feed instead. I will put a drain in each bucket and flow them back to the reservoir for a full hydro system. I will probably run 8 gallons of fluid, using a 1-2-3 formula of 3-part. There will be no-need for a basket, and I can use anything you would normally in a drip-feed system. My medium choice will be rockwool.

I got all my parts in 1 day from hxxp://www.usplastic.com and they are amazing with their prices and selection for DIY Hydroponic people like us.

Also on a side note- I got some more seeds, Joint Doctor Feminized AK-47 x LR2. So I will be attempting to grow 4 Diesel and 4 AK-47 with the test run of the system. Later on I will be running a SOG of smaller indica plants.
 
Light installed.

Current Night temperature: 63-67F
Current Day Temperature (12hr min-peak): 71 - 76F

OPTIMAL!

I'm very close to getting the drip feed system running. I tested the draining last night and it works great!

DSCF0144.JPG
 

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