these grow setups make my mouth water.
since I'm totally new at this, i've been reading non-stop for a week and absorbing everything I can.
i should be coming into some cash soon (about 200-300$) and want to start buying equipment. i'm not the best with powertools and stuff so this is what I plan on buying, in this order:
1) flos
I was thinking to save for HID lighting but in light of my current grow setup (which you can see here: http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8115) i'm desperate to feed the kids some proper light right away. the red rays they be getting from the tranlucent bulb is resulting in concentrated growth at the stem and i definitely don't want no skinny legged girls in this house.
i figure i'll still be using the flos in the future for clones/seedlings in the tri-level setup i'm planning. for now i'll set-up the flos with the seedlings in a corner of the house and cover the set-up with cardboard or maybe some boards i see being thrown out at construction sites.
2) cheap stand-alone closet
i've seen some at the ikea and similar stores. I can't bust holes in the current closets I got cause i'm renting. i'm planning on putting exhaust fans, one at the bottom of the closet and one at the top. i'd also like to feed the wires through a hole at the bottom to make the setup as nondescript as possible.
so while I'm feeding the youngins with the flos, I'll be setting up the closet.
I've seen some nice looking closets made out of sheet metal, any opinions on using those?
3) 175-300W HPS Lamp or 150-250 MH Lamp.
I eventually want both types. Where I am in the process with my babies depends on which I purchase first. If, let's say 6 weeks pass, and they're standing over 12" I'll go for the HPS and make em flower. If they're scrawny or if they die and I started over I'll go for the MH and recommence the veg stage.
The closets I'm interested in are about 7' high, 2' deep and about 3' wide = 42 square feet ~ 20,000 lumens required (read somewhere i need 5000 lumens/square foot).
I'm thinking I'll make the veg area about 2-3', and the flowering area 4-5'. So, that means I need to have about 13000-14000 lumens for the top and 6000-7000 for the bottom.
So I'm thinking of getting either a 150w HPS Lamp (10-14k lumens) or a 175w (10-14k lumens) metal hallide. THe metal hallide will be reinforced by mounting the existing flourescents on the sides of the closet or if that's overkill i'll build a separate chamber for any future clones and throw the flos in there, keeping the MH strictly for the plants in veg stage in the main setup.
i've no clue what a ballast is, and seeing as this gets talked about a lot i may run into some problems.
anyhow, once I get the lighting in place I'll buy a thermometer and start working on ideal temp conditions and air circulation. I'm on the top floor of the building and shouldn't have any problems venting air outside, nor should I have odour control issues. Hope I'm on the right track, what yall think?.
