Making a grow room for LR's

[WrEkkED]

I have grown LR's with CFL's for the first 3 weeks before planting outside, but now I want to grow them indoors. I'm making a grow in my attic and I need some advice. I want to grow 3 at a time. I'm not sure what size to make the grow area. I was thinking of using a 400w HPS but I found a 1000 for the same price.

Is there such thing as too much light?

I'm thinking of putting the plants in 3 gallon pots so they have tones of room to grow roots. The ballast is remote so heat shouldn't be too bad with the help of a couple small fans.

Any insight?

 

[ArtVandolay]

Hmmm How cold is it going to get in your attic? Why in your attic? 3 gal pots should be big enough. There's no such thing as too much light but 1000 watts is going to be more (electricity) than you need for 3 plants. And harder to cool.

FYI I grow 6 autos in a cardboard wardrobe box with 300 watt hps.

 

[WrEkkED]

my attic is warm. about 70F.

Sounds like the 400 would be the better bet for electricty and heat. Is it better to get the one with the built in fan, or how hot do they get? What size is your box and how was your yeild.

 

[ArtVandolay]

Perfect . Here's my box

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50489

Here's my current grow

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52154

 

[WrEkkED]

your plants look awesome. hope mine turn out as well. I'm probably going to go with the auto ak47 and either with it or after it, auto white russian. I'm a little worried about smell,as I have kids, but I have a few things I'm going to try.

 

[ArtVandolay]

Thanks, Wrekked . Everything I know about growing came from the fine folks here at MP.

 

[WrEkkED]

I had a sweet grow about 2 years ago outside with an AK47. It was 8 feet tall the last I saw and was really bushy. Unfortunatly I had to just walk away from it and not go back. Learnt everything off of here also

After reading some more, I'm thinking a 400w HPS might be a little hot. How high from the plants would I need to be. I have about 5 feet to work with. The ballast will be remote.

 

[Locked]

They get hot enough...maybe you can build a cool tube for it...the problem with attics is they tend to get pretty warm when you grow in them...mine is cool in the winter but when I grew in it last year it got very warm with a 400w...

 

[WrEkkED]

yea sounds like it really needs ventilation. So any other ideas? Cfl's prehaps? I could cool off the attic when no one is around by opening it and the window directly below, but not all the time.

I'm wondering if maybe building a wooden tructure doing a T5 fluro on the top and then drill out holes on the sides to add CFL's to it. The only thing is I want to make sure my yeild doesn't suffer.

 

[Jericho]

Does your attic have a vent? you could always use a cool tube and vent it straight out the attic vent. just a thought.

 

[nouvellechef]

I the attic is the only choice. I would make some walls with black painters plastic from the depot. Use spray on adhesive and line the inside of plastic with Mylar. Run your 400 in a aircooled hood and suck the hot air out with fan and DIY filter or buy one. You should be able to get that light right up to tops or pretty close. When summer rolls around, gonna need to re think it. Or veg inside and flower outside this year. If done right that way, could end up with alot of dank.

PS, come up with a pest regime. Lots of choices.

 

[ArtVandolay]

Have a look at the grow tents in the Grow Tent Club thread. Reasonably priced, easily set up, nothing permanent so you can move it around.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51857

 

[JustAnotherAntMarching]

Wrekked Ive had several good harvest from autos using T5's... All plants yeilded over 35gs... plenty of pics in my journal below...

 

[WrEkkED]

I'm not sure about the venting, I do know there is an exhaust vent on a switch down below. I'm wondering if I can tap into it. I'm going to try and get up and in there right now. I bassically poked my head up and looked and could tell there was wires for power circuits and saw there was lots of space.

 

[Locked]

I'm not sure about the venting, I do know there is an exhaust vent on a switch down below. I'm wondering if I can tap into it. I'm going to try and get up and in there right now. I bassically poked my head up and looked and could tell there was wires for power circuits and saw there was lots of space.

If you hve the space a grow tent up there might be a good fit...tents are cheap, mobile, and water proof...even though I tried not to I had my fair share of spills when I was growing in my attic and my ceiling now shows them like battle scars...

 

[WrEkkED]

a grow tent may be a good idea. My problem is getting into the attic. It's only a 2' by 2' opening and it's not made to support much weight. I need to get a ladder to investigate more, but I did get my hand up into the hole and it is actually quite cool up there. feels like its about 50 degrees. The roof ins't insulated, the ceiling in the upper floor is. Only thing is I'm trying to keep cost below $400. I'll get up there and have a good look. How much heat do these lights make? Say you had an area of 1300 feet^3, would running a 400w hps heat the space up over 85 degrees?

 

[WrEkkED]

Hamster I am so jealous of your grows. Where did you find your tent? I would have to have a smaller tent because my roof is on an angle. It's 6 feet tall at one point, but not the whole way through.

 

[Locked]

Hamster I am so jealous of your grows. Where did you find your tent? I would have to have a smaller tent because my roof is on an angle. It's 6 feet tall at one point, but not the whole way through.

This is the tents I hve...hxxp://cgi.ebay.com/36x20x62-In-HYDROPONICS-GROW-TENT-HYDRO-BOX-HUT-CABINET_W0QQitemZ390150526208QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad6c89500

They make smaller ones...hve a look through ebay...just type in grow tent in the search...

 

[WrEkkED]

I found a few things for the setup.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-REFLECTIVE-INTERIOR-GROW-TENT-CABINET-HYDROPONICS-R_W0QQitemZ300391321949QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f0b7d15d

http://cgi.ebay.ca/250w-Lumatek-Radiant-8-Air-Cooled-2-Lamps-HPS-MH-250_W0QQitemZ200433800072QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2eaac91388

http://cgi.ebay.ca/4-INLINE-FAN-CARBON-FILTER-COMBO-ODOR-CONTROL-SCRUBBER_W0QQitemZ160401200551QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2558a815a7

Would this be enough to get me going other than some ducting? or is 250w too small?