New Grow Room**First Time**Let there be light-Help

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DillaWilla

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I have a closet grow room, I built a plywood box that is 4' Tall, 5' Wide, and 2' Deep. My long term plan is to have 2 equal rooms in the box one for Vegging and one for Flowering. I have read a lot on these sites and am confident my box is good to go, however the lights are another story. My original purchase was 4 - 24'' Agrosun 20 watt 975 Lumens Full Spectrum Grow Lights with 2 -
2 slot flouro fixtures wired to a power strip inside the grow box. However this is only providing me with a total of 80 watts and 3,900 lumens which after reading more in depth about lighting does not seem sufficient at all if I want good vegging and harvest. The total set up cost for the lights were $160 which seems like for a little more I could have got one 250 watt MH system. I just recently purchased these lights so I could easily return them. If I start with just the 250 Watt MH system until it is time to flower and then buy a 250 Watt HPS system for the flowering side of my box , how many plants will that cover (250 Watts MH or HPS)? I am planning on starting to veg 6-7 plants and am not convinced the flouros will do anything. Please give me some insight on what would be best for my grow box size keeping in mind that eventually I would like to split it into 2 stages (Veg, Flower). Do I need to go with 400 Watt MH and HPS? or for my box size and plant numbers will 250 Watt MH and HPS be fine. Keep in mind I am not rich but want to do it right. One last questions can I bring up seedlings under the 250 or 400 Watt MH, or should I keep one set of the flouros for that and build a small seedling box on top of my grow box? Thanks for any help.

***Any posts made by me are purely fictional in nature and by no means is anything I say to be taken seriously. I do not grow or condone the growing of anything not legal. Any and all pictures I post are pictures widley available on the internet and any discussions I am involved in are purely hypothetical or are commentary in nature and should not constitute advice or be considered advice to assist in activities that are deemed illegal.
 
-You need 6000 lumens per sq/ft.
-Forget MH, HPS w/ full-spectrum bulb is your best all-around light.
-You need more than 4' height.
-I don't think you have enough sq/ft in your closet for 2 chambers.
 
i just want to say wow, nice butt saver at the end there. man i realy need to do that... but this sites host server is in amsterdam so i am ok i think or better yet I hope. i could be in the dam right now... or in the backyard nextdoor. just kidding welcome to the passion DW
 
Thanks for the advice Guru, let me ask you this, how big would my grow box need to be to have the 2 chambers? I am maxed out at 5 feet in width and 2 feet in depth but I can take it up from 4 feet tall to 6 feet tall. Will that allow me to have two chambers. I actually already purchased a 400 watt MH lamp with a full spectrum bulb which is what 90% of people I talked to recommended for the best possible vegging, my plan was to get a 400 watt HPS for flowering, I will have a good ventillation system once both lights are in place. Bottom line how much space do I need? Also with the power of these light how far from the top of newly planted germinated seeds and new sprouts should it be ...plus once I have growth how far from plant tops should the light be? Do I just attach it at the very top of the box or do I need it on chains to adjust which, is how I have it now. Can I even put seedlings under the MH or do I have to use Flouros? Any help would be great.


******Any posts made by me are purely fictional in nature and by no means is anything I say to be taken seriously. I do not grow or condone the growing of anything not legal. Any and all pictures I post are pictures widley available on the internet and any discussions I am involved in are purely hypothetical or are commentary in nature and should not constitute advice or be considered advice to assist in activities that are deemed illegal.
 
DillaWilla said:
Thanks for the advice Guru, let me ask you this, how big would my grow box need to be to have the 2 chambers? I am maxed out at 5 feet in width and 2 feet in depth but I can take it up from 4 feet tall to 6 feet tall. Will that allow me to have two chambers?
Hey DW, good to meet you. I'll jump in and save the Guru some typing. The chamber size is dependant on how you wish to grow your plants and what strain you choose to grow.

For example, if you want to grow a 100% Indica strain for nothing but Kolas and flower it as soon as feasibly possible, then you could have a chamber size of as little as one square foot. The plants would harvest at 3-4 feet tall.

You could also want to grow to a 6 foot tall Sativa plant with as many top growth buds as possible. That would require the entire area you have now for one plant.

The size of the plant is directly proportional to the amount of bud you'll be harvesting from it.

You sound as if you want to veg in one chamber and flower in the other. That would make your limitations to a 2.5' x 2' x 4' area if you allow for the area below your stem base and the distance of your light and how far you need to have that light above your plant tops. Is your light ballast remote or in the grow area? That makes a huge heat difference.

Well, anyway, what size plants do you want to end up with at harvest?

Good luck man.
 
Thanks Stoney...Yes the ballast for my light is outside the grow box as will be the ballast for the 400 watt HPS when I get to the flowering stage...As it stands now like you said with my current box being only 4 ft tall, 5 ft wide, and 2 ft deep, I will only be able to grow my plants to a maximum of 2.5 feet tall after flowering which accounts for 1 ft for the light fixture and .5 ft for the plants pot. After thinking this over I definitely agree with Guru this is probobly not enough space. I have one option maybe you can help but first you should know my plans. I would like to get started with as many plants as possible taking them as close to maturity as possible so I can find the best one and use it as a mother plant and then just clone the heck out of it basically resulting in many small plants that can flower right away somewhat like the SOG method I have been reading about. As far as strains, I dont know yet I have started with some bagseed to do a test run and also because I am in the USA and am worried about ordering seeds, I have an alternate address but do not want to spend the $$$ if the seeds will be yanked at customs.(I read on a post here that almost always the seeds dont come just a letter from customs) so that is my other worry. The seeds I have now were from a pretty decent bag of commersh. I dont intend that to be my mother plant however...Anyway getting back to the point, here is my option; I can extend my box up two to three feet making it a total of 6-7 ft tall giving me about 4ft-5ft of growth space it will be a pain but in the long run if it will make a huge difference thats what I will do. Realistically how many plants do you think I can fit in each chamber if my box was maxed out at 7ft tall, 5ft wide, 2ft deep or if I just keep it the way it is 4ft tall, 5ft wide, 2 ft deep. Keep in mind I want to grow only for personal use not retail or wholesale, personal use that will last me from harvest to harvest maybe an ounce of smokable per month, which means I would probably have to harvest 6-8 ounces one every four months. Let me know what you think, also if you have any advice on the seeds that would help...Thank you so much for your help.

*********Any posts made by me are purely fictional in nature and by no means is anything I say to be taken seriously. I do not grow or condone the growing of anything not legal. Any and all pictures I post are pictures widley available on the internet and any discussions I am involved in are purely hypothetical or are commentary in nature and should not constitute advice or be considered advice to assist in activities that are deemed illegal.
 
Hey DW, good to hear you're getting off the street for your supply. It's a real move up when you grow your first crop of worldclass weed. I'm told by friends on the upper east coast of the USA, an oz of WW goes for 800 bucks. Holy Crap!

I could never have enough money to throw at it at that price to get used to it. Growing my own, I can have what I want, when I want it.

My next grow is going to be a SOG method.

That's what you're looking for, right?

Click Here for another description: SOG

You probably said, but I don't remember, are you using Hydroponics or soil?
 
Stoney...I am using Soil and yes I am wanting to do Sea of Green. How about my seed issue, do you live in the US and if so where can you recommend I get my seeds from. Anyhow what do you think about my grow box size and how I should configure it. Appreciate any help I can get...Thanks

*********Any posts made by me are purely fictional in nature and by no means is anything I say to be taken seriously. I do not grow or condone the growing of anything not legal. Any and all pictures I post are pictures widley available on the internet and any discussions I am involved in are purely hypothetical or are commentary in nature and should not constitute advice or be considered advice to assist in activities that are deemed illegal.
 
DillaWilla said:
Stoney...I am using Soil and yes I am wanting to do Sea of Green. How about my seed issue, do you live in the US and if so where can you recommend I get my seeds from. Anyhow what do you think about my grow box size and how I should configure it.
Yeah, I'm out in the middle of a big ass swamp in Florida.

I buy my seeds from Nirvana. It's one of many that are rated highly on the list here: Seed Sellers

Mutt is the guy to ask about a grow box. The guy is a walking encyclopedia of grow box information. He has great links too.

Hey Mutt!
 
Swampin again huh stoney. lol

OK Sea of green soil method.
remember golden rule of flower for a sea of green is 1sq.ft. min. per plant. any smaller and yeild may suffer.

I would recommend keeping the box you designed as a flower chamber only. Make a smaller box as your mother box. It can be done with florous. 3' tall and 2' deep by 2' wide. using compact florous. mix of cool white and soft white. this will let you clone and be compact as not to get in the way. I am doing this in a smaller space.

The reason I recommend this is if you start gettin to other strains like sativa dom. you will need that ht. for the 400W as to prevent the plants from growing into the light and having to train the hell outa them.

The other option would be to switch to hydro and do a ScrOG method. (Screen of Green) I would not recommend this with soil, only hydro. It can be done but is a PITA.

If done right. you could be at the space you dealing with get 10OZ every two months. minimum. ;). With a mother box and a propagatin box perpetual sog could be done as well.

Look up The Brother Grunts thread for good ideas with Mother boxes. A mother does not require as much light as the flowering stage. Florous are great for keeping mother as the bulbs can be kept close to the plant without risk of burning.

A side note on seeds:
Lurk around other forums, ask questinos here. keep tabs on seedbanks. Others will let you know who is getting what. I like Nirvana seeds 15 bucks a pack and I always get at least 3-4 females. if they get confiscated I'm not out a hundred or so bucks,. and still get a good strain.

Sorry if my thoughts are broken, just buzzin really good tonite. will check this post tomorrow with great embarrasment as I just totally forgot what I was talking about. lol
 
Stoney...Thanks for the great advice. Maybe you can answer one more question or direct me to a link. What is the best way to clone using soil? I am assuming like you said I would have one mother box, one box to raise the clones, and then one box to flower them. I think I read you can flower them once they form a soild root ball is that correct? I am just looking for the best way to do this. Thanks Man, Peace!



*********Any posts made by me are purely fictional in nature and by no means is anything I say to be taken seriously. I do not grow or condone the growing of anything not legal. Any and all pictures I post are pictures widley available on the internet and any discussions I am involved in are purely hypothetical or are commentary in nature and should not constitute advice or be considered advice to assist in activities that are deemed illegal.
 
thanks Mutt....that link is righteous!


*********Any posts made by me are purely fictional in nature and by no means is anything I say to be taken seriously. I do not grow or condone the growing of anything not legal. Any and all pictures I post are pictures widley available on the internet and any discussions I am involved in are purely hypothetical or are commentary in nature and should not constitute advice or be considered advice to assist in activities that are deemed illegal.
 

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