New Grower Questions

[BoneMan1000]

Hey all! I've been researching marijuana cultivation and I'm trying to decide how I want to approach this and what equipment to get. After much hand-wringing I arrived at an HTG 1000W (HPS) Grow Tent Kit and a Mother Keeper Complete System (T5):

[URLhxxp://www.htgsupply.com/Category-Complete-Grow-Kits.asp[/URL]

My thinking is that I can keep mothers in the smaller T5 tent as well as growing clones a couple feet tall before transferring them to the 1000W flowering tent. The T5 tent would just be for vegging and the bigger HPS setup just for flowering. I'm thinking that I can be continually growing clones and transferring them to the HPS tent and making room for more clones by harvesting, sort of a continual harvest.

Does this seem doable to you guys, and is my choice of equipment decent for reaching my goal of harvesting as much weed as possible as fast as I can? Thanks.

 

[Locked]

Welcome to MP....I wld read through this at your leisure as well....http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9396

A lot of us keep moms and run perpetual.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I do a perpetual grow, but do not keep moms--I take clones from clones.

IMO, if you go with that setup, you are going to need some upgrades. I don't believe that I would buy a switchable ballast if I was only going to run HPS, although a digi ballast would be a nice upgrade. You really need a reflector that you can air cool--for a tent that size, I would go with a large air cooled reflector rather than a cooltube. You are also going to need a better fan--it appears to be a duct booster fan, not a good enough fan. For a 1000W light, I would recommend a 6" centrifuge fan of some kind--Vortex, Can, Eclipse, etc--another $100-170 on top of everything else. It will also need a speed controller. A lot of the stuff in that package is lower end and will need to be upgraded. If you are a wise shopper, you may be able to get better for less purchasing things separately.

I am a huge fan of T5s for vegging.

I do not know how many plants you plant to run, but with a separate vegging space, I would run fewer larger plants, rather than a whole bunch of smaller clones--especially when you are first starting out.

 

[BoneMan1000]

Thanks for the link HL, and thanks for the warm welcome too!

I've read through a lot of that material, but there's a lot there that I haven't stumbled upon in my web surfing journey. I think I'm pretty much at the point where I just need to jump in, but I want to make sure there isn't a better equipment option that I'm missing. I know about MH for vegging, but from what I've read it seems that 6500k T5s would be cheaper as well as pretty effective. I'm thinking about running the T5s 24 hours. I want to get some White Widow seeds to start and then just cloning.

Thanks again for the reading material!

 

[BoneMan1000]

Hello Hemp Goddess! Reading some of your threads is what led me to conclude that T5s would be a good way to go.

Yes, I didn't get into the details of the 1000W grow kit, but I planned on upgrading to the 6" fan (with carbon filter) and the digital dimmable ballast. Where I'm confused though is if I went with, for example, the 6" cool tube reflector would I need to locate another fan or would the upgraded 6" fan and filter in the ventilation section hook into the cool tube? In the reflector upgrade section they list cool tubes (6 and 8 inches) but no fan or ductwork included. I'll only have one 6" fan to use with the filter. My question is will I need two fans for a cool tube set up, the 6" one for ventilation and another one for the cool tube? I hope this makes sense. Thanks.

 

[BoneMan1000]

"I would go with a large air cooled reflector rather than a cooltube. You are also going to need a better fan--it appears to be a duct booster fan, not a good enough fan. For a 1000W light, I would recommend a 6" centrifuge fan of some kind--Vortex, Can, Eclipse, etc--another $100-170 on top of everything else."

Ok, sorry HG, I read too quickly, is a "large air cooled reflector" a bat wing type? I just assumed you meant a cool tube, sorry for my haste.

 

[Locked]

Air cooled hood>>>


Col Tube>>>>>

 

[BoneMan1000]

In the "customize your order" section under reflectors is there an adequate hood/ reflector in that list, and which one do you think is best? And I'm still not clear about the fan situation, would I need two fans, one for the reflector/ hood and one for ventilation and filtration (the 6" upgrade in the ventilation section)? Thanks.

hxxp://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-1000w-Grow-Tent-Kit.asp

 

[Locked]

I use one 6 inch inline rated at about 450 cfm to do all the work in my 4x4x6.5 flower tent. The fan pulls the air through the cool tube/air cooled hood which creates negative pressure in the tent. The tent has passive intakes along the bottom. This is where your fresh cool air comes in. I vent the old CO2 depleted warm/hot air out a window.

 

[Locked]

In the "customize your order" section under reflectors is there an adequate hood/ reflector in that list, and which one do you think is best?

Yeah at the bottom you can upgrade to either a cool tube or air cooled hood.

AIROFLOW Reflector 73.00

Straight 8 Reflector 61.00

Make sure they will fit your size bulb.

 

[BoneMan1000]

Thanks HL. I'm trying to put together the best set up from all the options/ upgrades available from the HTG 1000W Grow Tent Kit. I already plan on upgrading to the best fan/ filter option but I'm not sure which reflector from the list is best. I could vent into my attic with no problem. Thanks.

 

[Locked]

I could vent into my attic with no problem. Thanks.

Just be careful about mold.....I hve a Carbon Filter hanging in the tent on stand by in case it starts stinking too much but I hve yet to hve to use it.

Check out this >>>>http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51857&highlight=tent+growers+club

It is a thread with a bunch of peeps tent set ups.

 

[Hushpuppy]

I would agree with everrything that THG says except for the reflector hood over the cool tube for lighting. This is just from my experience with the hoods. They are big and bulky, and they weigh alot, and often get in the way. And the weight of them wears out those cheap yo-yo hangers. However that is really not my problem with them.

The hoods tend to have a light "footprint" that is only about 3'x3'(effective) when your plants are shorter and you want to pull the hood closer. If you keep the hood high that "footprint" opens up some. If you let your plants get tall, it becomes difficult to get light to the outer and lower parts of the plants as they will grow toward the center where the light is most effective.

The cooltube allows you to open up the "footprint" as wide as you want it without having to raise the light way up. And given the use of a 1000w light, you should be able to take advantage of the reflective sides of the tent to get light coverage to more places on the plants.

As a disclaimer to what I said, I have only used the midsized hoods and not the xxxlmagnum or big Kahuna hoods that are huge, so I don't know how their footprints are.

In that tent I would think that you could run one vortex fan connected to the exaust vent, then flex hose to your light hood, then flex hose to the carbon filter (or you can mount the carbon filter directly to the light). This would allow you to pull the air from the tent space out through the filter and at the same time through the light to cool it. You just leave the low vents open on the tent to allow air to be sucked in by the vacuum created by the exaust fan.

 

[BoneMan1000]

Just be careful about mold.....I hve a Carbon Filter hanging in the tent on stand by in case it starts stinking too much but I hve yet to hve to use it.

Check out this >>>>http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51857&highlight=tent+growers+club

It is a thread with a bunch of peeps tent set ups.

Great, thanks, that looks like an excellent thread. I'll read through it before I try to ask more questions. Thanks again. Much appreciated.

 

[BoneMan1000]

I would agree with everrything that THG says except for the reflector hood over the cool tube for lighting. This is just from my experience with the hoods. They are big and bulky, and they weigh alot, and often get in the way. And the weight of them wears out those cheap yo-yo hangers. However that is really not my problem with them.

The hoods tend to have a light "footprint" that is only about 3'x3'(effective) when your plants are shorter and you want to pull the hood closer. If you keep the hood high that "footprint" opens up some. If you let your plants get tall, it becomes difficult to get light to the outer and lower parts of the plants as they will grow toward the center where the light is most effective.

The cooltube allows you to open up the "footprint" as wide as you want it without having to raise the light way up. And given the use of a 1000w light, you should be able to take advantage of the reflective sides of the tent to get light coverage to more places on the plants.

As a disclaimer to what I said, I have only used the midsized hoods and not the xxxlmagnum or big Kahuna hoods that are huge, so I don't know how their footprints are.

In that tent I would think that you could run one vortex fan connected to the exaust vent, then flex hose to your light hood, then flex hose to the carbon filter (or you can mount the carbon filter directly to the light). This would allow you to pull the air from the tent space out through the filter and at the same time through the light to cool it. You just leave the low vents open on the tent to allow air to be sucked in by the vacuum created by the exaust fan.

Ok, lots to think about here lol. The devil is always in the details LOL. I have more homework to do. Thanks for your help.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Having used both cooltubes and large reflectors, I would recommend the larger reflector. IMO cooltubes work best for smaller spaces. I have never seen any that spread the light as well as a large air cooled reflector.

Do not connect the filter unless or until you need it. It cuts the cfm of your fan substantially.

 

[BoneMan1000]

Having used both cooltubes and large reflectors, I would recommend the larger reflector. IMO cooltubes work best for smaller spaces. I have never seen any that spread the light as well as a large air cooled reflector.

Do not connect the filter unless or until you need it. It cuts the cfm of your fan substantially.

HG, thanks for the filter heads up. I was thinking that if I wanted air cooled lighting a cool tube was the only option. So a "large air cooled reflector" is like the top picture in HL's post #7? If so, Hushpuppy mentioned the weight factor, or maybe that's not the reflector you're talking about? I'd like to get this right the first time. Thanks.

 

[BoneMan1000]

hxxp://www.hydrofarm.com/pb_detail.php?itemid=2001 this one is great if you have say a tent or something and really isnt that heavy, i have one for my 4x2 tent.

hxxp://www.hydrofarm.com/pb_detail.php?itemid=7685 i have 2 of these for my flower space, they are pretty heavy but i love them and couldnt go with out them again. compared to HTGsupply stuff which is ok to start with these blow them away in terms of quality

Might this one be ok:

hXXp://www.htgsupply.com/Product-Big-Kahuna-Reflector.asp

It seems I could use it with the GrowBright 6" HV Fan & Filter Combo upgrade option?

I keep coming back to the 1000W HTG kit because I don't have confidence that I can put together something piecemeal from numerous sources. I figure a kit is designed so everything will work together, but I'm open to other options. Thanks for your help! Much appreciated.

 

[BoneMan1000]

Also, I was wondering if it's a problem raising and lowering a cooled light setup with the duct work attached?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I prefer to keep my lights stationary and raise and lower my plants. I have quite a collection of milk crates, buckets, plastic containers, etc, etc, to set plants on. You really want to maintain an even canopy so you are going to have to raise and lower some plants anyway.

If you are more comfortable buying a setup like you are looking at, you should do that. You may want to look into some other hangers though. I think HL uses something called Sure-grip (?).