First time grow, couple of questions

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mikeyh505

Member
Hey everyone, Im going to attempt to make my first grow box and i need some help, not the best carpenter/electrician etc...

I have been reading a lot and found a good simple guide that im going to try and follow here:
http://www.how-to-marijuana.com/beginners-growing-marijuana-indoors.html

My first question is 4ft tall enough? I'm going to be growing in my apartment and 5-6ft+ may be to tall. I want to make it more of like a wooden chest type structure. Stealth is not really an issue as far as appearance but i don't really want a huge thing just chillin in my room :p. So I'm thinking something like 2x2x4? My first attempt im only looking for 2 plants.

As far as light i understand that you need 2 different types of lights for the 2 different stages. For only 2 plants are is one of each bulb good enough? Should i leave both lights running for both stages? I plan on making a reflective interior so that should help.

I will also have at least 1 inline and 1 exhaust computer fans and maybe a carbon filter to keep the smell down if i can find a cheapish one.

Sorry for the noob questions XD, im just the kind of person that when i do something i like to know exactly what im doing so i do it right. I'm doing this mainly as a fun learning experience rather then the actual growing part if that makes any sense. Any help will greatly be appreciated, thanks guys!
 
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jman23

Active Member
4ft will be fine if you want small plants gotta remeber the lights will take up some space to what kind of light will you be using cfl led you also want you outtake pushing more air them whats going in computer fan prob wont cut it
 
fir3dragon

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member
what lights do you wanna use? whats your budget? poor lights and stuff usually means poor results. do you got a spare closet you can use?
 
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mikeyh505

Member
Budget is not a HUGE issue but i don't want to get carried away. idk maybe 150-200$? I can use a closet but i still want to make a grow box rather then just leave it open in the closet. I wanted to use CFL lights to reduce risk of burning the plants as it is my first time.

And thats good to know exhaust fan > inline. Will a higher power comp fan for the exhaust work or should i get a small box fan type?
 
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mikeyh505

Member
I plan on rigging the lights to that i can adjust how far away from the plant they stand. The farther the light is from the plant to more it stretches so i want to keep it close so that the plant grows a little short and fatter then tall. Will putting a light on the sides in addition to one on top help this?
 
fir3dragon

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member
mikeyh505 said:
Budget is not a HUGE issue but i don't want to get carried away. idk maybe 150-200$? I can use a closet but i still want to make a grow box rather then just leave it open in the closet. I wanted to use CFL lights to reduce risk of burning the plants as it is my first time.

And thats good to know exhaust fan > inline. Will a higher power comp fan for the exhaust work or should i get a small box fan type?
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i cant give any advice, i dont use cfls i use hid... 150-200 budget is only enough to buy the hid and nothing else. inline fan i paid 120 for a 4 inch fan and filter.. dont get the trash booster fans..
 
fir3dragon

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member
mikeyh505 said:
I plan on rigging the lights to that i can adjust how far away from the plant they stand. The farther the light is from the plant to more it stretches so i want to keep it close so that the plant grows a little short and fatter then tall. Will putting a light on the sides in addition to one on top help this?
Click to expand...
cfls are trash you need at least 10. unless u wanna spend more in electricity then what your getting back in bud.
 
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jman23

Active Member
if your set on using cfl then yes you want to place the bulbs all around the plant and on top for best growth try to keep them within 2 inches
 
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mikeyh505

Member
What is a good alternative for cfl? As i only plan on growing 1 or 2 plants, i need something relatively efficient on my electricity bill.
 
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jman23

Active Member
if this is your first grow stay with cfl to get the hang of things before you invest you can still pull a good harvest with cfls you just gotta spend alot more time with your plant to get all you can out of those cfls your gonna wanna train the shit out of them
 
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mikeyh505

Member
Alright, ill stick with the CFL's for now then and try to get the most out of them. The biggest area i need help in is how many/what kind to get. For 2 plants, should is 1 of each type (cool/warm) enough to get through all stages. Should i leave them both on for the plants entire life or only 1 depending on the stage? If 1 bulb of each is not enough for 2 plants, how many do i need?
 
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jman23

Active Member
depending on the size bulb when i ran cfl i had a tottal of 320 actuall watts on 1 plant i like 23 watt bulbs most lumens to watts rule of thumb is 100 watts per plant actuall watts not equiv but more is always better i like to run a mix spectrum so use some 5500k and some 2700k i do a 3 to one ratio 1 2700k to every 3 5500k for veg same thing for flowering but use 3 2700k to 1 5500k
 
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mikeyh505

Member
So far i found a 12"x20"x40" old dresser that i might gut and use. I'm going to use 4 cfl bulbs for 1 maybe 2 plants. Im looking into PC fans right now going to by 2 different ones with the higher power one being the exhaust. Anything special to look for when buying a PC fan? Can i strip the red/black wiring from the fan and connect to a stripped regular 2 prong outlet that i can plug directly into the wall or do i need a power source. After the fans i think I'm all set to go.
 
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