Advise needed on closet grow
- Thread starter peezy315
- Start date
oh, you can't vent... CFL it is
do not go greater than 65 watt CFL, they are not as efficient as their smaller counterparts, and the 100watt ones have HUGE built in ballasts that can be kind of annoying to set up, and they get hot too....
do 42 watters.... 2700 lumens per bulb, you'll need at least 18. 18 x 2700 = 45900; 45900/16sqrf = 3037.
mj needs at least 3000 per square foot to grow, but that's pathetic, the sun has 10000 per square foot in summer...
for best results get round 25-30....
you don't need to start out that big... seedlings do not have enough surface area in their leaves to absorb all the light...
if that seems like a lot, there's people that have 60+ CFL's in a single closet grow, that's to get very nice yields....
google different CFL grows here, and see which one is best suited for you....
there's a very VERY thorough tutorial in the CFL growing subsection, it's around 20 pages long... it's very detailed, step by step guide to a closet grow.... you WILL learn everything you need from there....
i read it... you should too....
do not go greater than 65 watt CFL, they are not as efficient as their smaller counterparts, and the 100watt ones have HUGE built in ballasts that can be kind of annoying to set up, and they get hot too....
do 42 watters.... 2700 lumens per bulb, you'll need at least 18. 18 x 2700 = 45900; 45900/16sqrf = 3037.
mj needs at least 3000 per square foot to grow, but that's pathetic, the sun has 10000 per square foot in summer...
for best results get round 25-30....
you don't need to start out that big... seedlings do not have enough surface area in their leaves to absorb all the light...
if that seems like a lot, there's people that have 60+ CFL's in a single closet grow, that's to get very nice yields....
google different CFL grows here, and see which one is best suited for you....
there's a very VERY thorough tutorial in the CFL growing subsection, it's around 20 pages long... it's very detailed, step by step guide to a closet grow.... you WILL learn everything you need from there....
i read it... you should too....
read this:
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/202718-cfl-tutorial.html
it's not the long LONG one i refered to, but it's about everything you need to know on CFL's, i read this one too...
read up man, look around the site there's so much info here it's not even funny...
i'm a newbie to growing and have researched so many journals here and shit friends of mine that have been growing for years call me with questions....
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/202718-cfl-tutorial.html
it's not the long LONG one i refered to, but it's about everything you need to know on CFL's, i read this one too...
read up man, look around the site there's so much info here it's not even funny...
i'm a newbie to growing and have researched so many journals here and shit friends of mine that have been growing for years call me with questions....
FireOwl
Active Member
Heartily agreed, good post Redivider.
To the OP though, if you can't manage to pick up that many bulbs, it will still work with fewer. Your yield will be smaller and lesser quality, but you can grow and flower weed on a much lower level of light than the full recommended amount. That said, if you can get a proper number of bulbs, do so! Just that if you can't put so much into it, give it a shot anyway with the best you can pull off. After all, you're not looking to grow that many plants, so you won't need as much penetration as a larger setup would. With good light placement, you could easily use many fewer than twenty bulbs.
To the OP though, if you can't manage to pick up that many bulbs, it will still work with fewer. Your yield will be smaller and lesser quality, but you can grow and flower weed on a much lower level of light than the full recommended amount. That said, if you can get a proper number of bulbs, do so! Just that if you can't put so much into it, give it a shot anyway with the best you can pull off. After all, you're not looking to grow that many plants, so you won't need as much penetration as a larger setup would. With good light placement, you could easily use many fewer than twenty bulbs.
in the Indoor Growing forum, in the main page of rollitup.org.... there's a CFL growing subsection...
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/
good luck!!
oh, and before i forget.... i have to say this: PH is important when growing, it's more important than lighting, nutes, soil, or anything... make sure you stabilize your soil's ph and keep it slightly acidic.... i wasn't doing it and when i finally did my buds plumped up and trichomes increased by almost 40%....
i can only imagine how my plant would look like if I had been doing this from the beginning...
get the PH drops and PH meter at the local hydro shop to correctly set your water and nute mix's ph...
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/
good luck!!
oh, and before i forget.... i have to say this: PH is important when growing, it's more important than lighting, nutes, soil, or anything... make sure you stabilize your soil's ph and keep it slightly acidic.... i wasn't doing it and when i finally did my buds plumped up and trichomes increased by almost 40%....
i can only imagine how my plant would look like if I had been doing this from the beginning...
get the PH drops and PH meter at the local hydro shop to correctly set your water and nute mix's ph...
yep, if you can't fit or afford that many bulbs at once then get as many as you can afford, and get them at walmart, it's cheaper than home depot....
they also have the 150 watt plastic clamp lights for 5 bucks, vs. 8-9 bucks at home depot....
all you need to get at home depot are the Y thingies that turn 1 socket into two. it's in the lighting section...
do not get them at lowes... they have the real crappy ones that fall apart easily, more, unnecessary fire hazard....the HD ones at least have a screw that keeps them together, not just "snap" together.....
if you want to fit two 42 watt CFL's into one reflector you will also need an extender, because the ballasts are too "fat" to fit in the y socket without an extender....
what else...
oh, CFL's provide more light from the sides, so don't set them up straight down, unless you have a reflector....
they also have the 150 watt plastic clamp lights for 5 bucks, vs. 8-9 bucks at home depot....
all you need to get at home depot are the Y thingies that turn 1 socket into two. it's in the lighting section...
do not get them at lowes... they have the real crappy ones that fall apart easily, more, unnecessary fire hazard....the HD ones at least have a screw that keeps them together, not just "snap" together.....
if you want to fit two 42 watt CFL's into one reflector you will also need an extender, because the ballasts are too "fat" to fit in the y socket without an extender....
what else...
oh, CFL's provide more light from the sides, so don't set them up straight down, unless you have a reflector....
yep, if you don't want to waste money on bulbs you won't be using go 50-50.... it's about the spectrums that are most useful for plants...
it's the norm around here to go "blue" in veg and "red" in flower, but 50-50 will work too...
look at the photo below... it gives you an idea on what spectrums to avoid, which ones to use...
as you can see, bluish and orange-reddish is what you want....
green and yellow is worthless... that's why growing with halogens is pointless and wasteful....
it's the norm around here to go "blue" in veg and "red" in flower, but 50-50 will work too...
look at the photo below... it gives you an idea on what spectrums to avoid, which ones to use...
as you can see, bluish and orange-reddish is what you want....
green and yellow is worthless... that's why growing with halogens is pointless and wasteful....
FireOwl
Active Member
You'd probably be using more electricity with that many CFL's than with a comparably powerful HPS, but with CFL's you get more light the plants can actually use. HPS's put out a lot of greens and yellows, as was stated previously, meaning you use a bit more electricity per useful quantity of light than you would with CFL's.
yes... the difference is the amount of heat.... you will use as much electricity, IN LIGHT ALONE, a 400 watt hps has a air cooled vent, which requires a fan, which uses more electricity, and ducting, and a place to vent all that heat.....
don't even start that topic, cuz there's people here who are very die-hard advocates of HID systems.... hehe....
for example, you would need an inline fan (or a centrifugal fan if using a decent sized carbon filter),
for cfl's you can get away with PC fans, or normal fans just blowing hot air out.... not with HID...
don't even start that topic, cuz there's people here who are very die-hard advocates of HID systems.... hehe....
for example, you would need an inline fan (or a centrifugal fan if using a decent sized carbon filter),
for cfl's you can get away with PC fans, or normal fans just blowing hot air out.... not with HID...
FireOwl
Active Member
If that's a possibility, it might be worth it if you're trying for 10 plants. It all basically depends on your situation and your setup. HPS definitely needs the heat ventilation, however you go about doing it.
Agreed, I'd look at partitioning off your closet into a grow section and a flower section. That way you can have a steady little crop coming out. People have done some pretty creative things, so you should definitely be able to work up a good setup like that.
Agreed, I'd look at partitioning off your closet into a grow section and a flower section. That way you can have a steady little crop coming out. People have done some pretty creative things, so you should definitely be able to work up a good setup like that.
i'm working on helping a friend (he's a legitimate patient, who's so weak right now he cannot do it by himself,) set up a tent in his room...
he's gonna use 2 movable closets... like this one:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11072970
you should check something like that out....
i'm outty, take care guyz and good luck!!!!
and remember the 3 ELL's
DONT TELL anyone
DONT SELL to a lot of people, keep a single middle man
DONT SMELL.... use carbon filters...
he's gonna use 2 movable closets... like this one:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11072970
you should check something like that out....
i'm outty, take care guyz and good luck!!!!
and remember the 3 ELL's
DONT TELL anyone
DONT SELL to a lot of people, keep a single middle man
DONT SMELL.... use carbon filters...
5 plants, depends on how tall you want to get them...
for 5 plants i'd go for 250-400 HPS+, to get really good yields... (i grow for myself, so big yields isnt a big deal)...remember heat is an issue, a REAL issue with these lights, they will explode if a droplet of water falls on them while on... they will burn your skin off like a torch if you touch it.... if you can't vent the heat, forget about it.... opening your closet door ain't gonna cut it... you need at least an inline fan sucking cool air near the light and out.... think of it as a vacuum cleaner fan on steroids.....that amount of sucking power to keep it cool....
if you cannot do that, go for CFL's.... they will bring you good yields too without the hassle of heat....
for 5 plants i'd go for 250-400 HPS+, to get really good yields... (i grow for myself, so big yields isnt a big deal)...remember heat is an issue, a REAL issue with these lights, they will explode if a droplet of water falls on them while on... they will burn your skin off like a torch if you touch it.... if you can't vent the heat, forget about it.... opening your closet door ain't gonna cut it... you need at least an inline fan sucking cool air near the light and out.... think of it as a vacuum cleaner fan on steroids.....that amount of sucking power to keep it cool....
if you cannot do that, go for CFL's.... they will bring you good yields too without the hassle of heat....