Bust suitable hydroponic set up for closet

So I did lots and lots of research in regards to the best hydroponic system out there.

My goal is to convert my closet into a grow space.

My question and concerns is what would be thest system out there for a beginner with a small/ med size closet
I dont have the exact dimensions but if I was to guess I say 7 ft by 7 ft and 8 inch ceiling. I have a built in dresser with one side that has a cabinet that could be use for cloning section.

I am trying to figure out how I will section of the room for the flowering stage.

I already purchased seeds from 420 seeds.com

I am located in Texas and hopefully they will arrive without a problem.
As far as my lighting goes I was either going to go with 400 or 600 watts with MH and HPS bulbs.

I still havent found the best kit yet for my needs. As I am researching it fully before I purchase anything else. I figured I may spend about 600-1000 dollars for the initial set up.

I figure If I am going to take the risk I mise well do it right and effeciently. I want to maxmize my yield considering the small space I have to work with.

Now because I have the bid bud seeds coming in I want to make sure that the system I get the plants wont be over crowded.

Probably get a black out curtain to divide the space for my flowering spot. My concerns on that is how big that space should be for the flowering. With little space I do have I wanted to use the shelf up top towards the ceiling for clones. The dresser with 5 drawers and a small cabinet I was going to use the top of that for the mothers.

This is the first time I have done this hydroponically and everyones input on this would help.

Preparations for grow closet:

Pull out all clothes and items

Sanitize the closet

Line the walls with mylar

4'' inch ventalitation system with carbon filter that will hopefully connected to lights and exhausting air into the attic.

Line the floor of the carpet with heavy grade flame retardent plastic

cut 4" hole in another spot for ventilation of fresh air? ( is it neccessary)

set up flowering stage area using the black out curtains.

I think I have a good idea on how I want to get this started and looking. I just want everyones tips on this just so I get maxium yields
Hopefully I can take pictures of the closet and give exact dimensions.

when using water what If i used bottled water like fiji? It comes from a isolated spot and could it yeild better results instead of regular distilled water?


As well what kind of drip system do I need to get a constant yield every two weeks.

The first thing you should do is figure out how much Cubic feet you have total in your room.
Next, work on your ventilation before anything else. You need some type of blower to blow in fresh air into your grow room. The fresh air should come from another room, the attic might be best. Also you'll need another blower to suck out the exhausted air to the outside.

Next decide whether your going to grow in soil or hydro. If you decide hydro.....my recommendation is an Ebb-n-Flow setup. It's easy to set up with very little maintenance.

I know you mentioned mylar. But mylar is not my best choice.
I would just paint the walls with a high gloss white paint, or you could white plastic.
Mylar is overpriced and when you clean it, it leaves smear marks.

I don't know what your budget is. But for lighting I would start out with using CFL's. CFL's work great for vegging and clones.
Once your plants reach 6-8 inches tall, you'll need something with a little more juice. Like a 400 watt (at least) metal halide.
You might want to invest into a convertible ballast where you can switch your light from a metal halide to a HPS with just switching the bulb and flicking a switch.

When choosing on what type of Nutrient to use, I would stick with Botanicare products until you get the hang of it. Botanicare products are fairly inexpensive.

There's alot more to it and more tools you'll need. But the one tool I would recommend buying is a PH and Nutient meter if your gonna grow hydro.

Any other questions feel free to PM me.

if only i can find a friggen tape measure but if I had to est the cubic size i say no more then 397 sq ft.

I plan on doing hydro and yes the ebb flow was the best method I seen so far. I plan on cutting into the ceiling to ventilate the air out. I was thinking 4 inch carbon air inline fan combo to exhaust the air out into the attic.

As far as bringing in fresh air I was going to cut a hole into the closet into the wall adjacent to my room. that is where it will get fresh air from.

I plan on using two regular flurescents to germinate and get started and then switch to 6oo watt hps and mh bulb.

Someone said there was some wrapping paper out there that is like mylar and is cost effective. I was thinking about getting that and using that.

as far as nutrients go I will use fox farm.

I plan on buying a hygrometer for the room as well a ph control kit

I also have access to a FLIR Thermal imagin camera so i can make sure that no one can see my set up from outside using a thermal imagin camera.

I have a holmers HEPA Air purifier that is used to clean medium sized rooms 12 x 12 I was thinking about putting that in there to clean the air as well add into the the air circulation.

In the beginning at growth I will use cpu fans to stimulate wind to provide sturdy stems when they get bigger.

what kind of epp flow be best for my ideal space though? I seen several ones but will the plants be crowded?

i was hoping to keep a 2 week cycle going for harvest.

I figured once I get the first harvest going I will have my own for smoke and give the rest to my friends that way I can collect back the money spent and then eventually go into a bigger spae.

Is there anything else I could be missing. I am still a little fuzzy on how to maximize my space for the system. hopefully i can upload pics of the closet to give you guys an idea of what it looks like

I found this one and was wondering if this be good or not. Here is the url

EBB N GROW 12 SITE HYDROPONIC SYSTEM FREE SHIPPING - eBay (item 140227010697 end time Aug-20-08 16:36:56 PDT)

smartguy345 said:

I found this one and was wondering if this be good or not. Here is the url

EBB N GROW 12 SITE HYDROPONIC SYSTEM FREE SHIPPING - eBay (item 140227010697 end time Aug-20-08 16:36:56 PDT)

Click to expand...

$460?!? no way man. You could make your own for WAYYYY cheaper, plus its good to now how everything works.

What would be best for my indoor operation? At this time, electricity is no problem of mine. however I dont think I need anything over 1000W. lol

I plan on using the Sea of green method when growing my crops and Would like to know what difference would there be if I was to use one 400 W hps and mh conversion system. One 600 watt system? or two 250 watt systems and so forth?

Once again I will try to take pictures of my closet or draw a diagram and post it up to give yall a better idea.

I figure if I go with two 250 that be great. But I was on ebay and the kit I was looking at well I might be better of buying a 600 w for only 50 dollars more. It comes with HPS bulb and MH with 6" air inlet for cooling. and reflector and ballast.

with the sea of green method I was thinking about going head and start building a flowering stage box. what would be a decent size for a flowering stage?

I was thinking about possibly partition closet with black out curtain used in dark room photo but I was concerned with the possible safety issue of flammabilty and heat being a issue.

last thing I need is to have to come home and see house on fire because of it.. now that would suck.

I work alot so I wount be able to babysit but check on them once a day.

I run 3 separate Aero/NFT systems. I harvest 12-16oz. every three weeks.

My 4x4 PVC fence post system costs about $80 to build.

Read my journal for more info...

I think you should try and build your own Ebb-n-flow system.
It's not that hard.
All you need is a planter tray...$50
A 30 gallon tub...$10
A water pump...$30
An air pump...$20
A couple of air stones...$10
And vinyl tubing...$10
For $130 you can build your own.
You'll want to try and save money on any area's that you can because growing hydroponically can get awfully expensive.

You mentioned that your going get a hygrometer and a PH test kit.
A hygrometer will monitor your humidity only.
A PH test kit will only give a basic measure of what the PH is.
The ideal PH is in between 5.6 and 5.8. A PH test kit won't work. You'll need to invest in a digital PH and Nutrient Meter.

A nutrient meter is very important in growing hydro. Your plants need certain PPM levels at certain stages of growth. Too much Nutrient will kill them and too little nutrient will starve them.

It sounds to me you need to do ALOT more research.
Try reading these books before doing anything.

well the hygrmeter that I had gives the temp the relative humidity and gpp ( grain per pund)

Of course I will def get a nutrient kit because I want everything t0 be precise.

I still need some brushing up on some info on hydroponics for the most part I got it thugh.

I was kind of intimidated from making my own ebb flow system. However I guess I give it a shot and build it.

Stinkbud how many watts you using? as well how many plants you have as well?

I figured I was going to go to my local headshop which I have alot of friends that work there and they sell hydroponic kits andey supplies.

I was thinkin about getting the growers bible
Its going to take me at least a mnth to collect the money and get all my junk ut of the clset

last time i did soil in closet and didnt turn out right of course i made some mistakes so i figure my hydroponic set up will def be precise.


Stinkbud for yur closet where did u set up the flowering stage at?

Bongjuice said to paint with a high gloss white paint.

This is incorrect. You should use flat white paint as it has higher reflectivity, although not as high as mylar.

big bud sucks

smartguy345 said:

Stinkbud how many watts you using? as well how many plants you have as well?

Stinkbud for yur closet where did u set up the flowering stage at?

Click to expand...

I have my cloner in a small 2x3 towel closet in my bathroom under two fl shop lights. 23 plant sites.

My veg unit is in my bathroom under a 250MH. 18 plant sites.

I'm running two 1000W HPS in my 7x8 flower room (closet). Sealed/vented reflectors. Three separate aero units with 14 plant sites each.

9000BTU A/C unit

I have a 440CFM fan that sucks air out of my bathroom, through the HPS lights and into the attic. The lights stay cool to the touch.

I have a 200CFM fan that vents into the attic every two hours. I run it long enough to clear the stale air out of the room. Then CO2 is injected.

I run my CO2 @ 1500 PPM. The flower room is completely sealed so no CO2 can leak out.