Ganja Gods! HPS/MH or T5 for closet grow?

trippyhills

Member
Hey guys! I will be starting my first grow within the next month would appreciate a few looks over my plans so I don’t go in blindly! :eyesmoke:

Set up: I am going to be growing in a bedroom closet that is 3 ft. by 2 ft. by 8 ft. converting to 6 sq ft and 48 cu ft.

Within these dimensions, I will be growing 6 auto flower Northern Lights from seed in 3 gal pots containing a FFOF/Perlite medium. I will be providing a 18/6 light schedule. I plan to add nutrients starting late week 1 at ¼ of the recommended doses gradually increasing to ½ of the recommended doses. I have the closet lined with mylar, and have other equipment such as pH/moisture meter, temp/humidity monitor, timer, etc.

The thing that kills my high is the idea of which light to get due to ventilation in a small area. After crazy researching, like this article about Lumens per Sq Ft and using these Watts per Sq Ft and Exhaust Fan CFM calculators, it seems optimal is somewhere along the line of 6,000-7,500 lumens per sq ft and 50-80 watts per sq ft. For my grow room the best that would make it 6 sq ft X 6,000-7,500 lumens/sq ft = 36,000-45,000 and for watts that would be 6 sq ft X 50-80 watts/sq ft = 300-480 watts. Optimal ventilation is 48 cfm per min [Again, all of this is tailored to my specific measurements and not considered a “standard” by any means]

With my budget of $150 for a light, I am considering investing one of the following:

  1. 53,000 lumen for the HPS – 8,833.33 lumen per sq ft and 66.6 watt per sq ft.o



  • (should I spend 20 more dollars to get the 600 watt with 86,000 lumen HPS/61,000 lumen MH???)



  1. 20,000 lumen for a T5 – 3,3333.33 lumen per sq ft and 42.5 watt per sq ft

My question here is (I know right, finally) for a grow room of 6 sq ft and 48 cu ft, will a 400w or 600w HPS/MH with a cooling tube cause temperature issues even with adequate ventilation? Will I have to stay in the T5 low temp lights?

Thanks guys and toke on,
Trippy

[PS sorry for any errors on math or grammar, currently bongsmilie]​
 

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spek9

Well-Known Member
Adequate ventilation is just that... adequate ;) With an HID, you're going to want an inline fan for the cooltube; they get hot. If you DO have adequate ventilation, I'd spent the money on a 600w dimmable... that way you can dim it down if your area is too hot.

-spek
 

Steelheader3430

Well-Known Member
Also I would start with ff happy frog. It's much better for seedlings. Then transplant into the ffof or a 50/50 mix of the two. The ffof can cause nute burn in seedlings.
If your going to get the hps/mh ballast then you can save money by not getting the t5 setup, however the fluoro will save on electricity if I'm not mistaken. I personally wouldn't bother with the t5 just to save trouble with changing lights.
 

Dogenzengi

Well-Known Member
Thank You Steelheader!
You Saved me from typing the same thing as you.:wall:
I don't get why everyone thinks FF only makes one soil.....

READ, READ ,READ here and everywhere else before making decisions, see how it's done by the OG's (old growers,lol).

watch YouTube, lots of good info too.

Use a Google it's easy!

:lol::bigjoint::lol:
 

DeeTee

Well-Known Member
Seems to me with MH and HPS you'll find it hard for temp control, you best have darn good vetilation, T5's would be a good starting point but not sure you could cover 6 pants, I use 2' 4 bulb T5 and can grow 3 decent sise plants, if I keep them short and start blooming at early stage of growth,...best of luck.
 

Steelheader3430

Well-Known Member
I don't see ffhf really being pushed at my local stores. One has only a few small bags tucked away behind some trees. Weird. My plants love the combination of the two.
 

trippyhills

Member
With an HID, you're going to want an inline fan for the cooltube; they get hot... 600w dimmable...
Thanks spek!

transplant into the ffof or a 50/50 mix of the two
Hey Steelheader! Transplanting when growing autoflowers does more damage to the plant than growing in a container that it will be in for its cycle. I am planning to make the medium very airy and flush prior planting to accommodate for the possible nute burn (I read somewhere that this process helps prevent an excess of chemicals)

find it hard for temp control… 2' 4 bulb T5 and can grow 3 decent sise plants luck.
Yeah I agree with the temp control but using a T5 will decrease the lumens/ per sq ft considerably
 

Steelheader3430

Well-Known Member
Oh auto. Sorry, my bad I missed that part. I would still go with a mix. Nothing wrong with having extra soil handy. Flushing will give you a unknown amount of goodies in your soil. Not to mention it won't help the microbial benefits. I don't think. I'm sure it will come out great either way, trippy. Have fun with it and good luck on your setup.
 

Taviddude

Well-Known Member
In a closet that small you'll definitely have Temp issues with HPS and MH.
Aside from that, you would be better off just growing two plants in that space.
3 TOPS.
They'll get better light, yield more quality rock hard buds.
6 NL auto's in that space will get more than crowded. You could end up with a bunch of shit airy buds that dry to nothing.
Also, I'd give more than a week before you start introducing any nutrients.
I run hydro, and wait 10 days before giving any nutrients. They are SUPER finicky when they're young and burn extremely easy.
If they can go 10 days in Hydro with ZERO nutrients they'll do fine in soil for a couple weeks.
Let the plants tell you when it's time to feed.
Get a PH, and EC meter so you know what your giving them.
T5 might be the only way to go in such a small space unless you can adequately ventilate a MH/HPS.
48cfm isn't going to do it with a 600 watter.
Get a 200-400 cfm inline fan and make sure to get the cooltube if you're going to try MH/HPS.

Good luck!

Peace.
Tav
 

DeeTee

Well-Known Member


Thanks spek!



Hey Steelheader! Transplanting when growing autoflowers does more damage to the plant than growing in a container that it will be in for its cycle. I am planning to make the medium very airy and flush prior planting to accommodate for the possible nute burn (I read somewhere that this process helps prevent an exces



Yeah I agree with the temp control but using a T5 will decrease the lumens/ per sq ft considerably
Seems to me you're paying too much attention to the math, sure it's less than MH and HPS, but you're still getting 8000 lumens, but if you're going by the math then that's your choice.
 

Turkilton

Well-Known Member
most things seem to be in order but as Steel has already said you really dont wont to be flushing your soil, for one it will compact the soil and bring most of the perlite up to the surface if you dont have a root system holding it all down.

when i comes to your lights (this is a total personal preference and thus extremely bias) in a cupboard grow i would use CFLs and only CFLs, they emit very little heat to the point i can hold my bulbs even though they have been on 24/7 for the last 3 weeks and you can get a extreme amount of lumens from them.
up untill last night i was running 4x30w 6400K CFLs and was kicking out 240,000 lumens but i had my first show of pre-flowers last night so one of the 6400Kers was swapped for a 30W 2400ker.

please note though that i was using total 6400Kers as a experiment to see if i could create a 'bush' without LST which i have.

Peace Out
Turkilton
 

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Is your closet a walk in closet built into the house?

I utilise a 7x3.2x8 closet to grow 4 plants under a 400w.

I vent into my attic using a 250CFM fan attached to a 600CFM filter.

I intake cool air from my soffits passively.

I use an ADJUST A WING ENFORCER MEDIUM reflector.

Click my signature link to see a grow and shows my equipment etc.

I average +400g from 4 plants grown in 11L pots (approx 3gallon) using coco.

As I live in the UK I also utilise a temp fan speed controller, an 80w tubular heater and a 10L extraction dehumidifier. No AC needed.



J
 

trippyhills

Member
Seems to me you're paying too much attention to the math
haha yeah im just trying to make a detailed prep guide for myself before i begin my grow. i went ahead and chose the T5!

Is your closet a walk in closet built into the house? ... +400g from 4 plants...
i wouldnt consider it a walk in since its only 2 feet deep. and venting the HPS/MH set up isnt too easy with the location. im gonna go with 3 plants instead of 6 though. and yeah i checked out your grow, thats some great results! :clap:

Thanks for the help guys! I look forward to sharing my grow with you guys!:razz:
 

Barrazaburnz

Active Member
I vote 400w and I have that ballast its great stays cool. It has 2 fans 1in-1out. I'd Vent to attic via duct fan and you would be fine. I have ran my 400w out into the room before and it made it 78 not bad really and with the t5 you will have heat just not as much. As tall as your room is i'd do a clone setup in the bottom with a t5 with the 400w above. You don't need a mother you can clone off your clones but you need some to start with.
 
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