Okay, so i want to grow 4 Crystal strain plants...I don't know how tall they get, but i need to know what dimensions i need to make my gow box...I'm going to be using a 400 HPS and MH bulb...with fan on bottom and exhaust fan on top.....Also, what materials would i need to purchase to construct a grow box....
grow room for 4 plants
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Dystopia
Active Member
Welcome to RIU! I've grown Crystal, you're going to like it!
As far as the dimensions of your box:
1) Base: you want about 5,000 lumens per sq ft for best results. Most 400 watt HPS bulbs put out about 50,000 lumens, so your light area is 10 sq ft, or a little over 3' X 3'. I like to add a little more room for manuevering about, so I would say you could go up to 4' X 4'.
2) Height: for starters, you need to account for: hanging the light (about 1', depending on how it's hung); the height the light needs to be above the plants (1-2' depending on if the light is cooled, etc.); and the height of the growing medium (usually somewhere around 1'). So you're talking about 3 - 4' just for the setup. Next, you've got to give the plants some room to grow. There are many ways to control your plants height (minimal veg time, SOG, ScrOG, LST, etc.). The Crystal I grew, which was only topped a couple of times and vegged for 3 weeks, grew to about 4' tall. It could have easily been trained to grow as short as 2', even shorter if you got really aggressive with the training. So height-wise, at a minimum I would say you need around 5' (3' setup + 2' grow height).
So, at a minimum I would say for a 400 watt light you would want your grow box to be about 3' X 3' X 5'. I personally would make it 4' X 4' X 8', but you can fart around with the numbers to make it fit wherever you're going to put it.
You can make a grow box cheaply using pcv pipe and black/white poly, get creative by converting an unused cabinet or dresser, or countless other ways. There are many good ideas on making grow boxes on this site...look around.
Good luck!
As far as the dimensions of your box:
1) Base: you want about 5,000 lumens per sq ft for best results. Most 400 watt HPS bulbs put out about 50,000 lumens, so your light area is 10 sq ft, or a little over 3' X 3'. I like to add a little more room for manuevering about, so I would say you could go up to 4' X 4'.
2) Height: for starters, you need to account for: hanging the light (about 1', depending on how it's hung); the height the light needs to be above the plants (1-2' depending on if the light is cooled, etc.); and the height of the growing medium (usually somewhere around 1'). So you're talking about 3 - 4' just for the setup. Next, you've got to give the plants some room to grow. There are many ways to control your plants height (minimal veg time, SOG, ScrOG, LST, etc.). The Crystal I grew, which was only topped a couple of times and vegged for 3 weeks, grew to about 4' tall. It could have easily been trained to grow as short as 2', even shorter if you got really aggressive with the training. So height-wise, at a minimum I would say you need around 5' (3' setup + 2' grow height).
So, at a minimum I would say for a 400 watt light you would want your grow box to be about 3' X 3' X 5'. I personally would make it 4' X 4' X 8', but you can fart around with the numbers to make it fit wherever you're going to put it.
You can make a grow box cheaply using pcv pipe and black/white poly, get creative by converting an unused cabinet or dresser, or countless other ways. There are many good ideas on making grow boxes on this site...look around.
Good luck!