Grow Room Ideas

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ir74

Active Member
Hi all,

I'm not really new to smoking, since I've been smoking hash for about 2 years, but last month I spent a week in Amsterdam and discovered the pleasure of smoking pure bud, the likes of which couldn't be found within a hundred miles of where I live, given that the only thing I can find here is hash. So I've decided I would try and start growing.

Obviously I know nothing about growing, I've never even seen a plant and I have no idea about the kind of space you need. I've read through a few guides, and an idea that interests me is that of the "perpetual harvest". I smoke from one to two joints a day and at the Dam I used about a gram per spliff, so the ideal would be about two ounces a month (not to say that I need a harvest every month, I would just like to have a yearly total of about 25 ounces) for me as well as close friends. The space I have for this grow is limited to a corner in my room with a height of about 2,50 meters (sorry if you guys use feet, I'm not very good with that since I live in France) same for the width and a depth of about 50cm. I was thinking of seperating that into 3 different horizontal spaces:
-Bottom 50cm for seedlings and rooting clones (fluorescent light with modifiable height)
-Middle 1m for the vegetative cycle (250W MH light)
-Top 2m for the flowering cycle (400W HPS light)
The first thing I want to do is build my grow box, get the lights and install the ventilation, and although I have many other questions, I'll ask those once I've gotten this taken care of. Just as a side note the strain I'm interested in is a Flying Dutchmen Feminized Blueberry Skunkhttp://www.everyonedoesit.co.uk/online_headshop/Blueberry_Skunk_Feminized.cfm?iProductID=5076.

Now that I've explained the situation, here are my questions:
-The measurements I gave are the max. that I can use, is it possible to make it smaller and still be able to get about 25 ounces a year?
-Which growing technique should I use? Perpetual SOG, SCROG or just simply grow a few huge ones?
-Are the lights I mentioned good for this sized box?
-Is it really useful to have three separate parts, or can I put the seedlings and rooting clones directly in the vegetative cycle?

Well that's about it, sorry for the long read, hope I didn't forget anything.

Thanks for your help!
 
ZeroTransFat

ZeroTransFat

Well-Known Member
I'd try growing one plant before attempting a perpetual grow. Don't worry about knowing everything, just jump in and do it. Ask questions along the way and you'll learn more than you ever could from just reading.

Once you nail the basics with your first grow you can experiment with new ideas to maximize flavor, taste, yield, etc.

Good luck

:peace:
 
I

ir74

Active Member
ZeroTransFat said:
I'd try growing one plant before attempting a perpetual grow. Don't worry about knowing everything, just jump in and do it. Ask questions along the way and you'll learn more than you ever could from just reading.

Once you nail the basics with your first grow you can experiment with new ideas to maximize flavor, taste, yield, etc.

Good luck

:peace:
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot for the tip, I suppose I will start out with just growing a few plants the classical way and try the more complicated stuff later. But I would still like to get a nice grow box set up that I could use later on for the more complicated things. I do think that I can simplify it though: just two parts, one with a MH light for the vegetative cycle and one with a HPS light for the flowering cycle. All I need to know is the size that would be necessary to grow 1-5 plants as well as the wattage of the lights.

Thanks a lot!
 
ZeroTransFat

ZeroTransFat

Well-Known Member
ir74 said:
Thanks a lot for the tip, I suppose I will start out with just growing a few plants the classical way and try the more complicated stuff later. But I would still like to get a nice grow box set up that I could use later on for the more complicated things. I do think that I can simplify it though: just two parts, one with a MH light for the vegetative cycle and one with a HPS light for the flowering cycle. All I need to know is the size that would be necessary to grow 1-5 plants as well as the wattage of the lights.

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
The plants will need to be anywhere from 8 to 12 inches apart.

General rule for lighting is a 100W HPS or MH per square foot of grow space. That's just the minimum I think. There's nothing that says you can't put a 600W HPS in a 4 foot square area. The more light, the denser your buds will be. Just keep adequate ventilation to bring those temps down!!!

:peace:
 
I

ir74

Active Member
Ok thanks, with that in mind I've made three box layouts that I've attached. So I've just got two last question before being able to strating building:
-Which layout is the most suitable? Are there any things that could be done better?
-Is it necessary that I be able to change the hight of the lamps?

Thanks for everything!
 

Attachments

ZeroTransFat

ZeroTransFat

Well-Known Member
ir74 said:
Ok thanks, with that in mind I've made three box layouts that I've attached. So I've just got two last question before being able to strating building:
-Which layout is the most suitable? Are there any things that could be done better?
-Is it necessary that I be able to change the hight of the lamps?

Thanks for everything!
Click to expand...
Being able to change the lamp height will give you the most efficient use of your light. The lamps should be as close as possible to the canopy without burning the plants.

For that reason you might choose the 2 x 250W because your space is so wide.

I personally would just get the 400W and be done with it. Less wiring, less maintenance. Just make sure you can exhaust that hot air.

Lighting is a loaded question because there are many different ways to achieve great results. Whatever you choose, you can always change it later.

:peace:
 
I

ir74

Active Member
I was hoping you'd say the 400W would be ok, as that means less work and less power usage ;) I was just a bit scared that it might not be able to cover the whole width (I could make it a bit less wide and a bit more deep and have two rows of plants but I think it'll be easier to manage when they're all in one row) Anyways thanks for everything, I'll be back with a grow journal as soon as I get everything set up, and hopefully you guys will be able to guide me further!
 
speedhabit

speedhabit

Well-Known Member
If that diagram is to scale you'll have plenty of room (im assuming fan outlets are 10") but you wont need more then a 6" or 8" inline duct fan in the 200= cfm range.

Your right to think that growing more horizontally will be a challenge, even two rows of plants should allow for the usage of a HPS but if growing with less depth then say 18" or barely the width of the reflector you should consider 4ft t5 lights. I use them for vegging and they are excellent and others have used them to flower. Also low electricity usage and low heat. Although I am totally convinced that HPS will give you a better result a HIGH OUTPUT t5 flouro might be better for your needs.
 
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ir74

Active Member
OK thanks, I looked into it and they look interesting, but from what I've read their lumen/watt efficiency is the same as HID lamps, so they seem to consume as much power and they're twice as expensive. But I also read that their light was much more efficient (100% used for photosynth apparently) so I suppose that means I won't need as many lumens to achieve the same growth, which means I won't need as many watts, is that correct? If so, how many lights would you recommend and at how many watts? (For the same setup as above)

Thanks!
 
ZeroTransFat

ZeroTransFat

Well-Known Member
ir74 said:
I was hoping you'd say the 400W would be ok, as that means less work and less power usage ;) I was just a bit scared that it might not be able to cover the whole width (I could make it a bit less wide and a bit more deep and have two rows of plants but I think it'll be easier to manage when they're all in one row) Anyways thanks for everything, I'll be back with a grow journal as soon as I get everything set up, and hopefully you guys will be able to guide me further!
Click to expand...
If you are doing a perpetual grow, put the new plants on the sides as they don't require as much light. As the center plants get harvested move the side plants to the middle and new plants on the sides.

If you're just growing one crop, put the taller plants on the sides to maximize light to all plants. When the plants under the light grow taller than the sides, switch them around. This will help give the best efficiency.
 
I

ir74

Active Member
Thanks for the tip, do you have any experience with fluo lights? Here are the specifications of the ones I'm looking at:
This new generation of high efficiency, environmentally friendly, low energy use, compact lamps are designed for indoor growers. They help people with limited space where heat generation can be a problem.

Light Details :

* Each 200w lamp provides over 17000 lumens of light
* Output is 100% PAR the correct spectrum for plants
* Compact, high output, efficient energy saving lamps
* Generates much less heat than any HID or HPS lamp
* Can be touched in use without burning your fingers
* Can be placed close to plants, increasing light intensity
* Simple to install- no ballasts or heavy contact switches

* Indoor Sun are available in two models.

Indoor Sun is a white/blue spectrum lamp ideal for
propogation and vegative stage growing (15,000 hours)

Indoor Sun is a red/orange spectrum lamp designed for
flowering stage growing (15,000 hours)

Growing With Indoor Sun

Indoor Sun Blue can be used to grow seeds and to propagate cuttings. They can also be used as the main lighting system for plants in the vegetative and flowering stages.

The secret to growing with Indoor Sun is to position your lamp or reflector just an inch or two above your plants.

(We use Easy-Roll Reflector Hangers and adjust the reflector height a small amount each day or so. We keep our Indoor Sun no more than 1" above the plant top.)

Positioning these new compact lights directly above the plants maintains light intensity, no lumens are lost and the PAR / Spectrum is 100%, which is like natural sunlight. The plants get all the lumens they need with the light being in the correct spectrum.

Indoor Sun Red 200w lamps are used mostly for flowering.
Many growers also use these lamps as a supplement to ‘hang’ by the side or in between plants when flowering.

They can be used with HPS lamps, as a supplement or by themselves.

Indoor Sun White / blue 6100k 200w lamps can be used for propagation and vegetative growth.

Some red light in the vegetative light mix is also recommended, as is a little white / blue light in the flowering mix. With different combinations of red and white lamps growers can obtain the ideal lumen output and spectrum required for excellent results in all stages of growing.

Indoor Sun provide 100% PAR, which is such an important factor and it is important to be able to calculate the PAR values obtained from your grow lights and how much light your plants need to give maximum yield.
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They are quite expensive, depending how many you guys would think I need (70€ per lamp) so depending on what you think I'll go for this or for MH/HPS
 
speedhabit

speedhabit

Well-Known Member
Your wrong, these arent t5s what are they? Anything that promises "100%" PAR is usually bullshit. Different plants absorb different wavelengths of light.

If one was going to use 200watt light I would go for a HID instead of whatever they are. especially if every 200watt light only puts out 1700 lumens.
Edit ...ok its 17k lumens for 200watts or 20k with a t5 for 120 watts
HTGsupply.com

I got the 4ft t5 home brand fixture and it works awesome.

 
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I

ir74

Active Member
Wow that looks good, half the price and have the power consumption! Could you tell me how much yours weigh? And do you think I could get around 25 ounces/year in the setup I posted earlier replacing the lights with 4 x 4' T5 lamps? The only problem I see is that the site I was lokking at doesn't stock them and the site you gave me only has american voltage available... Do you know any european websites that sell these?

Thanks!
 
speedhabit

speedhabit

Well-Known Member
I do not recommend LEDs, never seen any of the "experiments" with them work. For an enclosed space with little room and worries about heat the t5s cant be beat, but again, i dont know how to get them in 220v. If you have a 4ft square available with some height, a 400 or even 600watt hps/mh will be the only light you ever have to buy.
 
ZeroTransFat

ZeroTransFat

Well-Known Member
speedhabit said:
I do not recommend LEDs, never seen any of the "experiments" with them work. For an enclosed space with little room and worries about heat the t5s cant be beat, but again, i dont know how to get them in 220v. If you have a 4ft square available with some height, a 400 or even 600watt hps/mh will be the only light you ever have to buy.
Click to expand...
That's a great answer speedhabit! I was on the LED high for a while but they
just haven't proven themselves. HPS is the way to go for flowering.

Do you flower under the T5s? I've flowered under CFLs (5x23W) with
unimpressive results. Buds had no weight. Didn't know if T5s were any
better.
 
speedhabit

speedhabit

Well-Known Member
I have heard of successfully flowering with t5 lights. They make excellent bloom spectrum bulbs for them and i would imagine if you had enough banks of lights to really saturate the plant in light the buds would be totally good.

But me? nah I flower under 1k HPS, iv had that for longer.
 
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