New grower, advice appreciated!

Hello all, noob here xD

Looking to start a grow room in my closet, decided on a 400w HPS light for flowering. And probably some CFL's for vegging (doing lots of research, and this seems to be the best way to go about it, feel free to correct me).

My concern at the moment is the size of the grow room. It's 2 feet (0.6m) wide and 4'6 feet (1.4m) in length. Plenty of height though, nearly 2 1/2 meters.

So onto a few questions:

Given the specs of the room, is my light choice optimal?

Most importantly, how many plants would you recommend putting in there? I see the main problem being the width of the room, might squash the sides of the plant.
My initial idea was to have 4-6 plants in 3 galleon containers, what would you suggest?

As this is the first grow it's a bit of a testing phase, will be making a more suited grow room eventually in the attic; but would like to start small for the moment.

FYI, I'll probably use Northern Lights as the strain, I here it's a good starter and nice bud. Alternatively I've heard good things about AK-48. But please feel free to suggest a strain based on the information above.

i would say 4 plants will fit in there just fine, depending on how long you veg for. you also didn't say anything about ventilation. Your going to need to run some sort of ducting to maintain proper heat and humidity in your closet. what are you going to be using for a growing medium as well? i would mock up your design of the closet/cabinet before you focus on putting some ladies in there.

E.

errb said:

i would say 4 plants will fit in there just fine, depending on how long you veg for. you also didn't say anything about ventilation. Your going to need to run some sort of ducting to maintain proper heat and humidity in your closet. what are you going to be using for a growing medium as well? i would mock up your design of the closet/cabinet before you focus on putting some ladies in there.

E.

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Hey errb, thanks for your reply

I'm just going with soilless mix, with perlite mixed in. They'll probably be more to it, need to research it a bit more. First of all getting the room set up with paint, ventilation, lighting and other fixtures.

Ventilation will be intake fan either through the door, or through the wall of the closet (at the bottom of course).
I will also have an outtake fan at the top of the door, or through the ceiling into the attic.

Also - I'm pretty decided on auto flowering plants at the moment, they seem easiest. I want to take out as many variables as possible for my first grow. Simple as possible, am I right in thinking this?

Edit: I know ventilation and air circulation is extremely important, but I can leave the closet door open. With this being the case, would you still recommend intake/outtake fans as a must?

Bump, anyone else?

My Grow Room is almost the exact same size as yours. My first grow was last year and I grew 4 plants to maturity. The space became VERY crowded and I swore I would only grow 2 plants this year. Well, the wife talked me into 3, so I'll still be dealing with some crowding, but it will be WAY easier than 4 plants.

Rather than 1 light, you are better off with 2 150W HPS lights. You'll get better light coverage and you can adjust the lights for maximum exposure. I did a TON of research before setting up my closet, and I'll tell you, it's first class!! My wife can't believe how nice and efficient everything works, and this takes the stress out of growing, making it FUN!

Also, the advantage of 2 lights is in case 1 fails or burns out (you'll still have light until you get the other one fixed or replaced). Make sure you invest in the light adjusters, so you can raise and lower your lights with ease.

I used 3 gallon Smart Pots last year, but I switched to the 5 gallon this year. I've noticed with the bigger pots, I don't have to water as much and the roots will have lots of stretching room.