Redesigning my grow closet

I have a 2x4 closet that is currently divided in half. The top is for flowering and the bottom is for vegging. Unfortunately this is kind of complicated to deal with. There are two reservoirs on the floor that aren't super easy to access, neither area is that tall, the temperature was impossible to control in the top area with a HPS light, and so on.

So I decided to simplify it to just have one growing area. The thing is, I've got all these lights now: 400w HPS, four 68w CFLs, and two 4ft fluorescent fixtures with two bulbs each. I've spent my way into the poor house on this project so I'm determined to use everything I've bought.

The design I was thinking of was to put the HPS up in the air of course, put the CFLs amongst the plants, and put the fluorescent tubes along the sides facing inwards and then plant 4x8 plants in there (4 plants/square foot). I'd put in clones/seedlings and leave the lights on for them to grow for a week or two (I was thinking until they were 6" tall or so) and then switch to a flowering cycle.

Is this a good idea? Is it useful to put all the extra lights down amongst the plants? I figure they will be beneficial during vegetative growth but will they result in buds growing beneath the canopy? Is that too dense for the plants to be?

I'm also wary of how much heat all the lights would generate since my first attempt failed largely due to heat (also due to being cheap and not shelling out for good nutrients).

Also also I'm using an about 6" deep plastic tub for an ebb and flow setup. For that number of plants is that enough space or should I find something deeper so that they have more space for roots to grow?

I'm just tired of messing with drippers, and maintaining two nutrient solutions, and generally dealing with a closet that is notably more crowded and complicated than optimal. It also cost more than it should have for a first-time setup :\

Have you looked into Deep Water Culture or Bubbleponics? Im trying to get my setup all planned out and I'm thinking that with a 2x2x4 stealth closet DWC grow would give me the best yeild and fastest harvest using the ScrOG method along with a bit of FIM. I thought about the E&F method, but that was way too much to deal with for my first try, and soil just takes too damn long for me.

I would tend to think that given your area, if you use all the lights you will absolutely without a doubt have a problem with heat. What kind of ventilation are you using? You'll want to have some air exchange from the growspace to the outside. That being said, you may not have enough room to use all of your lights paired with a ventilation system. About the flourescent tubes. Since you are using what seems to be the SOG method, and you want to flower early, I think the tubes will be a bit over the top. You want your plants to be around 6", as you said, and you'll only have about a foot of used space under that, so lets assume that MAXIMUM the tops of the plants would be two feet above the floor. That means that the top half of your fixtures would be shining on your HPS, which we all know does not produce buds by itself, normally (lol). So, essentially you'd be adding heat to the equation, which will be hard to balance with so little ventilation, and the light would not really be used on your plants. I would figure out your air exchange problem first, then use the HPS at the top, and your CFLs on the sides. You should be golden after that. Anyway, take what you will from this, I am no expert and I am still learning all the time. Good luck!

KayAreOEnnEyeSee said:

Have you looked into Deep Water Culture or Bubbleponics? Im trying to get my setup all planned out and I'm thinking that with a 2x2x4 stealth closet DWC grow would give me the best yeild and fastest harvest using the ScrOG method along with a bit of FIM. I thought about the E&F method, but that was way too much to deal with for my first try, and soil just takes too damn long for me.

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I hadn't actually heard of it until now. I could modify what I was planning to use that method but I'd have to buy some more stuff and I'm worried it would be harder to maintain. I already have a tub with E&F fittings filled with hydroton and I know it works and doesn't have mold or algae problems.

ScrOG might be good but I'm going to err on the side of simplicity and see if I can't just manage the plants manually to be sure that they all get light.

eatAstar said:

I would tend to think that given your area, if you use all the lights you will absolutely without a doubt have a problem with heat. What kind of ventilation are you using? You'll want to have some air exchange from the growspace to the outside. That being said, you may not have enough room to use all of your lights paired with a ventilation system. About the flourescent tubes. Since you are using what seems to be the SOG method, and you want to flower early, I think the tubes will be a bit over the top. You want your plants to be around 6", as you said, and you'll only have about a foot of used space under that, so lets assume that MAXIMUM the tops of the plants would be two feet above the floor. That means that the top half of your fixtures would be shining on your HPS, which we all know does not produce buds by itself, normally (lol). So, essentially you'd be adding heat to the equation, which will be hard to balance with so little ventilation, and the light would not really be used on your plants. I would figure out your air exchange problem first, then use the HPS at the top, and your CFLs on the sides. You should be golden after that. Anyway, take what you will from this, I am no expert and I am still learning all the time. Good luck!

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It's an outside closet and I've got holes in a wall that blow in air-conditioned air from inside. There's a hole that vents outdoors.

I was hoping that by having 5 feet or so of space above the lights it would give more space for the heat to go and that blowing cool air across the plants would be sufficient. I haven't actually tested any of this and have no relevant experience but that's how I think it should work.

I expect the plants would have a growth spurt and get a couple of feet tall after switching to 12/12 and then there wouldn't be much light from the bottom getting out through the top or vice versa. My thinking is that since SOG produces only top colas because the light can't get below, couldn't I just put lights down there and get more buds?