Will this grow closet work? Need help!

I am wondering if I can grow successfully based on my situation. I have a closet about 3 feet x 4 feet x 8 feet. I want to a put a door and lock on it and throw a 400 watt hps in there and get growing. Only problem is im not sure how im going to cool and circulate air. I cannot have tubes running through my room at all, the closet has to be completely self contained so that people can enter the room with the closet door closed and not detect anything. I am thinking since the back wall of the closet borders outside I can just cut a small hole in the wall and install a cheap inwall or portable a/c unit to cool the closet. I could also install an exhuast fan (like they have in bathrooms) to help with air exchange.

Does this sounds like a successful grow scenario?

Will the combination of the a/c unit and exhaust fan provide adequate air exchange?

Am I better off just growing with a couple of cfls and a small fan?

Thanks for any help or comments, I need all the advice and tips I can get

the smell is going to be your biggest problem as far as detection goes . the exhaust fan in the ceiling should be enough to keep temps down .

Yeah, this should not be a problem. Even if you have to climb into the attic to run ducting trhough the ceiling of the space.

so i need a small carbon filter for the closet and that should eliminate small. Monkey are you saying that the exhaust fan alone will be enough to reduce heat in the closet or will I also need to install a small ac unit in the closet? Thanks for the responses

It would be most effective to have a fan sucking in outside air near the floor, and an exhaust fan blowing out hot air near the ceiling. A 400 hps will put off alot of heat though, and you may need a little extra help with cooling. Maybe a small a/c unit or a water cooled lamp.

SoloSurfer said:

It would be most effective to have a fan sucking in outside air near the floor, and an exhaust fan blowing out hot air near the ceiling. A 400 hps will put off alot of heat though, and you may need a little extra help with cooling. Maybe a small a/c unit or a water cooled lamp.

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Honestly, your ventilation/odor can be controlled with three very inexpensive peices of equipment to maintain appropriate temps at all times w/ odor control, and it will allow you to keep the door closed at all times.

Equipment list:
4" Inline Can Fan
4" Can Fan Filter
Day & Night Temperature Controller

Supplies:
4" Ducting
4" Ducting Flanges

Because hot air rises (and high temps are usually the problem), it's *optimal* to put the FAN & FILTER at the highest point in the room; (this is the air you want to exhaust). After buying the equipment, make sure you put your fan's intake down into the filter. Then attach 4" ducting to the other end of the inline fan, and run the ducting to your your cooltube/aircooled hood, and attach more 4" ducting at the other end of the aircooled hood, and run the 4" ducting through a 4" hole in your ceiling from your attic. I'm assuming that you have no window or other means of exhausting outside except your attic.

Once you have all your equipment installed properly; plug your inline fan's power cord in the Day/Night Temperature Controller. Your Day/night temp controller will adjust the speed of your inline fan respectively to maintain desired temps and hot air exhaust.

As long as you don't have a NAZI sealed closet door, fresh air will enter your closet through the crack between the floor and the bottom of the closet door. Keep in mind that if you're going 'stealthy', that light in your closet might be visible from your room when your closet door is closed. You should just get a 6-10 inch wide peiece of poly the length of the bottom of your door, and you should be able to still draw air in, and be light tight. Good luck to you sire; let me know if you have any questions; I'll be glad to help.

I think you we do really well. I'm new to grownig and didn't put forth as much effort and I'm getting pretty good results. How many plants what type of system?

i am hoping to grow 4-6 plants under the light and will add a couple 42 watt cfls for extra lighting. Looking to grow blue mystic and swiss cheese. Hopefully the seeds arrive this time from nirvana i ordered kaya gold femenized seeds 2 and a half weeks ago and they have not arrived

it will still smell with a carbon filter. if your trying to grow and be stealth about it you might as well do some guerilla growing

what part of the country are you in? Cold weather? humid?

warm and humid

can you vent to the attic?

I cannot vent to the attic there is no attic. There is however half an airvent on the floor in the back of the closet. If i put an exhaust fan at the top of the room and an air conditioning unit can I get by without any venting?

You do understand that a closet grow is not exactly silent, and these fans and shit make a fair bit of noise. You said that the grow cannot be detected by someone entering your room. If there are going to be people who cannot discover the grow entering presumably your bedroom, you should not grow in the closet. You need a LOT of privacy for something like this, and its not to be entered into without AMPLE preparation.

Also, involving an air conditioner, an exhaust fan, a 400w HPS, etc is going to be using a lot of electricity which will show up on your next bill. So if you are in charge of the bill that is not a problem, but if you are sharing with room mates they may notice something is amiss.

Electrical bill will not be a problem. A little noise doesnt concern me too much, this room is semi stealth, as long as there is a lock on the door and no noticeable tubing coming to or from the closet we should be good. Odor is a concern but i think can be successfully controlled.

You should also have a good fan blowing air between the light and the top of the plants. That way hot air from the light is pushed away from the reflector and then up to the exhaust. Good luck man!

thanks to everyone, lots of helpful info

thetrollsmasher said:

I cannot vent to the attic there is no attic. There is however half an airvent on the floor in the back of the closet. If i put an exhaust fan at the top of the room and an air conditioning unit can I get by without any venting?

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I'm assuming when you say there's "half of an airvent on the floor in the back of the closet" that you are talking about a AC/Heating register?

Even though I recommended it for short term, Venting hot/humid exhaust into your attic could cause long-term mold problems. Your closet room will be producing large amounts of heat with a 400W, therefore some sort of exhaust method is essential; Also, ALL true portable AC units are required to exhaust hot air.

muyoso said:

You do understand that a closet grow is not exactly silent, and these fans and shit make a fair bit of noise. You said that the grow cannot be detected by someone entering your room. If there are going to be people who cannot discover the grow entering presumably your bedroom, you should not grow in the closet. You need a LOT of privacy for something like this, and its not to be entered into without AMPLE preparation.

Also, involving an air conditioner, an exhaust fan, a 400w HPS, etc is going to be using a lot of electricity which will show up on your next bill. So if you are in charge of the bill that is not a problem, but if you are sharing with room mates they may notice something is amiss.

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I only recommended a 400W HPS, a 4" Inline Fan & Filter. Certainly this shouldn't produce enough noise to be heard through a closet door. I think most computers power supplies consume at least 350Watts. Your power consumption would be about the equivalent of running a computer + monitor 24/7. Although you are correct when you speak of needing room & privacy to do work. I would just make sure that you are organized with your equipment/nutrients/growing media to keep it stowed away at all times. This is a huge responsibility, and no investment should be made to start growing unless you plan on being diligent to finish it; it's only worth the risk if you can harvest.

Thanks hwy, right now i am leaning away from using the said closet and towards putting a dark room grow tent or something similar in a safer more stealthy place. Under my house there is a tool shed like area in which i could set up a 48" x 20" x 60" tent. Is this a pretty good size tent for a 400w? If the shed that the tent is in is humid and somewhat prone to mold will it make it difficult to control the humidity or cause my plants to mold or will i be able to control conditions within the tent pretty effectively?

Based on what ive said about the two locations what do you suppose is the better location?

thetrollsmasher said:

Thanks hwy, right now i am leaning away from using the said closet and towards putting a dark room grow tent or something similar in a safer more stealthy place. Under my house there is a tool shed like area in which i could set up a 48" x 20" x 60" tent. Is this a pretty good size tent for a 400w? If the shed that the tent is in is humid and somewhat prone to mold will it make it difficult to control the humidity or cause my plants to mold or will i be able to control conditions within the tent pretty effectively?

Based on what ive said about the two locations what do you suppose is the better location?

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Hey bro; I think I would recommend growing in the shed instead of the closet, 400W would be fine in there, but I predict the problem would be humidity. Optimal levels of humidity during vegetative state are 60%+. During flowering, it's essential that your humidity is maintained below 45%. In most grow room situations, It is crucial that you use a strong oscilating fan & a dehumidifier to prevent bud mold. Good luck to you bro.