Gearin up for my first closet grow and I need advice/suggestions

[jcmartin86]

Alrighty...after quite some time of talkin about doin it, it's finally coming into fruition. I'm going to start my first grow. But being a total NeWb...I'm pretty much just trying to not completely blow it.

To demonstrate how serious I am..here is the list of stuff I went and bought today...though some of it can and probably will change as I alter my plans and return whatver I don't need to the store and pick up what I do need.

I bought:
6- 26W CFL Bulbs (These will probably be changed...not sure though. But it does have to be a CFL Grow)
Timer (for the lights)
approx. 100 Sq. Ft Mylar
1 big bag of Fox Farm Ocean Forest
1 bottle Fox Farm Grow Big
1 PH/Light/Moisture tester
1 Fan for the space
1 Thermometer

Not much, I know...buit it's a start. The rest pretty much hinges on a space problem I will be gettign to in a minute.

The seeds I decided on will be Electric Fruit Punch from Highgrade. You can find it at this link

http://www.highgrade-seeds.com/seedlist.html

The plan is to (hopefully) take 3-4 plants to term in my closet. now I'm not sure If I will have room for these as I have never actually seen a full grown plant in person so I don't know how big they get. I don't mind the height though...it's the width of the plant I'm concerned about. Here are a couple pics of what I'm working with as far as space goes....it's not so big, unfortuantely (pardon the mess...I didn't feel like cleaning it all up..I just yanked everything out of the closet). And I will be removing the shelf




Dimensions are about 90"H x 40"W x 19"D. Would this be enough space for the amount of plants I want??? My gut feeling says no...but you guys are the experts Maybe only 2?

OK...now here the the issues I'm having with the space. Stealth is the name of the game here...I need to be able to hide it whenever I have visitors over. I was thinking of getting some sort of cabinet to fit in there. I was looking at something like this


and sitcking it in the closet. Dimensions are 70"H x 34-3/5"W x 17-7/10"D....it would be tight but it should fit. How many plants do you think I would be able to fit in there? The depth and width concern me a little. Do you think I would be better off just using the closet how it is and not putting a cab in there???

I was thinking about this and it wouldn't a problem BUT....ventilation. How do I ventilate the closet?? I can't cut into the wall and cutting into the door would basically ruin the stealth aspect of things. I was thinking MAYBE I could take thick contractor trash bags and velcro tape fabricate a door I could roll up and down but again..ventilation. How would I do it?? I'm stumped. I have no problem leaving the actual closet door itself open cuz I'm just going to put a lock on my bedroom door anyways. Any suggestions? I'm open to all.

Also, i was trying to decide (and it kinda hinges on what i choose to do with the space) what kind of containers to use. Should I use pots?If so, how big? again..the space could be an issue. I was looking into an Earthbox ( http://www.earthbox.com/ ) because my gf and I tend to go visit my parents for the weekend from friday to sunday. ANd this badboy is selfwatering, basically. But I don't know how many plants this would be able to hold.

Sorry I'm a bit scatterbrained right now cuz I got so much information flowign through my poor brain just tryign to get this all figured out. I think once I figure out how I want to do the space up everyting will be downhill from there.

I really appreciate any help you guys can offer. Any suggestions/ideas about anything (ANYTHING!) at all is entirely helpful in my actually getting this started. Sorry for being such a n00b. I'll probably edit this or just reply to it as I think of new things. Thanks!

[jcmartin86]

ANy suggestions on how to best utilize this space, guys/gals? I'm drivin myself crazy over here, heh

[kibbles]

well there have defiantly been smaller grows so i wouldnt worry about space so much. im thinking probably 3 plants. in the case you only grow two plants, i think you have enough light, but remember MORE IS ALWAYS BETTER WITH CFLS! i would pick up 1 or 2 more 42 watt bulbs they have them at walmart for around 8 bucks. since your space is really tall, im not sure if your want to LST or not, i was always told LST is the best way to utilize CFL lights, but your space is tall too so im not sure. good luck with your grow, i wish you the best of luck

[jcmartin86]

thanks, Kibbles, for your input +rep I really appreciate it. I agree on the 3 plants thing though I'll keep my fingers crossed for 4 I was def looking into pickining up more bulbs. I actually almost wanna switch to just a few bigger wattage bulbs rather than the 6-26s mostly for cordage purposes...I would need a bunch cords which I don't really want.....but they were the best I could find at teh store at the time.

Also, I think I've decided how I want to set up the space. I'm goign to start work on that later and then I'll post up some pics.

[mels]

Hey man, all I can say is SCROG!!! Two plants SCROGGED will get you more yield than three in that space! Also i would recommend DWC as its so easy and productive as for ventilation how about going through the ceiling?

Peace and good luck bro!

[Knee Deep]

Originally Posted by jcmartin86

thanks, Kibbles, for your input +rep I really appreciate it. I agree on the 3 plants thing though I'll keep my fingers crossed for 4 I was def looking into pickining up more bulbs. I actually almost wanna switch to just a few bigger wattage bulbs rather than the 6-26s mostly for cordage purposes...I would need a bunch cords which I don't really want.....but they were the best I could find at teh store at the time.

Also, I think I've decided how I want to set up the space. I'm goign to start work on that later and then I'll post up some pics.

no you wont need a bunch of cords at all, one extenstion cord and a 3 plug adapter and 2 surge protectors, 3 socket adapters, and 3 y socket adapters. you can make a homeade fixture without having hardly any cords at all, id show you but no camera.

[jcmartin86]

Originally Posted by Knee Deep

no you wont need a bunch of cords at all, one extenstion cord and a 3 plug adapter and 2 surge protectors, 3 socket adapters, and 3 y socket adapters. you can make a homeade fixture without having hardly any cords at all, id show you but no camera.

I think I'm picking up what you're putting down with this. This sounds very viable as, coincidentally, I picked up 3 Socket Adapters today as well and some carpet tape and glue to start work on the space. Gotta run out to the store right now anyway so I'll pick up some Y adapters

[jcmartin86]

Originally Posted by mels

Hey man, all I can say is SCROG!!! Two plants SCROGGED will get you more yield than three in that space! Also i would recommend DWC as its so easy and productive as for ventilation how about going through the ceiling?

Peace and good luck bro!

I've looked into a scrog and I must say, I like the idea. Do you think I would I be able to scrog 3 plants or would that just be pushing it?

Also, I'll have to look up what a DWC is..not too familair with it

Edit: Did some checkin up on the DWC... sounds pretty nice. Kinda makes me wish I hadn't already gone out and purchased all this other stuff...but's it alright. It'll be nice having the soil experience to begin with. Next time I'll seriously consider a DWC. Thanks!

[mels]

Check out rumpleforeskins grow journal, he is scrogging 2 plants and getting outrageous yield he also gets more from two plants than three.

Peace

[kibbles]

Originally Posted by jcmartin86

I've looked into a scrog and I must say, I like the idea. Do you think I would I be able to scrog 3 plants or would that just be pushing it?

Also, I'll have to look up what a DWC is..not too familair with it

Edit: Did some checkin up on the DWC... sounds pretty nice. Kinda makes me wish I hadn't already gone out and purchased all this other stuff...but's it alright. It'll be nice having the soil experience to begin with. Next time I'll seriously consider a DWC. Thanks!

if u dont want to use the 26 watters, walmart carries 42watts for 8 bucks just get 4 of those, OR lowes has 65watt (300watt eqv) for 20 bucks. you cant find much bigger in store, if you want bigger bulbs you may have to order online. for my lightning setup, i have a power strip, with light bulb to 120v converters with a 42 watt, and 20 watt for my 3 plants, but my setup is much smaller. but seriously get a power strip or 2 and get light bulb to 120v converters they plug directly into any outlet and are an invaluable tool for adding more lights.
a general rule of thumb is 40-75 watts per square foot of grow space, but with CFLs you can never have too many.

[jcmartin86]

Alrighty, I'm workin on gettin the space up. I'm takin a little break to ask this question. I got some of the mylar up but as I'm workin in the closet to finish some stuff up I keep rubbing up against the mylar. What's the best way to clean the smudges from my sweating arms rubbing up against it? Ordinary cleaner spray like window cleaner? Is there anything I have to be concerned about?

[jcmartin86]

Alright...I got my space set up (minus ventilation..that is coming) and figured I'd share the progress so far.

You can see that I decided to build a false wall/door. I did it like this so I can still close the regualr door so it appears to be a normal closet if I have to. I just plan on keepin the bedroom door locked.

Here's what i did. I took a large refrigerator box (because it's made with extremely heavy duty cardboard...easier to work with than wood for my purposes.) I Cut it to size and put it inside the closet and screwed it in secure. Then I cut out a smaller door into the cardboard and devised a high-tech Duct Tape "hinge". I put extensions on the outside of this new door so I could put Industrial Strength Velcro on it to use as a "stopper"/"latch" as you can see in the pics. Glue did not work in holding this on there so I took a bolt, nut, and two washers on each bolt and put one washer on teh insiade and one washer on the outside of the door and tightened it down. Works really good

I lined the entire inside of the room with the mylar except the cieling cuz it's already white and I don't feel like going through the hassle of doing it. But if you guys happen to recommend that I do that..I will. I got inside the room and there are zero light leaks.

I put the clothes hanger bar back up...I figure I will use that to suspend my ligt fixture from. I left room in the top right and the bottom left corners to install my ventilation. I bought two 4 inch fans to install. Which leads me to my next question. Should I use a regaulr fan-blowing-in intake...or a passive intake? It's an upper apartment and it is summer time where it gets to about 90 out some days. So it can get pretty warm up here sometimes. I'm thinking regular intake...what do you guys think?

Here are some pics

Outside of the closet. Thank you Samsung


With the new door open




There's still a little bit of tidying up to do. What do ya'll think?

[chemicalcomfort]

that's sick! nice work with the fridge box and everything. real sharp if i say so myself. i'd question the long-term durability factor of the cardboard, but if it's thick enough it'll probably be ok.

i'd say do a normal intake, but in small space like that you could easily use passive intake as well i'm sure.

[jcmartin86]

Originally Posted by chemicalcomfort

that's sick! nice work with the fridge box and everything. real sharp if i say so myself. i'd question the long-term durability factor of the cardboard, but if it's thick enough it'll probably be ok.

i'd say do a normal intake, but in small space like that you could easily use passive intake as well i'm sure.

Thanks! Ya, the durability of the cardboard was something I was a little concerned about. But it's 1/2 inch thick, I double it up to reinforce it..it's very rigid and corrugated to begin with, not that cheap thin cardboard... so I'm pretty confident it will hold up. It was actually a really big pain in the ass to get it through the door cuz it didn't wanna bend lol.

[madman6233]

dude twist one up and grab a cupo joe(coffee) I wrote a novel on your other thread but since this is a room question insted of a grow thing i put this here dont know why but i did.
So Was reading those cfl's are like 20 bucks a piece is that right? and you are using like 6 or something, well my thing is this in all my trips 2 and from the home depot almost every time I try to pick up a new light there my personal favorite is the 100 hps security/outdoor lampsomething like 85 that one, but i have a couple (like 6) of their 70 watt hps outdoor lamps hell i think the last one i got was around 50 bucks actually under that.Great in tight spots one of my favs for cabs. Peace bro