What lights should my friend get for his setup??

[XZit]

My friends growing in his little shed outside in his back yard. The shed has a roof and everything e.t.c. e.t.c.


Now what do you recomend for lighting in the shed? Oh and the floor of the shed is actually just ground, so I suggested to him to plant the plants in the ground (with good soil/compost) and put lights over them.

That way its sorta like a outdoors, indoors grow.



Anyhow so he wants to do a hydro setup and grow like that.
I dunno how easy that will be though.

They will probally be growen in the ground.





So what lights do you guys suggest ? What sorta setup?
Be as detailed as possible with your advice here--hes going to start growing really soon.

[IGotTheCottons]

Can we get some details??? Does he have $$$ to spend, or is he on a limited budget? How big's the shed?

If he's got some $$$ go with a Metal Halide for veg and a High Pressure Sodium for flowering... Or he could get one that has both at the same time. If it's a shed I imagine room wouldn't be a problem for a dual-light setup.

[XZit]

aight lets see.
Heres some more details about his situation.

The sheds in the back yard. Its smallish. Its basically a shed designed to hang garden tools, weed trimmers, chain saw e.t.c. e.t.c.

I'll estimate and say its about 3x3 ft or 4x4 feet in there.
The ground is dirt--which could be replaced with better soil, and sorta convert the shed into a greenhouse like thing (with lights of course) for growing pot e.t.c.


His budget...mmm. Well his rents kinda pricy right now. And hes cut down on the expenses already by simply using some bag seed (we get good chronic) from some grower friends of ours.


Budget I'd say is enough for lighting. But I'm not that familar with lighting prices yet.




Him and I could rig the lighting right up above the pot--and possible adjustable lighting as well (raise up or down as plant gets bigger e.t.c.)

The hydo system might be a bit diffucult--but I think him and I can do it. But getting continous running water shouldn't be a big issue.





So ya.

[XZit]

bump

[Merry Jake]

There's not enough details about the shed to really know what to do with it, but here are some of my thoughts. I would completely seal the shed from the inside - walls, floors, roof, etc... use insulation, Monofoam and heavy white poly to do it with . Some of the problems that first come to mind are: if you put them directly into the ground, you're going to get bugs for sure, even if you put new soil down. If the shed isn't completeley sealed, you run the risk of your neighbours seeing the white glow at night, also catching a whiff of the smell it will give off. You'll also need ventilation and fans, which cause noise. Depending on how close your neighbours are to you, they'll see light, they'll smell weed, they'll hear fans and the ballasts buzzing.
Whenever we've made a shed or garage setup, we always build a completely new room inside the shed, that's the only way to control all the factors. I've heard of people in Oregon getting busted just because they put their used soil in their outdoor gardens, you can never be too careful!

[XZit]

mmm...so you suggest building another "shed/container" inside the shed to grow the plants in?

[aero soul]

sounds like you'd be better off planting 'em in the ground.. i've never heard of anyone growing like that before and it'd be a nice little project.. there's no root space lacking so there's really no limit to how big your plants will get.. i think i might look into switching up my shed to something like this.. lol.. cause it seems interesting..

[XZit]

Ya it would be a sorta "outdoor/indoor" growing operation. The seeds will be planted in the ground (of course with treated soil e.t.c. and constant watch for bugs n' shit) and of course the shed would be sealed off of any light escaping, and hopefully the vent vans we instal will keep the smell out and away from the neighbors nextdoor.

This way by planting the plants in the ground they aren't limited to a pot--but they still get artifical life (uv e.t.c.) from a light fixture(s).
It should be a fun and interesting grow for sure.

[IGotTheCottons]

Go with a HPS. A 650w will suffice, but you might wanna check into a 800w setup. The lights will run between $100 and $200 (or more for better lights) depending on where you get 'em.

You'll need ventillation holes and fans, and a carbon scrub, ionizer, or both to control smell. Make sure it's light-proof, and be sure go keep a couple oscillating fans inside to keep the air circulating. You'll need some ducting to keep the light from escaping from your intake and outake holes. A couple PVC Pipes or some Dryer tubing will work for this. You can also put some black nylons over the intake to limit light, and kind of act like a filter to keep incoming pests out.

The most costly thing you're gonna need is the light/ballast (say $200), and probably the carbon scrub or ionizer ($50-$75ish). Then would come the exhaust fans (you'll need a decent one for a carbon scrub, and to keep it a negative pressure envirornment, maybe $50). The tubing and whatnot is cheap as dirt though... So for around $300 total you can have a nice setup. There's also ways of building your own carbon scrub that would probably be cheaper than buying one. Search here or overgrow.com for some DIY ideas.

Hope this helps some. Good luck with the grow.

[gonnagrow]

Also, if you want to grow hydroponically, you can't plant them in the ground

Gg

[Merry Jake]

Even if you've got your heart set on a soil setup, I still wouldn't plant them directly in the ground. Who knows what's been kept in that shed, what's leached into the dirt, how fertile it is, etc.... I would seal the floor and build a planter box or just use pots with new soil.
What kind of power do you have running to that shed?

[IGotTheCottons]

Originally Posted by Merry Jake

Even if you've got your heart set on a soil setup, I still wouldn't plant them directly in the ground. Who knows what's been kept in that shed, what's leached into the dirt, how fertile it is, etc.... I would seal the floor and build a planter box or just use pots with new soil.
What kind of power do you have running to that shed?

Yeauppp... You could bury some 5 gallon buckets (holes drilled in the bottom) and fill 'em with good soil and plant the plants in the buckets. Just put some rocks at the bottom of the buckets to help with drainage though.

[XZit]

Originally Posted by gonnagrow

Also, if you want to grow hydroponically, you can't plant them in the ground

Gg

ya--the hydro grow is totally seperete-thats gonna be in the atic.

This grow is in the back yard shed

but ya I guess you therotically could grow a hydro setup with flowing water through the roots or somthing like that.
lol