New apartment! Closet grow Q's

[Blueflame1986]

So me and a friend are moving into an aparment next month and im going to be doing a little gardening . I plan on growing a few plants from bagseed in a walk in closet inside the master bedroom. I have watched the high times ultimate grow dvd and think i basicly have the concept, but I have a few questions...

Will a 400 watt HPS light be enough for say...5 - 10 plants? If so, one of these lights shouldnt be a flag to the electrical company would it? What exactly is a ballist, and does it come with the light?

Im worried about transplanting, could i just put the germinated seeds into a 3 gallon pot at the beginning? Or is it beter to start it out in a smaller pot?

Would a small fan in the closet be enough air circulation, or would i NEED to vent somehow?

Thanks ahead of time for your help guys!

[urgr8estfear]

Yes 400W is enough for 5-10 plants. Less plants gives you bigger plants.

Electric company not a problem.

Ballist = ballast and I hope for you it comes with the bulb, for else YOU will need to find a matching ballast.

Start in small pots. Wait until the soil is quite dry, turn it upside down while holding it in your hand. One chunk of roots should come out (dont let if fall). Put the whole chunk in a bigger pot filled with soil already.

No venting = dead plant or fire. You MUST!

[up4anything]

yup. pretty much.

[Blueflame1986]

Alright guys thanks. So are there any suggestions on how to vent air in and out of a walk in closet?

[hoast]

If it's only a few plants in a tiny closet, an oscillating fan or two plus you or a buddy opening the doors once or twice a day (which you'll be doing to water them anyway) should be enough air flow for a small closet. It's pretty hard to set up a squirrel fan with a vent in a closet, and still trying to acheive 0 light leaks.

[urgr8estfear]

Originally Posted by hoast

If it's only a few plants in a tiny closet, an oscillating fan or two plus you or a buddy opening the doors once or twice a day (which you'll be doing to water them anyway) should be enough air flow for a small closet. It's pretty hard to set up a squirrel fan with a vent in a closet, and still trying to acheive 0 light leaks.

I guess you missed the part where it said 400W HPS.
He will NEED to get heat out of the box, opening the door once in a day isn't gonna cut it.

[toastybiz]

You will need to move a lot of air and filter it heavily if you aren't venting it to the outside. Any idea how strongly 5-10 flowering plants can smell in a closed-up apartment?

[hoast]

Originally Posted by urgr8estfear

I guess you missed the part where it said 400W HPS.
He will NEED to get heat out of the box, opening the door once in a day isn't gonna cut it.

There's still ways of cooling down a room and taking the heat away from the lamp than just having a vent out.

[Blueflame1986]

Well I do plan on getting some kind of air cooled reflective hood for the light. Would I have to cut a hole in one of the closet doors or something to mount an exhaust fan into it? Also I'v heard you need fresh air coming INTO the grow room. From what I understand you dont need a fan blowing air into closet, just a small hole. Thats fine, but wouldnt light leak in through the hole?

[toastybiz]

You may or may not need/want a fan to draw air in, that's passive vs. active intake. The intake should be at least the same size as the exhaust, preferably twice the area. It can't be just a hole, it needs to be baffled for light.

[Blueflame1986]

So if I decide not to have any air flowing in, what would be the best way to install a small fan as the exhaust in a closet? And the closet is in a bedroom, were could I have the exhaust go? Just into the room?

[czarr]

You can't exhast air out of the closet without an intake.....think about it. You will however need to exahst the air somewhere if your running a 400 watt hps. For my closet grow i'm cutting the exhast into the top of the closet door and the passive intake into the bottom, to stop light leaks take some ducting, attach it to the intake and bend it in two 90 degree angles the best you can.

[urgr8estfear]

Originally Posted by hoast

There's still ways of cooling down a room and taking the heat away from the lamp than just having a vent out.

A closet ain't exactly a room buddy.
The temperatures inside a closet will sky rocket.

Since you want the closet to be just about lightproof radiation heat cannot get out.
The only way to get rid of molecular heat is to pump out air.

Bonus : constant 'fresh' air for you plants.

[toastybiz]

BlueFlame, sounds like you need to sit down and really think this through. It's OK to think about what you want to do, but ultimately you are going to be constrained by what you can do.

If you try to grow 5-10 plants in an unventilated closet, using a 400w HID and at most a small exhaust fan blowing into the space between your ceiling and the floor above...well, either your plants will die or if they survive the whole building is going to smell like bud.

You need to move heat away from there, period. You need to manage odor. And you need airflow for the plant's health so it's best to figure a way to kill three birds with one stone -- work out a way to get good air intake and a way to exhaust heat and odor to the outside.

If you can't do that then grow 1-2 plants under CFLs, and even then you'll still need airflow and a carbon scrubber.

[Blueflame1986]

So considering a 400 watt hps might be a little too much heat, would you guys suggest a 250 watt? Would that be enough light to flower 5 or so plants?