Hello GC! I'm posting because I need some advice on finalizing my setup for a stealth grow that I'm planning to begin in August. Here's the deal... At the end of August I'll be moving to a new town, living with two roommates, and renting an apartment. I want to have a high-quality stealth grow while I'm away from home in order avoid having to try to find a new dealer to sell me highs at a fair price, and to make a little cash connecting close friends. I would like a perpetual grow with a vegging room and a separate flowering room so that I continue to clip and start clones before I move the mothers into the flowering chamber. The clones will veg while the moms are flowering/drying/curing and then the process will repeat. I plan on growing 3 strains at a time, a sativa dominant, an indica dominant, and my favorite middie that's about a 40/60 indica/sativa split). Growing will be done in soil and I plan on LSTing all of my plants pretty extensively to maximize space and yield. That said, I'm having trouble finalizing my lighting/chamber setup. I know that I want to invest in a Secret Jardin Darkroom to use for flowering with a 400 watt HPS. I plan on using a double-stack Rubbermaid Chamber to use as the clone/vegging box. At first I was planning on using 6 23 watt 6500K CFLs (bathroom vanity design) as my light source for the vegging/clone chamber, but I've been thinking lately of trying to make a 150-250 watt Metal Halide bulb work in the Rubbermaids. Here are my questions: #1: I've heard that flowering with CFLs produces less dense buds than flowering with a HPS. Does the same apply to vegging with CFLs as opposed to with a Metal Halide? #2: Are Metal Halide bulbs really better than CFLs of similar wattage for vegging, or does it not make that much of a difference in the end result? #3: Would heat be a problem in the Rubbermaid Chamber if I used a Metal Halide bulb without a cooltube and had fans inside the box pointed at the bulb along with my passive intakes (exhaust fan at top)? Remember, stealth is a concern. #4: How many watts of light would the veg chamber need for 3 plants? #5: Would the Rubbermaid veg/clone box require a carbon filter on the exhaust fan or does most MJ not have a strong smell during vegging? I know it's a lot of questions, but once I have answers to these I can start finalizing my plans, saving my dough, and eliminating some of my paranoia by having a well-planned grow space. Thanks in advance. Be well!
Veg CFL's would be fine. You will get some larger faster growth with more watts during veg. But i wouldn't worry about trying to HID veg with 150-250, you will have some heat issues in a such small area with out sufficient venting creating more noise ect. I ditched my 400 mh for 250 mh then to T5 floros now that keep my moms and veg going. I have used CFL's many times and unless you have some need to grow large and quick, HID would most likley be over kill for your situation. As far as buds density goes its going to depend on your wattage in flower after 12/12 flip. Your 400w hid would be great. #4 Depends on how big and how fast you want them ready for flower? #5 No need for a carbon scrubber in veg. It really isn't even needed in your tent until 3-4 weeks into 12/12 flip (of 2 weeks into flower) when the trich start to show up. Although id suggest just keeping it going in the flower area anyways.
FaderVader - Thanks for the helpful reply, +rep for you! I was thinking today of just using my grow tent for veg AND flower by purchasing the optional MH conversion kit for my 400w HID system (only an extra $45). I think that if I use HID lighting for both phases that my final yield from 3-4 plants will be enough to sustain my friends and I while a second complete grow takes place...I could be completely wrong, though. Advice on that? I still really like the idea of cloning and a perpetual grow, but this attempt will be my very first and I'd like to focus my efforts on making sure it goes according to plan and netting as large a yield as possible. Perhaps if this first grow goes well I'll look into building a cloning/veg box during my second grow. Then again, I might be so smitten with my first grow that I decide to clone before moving my first plants into flower. So many decisions and possibilities!
If your talking good yield and quality product i can tell you ive vegged under the same hps for veg and flower with excellent results. Although 45 bucks doesn't sound like a bad deal for some extra piece of mind that the experts recommend. As far as yield id say 3-4 plants under a 400w hps should get you 8 ounces as a safe bet.(of course with co2 and a good scrogg and the right strain (i want to stress genetics mean a lot when it comes to yield) you may squeeze 12 or so onces, although a bit ambitious for a first grow. How much sacred herb do you and your friends annihilate in a 2 month period? How you decide to set up your veg/mom situation is dependent on your resourse to seeds or clones. Sounds awesome, love to see it if you manage to slap some pix up on the dangernet!
Thanks again for the very helpful reply. More +rep will be coming your way as soon as I can give it. I woke up this morning and had a wonderful epiphany...I must've been visited by the Ganja Grow Muse in my sleep last night. Instead of building a Rubbermaid veg chamber I am going to use the hollowed-out center portion of my TV stand as a clone/veg box. The space itself is basically a cube that is 2 ft. on all sides that is has CD racks on either side of it and my TV on top of it. I'm going to fashion some doors for it, cover the walls with mylar, install around 150-200 watts of CFLs inside, and vent out the back wall. It will be totally inconspicuous and no one will be any the wiser...except me. The new plan is this: The Secret Jardin will have the 400 watt MH and HPS light assembly inside. I'm going to start my seeds in the tent under the MH and veg them until I can take a good clone of each plant, at which point I'll make my clone/preliminary veg box out of my TV stand. I'll then flower the moms in the tent while the clones are being kept alive and well in the TV stand. When the first grow is done drying and curing, I'll move the clones into the tent and begin vegging them under the MH and then simply repeat the process. This way I get the best of both worlds: I get to cut clones and save money and time by not working from seeds every grow, AND I'll get to veg under a 400 watt MH for a nice length of time to guarantee maximum yield. Does anyone have an experience growing in the Secret Jardin Dark Room? Has heat ever been an issue? Can I expect heat problems in that tent from a 400 watt MH/HPS setup? Thanks!
Wanted to give this a bump and see if anyone had experience using the Secret Jardin Dark Room or any other thoughts about my grow plans?