Ok, so I got one outdoor grow under my belt. Now that winter time is here I want to start growing indoors. I have been reading for the last few hours and my head hurts. I want to grow 6 plants. I have a spare bedroom available thats about 10x10. Cost is an issue. 1)Since the room is flat white, should I still drape the walls in mylar? 2) Is 10x10 too big? Will I loose precious light? Should I get a tent? 3) How many watts would I need to grow some big plants? I got the room, I wanna grow as big as I can. 4) Can I get away with using cfls? I read about T5's but I dont want airy soft buds. 5) If I do use MH or HID, whats the minimum I should expect to pay? Including ballasts ducts, ect? This is what Im leaning towards doing. Maybe 2 400watts? Thanks everyone. I have read a lot but cant find specific answers. Any comments is appreciated since this is my first time growing indoors.
In answer to your post 1) No flat white is good 2) 10x10 will do a lot more than 6 plants 3) 10x10 will do 2. 600w HPS 4) cfl's in 10x10 total waste of space 5) depends on your area, consider Ebay..?? See if you can divide the room in two, 10x10 to 2..5x5, 1 room for veg under cfl's the other under 1..600w hps budding 6 plants in 3-4 gal tubs Consider ventilation and security good luck "V"
Thanks so much. I did think about splitting the room. I got ideas for ventilation, as far as security, im all good. Tomorrow I go shopping for the basics. I figured I could use CFL's to veg while I save some money for a 600w HPS. Thanks again!!!
my recommendation is to take that area, and split it into 2 seperate spaces, one for vegging/cloning and the other for flowering. you will need to make sure that there are no light leaks between the 2 spaces, because on the veg side, you'll have 24 hours of light (or 18 hours at a minimum). I would germinate/veg under t5 lights if you're trying to save money, or under a HPS or MH if you're not worried so much about $$. but definitely you should have a HPS for flowering. if you keep these rooms seperate, you can always have a rotation of plants going so you're constantly harvesting. I wouldnt bother with CFLs if you're going big. you can pick up a couple of 400w HPS complete systems online for 3-350 for both. personally, I am putting a 2nd 400w in my room which is 5x5x9 and I'll keep the temps down by air cooling them.
Thank you. I was going to start vegging some girls with cfl's while I save some more money to get the lights. I got $500 right now. I am going to split the room and make it "light" tight. I do want a nice rotation going. Im not worried about the monthly costs, its the initial start up costs that are expensive. On my outdoor grow I spent $300 total and got 2 pounds. Most the items I can use again next outdoor season. Indoor is off the hook expensive, but once you got the gear its all about harvesting every couple of months. I love the idea of not having to buy my meds anymore. Im still researching all this, the last thing I want to do is "rush and buy" only to find out that I bought junk or that I could have got it all cheaper. Thanks again for your guys input. I need all the help and advise I can get on my first indoor grow.
Throw a couple of cheap tents in there. light proof them. 2 600w Hps. With the extra space setup a T5 veg area and veg plants while the tents are flowering them. You will always have plants in flower and vegging. You could grow 8-10 larger plants this way. Yeild 1.5 lbs every 2 months. Remember... You only need to veg plants to about a foot in hieght before flowering them. ODP
Im researching T5's for vegging and where I can get them locally. I checked HomeDepot and found this fixture. I know its not HO but I like the daisy chain feature. Is this better than getting a foil turkey pan and a bunch of cfl's, LOL? It says its 28watts and the bulbs are 14w each, so I assume the 28watts is total and not each slot. I cant get 2 28watt bulbs right? Im trying to stay away from buying online. I also saw t8's and bulbs. I cant find ANY HO's locally. Im afraid to check at the local Hydro store, im sure they will want 3x the $$ Any comments?
I'm using a 4 tube light fixture and put the bulbs in myself. It was cheap and worked great. Remember you have lots of time to veg plants while your plants are in flower. I start germinating plants about 4 weeks before they go into the tent. This lets me top/fim them and get them the way I want before putting them in the tent. Don't put large plants into the tent and flower them. a 2' tall plant may jump to 8' in flower. Too big for the tent. The plants in my current grow were put in at 8-12" in hieght and are now 5' monsters. Good Luck Man ODP
I found this T5HO fixture for $89. I brought it home but realized there was no plugs or on/off switch. I guess I gotta wire it up my self. I got some computer power cables. No biggie. Whats weird is that you cannot find these if you search the HD site for T5 HO. I only found it by typing in the sku on the receipt into the HD search box. They sell them but dont advertise it online. HomeDepot T5HO Fixture
You cant tell by the picture, but each tube has its own polished reflector. The T8 display version is super bright, so I can only imagine how bright this baby will be. Too bad they dont sell ANY T5 HO bulbs. Cant win them all.
If you plan it right you will have 2 months to veg them before sticking them in the tent. Thats a ton of time to get some nice looking plants. You could also use some CFL bulbs and shop clip on reflectors for added light. Do lots of reading and you will soon find growing is just as much fun as smoking. ODP