Need some expert advice on new micro grow setup.

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by Trenphantasma, Aug 14, 2012.

  1. Hi there, as the title says, I'd like to have some expert advice on a new micro grow setup.

    I've been an outside grower for years and I really love growing my plants under the sun, however, I can only have one grow a year and I'd like to have several a year. I only grow for self consumption, so it's not about growing as much as I can, rather to grow and experiment with some of the best strains available.

    I've done quite a lot of reading about settin' up a micro grow, but there are some things I'd like to have some feedback on.
    Let me give you some information about the setup. Feel free to comment.

    Space

    I have this small backyard shed with approx. 2.635 m2. The height is 2m15.
    The shed is only accessible through my backyard, so hardly any way to intrude without me knowing..
    Also, I'm not too worried by detection, I live in The Netherlands, which you all know, is pretty liberal about home-growing, but still I'd like to keep it as stealth as possible.

    Now I cannot use all the space because the micro box which I'm planning to use (I've also been orientating on grow tents, as an alternative to home build and I'm not sure which to choose; I don't want to spend too much on either prefabricated or home build) must be easy to handle in that particular small space.
    Also I need room for all the other stuff like ventilation, Co2 etc. so I'll be using approx. 1.50 m2 total. The height is still uncertain, somewhere between 1.50m- 2m.

    Lights

    Now here I've been reading my ass off lately. I've read a lot of grow reports with different kind of lighting, I've searched info wherever I could find it and I came to the conclusion that my micro grow will be most suited by a Duo Fluor 2x 80 Watt (measurements 20x60x5 cm, produces >11.800 Lumen, available in both 2700K and 4000-6500K).
    If necessary I can support this with CFL's as side-lighting or additional Fluor, however I really want to keep it simple and affordable therefore I choose the Duo Fluor. I can get this for $90, new and it comes with reflector and 4 bulbs (2 6500K and 2 2700K) which is a good price compared to T5, Tneon, HDI etc.

    I want to grow about 3-5 plants, no more than that, in my micro cabinet, depending on the strain and I'll be growing regular seeds also (so not only lowrider and/or autoflowering an/or SCROG strains). This will fit in a 1m2 surface I think.
    Can someone tell me if the Duo Fluor is enough light to keep plants under these conditions veggin' and flowering? Is it enough to properly light about 1m2?
    I know this kind of lighting has less depth/reach compared to regular lights as HPI etc. so meaby additional (side) lighting is needed.
    What's your opinion on this?
    If I'll be needing that, would CFL's be helpful?

    Ventilation and Co2

    I'll be using several fans, depending on the actual size of the box. As stated above, I'm considering sizes and prefabric vs home build (box/tent).
    I have 12" fans and bigger ones capable of moving > 250m3.
    For Co2 filtration I'll use a Can 2600 filter.

    Digital time relay on both ventilation and lights. Also ventilation will be adjustable.

    Misc

    Planning this micro grow setup made me realize how many factors there are to consider. Outside grow is quite something different.
    Inside you have to be able to control pretty much everything so I'll be needing a lot more stuff than I'm used to when growing outside.

    Things I need to take care of:
    -EC/PH control; now again, I don't want to spend hundreds of $$$ on equipment, however recent grow have taught me that both EC and PH control are important factors in the plant's life, so any suggestions for affordable equipment are more than welcome.
    At least I need to be able to measure the PH of the water I'm feeding them because where I live the PH of the water comes in at around 7-7.3 so it's a bit on the alkalic side. I use mostly lemon/lime to get this between 6-7 PH and also have PH- in case all else fails :)
    Cheap PH testers would be great I think, but where to find these?

    - Watering: always done this by hand, no experience when it comes to other systems.
    I'll be using soil by the way, probably Plagrit growmix with wormcast and perlite. For germination and veg. I'll be using rockwool I think. Then transplant into soil.
    I could also walk the organic road, that's tempting too, but I need to look into that also.

    Okay, I think this is it for now.
    Decided to post here because I've been learning quite a lot thanks to this forum and hoping to learn some more..
    Any suggestions/feedback are more than welcome, especially coming from experienced (home)growers.

    Peace,
    Trenphantasma
     

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