Hi All, New to grass city here and am about to start my first grow. I purchased the 4x4 grow tent package gold edition from perfectgardens to get myself started...link here contains all the equipment. I've been doing a lot of research the past 3 weeks (I say that so you know I've done a good amount of legwork before reaching out to all of you w/ a noob question ) and feel like I'm ready to start my first grow, but still waiting on my nirvana seeds which should arrive any day now...super pumped! So the last couple concepts I'm struggling with so far, that I come to you for help on is as follows: 1) Is my Can-Fan 4" HO Inline Fan 155 CFM strong enough for my setup (4'x4'x6.5')? A lot of the research I've done various on opinion depending on setup/temps etc. so it's hard for me to decide. My current setup is carbon filter ---> fan ---> ducting ---> reflector ---> ducting exiting tent. I'd rather be safe then sorry so if you think it's worth getting a stronger fan than that's what I'll do. 2) If I plan on growing 7-9 plants in this setup, should I be scrogging? It sounds like it's a good idea to do so with any setup from the reserach I've done...I saw a video where a grower recommends these for scrog. So that's it, so far. Thank you in advance for your help and I look forward to contributing more to this forum, which has been INCREDIBLY informative as I start my first grow! Thanks!
Welcome to the city! Your going to need another fan to pull fresh air into your tent and exhaust the old air. Other than that at least one fan to circulate the air around the plants. As far as scrogging goes it's all up to the grower. It takes some practice but it's a great practice. Just read as much as you possibly can. Don't get discouraged when things don't go right and if you're absolutely new to this stuff it probably won't be the best the first time. Just keep at it and ask questions whenever a problem arises, that's what were here for. What kind of light/s are you using?
wow, thank you for the quick reply! I have a couple other fans for circulation, so I think I'm covered in that regard. I am using the Can-Fan 4" HO Inline Fan 155 CFM rexhaust the old air. I'm just not sure if the fan is strong enough given my setup? The standard calc (LxWxH) / 3 tells me it is, but from the research I've done it sounds like that can vary based on exhaust setup...e.g, if you have your exhaust running through a filter then through your reflector, some say you need a stronger can fan... Thanks for the advice on scrogging, I'll continue to read up on it. Regarding my lights...I'm using a 6" Blockbuster Air-Cooled Reflector w/ a 600w Hortilux Super High Pressure Sodium Bulb...however, I was also thinking about upgrading to a 1000w bulb, however I'd have to buy a strong ballast... lThoughts on can fan strength appreciated! Thank you!!
You know what I made a mistake you're not going to need an extra fan to exhaust your room air. I had a brain fart when you mentioned your filter. Because your filter is in the room and your are pulling air through it and out of the room you should be good. The filter will lower your CFM a little bit but because your room is just over 100CF you should be good. What is really going to help your exhaust is limiting the amount of ducting and turns in the ducting. Try and avoid 90* turns as much as possible. One other tip that I have is don't be stingy with all that aluminum tape. Tape your filter to the fan, fan to the ducting, ducting to the hood and hood to the exhaust ducting. Also to make sure your hood doesn't leak air get some weather stripping from a hardware store and put it between the glass and weather stripping that's already there.
Hi Weedhedge, It sounds like you've done some homework, great job! And congrats on starting your grow soon, it's a fun and rewarding experience. Please keep in mind that you will learn most by doing and observing and making small adjustments on your own, so don't forget to experiment and keep asking questions. 1) I think you will want a slightly larger fan to exhaust a 4x4 tent. a 4" fan will work adequately, but if you get excessive heat build up, or a warm day, you will prpbably want a single 6" fan. That should do the trick. You definitely do NOT want two fans, which would work against eachother. The order should be .... inside tent -> filter -> light hood -> fan -> out the tent. An inline fan is far more efficient at PULLING air through the line than it is pushing it... keep that in mind. Depends on where your tent is located, this could cause a bit of noise. You might want to consider a duct muffler to deaden the sound. I've built my own, which work okay, but the commercial solutions work really well, and are reasonably priced. 2) as far as to SCROG or not to SCROG, that's personal preference. For a SCROG to give you the performance you want, you need oto give it the veg time it deserves. I would suggest NOT SCROGging your first time, but try it after 1-2 rounds... then you'll know the which method you prefer better. Cheers, Past
Thank you for the reply, Past! Yes, I've done a good amount of research but it's been overwhelming, to say the least. I totally agree that the best way to learn is to just try new things and keep asking questions, so that's what I'll do! Regarding the order of the exhaust setup. I had researched this pretty thoroughly, or so I thought, and it seemed the consensus was to push the air through the reflector...but what your saying makes sense as well. Do you think I'm better off positioning my fan (currently attached to carbon filter) after the air cooled reflector? Please see pic of my setup below. I'm thinking there is too many turns in the ducting right now, but I plan on moving the air cooled reflector up, so that should help. Any additional thoughts on the setup would be very much appreciated! Back to your idea of getting a 6" fan....are you thinking something like this? I guess I'm just not sure how much cfm I will need? Thanks again!