As the title states, first time grower, looking at doing a closet grow well I guess technically it is a grow box, which will be in closet. I am a college age student and have lived in this complex for eight months now, never had any check ups from management or anything like that so am pretty comfortable with my surroundings. I know one set of neighbors blazes as well so that is good, but not so sure about the others near by. There is a police officer who lives in the complex, about hundred yards from my building, so definitely want to keep odor management a top priority. The closet itself goes wider than the opening out of the wall and has metal sliding doors so the cabinet will fit nicely with space behind and to the left and right. The box I plan to use is shop stor it all 70X48X24. I already think I will need to reinforce the box a little to suit my needs but that is fine. I plan on purchasing 400 watt hps lighting system/ballast. I think I am going to be doing mylar on the inside. Is it worth it, over flat white paint? I'm going to get a 6 in inline duct fan for the exhaust equipped with one of the diy carbon filters from this site. Also, a simple fan for the intake even though know it is debatable on whether you need it or not I planned on putting the exhaust fan at the top of one side and the intake on the bottom of the other so as to be hidden inside the closet. I also was thinking about an oscillating fan on the inside to keep the air circulating. Read some where on here as long as you aren't blowing the plants over or damaging them that circulation and heat management are a good thing. I also planned on investing in a ph checker and of course the appropriate soil and nutrients. Am I missing any obvious essentials? I know I will need to do some work on lightproofing it. Does weather stripping work well? Any tips on security for the grow would be much appreciated. There is constantly a tv or radio on in the apartment or laptop playing music so am not toooo terribly worried about the sound, mainly the smell. Also, about how many plants do you think could grow in that area given the sq footage, height, lighting, etc.
I'd be interested to hear what others think about weather stripping. Here are some great security tips I found online: ▪ Keep your garden a secret. This is the hardest rule for any grower to follow. You might think it's no big deal to show your best friend your three 6 foot marijuana trees. But your friend might tell his friend who might tell his friend... The majority of police "busts" are made because someone tipped off the cops. Make sure anybody that knows about the grow operation has just as much to lose as you do. ▪ Keep a low profile. It looks a little suspicious if your neighbors see you hauling ten 50 pound bags of potting soil into your home in January. Unload anything that might seem suspicious from your car under the cover of darkness. Remember to turn off the light in your car that comes on after you open the door. ▪ If the cops do get called don't let them in. Ask to see a search warrant. If they can't show you one then there is nothing that says you have to open that door. No matter what they say don't open the door. If you do all one of them has to say is "I smell marijuana" and they will search your entire house. ▪ If you go on vacation don't turn on the burglar alarm. If someone breaks into your home to steal the plants and the alarm goes off the cops will come and your going to jail. If they really need the plants that bad then let them take them. It's better than going to jail. ▪ Check for light leaks around all windows. It looks a little odd when 1000 watts of orange light is shining through the window of your grow room at 3 AM. A heavy curtain can be hung and duct taped to the wall around the edges. Check for light leaks periodically. ▪ Always pay in cash whenever buying anything for your garden. Credit card purchases are logged at the store. These logs tell what you purchased and when it was purchased. Companies sell these logs to anybody that can afford it. The police buy these logs and look for any suspicious purchases like 1000W HPS ballasts and other uncommon items. ▪ Do not have hot, smelly exhaust air from your grow room pouring outside directly. Police IR helicopters can see the heat pouring out like a fountain. The helicopters CAN NOT see through your walls and detect your grow lights. They can only see heat on the outside of a building. So if your growroom is insulated and the lights are not touching the walls you are fine. ▪ Keep the door of the grow room locked. This will prevent anybody from accidentally discovering your garden. Hope that helps!