Hey guys, I've been reading these forums for a long time, and planning a grow. I am just getting ready to start that. I've had trouble finding answers to some questions though. Even searching google and looking through. I am planning on buying a steal hydro box. Dual spectreme at least if not the ultimate light upgrade. Thats one question, is the light upgrade worth it? I like the stealth because its all set up and dummy proof, but also supposedly the lights are low heat and it would be nice not to have to cut a hole for ventilation. Or am I going to have to do that anyways. Also, theres a lot of optional upgrades, any of them worth getting? I figured the digital monitors would be usefull even if I did someday upgrade to something more sophisticated. The basics of my planned grow. I have a spare bedroom downstairs with your basic walk in 4'X4'X8?' although there are shelves about 6' high along 2 walls. I planned on doing a stealth hydro grow in there strictly for personal use. So I think I could probably fit 4 plants in the stealth box reasonably well, and that would yield enough for me. I purchased 2 36" rubbermaid containers that I planned on building into a clone chamber/veg box. (I still have to look up exact plans, I know I've seen many with basic plans with these parts) Is there any problem going from soil to hydro? I figured for the clones and veg it would be easiest to just put some CFL's up (I have 2, 4 light fixtures. And each bulb could give me 1750 lumines or what not). Would I be better of doing the veg in hydro too? I could get the second stealth hydro box and put one of my rubbermaid containers over it so it would get its own light cycle I guess. And how long can I force veg them before it affects my grow? My plan was to grow 4 from some feminized white widow seeds I have. Before flowering clone, veg, when those are done start flowering the ones from veg after taking a clone, etc... Is this feasable? I would like to have a nice rotation going, I know in the stealth hydro the roots can become tangled so I don't want them flowering at different times. Thanks everyone
It would be much cheaper to just make your own hydro system. You mentioned that you know how to make a rubbermaid cloner. So, just, make that with a bigger Rubbermaid, and less holes/net-pots. And, as for your question about going from soil to hydro, does that mean you are planning on transplanting the plants from soil into a hydroponic system? You could use CFLs throughout your whole grow. I've have a successful harvest with CFLs.(atleast 3x 24w=100w bulbs per plant). (daylight for vegetative, soft white for flowering.)
Wow 4x4x8 i would turn the whole space into a grow, cut it in half or make a growth box in there, flower in the rest of the space. Run 4 plants in each and every 1-2 months harvest. CFLs are great for growth and the best way when doing it in stealth or box due to less heat but if you can its always worth it to get the HPS for flowering and if you flower in the lager space heat wont be so hard to deal with. 4 Plants you would only need 400-600w 1000w would be overkill for just 4 and could be to hot for that small of space. Now from what I read your saying soil for growth then transplant into hydro for flower? I would have to read up on that but it doesnt sound like an easy thing and it may be too much of a shock for the plants making flowering even longer. I would make them both hydro, either both the same or a simple drip system for growth and a bubble/DWC or Ebb and Flow for flowering, keeping the ladies in rockwool for both making easy transplanting. But any of those can be built at home very cheaply, Bubble the cheapest. Just keep in mind if your going for small, two stealth chambers, you sprout and grow fairly quick or use LST and or top/firm them to keep them little then when you flower and they grow 2-3 times the size you wont run out of space. Twice I had to enlarge a stealth box during flowering and thats not fun, but thats why I said you may want to use the whole 4x4x8 space. I ended up using my full 3x4x8 in the end for space plus I wanted to use HPS. DOnt forget ventilation too you will need the normal cool air coming in and the hot air being taken out, this too can be an easy missed or forgotten step and again you dont want to be cutting holes in drywall and running ducts right in the middle of flowering, so always over-plan your airflow, you wont be sorry. I hope some of that helps, I ran into all these problems and had many rebuilds to fix them all. Planning ahead, research here at grasscity and always get bigger or more powerful than you need, it will save you time and money in the long run, if you can afford to do so. good luck and keep us posted, pics are always nice
Building my own system just seems like it'd be problamatic, and I'd make mistakes. I'm fairly handy, but mainly lack confidence in doing something on this scale. I have no problem paying a slight premium (From what I've seen the DIY dosn't seem all that much cheaper) but I will look into it. I'm researching it first, gonna build the veg boxes first, although I guess maybe at the same time. The reason I mentioned soil to hydro, was because I would have to do my own veg box probably to do hydro for that part, or buy another box from stealth. Which I may. It just seems like a big project to DIY with a lot that could go wrong. HomeGrown, thats kinda why I started this thread was for posts like those. What would you do with the space. So I am going to have to run ventalation no matter what? I had thought about setting up a fan and an Ionizer instead. Its my house, I could modify it, I just don't want to be tearing up the place for something like this. Then again, it will always be a spare bedroom, and I don't plan on stopping smoking any time soon. I'm saving money in the long run anyways. When you talk about splitting the room up, are you talking about a seperate like cabinent for the veg, or actually putting something up to isolate it? I'll take any and all plans that anybody would come up with for utilizing this space knowing I'm looking for personal use, so 1-1.5 oz a month yield would be tits. Anything more than that and I"m making hash and a lot of butter. I'vev never tried to grow before, and
Here ya go, bro. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-oYJs1FtQ4&feature=related"]YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.[/ame] <--This should cover the room separation. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uykl8jYjYSc"]YouTube- Build a Homemade Hydroponics System[/ame] <-- Here's how to make a good/cheap DeepWaterCulture(DWC) system. (6) 3" Net Pots Hydroton Rockwool HYDROPONICS GROW KIT - eBay (item 350331578850 end time May-21-10 03:57:14 PDT)<--This is all you need besides a big rubbermaid. (and maybe a drill and drill bit). Just watch that whole series of Mr. green. You'll be good. He shows you how to do the Ebb and Flow system. Which is, a cool method, but, DWC is easiest for beginners.
Thanks for the vids Bherbs, that gives me some ideas on seperating the closet. An Ionizer does replace the need for ventalation, along with a fan right? Its my house, but I'd rather not cut holes. I Keep hearing all these horror stories on all these forums of grows failing, are you sure stealth hydro isn't a bad idea as long as I'm not willing to spend a little money? I mean, I'm saving it in the long run.
No an Ionizer does not replace the need for ventilation. Ventilation is needed for more than smell. Its used to draw heat away from the grow area to keep temps below 80. Ventilation is also needed to bring in fresh air. Like humans, plants use what is in the air. Unlike humans it uses the exact opposite of what we want which is co2. No fresh air, no co2 = not so good for the plants. a 4 inch hole in some drywall to pipe an exhaust to your attic shouldn't be a horror story. A hole like that would take 20 mins to repair and about $20 in materials.
Well its a 1st story bedroom closet in a 2 story house, I'd have to go to the outside, or pick a different area I'll post a pic of the prospective room a little bit later.
Generally a 2 story home will have sub flooring. How old is the house and what is it constructed of? If there is sub flooring space, thats all you need. Lets see some pictures brotha
Ok heres some photos of the closet (Not fully cleaned out) and one to show the location in relation to the room. now I'd like to keep this as a usable spare bedroom, so I wouldn't want to run ducting from the door to the window heh. I'm in California, so no basements
No basements in California? That sucks. Atleast I have one upper hand. And, that closet looks perfect.
Its a nice room, and I got some fans to push around heat if that can circumvent circulation besides opening the door once in awhile during its lights on phase. Earthquakes, so no basements. And Like I've said before I don't mind spending money to make things easy. When I was going to buy at stealth I was going to get Dual Spectrum Bubbleponics™ Complete Kit maybe cheaper on the lights since I have fixtures, but the basic box. Seperate that part of the room for veging 4 at a time. And getting THeir 400W HPS kit for flowering. Doing 4 plants at a time, or maybe doing 6 but I guess 4 would be ideal with the small setup and suit my needs. While having a little clone chamber. Unless this sight is a complete rip off I'd really for more comfortable buying something from them and setting the closet up. The videos I've seen looked fairly simple to DIY, but theres such a large room for error it seems. The money I'm spending on setting this up I'll save in bud. Right now 1/2 oz seems to run 180 at the cheap for high end. And this would be white widow to start. *Edit Didn't mean to make a link, just copied and pasted to get it right. was doing the same with the 400whps one but the sizing got screwed up when i pasted
Well if you're not worried about money, and like things easy, I just highly suggest on buying some top-grade organic soil(Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil Grow Hydroponics FREE SHIP! - eBay (item 110529588696 end time May-16-10 20:50:59 PDT)), and some good nutes(EARTH JUICE Bloom Grow Catalyst Hydroponics FREE SHIP!! - eBay (item 110530978559 end time May-16-10 23:13:32 PDT)) orrrrrr (FOX FARM 3 qts BIG BLOOM GROW BIG TIGER SOIL FOXFARM - eBay (item 180501848414 end time May-31-10 13:29:16 PDT)). Soil grows can be just as good, if not better than Hydro(not to mention, way easier maintenance). I'm not sure if you have any experience with growing, but, hydroponics to me seems like to much work for not enough difference. If you got the money, go with the Fox farm.
Actually soil was my original idea, seemed simple enough. But after reading/researching it seems besides the initial build up hydro is simpler, less maintenence, and gives quicker/bigger yields. Truths or opinions? Is 400WHPS kinda overkill for this room and 4 flowering plants? Would I be better off with just a CFL grow to keep heat down so I can use a fan to keep circulation and open the door for vent?
Ok I went ahead and did it although many will say I'm stupid. I bought 2 boxes from stealth hydro, one with a veg config, and one for a flowering config. If I need to add lights I"m capable. I've seen the vids on how to seperate the room and feel comfortable with that. I just really for more comfortable buying something ready to go, even though I probably overpayed. I have 2 fans and an air purifier. The only problem I"m seeing is the fan for the veg part of the room, as I need to enclose it completly due to light.Oh, and I play on running the AC more
It's not dumb to buy those stealth hydros. Just a waste of money IMO. But, if you don't want to start doing construction on your closet, you should build(put together) a frame made of PVC pipe. Then, wrap it in black plastic. Then, cut a little door/flap that you can roll up. Make holes for fans.
400 watts wont be to much light, but probably to much heat. If you could get a little portable air conditioner(AC)(wal-mart, target), with a little oscillating fan next to it, you'll be perfect. They'll love that room. It'd be smart to put the ballast outside of the room too.(somewhere safe)
Thanks for all the help. I did get an air purifier, have two fans, and will monitor temps during veg to see how much I need to add. If I need any cooling, any recommended littlle room coolers you may have used or have known somebody has used? Never bought something like that. I'm guessing it would need a reseviour drained daily.
Actually both produce the same. Hydro is slightly faster although both produce the same. I am a hydro guy, obviously. But soil has its benefits as well. If youre not going to vent the room properly. cfl is the only way to go. running the a/c more is just asinine. why spend all that money trying to overcome the heat? all you have to do is move the heat from where you dont want it. Your house looks newer.. Do you have ANY construction experience? if you do I can guide you through building a cfl hood that you use and will cost less than 60 bucks to make and all the heat from is pumped elsewhere. The light is basically a 260watt fixture with 10 bulbs and is 17x14. Since youre splitting you closet, you could build 2 of them and have all you need for veg and flowering.
Well I ended up buying everything from stealth hydro, which I know is overpaying but what from what I can guess its your basic DWC hydri system, a hood, and CFL lights. I can always replaced/add lights. The one thing I do know in all this is electronics.