Hello all, im new to the grasscity forums and this is in fact my first post, but i will just like to say now this forum looks like it is full of useful information and very helpful people so i cant wait to start being a part of the community Right lets get down to business I have recently been given access to a small attic style room on the top floor of a garage conversion style house. The room is roughly a metre and a half high and approximately 3-4 metres long and roughly a metre and a half wide (rough estimates, proper measurements will be taken with in the next few days, sorry if this seems vague). The room is in the roof of the house and thus has a sloping ceiling and is quite chilly due to a lack of insulation in the roofing against the elements, so i am thinking it would be best to build a small room or even cupboard style box with in the space given to me to make things a bit warmer. If anyone has any tips on types of timber and insulation to use that would be amazing. i have read the guide located in this section of the forum in detail and taken a lot of notes from it (thankyou very much "jcj77d" ) so feel i have began to gain the knowledge needed to begin my grow, however as i am totally new i do still have quite a few questions i would like to ask (sorry if they do seem stupid) the first question is to do with ventilation. i am currently very low on money (recently finished college, yet to find a job or go to uni ) so i was wondering what the cheapest way to keep my grow room ventilated is without having to invest in installing a full extractor fan system etc. i was thinking maybe put a few vents in the door to the room etc but im not sure if that will suffice. any tips? also, with the fan being used to cool the plants/lights and strenghthen the stems, does it have to be on 24/7? or in a cycle like with the lights? i heard that cannabis plants grow best if you give them a cycle of 12 hours under the lights and 12 of darkness, is this correct? and is it the same for the use of the fan? the box i am going to construct is probably going to be bog standard timber cube, but i have seen some grow ops similar that line the walls with tin foil etc, which im assuming is to do with insulation and maybe even reflecting the lights back on to the plants? so is it a good idea to do this? and if any one has any tips on how to measure the ammount of "run off" water from a plant? i was thinking just place the pot in a big shallow tray with a set of measurements on the side maybe? the grow will only be big enough for 1-3 plants as this is my first time and is a sort of practice run, and i can also see it being a lot of fun watching my plants grow so. final question is to do with seeds/strains...the room is not very tall so i was wondering if there are any strains of weed that do not grow very tall? i have heard friends talk about "mini plants" which i think they describe as plants that do not grow very big at all but are quicker to harvest than normal plants. any recommended varieties for quite a small/short grow room? thanks for any replies and your time, sorry again if any of this seems noobie or i have missed any answers that are already on the forums. im off to read more threads ^^ thanks all
Ok Im going to do my best to answer your questions here. Never use tin foil you want to use mylar or paint the inside of the box white. You want to use a oscolating fan to move air inside the box this stays on 24/7. For ventaltion you will want to research this in depth. Basically you want the intake to be on the bottom and the out take to be near the top ( someone correct me if Im wrong on this). Ventaltion is used to keep the heat down and to keep fresh air coming into the box. for example a squaral cage fan. If your worried about smell then on the out take vent you need a carbon filter. It is best to vent outside or to another room, however you can vent in the same room. The light cycle is 24/0 or 18/6 for veg and 12/12 for flowering. Strains mango, low ryder are two that I can think of off the top of my head. Stay away from Sativa.
thank you very much for the answers mate very useful information, got it all jotted down ^^. sativa strains grow really tall dont they? tend to be thinner too i think? yeah will try get the strains you suggeste mate very helpful thanks. also, i had never heard of mylar tape but it looks like its definately worth an investment. this is only gonna cost me like 80-100 quid by the looks of it. is it possible to buy lights that already come wired up and connected to a socket/wire with a plug? im terrible at wiring things up myself so i was just wondering how easy it is to buy a light bulb thats already connected to a wire/plug.