Hi. Starting a new grow, my third, but first in a few years. Anyway, got my GF to agree to let me put a four shelf sterilite cabinet in a closet to grow in. Don't want the cabinet out in the open and I use the left-over closet space for clothing (have to fabreeze all my clothes to get out he smell I am sure). The closet is more wide than deep with a sliding door (think normal closet turned sideways). The cabinet is made of sterilite and is 25-5/8"L x 18-7/8"w x 69-3/8". There is about 8" above the cabinet I will utilize for ventlation, but the closet door will remain closed most of the time and the cabinet doors will be adjar some of the time but close often. I plan to divide the cabinet in two: one for veg/propegation and one for flowering. Anyway, could I safely, (I mean with no more risk than fluoros) use an HPS grow light in that space? If so, what size? What sort of spike would I see in electricity? (For both fluoros and HPS) Finally, any suggestions on preventing light from leaking from the veg section to the flowering section? Oh, one other, Could I easily have eight veg plants and four bloomers in that space? Thanks!
simple question and heres a simple answer for a 400 watt usually 40 bux a month extra not really that much also I would just get a smaller cabinet for vegging/mother/cloning chamber
i would recommend u use envirolites m8 as it's a bedroom grow. They work great, cost fk all to run & won't give u the heat problems of hps. Hps is not a good plan if u intend storing incandescent material nearby (clothing) saw a great cost calculator somewhere - I'll post it up if I can find it http://www.ukpower.co.uk/running-costs-elec.asp - that's UK btw but I'm sure there's something similar wherever ur from btw u would stunt the growth of ur plants if u put more than 4 in that size space m8 - give them room to breathe! Even then, u would probably end up scrapping a few after sexing, but u will be surprised how much room just 1 plant can demand.
Thanks for the advice, conflicting as it may be. My main concern is fire. If I were to put a 250 HPS in there, on a scale of 1-10, how dangerous would it be? Think of 10 as oily rags sitting next to the water heater and 1 being regular light fixture.
If you plan on leaving your clothes in there, you do run a higher risk of fire. And depending on the strain, your clothes will stink to high heaven. Now that said, It will depend on a couple of factors weather you can run HPS. 1st where are you getting your intake from, it needs to be external to your exhaust, and your intake air will need to be around 68-72. 2nd you going to need a good exhaust fan and it has to exit the closet not just your box. If you do that you should have no prob with your temp. also, your ballast has to be in a seperate room(it generates a lot of heat as well)last do not store any cleaning rags or ferts in the room. Do all those things and you just might get away without burning down the house. I would just go with fluro. T5 or T8s for the side and if you don't mind spending some money then get 200 watt cfl grow light(probably run 150$ or so). either way you still need to move stale air out of the closet and bring in fresh.
All right, there is no way I can get enough vents to run an HPS. Right now, I have the cab door adjar and the closet doors slight open on both ends (sliding doors) and a fan blowing towards the closet. I will be buying some little fans to put in the cab and cut some vent holes. I just read up on soda bottle CO2 and will be adding a couple of those as well. Throw some active carbon in there. Already moved the bulk of my clothes to a different closet. I'll just have to Fabreeze my clothes if it is too bad. I will buy some more fluoros. Warm for flowering (below 3,000) and above 5k for veg/clone, correct? 1000Bulbs.com have mogul based 200 watt in both warm and daylight for $59 each. Buyer beware? Or has anyone used 1000bulbs and can confirm they are decent?
hmm...I used that on a grow and to tell you the truth, I wsn't impressed. If you are bring in fresh air from outside the closet you are getting plenty of CO2. The light is OK, but I think you will get better pricing on ebay, and does that have a reflector? Your going to need a reflector and a mogul base.
I leave the doors (closet and cab) open all day right now, so there is plenty of fresh air, but I am home all day right now and when I go back to work in mid september, the doors will be shut (a curious cat prowls my house in search of interesting things). I will still be leaving the cab doors adjar, but the closet doors will be closed. If I open the doors, say, twice a day would that be enough of an air exchange?