Hey everyone, I have started my first grow already (some seedlings just germinated in little peat moss pots under a few CFL lights for now) and I will be purchasing a grow tent as it will be perfect for the space I'm trying to get it in (buddy's hidden attic, would be really hard to build our own grow box up there). The reason for the tent as the temperature is a bit low up there and the air quality isn't the greatest (really dusty) but there is plenty space. We will have to give the area a nice clean but it can be done and noone would ever go up there. I'm either going to go with the XL which is: 120cm x 120cm x 200cm 4' x 4' x 6.5' Or the XXL which has the following dimensions: 240cm x 120cm x 200cm 8' x 4' x 6.5' Now we will be looking to plant about 10-15 plants, which size tent would you guys recomend? For lighting I'm not sure yet but if we get the XL would a 400w HPS be enough light, maybe with a few CFL's also? Would the 400w HPS be enough for the XXL as well or would we be better of going with the 600w? Also I was wondering the amount of power used by both of these lights, and which one would be the most cost-efficient? Could someone give me a rough estimate of how much money the 400w and 600w will cost to run for say a month? I know these are a lot of questions but this is my first grow and me and my buddy want everything to be right. I was also gonna ask if anyone here has any experience with automatic watering pots? If so please do tell as that would be a good tool for us. [FONT="][/FONT]
Well personally if you have the space for the larger box I would get that one, extra space is always nice. Another thing I just recently purchased a new tent and I went with the secret jardin dark room, you should check them out I feel they are much more nice in quality then the other brand tents I've seen. Next for your targeted number of plants you will need more then a 600w so you may want to look into a 1000 Watt light. As far as cost goes a 1000 watt will cost you more then the others obviously the higher power the more it cost to run. Check out your electric bill it will tell you what you are being charged per killowatt or how ever they measure it in your area. After you do that convert your lights power into there measurements and multiply by what they charge and you will know the cost to run your light. Becarefull with the attic get proper filters for all that dust and what else may lurk up there. Good luck
Okay, If I'm looking to grow around 10 plants would the 600w be enough? I'm thinking of going with the larger tent and the 600w light. We will have proper filters and intake and exhaust fans connected to fresh air and such. Would the 600w light put a noticeable difference on the electric bill? As my buddy's parent's obviously will not know about this so we need to keep it stealthy. Also, for ventelation, what kind of fans will I have to use with these tents? They say there is: Connection Size Intake/Exhaust 160mm. Also where would I be able to pick up these fans for a decent price?
Well dude I am gonna do what everyone else would do right now and say that you shouldn't do it with out your parents knowing but that makes me a hypocrite so I am gonna help you anyway(I now have my own place though). I think a 600 should be good for 10 maybe a little less. For fans I cant honestly recommend a size but Id probably say a 6" Inline around 452 CFM should work for the light and the tent. A good place to buy fans is www.plantlighting.com Check out there vortex fans they have a 10 year warranty. O and the electricity bill will go up roughly 30 bucks just a month just for the light. Here is a formula to figure out what it would actually cost. Formula = A * B/1000 * C = Total Energy Cost per month So for the above: A = Cost Per Killawatt, B = light wattage, C = 360 hours (12 hours per day * 30 days) Personally I think it will be hard to hide this from his parents going in and out of the attic and stuff. Good luck I hope this was of help to you
Okay I appreciate your help but this is quite doable as the only way to get up there is this hole that is located in his closet on the top. We will be covering the hole and we've been thinking of starting a bit lower maybe 6-8 plants so now for lighting we will either get a 400w hps or a CFL setup, as we don't want to have a huge jump on the electricity bill. His parents are also pretty good about herb, not really worried about that.