Last year I started a grow in an old cabinet I had in my room. Unfortunately, my lights were too close, my fans were too inefficient, and I lost my 8 babies after a few weeks. Now Im wanting to start a new grow, but I dont feel like building a new box or anything. I feel like with a little better planning I can make my current space work. It measures about 2' d X 4' w X 2' tall. I want to try to setup a shallow ebb and flow system that will veg and flower 6 plants. I also plan to scrog. I just wanted to collaborate with members here to get a few ideas. I have done ALOT of research and have several ideas, but I thought I would see what those of you who grow in low height areas would reccommend. Some questions I had: 1.) right now I have verything i need for a grow (cfls, timers, fans, tools, nutes, power strips, etc), but my lights. I was using a combination of 2 75 hps lights and 4 45w cfls for my last grow (i was on a tight budget) but I was wondering what kind of light you reccommend for low growing plants. (IE; short ballast, integrated cooling, specific wattage) 2.) Any particular strains reccommended for a low growing plant, that will naturally be more bushy? (I realize this means heavier indicas, which makes me sad) 3.)LST or scrog? does it matter? basically I'm looking for the highest yield. 4.) any other suggestions for keeping it short all help is appreciated. I will be leaving for FLA soon for a couple weeks, but want to get started as soon as I get back. I may end up just building a whole new cabinet for a perpetual setup (which I plan to do eventually) but I thought this could be a nice expirament/learning process, that will prepare me for my first perpetual grow, that will be done right. What are peoples opinions on autoflowers for an application like this? I like the idea of more light during flowering and the basically foolproof nature of it all, but low yields and questionable genetics are a big turnoff...
With only 2ft of height to deal with, and going with an ebb and flow, once you add a light above, and your ebb and flow containers below, aren't you completely out of space between the light and the container? I would think having only 2 ft of height total would be a really hard grow, but I have never done a micro stealth grow before, so I am sure those that have can come in and help you out. I am dealing with 5'3" in total grow height in my tent, but after the light, and my rubbermaid res, I am down to 2 ft 10" of total grow height room available between the top of the res and the bottom of the light, so I am going to scrog it.
yes, the height gets taken up VERY quick. If my planned E&F works, it will only be 4" high, the light is about 4" down, which leaves me 16" thats only 2" between the light and the plant if they reach 14" (which is probably what they will hit) My large cabinet will be in a different house that I am going to mve into in a couple months. It will have 9' of height and be about 3'x6' slpit horizontally for separate veg and flower rooms. but i see the pc case grows and i think "thats even shorter than my space, and i have lots of room to expand outwards, so its gotta be possible" I kind think i'm gonna have to treat this like a multiple pc grow setup... I am also considering LEDs so I can let my plants get closer to the lights. this could also be homemade to be as shallow as possible (say 1") that leaves me 19" of vertical space (provided my planned E&F works, and doesnt just flood)
Scrog is simply for creating an even canopy. LST is for taking complete control of the shape of your plants. So in your situation you want LST. Tie a string to the end of each branch, then use a paperclip tied to the other end of the string and anchor it down into the soil making the branch go the direction you want. Another method is to tie the string to holes in the rim of the pot.
ah, well i guess i'll do a combination of the two. now ive been stoned for a while, so no making fun of my doodle. but i just made this paint masterpiece to kinda show my setup. this is just to start with, i will use 4 cfls suspended by U nails from the top so i can move them up after a while. i will have the lights and fans on 24 hrs with the water coming in 4 times a day for 1 hr. this is where im a big noob, but ill get into that later. for my ebb and flow sysstem, i have 2 identical 5v water pumps that will flow 5 liter per minute, and wont allow any water to pass when they are off. so i will have a separate reservoir off to the side with a 18"x24"x4" as my planter. slightly angled to flow toward the inlet/drain side. filled with leca. i will set the pumps using some mosfet timers so the inlet pump will run for 4 min before the drain pump begins running. this will let the container fill with 3" of water, then have the inlet pump turn off 4 min before the drain pumps stop to allow it to empty. im no electrical engineer, but i have some knowledge of computer components and soldering, and i am A+ certified for computer hardware repair. so once i get it working properly, i'll post up a diy thread on here for you guys. its all stuff you can do with stuff from radioshack.
You don't need to do both, just choose 1 method or the other... like I said LST will give you more control. I can't tell if you know this by your pic, but cfls need to be within a few inches of the plant.
With 16" to deal with, I agree that LST is probably better for your situation. With a Scrog, the screen is usually 8 to 10" above the pots or trays, which then only leaves you with 6 to 8" of canopy room. With LST, you are tying all that down at the 4" level (Your tray level), which leaves you with 12" to let the branches grow upwards and flower. 12" of room is much better than 6 to 8". But hey, don't let any of us tell you one way or the other can not be done, because then we are just begging to be proven wrong. Again, good luck to you.
yea, i know about spacing the lights. but yea, i guess i want to tie them down as low as possible. i just hope i dont burn them when they get bigger and i have to give them a bigger light. leds seem like the way to go, but thats just based on the height requirement. I havent done much research as to grow times and yield with leds as compared to conventional lights. but i know that basically putting a 400w mh ballast is out of the question. ill end up with nice healthy plants until 3 weeks before harvest when theyll catch on fire and burn the house down. i just cant wait till i have my tall aero cabinet that i can use a 400w mh. but i also want to try to make this shorty work...
well my friend who is going to be helping me out with my nute schedule has finished one of his grows. I helped out alot with tending to these babies. its kryptonic strain that was grown in soil under a 1000w hps. its pretty powerful as well. I told him I thought it was stronger than one of my friends hydro grown strawberry cough plants and he said "its all about taking care of em" The rest of the bud is curing right now, but i pinched a little after drying just have a taste test. has a real pungent smell with a nice smooth taste. i was so pleased with the outcome because it was a pretty ghetto shed we were growing it in...