This is my first post, I am very excited about getting started! Supplies should be here early next week.. First few plants have already germinated, got some starter seeds from a friend. Designing a closet grow, Size(LWH): 5'4"x2'x7'6", ~68 cubic feet Four 65w CFLs for Vegging One 400w HPS for Flowering Mylar covered walls Going for a sea of green sort of approach with monthly harvests. 6” square pots for vegging, 10” square pots for flowering. 6 plants vegging and 12 flowering at peak capacity. Vegging to a height of ~1’4” so ending ~2’8” hopefully, depending on how close I can get to the HPS without burn. Here is my basic design layout thus far... Now I have a few questions for fine tuning this setup, for those of you who have done this before, or if you have any other comments please add them. There are two nearly identical closets next to each other; the ballast will be in, and fan will vent into the one to the left of the grow closet. 1. First of all, how close can I grow my plants up to a 400w HPS light? (trying to determine approximate vegging and flowering heights) 2. Is a 10” square pot large enough to grow a ~2’6” plant? 3. What sort of LST would you recommend to maximize my vertical space? Possibly like the tutorial in the noob area? Or Topping? Or something else? 4. Can I keep mothers around my regular vegging area, possibly to the side in less intense light, or should I have a separate area for them? Thank you for your help in advance.
No need for a seperate veg area for mom. With the babies will be fine. So you really only need 2 chambers to grow. If you air cool your light right, you can almost touch the glass of the light hood with the plants. Personally, I'd put the moms and clones under the ballast and fan section after moving the ballast's shelf up a little, and use the whole space on the right for flowering. I am going to flower clones in 1/2 gallon growbags (about the same size as a 1/2 gallon milk jug) just to give you some ideas. You can really cram the clones in a SOG environment. You could be flowering 40-50 clones in there. No training/topping will be needed for SOG. Just Mom, to clones, to rooted clones, to flowering clones. Sorry if I am not explaining things well. I am on pain killers for my back.
Thanks for the feedback. A SOG will definitely be used, since vertical space is limited. How tall will the plants end up being if they go strait into flower from clone? 1/2 gallon bags seem somewhat small to me, but you know more than i, its just that i had read about a gallon per foot of height for a rule of thumb. thanks.
When it comes to height it is really strain dependent. You have to test them out by planting different size clones in your sog area. Plant 10 2inch clones, 10 3inch clones, 10 4inch clones, etc until you find the right size clone that flowers within that space. Once you find the right height for your clones it's makes your grow much easier to maintain.