So I've been trying to get an idea for an indoor setup of mine Here is my supply list thus far: 1. Seeds 2. Soil 3. Pots 4. Light/s 5. Small fan (Need to get a good idea for this based on my box) 6. Cabinet or Box to grow in Basically heres my idea. I'll get a small Cabinet maybe 48" x 24" x 24" (Guestimate) I'll order some seeds when my cabinet is ready. As for soil I hear tomato soil works really well for marijuana. Pots I'll buy at walmart or whatever. Lighting I'm thinking I'll probably go with simple CFLs for my first time. The fan I'll probably get from walmart or out of an old computer. My rough total for all of these goods: $250 (Is this reasonable?) My questions are; 1. With a small box like this how many plants could I fit in there? 2. With CFLs the plants can get close because of little heat? Or I've got it backwards? 3. How big can the plants be with a 48" or close to that box 4. Can anybody give me a very rough idea of how much bud I could get out of a box of this size? Thanks for reading Any suggestions or criticism is appreciated.
If you're going to use potting soil, go to a nursery and look for a good high quality one. Ask for a good soil for fast growing veggies and see what they suggest. I made the mistake of using cheap soil once, and I'll never repeat it. Pinching a few pennies now ain't worth it in the end. As for your fan, you can just get one of those small fans with a clamp to it and mount it in your box. I would suggest a taller box, however. You have to take into consideration that they have to be planted in containers. Even a 3 gallon bucket is going to take up half the height. The lights are gonna take up another 6 inches. Give them at least 2 feet from the top of the containers to the bottom of the light. You're going to need ventilation. If not to control the heat, which shouldn't be an issue with CFL's, to control the odor. Look into installing a carbon filter and an intake and exhaust system rather than just a fan. Use a less powerful fan for the intake at the bottom, and a more powerful one for the exhaust and hook up a carbon filter to it. As for your pots, why not just plant directly into the bags of soil? 10-quart bags are perfect IMO. Stand 'em up tall, and plant. They're reuseable and save you money on buckets that you can invest elsewhere. As for the box, I'd say with a 2'x2' floor layout, you can fit 4 plants in there. Give each one a square foot. You'll need about 250 watts of CFL's to power that, that's actual wattage, not replacement. I'd suggest two 42 or 46 watt CFL's hanging over each plant. They don't get too hot so you can put the plants, once they get beyond seedling stage, about an inch away from the bulbs without getting burnt. As for yield, that's really hard to say. If you can pack a bunch more CFL's in it for flowering I'd say you could get a quarter pound. Grow from clones and you can do it every 10 weeks. I might be wrong but I'm going to say you need a taller box. 12"-15" for your containers. 48" to grow and another few inches to hold your lights. You want about a 4' tall box. There ARE some short grow boxes, but I've never really read them so you might wanna look into it. LST maybe?
First off thank you for all of that. Second - I did say 48" or so... which is 4' or so haha but yeah I know the plants will be smaller than possible but that's ok.
if you are using cfl's, 250 is a very good budget and you should be able to get quality equipment. if you are handy at all, then you can make a box for next to no money. i built mine for free out of supplies i had around the house. be glad to help any way i can. ive got a small box and am growing two plants there with cfls. lights and soil is where you should definently not skimp on quality as thats what effects the plant the most. for a small box, you should use small buckets. a 1 or 2 gallon container should see your plants thru their life cycle. keeping the conditions and lighting right you can grow short compact plants and still get lots of buds if you use LST, which will give you many more colas than just growing a plant straight up.
My biggest thing right now since I haven't browsed an actual store for lighting... is lighting. I've seen so many diferent kinds of setups for cfls. Should I get my own fixtures and build several lights? Because those ballasts only use 1 bulb over the plants directly and it wouldn't be as effective as multiple lights from more angles.
i am using an old ceiling fan for my cfls. just disconnected the four pronged fixture from the rest of the fan and rigged it up.
Yeah that's what I was wanting to go with too. I know hardware stores carry those fixtures separately for custom lamps and such. I'll have to stop at the local store.
also there are those double headed extension cords u can use. they make plugs to put your cfl directly into the cord for about 5$. then just screw in your bulbs, and drop the cord down in your box.
Greetings MnToker For the fixture, you should also checkout this thread. It's a cheap, nice looking CFL fixture with reflector that you custom make to the size of your box. You just need a bit of PVC and lamp fixtures for the fixture, and a piece of sheet metal for the reflector. For bulbs, I just bought the 42w 2700k's and 26w 6500k's from Target. You can prolly find them a bit cheaper online, but gatta support those MN companies, right? 48" sounds like enough height to me. I have about 41" of vertical grow space, 9" tall pots, and my lights take up about 7". I'm going to grow my plants to about 10" then SCROG them. I'm still in the veg stage of my first grow, but I think I should be okay height wise. With 48", I think you'd be even better. Well good luck on the grow, be sure to post pics as you start building your setup!