just a little help if you would

Discussion in 'Grow Room Design/Setup' started by jrich831, Apr 13, 2013.

  1. So im pretty new to this growing thing, you may have seen some of my previous posts. last week i got moved in and went to my local hydro store to pick up a grow tent ( i didnt have space in closet or anywhere else and having a 3 year old i need to have some stealth to it, i call it a phone booth, shes down) any way i pick up a secret jardin dr60 which is 2x2x5 small but i dont grow many plants at a time. I was sold the wrong light, the wrong ballast and the wrong hood, so after a return trip the following day i put everything together get her running smile put in my girls and go to bed. when i woke up the next morning almost every plant had been severely burned. i tried to take care of them but over the course of the next few days 5 out of my 6 girls died. I being a newb asked for their oppinions at the store, which i will add is highly recommended in my area and quite reliable, and they sold me a 600 watt mh bulb, and a 400-600-1000 watt ballast. I did a little more research today and found that manufacture specs on my tent say no more than 150 watts... What do you guys think my next course of action should be im really frustrated, now the one plant i have in the tent is starting to show signs of growth, sprouting a new set of healthy looking leaves but im really upset and not sure what i should do, if i should germ some new babies and keep this thing with awesome airflow going through it? should i go back yet again and return everything and say f it? please give me some advice and try and not be too brutal lol
    thanks in advance
     
  2. If they sold you a 600w they wouldve told you about the exhaust and heat problems you would have. In such a small tent you would be better off taking it back and getting a 150hps and ballast and two to four 24-48w 5000-6000k cfls to add the veg spectrum. Even then heat might be an issue.

    You need to exhaust the heat somewhere.

    Also you only wanna do 2-4 plants in that tent and lst them so they dont get too high.

    You got jacked being sold a 600 without proper exaust in that small of a grow area. Sorry.
     
  3. Yeah I currently leave all the vents open and leave the top part of the door unzipped since hear rises. Also I have a fan going inside at an upward angle to force circulation. I asked while I was there about the 150 set up they have and got laughed at saying that it was underpowered and that it would never work for budding only veg. My roommate uses one and all three of his plants are so healthy and have pretty decent size buds.
     
  4. #4 blackmore, Apr 13, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 13, 2013
    hmm, just get a higher capacity fan to vent your light. 6inch fan at 300 to 400CFM will do nicely. you have 5 ft of vertical space, so aslong as your plants are about 2 feet away from the light source, they wont get burnt. (provided you have adequate ventilation)

    that leaves you with < 3 feet of vertical space.

    SCROG!

    Dont use tall growing pots, save every inch of vertical space you can. DWC is probably the way to go for you. Setup a screen at the 2 to 2.5 ft mark. and LST, FIM, TOP the hell out of your plants until they evenly fill out your screen.

    If you flower 12inch plants, youll get 3 footers, which should be ok. 2*2 is tiny though. 2 plants flowered at 12 inches would be the max. you can flower them when they are even smaller, thatway you can maybe put 3 plants in there.

    Its gonna be more work but youll grow better bud with the 600.

    BTW dont put seedlings directly under MH or HPS. Use a CFL.
     
  5. Well if your only growing for yourself a 600w is way too much, unless you smoke like a quarter every few days. A 150w with a couple cfls will get you upto 4-6 ounzes with 2-3 plants easy under a scrog net if you keep the lights close and everything goes right. Or just go for a 250w setup so you wont have to muck around setting up the cfls. Once again 600 for the space is too much. I have a 600 atm and its too much for my space and ive had to fight the heat issues constantly. Luckily the temps are going down here now.

    Choice is upto you, do some research and make your own decision.

    Oh and you said you have a kid so the less weed and plants you have the better law-wise.
     
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  7. 2x2x5 should work nicely with a 250w and a 4" fan/filter. Scrog works best with smaller lights like 150's and 250's, I grow one plant at a time in this setup, most I ever got was 6 ounces off a blueberry strain. I will attach a pic of her and the scrog rig that I use, makes it easy to take the whole thing out and care for it.

    Sucks that a hydro shop in a legal state would give such shitty advice. I'd keep the tent and return everything else, get the rest of your gear online for a lot less.
     

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  8. Woah, if someone gave you advice and then sent you to the till with that tent and that light system, then they screwed you for some commission. Once you've got the light hanging from the top and the plants in their pots, you've only got 3 feet max to grow in before you hit the lights! Make sure you get a full refund for that, and tell them that after taking their advice it burnt your seedlings (say they were chilli peppers or something). Not only did they sell you a bunch of stuff that was against the manufacturers recommendations, but they also damaged your plants and crushed your spirit. Use that to get a discount, or at the very least a good bag of soil and vermiculite or whatever you're using. You've got to repot all your plants after all!

    Heat and ventilation is always going to be an issue with HID especially in this small space where the proximity to the lights is so close. Get yourself a good deal on some CFL lights, you can get 125w models that output 7000 lumens or better, or a couple of 60ish watts bulbs, with hoods and hangers. You'll still have heat which will need to be ventilated, especially if you have two bulbs but it wont be as direct on the plants as the HID.

    This should do you pretty well, and as a bonus if you want to get a bigger tent and HID later, this will make a great setup for cloning and veging.

    If they are not super apologetic and giving you some kind of compensation for screwing you over, then keep the tent if you like it but screw the rest and get your lights online instead. You can grow your seedlings with a couple of regular desk lamps over them for a week after they've sprouted if you have to so you've got time to shop around and get it delivered.
     

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