First time grow and looking for your opinion on my setup before I purchase the equipment. The equipment I'm looking at is the following: Solis Tek Matrix LCD 1000w, dimmable digital ballast, w/remote control STK 1000lcd. Blockbuster reflector 6 inch. Eye hortilux super HPS enhanced lamp watts are 1000. Grow lab 145 4 x 9, 4 x 9, 6 x 7. Can fan max fan 6 inch. 334cfm Can filter 33. 6 inch x 25 foot black light proof ducting. Milwaukee PH tester. Model Ph600aq. 2 air king 6 inch 2 speed clip fan. Hercules support bars for grow lab gl145 kit, 4 bags of pre mixed super soil from TGA . 4 root builder air pots 3 gallons. Thanks for looking The questions that I have about this setup are 1. Do I need two tents or will this one work? 2. Is the fan to small and do I need 1 or 2? 3. Is the light to much? 4. Are these brands good? 5. What are some strains with great yield that will work great with this setup? 6. Am I missing anything? 7. Any opinions about any of this? 8. What are some good books? I am looking to order this soon. Thanks in advance.
Looks good, correct forum. One tent, two fans, a tray for the water to drain to, maybe a soil PH pen not hydro, 4 plants under 1000 is a long veg time to reach the 5x5 ideal footprint, timers for light cycle, smaller bulb MH or cfl for veg maybe? How is your room being cooled? What about humidity? This didn't make sense, so I looked it up. Grow lab 145 4 x 9, 4 x 9, 6 x 7 It's 4'9" wide x 4'9" deep x 6'7" high right?
It's 4'9" wide x 4'9" deep x 6'7" high right? yes 4 plants under 1000 is a long veg time to reach the 5x5 ideal footprint not sure what your mean? What about humidity? what can I to help with humidity tray for the water to drain the tent comes with one How is your room being cooled? venting in to the attic smaller bulb MH or cfl for veg maybe what size would be best I was thinking mh since the ballast can do mh and hps but how many watts and can I still use the reflector thanks <span>Navarone</span>
When you're doing vegetative growth in the beginning you want to fill most of your grow space so you use the light most efficiently. If you grow only four plants then each plant will be about 2.5 feet wide and that will take a long time to grow during 24/7 or 18/6 lighting. Probably 6 weeks or more. I have plants in hydro at 4 weeks 24/7 veg and they're only about 18" wide, so the light is spilling past the sides and being lost. Humidity depends on the air you are exchanging in the tent. you want about %50-70 during veg and about %20-40 during flower. You'll need humidifiers or dehumidifiers to keep that in check. So measure and then fix. The attic is good to vent to, but the air coming in, what are the temps and humidity? Do you have an air conditioner or central air? what's your local climate like? I'm using 4 4foot t8 6500k bulbs for veg and it saves power and grows well enough. Having good reflectors help a lot! View attachment 1204885
Canabis plants mature in two stages, veg and flower, and it's controlled by how long the grow light is OFF. The longer it's OFF the more of a hormone is built up in the plant and that triggers it to flower. The veg grow light can be on anywhere between 24 hours a day 16 hours a day. Once the dark time, with no lights on, lasts 10 hours or more, the plant starts flowering. 12/12 on/off is the well established standard and you need a light timer to do this automatically. During veg the plant is only working on getting bigger. During flower the plant spends it's energy growing flowers. It does grow larger also, so expect the hight to double or even triple in some strains. The longer you veg, the bigger the plant. If you only grow a few plants you'll need to veg longer to fill up a big space. If you grow more plants it takes less time to fill at same space. It could be a difference of 1 week veg time for dozens of plants in a SOG (sea of green) to 6 or more weeks for only a few plants that need to get very large to fill the same space. If you start from seed then you also need to germinate them and keep a very close eye on all the environmental aspects because they're a lot more sensitive to changes. You will not use a 1000w just to germ a few seeds, a small fluorescent will be perfect and then move to a larger one when they get bigger and start needing more light, probably about two weeks. Then when they mature you need to kill all the males. These are my plants at 4 weeks of 24/0 veg and I just switched to 12/12. There are six plants in a hydro setup planted 16" apart under a 600w hps and those two fluorescent for an extra kicker. I also topped them once and I'm training them to a scrog (screen of green) for a short plant with a large even canopy. I started them with just the fluorescent. Check out my thread for an idea of what to look for. http://forum.grasscity.com/hydroponic-growing/1209159-leaf-droop-brown-rockwool.html
sounds like I just need to learn little more about veg for veg stick with cfl or t5 t8 and if t5 or t8 how many Watts how many bulbs and I like your setup but soil is the way I wanna go as for male plants I'm going to spend the extra money and get fem seeds
bump looking for some info on good veg light setup and any input on Solis Tek or Lumatek which would be better in long run Blockbuster reflector or is there something with better review max fan 6 inch or is 8inch better also vortex or stick with max fan what can filter would work best with 6 inch or if you think 8inch what can filter any and all input would be great looking to get this going <span>Navarone you have been a big help keep it coming if you know any thing ablout the item I have listed </span> thanks for looking
All those look good, blockbuster is a good hood, I think solis tek is better than lumatek, and 6 inch everything is fine for one 1000w. For just four plants I would get one dual light 4 foot t8 fixture with shiny metal reflector. Once the plants get bigger you might need extra lights at the ends in the 2000+ lumen range, so something around 35w (150w equivalent) and daylight spectrum in a clamp shop light. Check the link below and if you don't want to spend the $35 you can get a cheaper white reflector for around $15 and put shiny tape inside to make it way more reflective. Mine grew great under this same light with philips 32w 6500k bulbs. My plants were nearly (and sometimes) touching the bulbs and I had no heat problems at all. I had three growing 16" apart, so that was 4 feet. You'll probably start out closer together with the extra lights at the end and since you're in buckets you can move them into a square when you're ready to flower. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-Diamond-Plate-2-Light-Chrome-Ceiling-Fluorescent-Shop-Light-Fixture-1241DP-RE/202192989#.UaAOu0CG2So