Hi there, I've decided to take the plunge and start my own micro stealth grow. The place I want to grow in is quite long, but it isn't very high. The approximate measurements are: L X 26", H X 11", W X 13". My plan was to LST and SCROG the hell out of the plant going lengthways and zig zagging across the pot, whilst using ONA gel/blocks for odour control, 2 silent PC fans for intake & outtake and around 150-200W of CFL's. I'd also grow a good yielding strain such as Critical and I'm shying away from autoflowering so I can LST it as much as possible before flowering. The thing I want to know is, is this space *too* small to get any decent amount, so say half an ounce + -Grizzly
Anyone? I've seen grows in PC cases, but the available space is quite long so I could in theory train the plant to take up the whole space by zig zagging it lengthways to makeup for the relatively short height. I need some more input from more experienced growers though
Just keep it in a veg state until you fill up most of your screen and you should be fine. Would love to see pics, good luck
11 inches isn't very tall once you put your lights in. what are you using as a grow space? pics would be nice in helping determine how well it would work.
Yeah I know. I can't get pictures at the moment but its a space in the top shelf of a cupboard that will have a false panel with edges of board games and cardboard boxes. Theres no way to change the height but I was going to use a fairly shallow tray that takes up the whole space to grow the plant in
You have the right idea. I know its a pain to setup a different grow. If you can, get a bigger spot. if not you'll want to grow two plants. Each will occupy 12 inches of width space. with your lights up top you will loose about 3 inches leaving you 8 inches of grow space. what you will want to do is find/build pots that are as close to 12x12 square as you can and like 3 inches high. leaving you with 5 inches of height space and a good amount of width to grow with. I would LST. that is it. Once the plant is a couple weeks old. repot it to the low, wide container, in a corner. that way you can lst all around the edge. you will need to trim big fan leaves about 3-4 weeks in, or else you will run out of space I suggest you research a lot of LST. Check out Mrbear2point8 and his PC grows for some FANTASTIC LSTing The reason i say two plants instead of one is that one will be too hard to lst the full 26 inches wide and it will take forever. get two of the same strain and you'll be good Before you start any seeds though, get the setup going and check the temps. Wood is bad with retaining heat and a lot of fans are needed, especially with 200 watts
Wow, thats really helpful. Thanks man! I did think of doing two instead of one but decided against it because I'd like to keep it simple, but I didn't think how long or difficult it would be to LST around the whole width, so with two I could also do a staggered grow so I have weed more frequently. Yeah, from that height space I'd also have to factor in small PC fans set into the wood and drilled in and since the space is so small I don't think theres any room at all for a carbon scrubber - but then this is very small so I don't think it would need one? I'd use ONA blocks near the outlet fans? Hazard a guess at how much I could expect from a single plant, given it would be off 150W CFL's and LST'd as efficiently as possible? I'd LST in a zig zag pattern going down the whole length and width of the area and meticulously expose every budsite. Yeah, temps will be difficult but I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it. If I was running 2 'boxes' then I couldn't do 200W each, they would have to be 150W each otherwise it would be too expensive to run all the time as I'm broke as it is. I'm guessing I'd need 2 fans for each 'box'? Again thanks man, really helpful stuff. -Grizzly
Yeah. Definitely consider doing 2 plants. or if you do 1, don't LST it the whole width. you will be vegging for like 3 months and you will be waiting for ever and you will hate yourself The only way to have a perpetual grow in the same box. is by having the lights one a 12 schedule. so you can have plants at different stages in the same box. But try and get two if you can, preferably the same strain so they flower at the same time. but you can do different strains The pc fans won't be taking any grow space up. just on the sides. Mount them as high as you can, even on the ceiling if you can. heat rises and that makes it the easiest to rid hot are. Get as many fans as you can. I had a tiny 1.5x1.5x1.5 wood box get ridiculously hot with just 4-13 watt bulbs and 1-90mm fan. My new setup is 5-45 watt bulbs and 3-120mm exhaust fans and 1- 120 mm intake fan. trust me. You'll want to figure out the heat before you start any plants. i was eager and the heat ended up killing a few seedlings. they are super delicate and heat can burn a plant in any stage, pretty quickly. A ona filter will be good enough for you. they shouldn't stink to much. but prepare for the worst. get a few ona and get some other scented gels to mix in. but that won't be till later in flowering. With CFL's you can expect about 1-2 ounces per 100 watts. That is taking into account good LST, healthy plants, good nutrients and the right spectrum of lights
The way I was thinking to do a staggered grow is to divide the space with a panel of plywood and light insulate each 'box', and then grow separately in each 'box' with 150W of CFL and an intake and outtake fan in each. Could that work quite well?
I say it is possible but your gonna have to be mega careful with your lighting and keeping the plant from getting burned! Other than that I think it should be totally possible with some proper plant training.
Anything is possible, it just has to be worth it to you. For some people. micro grows aren't even worth it. I would advise you against doing two grow areas for a first grow. I was the same way. sounds like a good idea, constant supply, etc. but the fact is. this is just for fun, so keep it as simple as you can, so you'll want to do it again. More plants, and lights, and fans and timers and different nutes and what not will make for a complicated time. Get the basics of growing a plant, learning from what it tells you, LST techniques and how to properly feed and care for it. Its honestly so fun man. Keeping it simple will lead to a better time for you which means a healthier plant which means a better smoke. If you must do two, you must ensure that the light does not leak from one to the other once flowering starts. You'll only be able to tend to the plants when they both are on the "light on" period, unless you built two separate doors as well You'll have to make sure that the temperature stays good in both areas and that there is good air flow. It can totally be done, and relatively easily if the person knows what they are doing, but it would be way over your head for you (due to size and goals), and in my honest opinion, its not worth it. If you complete a successful grow, i would look into doing a perpetual 12/12 grow. Constant supply, one light source. there is good info everywhere. i found the best 12/12 thread on www. i c m a g .com
obviously just opinion but I have grown in a lot of different sized small boxes and I think two foot of height is the bar minimum really. anything less is just going to give you a fuck load of arse-ache. I have a small box if two foot high with a canopy area of 1'x1' and it has 4x 20w CFLs in there. pulling 1 ounce off it is easily done
Yeah. It will be doable but not very fun. it will be a small plant but it will be a good learning experience. if the growing space could be rotated 90 degrees, that would make for a good growing space