Okay, I'm planning on here in the very near future to build a grow box and start growing! I'm very excited but at the same time a bit intimidated because it's all going to be new; anyway I have a few questions and any suggestions are always welcome... Here goes nothing! So my box setup will be (ideally because of space) 3' Deep X 3' Wide X 5' Tall So my main questions are as follows: How many plants should I be able to get in there? Preferably in 5 Gal buckets If it helps I'll be growing Mazar off of clones I'm getting through a friend Lighting & Wattages?? Ideally since electric bill isn't much of an issue I'd like to use MH for Veg and HPS for Flower... How many watts for them? Those are the only questions I have thus far but I will post further if more questions arise. Thanks much guys! Happy smoking!
My friend's set up is a closet operation, and his space is 2x2x6. He has 2 females flowering in it, and doesn't complain of space issues. You should be able to fit at least three, maybe four plants? If you veg them for a long time and grow them really big, then that could be a whole other story. General rule for lighting is 100 watts for first plant, 50 for each additional plant. However, what you need to look at is Lumens. Watts is electrical usage, not light output. You want around 3,000-4,000 lumens per square feet, and you have a 9 square feet garden area. If you're planning on using an HPS for flowering, I would suggest a 250 watt HPS from HTG, they are reliable and are better than Sun Systems. Be aware though, that when you purchase an HID lamp, the wattage of the bulb is not always the watts it will use. The 150 watt HPS from HTG actually pulls around 200 watts/hour, as some is lost to electrical resistance in the ballast.
Thank you so much for the reply! As you can obviously tell lighting is my most newbish part of the whole growing experience. I knew of lumens but I wasn't quite sure what exactly they were! Again thanks for the info!
Where exactly is this grow box going to be placed? Heat is going to be a problem you will have to tackle with an HPS. The 150 watt hps gives a considerable amount enough, so 250 and so forth will increase even more. If you plan to have your grow box in the middle of a well ventilated room, such as a bedroom, then you should be good if you have a couple of intake and exhaust fans for the heat. If you plan on growing in a closet, you might have to invest in a better cooling system and monitor your temperatures very carefully. Closets are very prone to heating up, since it is an enclosed space.
I only have a studio apartment so I'll be having the grow box right in the living room with me Also, air conditioning is like included in the apartment which will be turned on by the time I start growing and it's usually in the upper 60's low 70's 24/7 in the apartment so I'm hoping heat buildup isn't much of an issue... I'm just trying to find a stand alone cabinet or something that looks like clothes go in it to be stealthy but I can't find much pre-built stuff at my dimensions :/ Maybe I'll just get a box as close to my measurements as possible, or even a little over that because at least extra space is better than not enough