I want to expand and start a perpetual grow, but I'm an inexperienced grower and would like some advice on what I should use and how I should construct the new veg/cloning box I plan on making. Right now I have a 4'x4'x7' tent with a 600w HPS that I've used for veg and flowering which I plan on now using as my flowering tent. The only addition I'll need for it is a 3'x3' ebb&flow tray system to turn it into a hydroponic SOG flowering room. I'm not sure how many plants I should I pack into the flood tray or how many mother plants I will need to supply it. The veg/cloning room is where I need the most help. I'd like it to be as low cost and energy efficient as possible. For it I plan on using either plywood and screws or cardboard and duct tape to make whatever size and shape box will be the most efficient. With panda film or flat white paint for reflectivity and pc fans for intake/exhaust and circulation. The main reason I need help is to figure how many plants I should pack in the flower room, how many mother plants I'll need to supply it, and what lights I should use. This is why I can't yet decide how to construct my veg/cloning box. When I described what I was trying to set-up at a local grow store the guy there told me he had done SOG with that flood tray before and showed me that I could pretty tightly pack 47 plants into the tray and said that would be best. For nutrients he said to run the Lucas formula and it would work perfect. After reading about the Lucas formula I definitely plan on trying it. For lighting he suggested using a big 4 foot 8 tube t-5 for both the mother plants and the clones. I feel as though that would be the more expensive, less efficient option. Instead I am thinking it might be better to use an led or fluorescent tube set-up for the mother plants and either a couple fluorescent tubes or a few CFLs for the clones. My Lighting considerations: 200w CFL Dual T-5 200w GlowPanel 45 LED Grow Light 48" T5 HO Fluorescent 108 Watt Hydroponic Grow Light Fixture 6400K 3000k 24" Fluorescent 100 Watt Indoor Grow Light Fixture 6400k 3000k Gen3 UFO LED Grow Light HTG Supply 4 Foot 4 Lamp High Output T5 Fluorescent Grow Light 90w UFO LED Questions: 1) What lights would be best? 2) How many mother plants will I need? 3) Can I use more than one strain of mother plants? 4) Could I cycle one or two rows of clones into the flood tray at a time so that I could harvest rows every couple weeks?
Pack as many as you can on the flooded tray. See how many it holds, so in the future you can be putting a constant amount in, and getting a constant flow of bud out. Say if it holds 8, then you could start flowering a new plant every week, and you'd harvest every week also. Lucas works alright, but keep an eye out for nitrogen deficiency. I had issues with mine, and had to run some grow along with the micro and bloom. A 5-8-16 mix seems to do the trick. I only ran around 1.7 EC max. 1. I'd personally get florescent tubes. They cover a large area for a low wattage. Although, LED's do have some pretty sweet benefits. 2. Once they get large enough, a 5 gallon bucket works well, you can be taking a lot of clones off of one mother every 2-3 weeks. I bet you could fuel your whole system with a single mother. 2-3 would be better though. 3. Yes. 4. Yes.
Thanks for your help pyro! I appreciate the advice with the Lucas formula. I'll definitely try your mix if I have any problems. I have 4 seeds so I might use all 4 as mother plants. Would this light be enough for both the mother plants and the clones? HTG Supply 4 Foot 4 Lamp High Output T5 Fluorescent Grow Light