Ok guys (and maybe a few gals), here's my upcoming show. Closet grow. 6.5' x 2.25' Three Gallon containers minimum might go 5 gal, straight to big pots after germination 18x27 watt CFL, 6500K for veg, 2700K for flowering, 1700 lumens each Mylar for walls, and to make makeshift reflector for homemade light FF happy frog soil with coco coir 2parts FFHF 1 part coir Fox Farms nutes (all three) No active ventilation (unable without major cieling drilling), just fans inside The strain is gonna be a sativa or mostly sativa from bagseed, dankest shit I ever smoked and had like ten seeds in an 1/8, planning LST. 6-8 plants during veg, 3-4 females (I hope, planning on selective seeding a couple small buds to keep the strain alive!) I think that's it. Oh! Prolly gonna use distilled water to water, no ph meter or ph control ability. Pointers, etc needed. Just for my mind, any body got any slight clue what yield could be? I know its a hard thing to guess, but I've done a TON of research and have had several horticulture classes, so I understand plan biology. Just keep in mind it is a sativa/mostly staiva when you make a blind shot at potential yield... Thanks all!
Sounds like a good start. I've heard some things about Happy Frog not being great for an entire grow, I'll let others with actually experience with FFHF chime in on that. A few big pointers. First, you must have ventilation. Plants need fresh air to "breathe", ventilation is not just for odor and temp control. You will need a way to test and, if needed, adjust the pH. That isn't just a detail you can ignore, it is critically important to the plants' ability to uptake nutrients. Not sure of your dimensions, you gave 2 but a space has 3. What is the size of the floor (footprint?). I'm wondering about your ability to get 8 5-gallon pots in that space.
I will be able to vent when I am home in the evenings... open the door! Besdies, the plants will like me breathing close to them for a while every night. I'll be able to change the air several times a day. Are there any kind of ph test and control things I can get at lowes, home deopt, or something for a fair price? I've blown more than I wanted to on this so far, but I decided that if I needed to hold of on starting up for a few more weeks to get all my gear, that would be best and that is what I've done. Ya I figure ima go with three gallon pots. They will def fit. Either that or go with square containers of somekind like trash cans or storage bins from lowes or something with a smiliar capacity. Laning towards the three gallon nursery pots.
OH! Another thing. I forgot about the happy frog. I figure that since the three nutes I'll be using work on hydro, why wouldn't just about any soil work? I just have to make sure the plants got enough and not burn them. I know of guys on here who grow with 100% coir and get hydro type results, so the medium is not of supreme concern. I'll just supplement as needed with those nutes and if other deficiencies present like mag. defeciency then I'll just correct as needed. Just my philosophy...
I use large plastic kitty litter bins, they work great in tight spaces because: - rectangular shape - tall and narrow, means a lot of root volume in a relatively small footprint - the big ones hold about 4.5 gallons - oh, and -- handles! Doesn't hurt if you own a cat like I do, so you have to buy the litter anyway.
lol I got three of those in my closet waiting cleaned out for use! That's what gave me the idea of the square pot! Just drill some holes and good to go.... but I only got three of them so I need to figure out where to get the other three or so......hmmmm
Yeah I have been using happy frog soil as my medium for a while, and have had nothing but positive results, and actually, so far it is my fav soil to use, but I do also use additional nutrients. Last grow I tested growing in it without added nutrients and the plant was fine as well, but the plant was below average (for my grow room) in the bud department, but I like the soil and would recommend it.
your set up sounds pretty good. fairly similar to one that i myself used with great results. I actually was able to grow successfully from 2.5 gallon pots so if space is an issue don't be too afraid to go a size smaller. Also two desk fans blowing in opposite directions was barely enough to keep the temps in my room low enough so be careful with heat stress. My reason for commenting was in regard to your question about yield. I grew mango skunk (very sativa dominant) from seed without using any lst technique and managed a half ounce (dry weight) per plant. Keep in mind this was with only 6 CFL's of different sizes. 2- 40w, 4-26w. I figure with all of those extra lumens you will have from 20+ CFL's will help add some weight to your colas. Also in regard to nutrients and yield..my experience with molasses has been nothing but spectacular, when the time comes to flower do some research on adding molasses to your nutrients/waterings.
Rock on. Thanks for the info on the happy frog! Ya I plan on doing some research on molasses... especially for the final flush. Only glanced over it thus far, but I'll look into mor in depth later on. Actually I will only have 18 CFL's running at any given time. BUT, the grand total of wattage is 468 watts and 30, 600 lumens. Not up to HPS lumen wise, but I do anticipate a small heat issue. The good news is that there is very very little insulation between the closet and the attic. I've run some basic heat tests and as long as keep the lights a little ways from the plants (12 incehs or so) they should be ok, because I plan on running the lights mostly at night when the air is coldest. Without the lights on the closet get down like 55 at nights because of almost no insulation between the closet and the attic. Hey, its a very passive heat sink, but I'll take whatever I can get! Thanks for stopping in !
u want to try and keep those closer than 12" from the plants. At 12" the lumens really drop off, as cfls dont penetrate that deeply, I use 42w and try and stay at about 4 or 5"'s off the tops? I keep my Tstat w/ remote probe hanging at the tops and base unit down low. Good lucck on the grow.