I live in the city, and I am about to start growing my babies and I have a few questions that I need help with and hopefully the experts on the site can help me out. I have a closet in an apt I will be using and the measurements are 2" 6 1/2 inches in width and 2" 10 inches in length which by my calculations equals to 7.2 square feet. Now my question is what hydroponic system should I use to grow my babies, What kind of lights and wattage should I use, What would be a good ventilation method, What kind of food would I need, Should I have a small oscilliatint house fan in there?. Things of that nature. I plan to grow either F-1 blueberry,F-1 mazar, F-1 skywalker, or F-1 blue moonshine. I would like to know a setup that would produce the most yield and highest potency, i.e procedures or techniques or tricks of the trade if you will.. Thanks in advance and your help will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for correcting me.. my space is 2 feet 6 1/2 inches wide, 2 feet 10 inches long and 6 feet high.. any help and suggestions for my questions above with these measurements?
ive heard several methods of making plants more potent..i dont know whether these are true or not, because i havent tried them myself...but, it's up to you whether to believe them or not... 1. Fishtank water 2. Bong water 3. Guano (bat shit) 4. Cutting the stem and applying Opium i dont believe the last one works, but i hear the Guano works really well... if i were anymore than just a newbie, i would help you out further, but, im just a newbie =P.. good luck growing, though =)
For lighting, try to get 50 watts of HID lights per square foot. Properly ventilating 400 watts in an apartment closet will likely require some trial and error, so I suggest you start with bagseed until you can operate your system at optimal temps. Of course, others have done it and I'm sure there will be more specific advice on what to do.
Here is the low down on what I would toss in your closet. Keep it simple. If you want Hydro go with a HydroFarm's Mega Garden( the measurements are 22" x 22" x 10" in height, able to hold about 15 plants. The light try a 400 watt HPS, good for vegin, excellent for flowerin. Make sure the closet walls are white or can be made very reflective. No paint try Mylar is reflects 98 percent of light back into garden. Or you could go soil and use containers filled with a potting soil mix. The small hydro set up will run you about $170 -$180 plus about $300 for best light 400watt hps w/ hortilux bulb. Around $30 for 25 feet of mylar for reflection. The hydro nutrients can go for about $20 to $80 depending on how much and what kind(basic hydro nutrients are the cheapest). If you go soil the cost will be cheaper. Good luck, GB
Beyond what has already been covered... Work out the cubic space of the cupboard and buy fans with the appropriate cfm ratings in order to get the right amount of air moving in and out of the grow space. You're probably gonna need at least 150cfm unless you use a cooled hood. Add the exhaust fan somewhere high and the inlet fan somewhere low (heat rises ). Somewhere in there chuck in a couple of small oscillating fans to blow a little air around your babies. In cupboard spaces it is quite difficult to get the temperature halfway decent without a cooled/vented hood. Although I have seen it done with as simple a solution as two small fans bolted onto the inside of the cupboards on runners to stay level with the light and pointed at the bulb. Any air movement is better than none. There are plenty of ways to make a homemade vented reflector if your feeling creative. Usually these involve more exhaust and inductive fans mounted on a pre vented hood and the air ducted away directly in/out of the grow room using aluminium stretchy ducting. A decent vented reflector can save hassle in the long run and enables you to bring the light closer to those ever hungry for light plants. A well ventilated grow room can operate at as little as 5 degrees up on the ambient temperature. I would choose organic myself but then I have very little experience with Hydro. Good luck and good growing.
On the air cooled hood, how many cfm would it need with a 400 watt setup? I've got a cold fusion hood with a 400 watt MH in it right now and it is putting off some serious heat in my cabinet. I've got some 6" duct already setup, I just don't know how big of a fan to get. Bjaebjoch