Planning my first grow, got a few questions...

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by spikeystud88, Feb 24, 2010.

  1. #1 spikeystud88, Feb 24, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 28, 2010
    So I'm moving out in a few months and am already planning my grow.

    I had originally planned on just growing in one of the closets in a shitty box or something, but after seeing decent grow tents for $100 online I think I'll probably get one of those. Now for the questions:

    1) How does this tent look for a first time grower?

    2) Does a CFL grow in a tent work well? All I've seen people talk about with tents are HPS lights, so I want to make sure CFLs will work lol

    3) How many plants could I grow in a tent like that? It's 3ft x 1.6ft x 5.2ft (4.8 sq ft)

    4) How many CFLs would I need for ^that^ number of plants?

    5) Most importantly, will I need to worry a lot about heat with this setup?

    I plan on having this in the corner of one of our walk-in closets (most likely the one in the 'study' room so that there's less traffic). I'll probably just make a carbon scrubber with one of the guides on here. I plan to grow in soil, nothing too fancy.

    Anything else I need to worry about/plan out now?

    Thanks in advance blades ;)!

    EDIT: Just found this 4x4 tent (16 sq ft) on Amazon for only $120...think it's worth it over the first one I linked?
     
  2. CFL lighting will work in that, and it's good to start with if you dont wanna build your own I was considering the same tent awhile back... The plant space is usually one plant per cubic foot but I like to have more space so between 2-4 would be your best bet... the lighting isssue is one of debate but the avg reply would be 100 ACTUAL cfl watts for your first plant and 30-50 Actual CFL watts there-after (use 6500k for veg 2700k for flower) As for the heat it'll really depend on the temperature of the air outside the box and the ventilation system you plan on having. hope that helps -keepgrowing- gdaddy
    Plan everything now man... You need to know exactly what your gonna do before you germ so theres no guess work or "Oh shit, I forgot my soil" later on when your seeds are ready to go... I would suggest looking into organics before you buy a commercial soil so many more benefits I wont go into rant here but give it a look over before you decide... Also know what your gonna feed your plants. Have a PH tester...
     
  3. on hand... If your unsure of the basic shopping list of things you'll need you can find them here in stickies all over the forums, so I wont go into anything to basic. You'll also need to be aware of humidity it's not a big concern but its stillthere...
     
  4. #4 spikeystud88, Feb 24, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 24, 2010
    Thanks a lot for the info! I most likely wont do anymore than 5 plants, just to be safe (plus it's for personal use so 5 is plenty lol).

    Anyways, right now I'm just focusing on the big stuff...lights, cooling, and grow area. I've started looking into pH testers and all that stuff too though. Here are some of the small things I plan to use:

    - Digital pH tester
    - Digital thermometer/humidity gauge (will hang this in the tent most likely)
    - 3gal buckets once the plants are big enough
    - Homemade carbon scrubber blowing hot air OUT at the top
    - Some sort of intake fan blowing air IN at the bottom (any tips on what to use for this would be appreciate...is a 120mm PC fan enough?)

    I'm going to worry about the soil/nutes/all that once it's closer, just want to get the big stuff planned out now :).

    In terms of a vent system, I'm not even sure where to start lol. It's an apt, so I cant really drill any holes into the walls/ceilings. The closet will be closed 99% of the time (except when we're in there checking on things). What would you suggest in terms of cooling? I'll have an exhaust fan blowing through a carbon scrubber at the top, but other than that IDK.

    First things first, which tent do you guys think is best? The amazon one is only $120 and would leave me lots of room to...grow (no pun intended :D).
     
  5. Well i'm wondering here why your even buying a grow tent if your gonna have the closet space closed you'll be recycling stale air that door needs to stay open or you'll have to find a spot somewhere else with a nice supply of fresh air. As for the vent system, they sell 6" fans for those systems which are around 30-60$ or you could TRY computer fans but I'm not garunteeing anything in a space with that much room. Whatever you do, you need FRESH air (All that may be set aside if you have adequet ventilation in that closet meaning a intake and an Exhaust, without both you need the door to stay open)
     
  6. Well I wanted the grow tent for a few reasons:

    - Easy to move, take down, and re-assemble if we move
    - Already has reflective lining
    - Already has vent holes/all that shit already cut out
    - Will keep the smell in better than if it was just in the closet
    - Much more hidden than if we just used the entire closet to grow

    Also, we will prob use the rest of the closet for storage, so the grow tent makes it easy to just put it in the corner and go. Before seeing how cheap grow tents are, I was planning on either doing a shitty TV box grow, rubber maid grow, or a hollowed out cabinet grow. But the tent just seemed so much easier than all of these (and a LOT more portable/re-usable).

    The ventilation part might be tricky then. Does anyone have any tips for venting from the closet without having to damage the walls/ceiling? I doubt there's an A/C vent in the closet, otherwise that would be great. If worst came to worst we could crack the closet door to let some of the fresh air from the room in.

    Has anyone else ever used a grow tent in a closet? If so any ventilation tips would be great :). Actually any closet ventilation tips in general would be awesome lol!
     
  7. My advice for the venting closet situation would be not to dmg the ceiling or walls but to vent through the door. Cut holes in the door instead. I meant no dissuasion from the grow tent I think it's a great idea I just wanted to make sure you knew that you'll have to double vent (vent the growtent and vent the closet)
     

  8. Ah ok gotcha. Since the tent already has holes it's not a huge deal, but I see what you're saying.

    Drilling through the door would be possible, but I'd like to avoid that if possible lol. What if I had the intake pull air from underneath the door? There's a small 2" gap under the door, would that work? I could have the intake tube go out of the tent, and then I could flatten the end out so that it would be realllly wide and fit under the door. What do you think?

    The main thing is that we want it somewhat stealthy. We want people to be able to go into the 2nd room and chill and not instantly know there's something going on in the closet. That was another reason for the tent...in case someone does open the closet door (cant remember if it has a lock or not...prob not), but if they did open it and saw the tent, they wouldn't INSTANTLY know "OMG THEY'RE GROWING"...ya know? Whereas if we just grew in the closet the second they opened it they'd see.
     
  9. If you have to go through a door go get a cheapo from home depot or the like and save the original in the back of the closet.
     
  10. Good advice from ramones, it really doesn't matter how you do it as long as your getting fresh air and theres no air restriction. Best advice set the whole thing up fans lights and all and let it run for 24 hours with a thermometer and check the temps after the 24 hours if your temps and humidity is good then whatever you did worked if not come back here and we'll work it out... -keepgrowing- gdaddy
     
  11. #11 spikeystud88, Feb 25, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 25, 2010
    Yeah that's what I planned on doing if it came down to that. It really wouldn't be a HUGE deal to leave the door halfway open most of the time. Would that be enough to get fresh air in? If I did that, would I need actual intake/exhaust tubes going towards the door? It would be awesome if I didn't need any actual vent tubing!

    Great idea, I just wish I could do it all now lol :(. I'm SO anxious to get started!

    In terms of seeds, what would you guys suggest: schwag bagseed or some autos? Autos would be easier, but bagseed is free lol.

    Anything else I should be aware of? Like other big things I need to plan?
     
  12. Deffinately bagseed first the last thing you want is to spend $$ to buy seeds and kill them cause you don't have a grow or two under your belt. Advice stands build your setup and run it for 24 hours and make your observations, the questions you wish to ask will present themselves then and you can come back here and refer to GC
     

  13. Thanks a ton bro, really appreciate your help!

    Also when getting CFLs, what should I look for? And if I wanted 4 plants, how many CFLs would I need? I will most likely order them from amazon because I have some gift cards :).
     
  14. with heat being an issue and your desire to grow 4 plants I would say (and I'll prolly get shit for this) between 280-400 Actual CFL watts in Veg stage and 325-400 Actual CFL watts for flowering (6500k spectrum for veg, 2700k for flower) but again heat being an issue you dont want 100 26 watters go to 1000bulbs.com or somewhere similar and look for 100watt Cfl bulbs (actual CFL watts)
     
  15. #15 spikeystud88, Feb 25, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 25, 2010
    Ok, I'm on 1000bulbs.com but I'm so confused lol. If it says "40 Watt, 150W Equal" wtf does that mean?

    Is this the page I should be looking on --> 2 to 200 Watt Compact Fluorescent Bulbs : 1000Bulbs.com

    Sorry, I'm trying my best!

    EDIT: Wait, I think I got it...are these the right ones for veg? And these for flowering?

    Also, once I switch to flowering can I keep using the 6500's or do I need to turn those off?

    Thanks again so much, I really appreciate it!
     
  16. Also, what's the difference between the 23 watters and the 26 watters? Both have an actual wattage of 100, so is one better than the other?
     
  17. diffrence is probably lumen output... The more lumens the more available light the better your plants will be
     
  18. Ok cool. So once I go into flowering do I take the 6500's away or do I just add some 2700's to the mix?
     
  19. I'd take em all away if you wanna combine spectrums combine a 3000k and a 2700k instead of mixing veg and flower lights
     
  20. Ok cool. Were those lights I linked to at the end of page 1 the correct ones?

    And I think I'll prob use 4 100w (actual) CFLs for vegging and flowering, that way I can have them spread around and try to hit most of the stems/leaves.

    If I wanted, could I use 3 100w CFLs and then like 2 50w ones to provide more light coverage?
     

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