Hey all, new to this forum and growing in general. If anyone could help me shed some light that would be great. I have a small space 5x2x8 and a budget of around 6-700$. I was wondering if anyone could toss a few ideas for how many plants i could use in that space, what kind of lighting i would need and ventilation. Any help would be great for a noob. Peace, Sleeve
5x2 area would be covered best by getting 2 lights. Two 400 watt HPS lights would be perfect. Both with air cooled hoods attached to each other with ducting, and vented with a 6" inline fan.
Number of plants is more dependent on area, not lighting. You'll probably get some people on here telling you about some arbrirary rule on watts per plant, but those rules are misleading at best. Personally I would put 3 plants in that area. Top them a couple times and use some LST in order to create an even canopy of bud sites. That number of plants in that space is independent of light wattage.
Oh okay then, yeah I kept getting different info regarding watts per plant and all that stuff. Too much info can be misleading lol. Does it matter what size pot I have per stage if that makes sense. Basically can I get a 5gal pot, and use it from germination till the end stage?
Yeah any rule that correlates watts to plant number is useless imo. Just forget about them. As far as using one pot for the whole cycle it's certainly possible, but I wouldn't do it. Starting in very small cups or rapid rooters, etc lets you use a couple low wattage CFL bulbs to get them started until they are big enough to handle the HID lighting. It's just much easier that way, for that reason among others.
Thanks man I apologize for all the questions lol but I do appreciate it. Now is it absolutely essential to make the room air tight. It is a closet space and im concerned about keeping the environment in the room up to the proper temperature and humidity since there is the crack between the door and floor. Any tips regarding how to control that?
Well you need to vent the exhaust outside of your closet and also have an air intake so it won't be sealed at all. I don't know your setup, but you'll need to cut a hole somewhere (ceiling to vent upwards, door to vent out that way, etc) in order to vent the exhaust. For intake you need an opening roughly twice the area of the exhaust in order to let fresh air in. The 400's would be great for both veg and flower no problem.
Oh okay excellent thank you so much you have been very helpful. Im gonna start a journal later this week once I start it up. You have been a bunch of help