Well, getting my head around the whole grow concept is still slightly difficult. I am really hoping that I am not missing anything. I do have number of questions and I would greatly appreciate it if you guys could answer them. Their quite long so please bear with me. My first question is regarding heat. My grow room replaces all the air in the room easily. This is good in the summer but in the winter it will be a cold room for around 8 months. I have a grow tent in this room. If the room is too cold will I not be able to use it or is there some ways I could make it acceptable? I was thinking about putting so heaters outside the grow tent that are hopefully cordless because I only have one outlet to use (ofc with a power bar in it but I don't want to overload). I also wondering if not using any coolers and letting the light heat be used towards my benefit in the cool room would be a good idea. Secondly, I was wondering about space. My tent is 4X4 feet. I initially thought that means that I could fit 16 plants because it is 16 square feet but I read in my cannabis grow bible that it could fit a maximum of 9 plants, is that accurate or could I fit more? Next, I have been reading about things like trimming, flimming, LST, and SCROG. This will be my first grow, I am thinking about deffinatly trying trimming or flimming but I was wondering would you guys recommend a SCROG for first time? For the smell would one carbon filter be enough for lets say 9 plants or should I also invest in maybe a DIY de-orderizing bucket? I have been reading many mixed things about lights. Including ballasts which I don't fully understand. Is there anywhere where I can get a full light kit so I don't need to buy extra things? I really appreciate all the help GC has given me!
Yes you can add a heater outside the tent, and yes you can let the warmth of the light contribute to that heat. MJ likes temps in the mid 70s F, can be about 10 degrees cooler than that during dark. Keep in mind that the heater may need to be adjusted to add less heat during lights-on and more heat during lights-off, or you can get an external thermostat for it and place the thermostat in the grow space. Sounds like you should get an electrician to add additional outlets to that room. Might need to add a circuit. I think 1 sq ft per plant is a good rule of thumb, but don't forget a couple of things: first, you might want to leave a pathway so you can get into that tent (otherwise you will have to take out every plant in order to reach the ones in the back) so that will take up some of your square footage, and secondly if you use every inch of that floorspace then you need to provide good light to every sq inch as well. One carbon filter should be enough, provided it is large enough and your ventilation is replacing the air quickly enough. For a grow op that size I definitely recommend a lighting setup that gives MH during veg and HPS during flower. There are plenty of places that sell light "kits" that include not just bulbs but also the ballast, mogul socket, and hood/reflector. One site that many here use is HTGSupply-dot-com. Also just search "hydro store" or "grow lights" and you should get lots of sites coming up.
Ok, I have a decent budget (around $1500) so I will invest in a good heater where I can hopefully choose a specific heat setting. I am thinking about fitting 10 plants and buying a 1000w MH/HPS fixture. Anyways, I really appreciate the help. I repped P.S - nice post count