I'm settin up my first closet grow , I've done a fair bit a research but ultimately , the light system I wanted ended up being too much so I had to economize . I'll be growing six plants , two bomb thc , and gettin four freebies , but only four of them are really a priority if I have to chose . I have a four foot parabolic reflector that takes metal halides and high pressure sodium bulbs , a 150 watt red spectrum high pressure sodium for flowering , and 150 watt blue spectrum metal halide for vegging , regular old dirt , super thrive nutrients to add to the dirt and water , smaller starter containers , and a 45 gallon ( 36 5/8" L x 21" W x 19 1/2" H ) tote for their final container , mylar blankets to line the tote everywhere there's not dirt , and a noraml box fan for circulation and to keep the heat down . Ultimately I plan to take them outside for as long as possible everyday until it gets too cold and they have to be strictly inside , and I plan to start them off on light (sunlight and under the lamp) 24/7 until they sprout , and then cut it to 16/8 for six weeks to veg until I start them on the nine week 12/12 flowering period . all this being said , I'm not looking for utter monsters , it's not really possible given the space and lights I have to work with , I had to really cut back on what I would've preferred for power cost . but will this set up even be able to cut it ? even if it's not the best , as long as they can grow , I'm happy
Just use the HPS for vegetating and flowering. Non need for different bulbs. that height is not enough I don't think. Some experts can pull off a good yield of a 12'' plant, but you will still need space for the lamp and the soil... so any way you cut it 19'' is too short. with the 150 watt (great beginning lamp by the way) a 2x2x5' closet could work well. ....
the closet's got a normal ceiling height , with a shelf to hang the reflector from, and since the general rule of thumb is 1 gallon for every foot of growth , I thought that five, maybe even six, mature plants would be all right in a 45 gallon tub because even in the closet they'd have room to grow upwards . I might just have read that wrong though , it looked like maybe you thought the closet itself was only 19 inches high , the closet is actually a large walk in closet , that unfortunatly will still be in use on one side as a closet