Before you start reading mind you that english isn't my first language, so you will meet some typos along the way. This seems like the only place where I can ask for professional advice on the subject, I hope some of you can help me out. The time has come and it's finally time for me to start planning my future indoor grow. The grow will be small - 3-4 plants, but I do not want to cut any corners, meaning I want to be able to grow some nifty herbs which will blow my mind away, price really isn't a question. The only drawback I have is I'm lacking room. Before coming here I tried to do as much homework as I could, but I can't seem to find a situation which fits my needs and therefore I have a lot of questions. At this point I have 0 equipment and 0 experience with indoor growing. I've grown two guerrilla style grows alone and 10+ with friends etc. so I'm not really concerned about the actual plants. But I am concerned about room, temperatures and light. The strains which I've been promised by a family member are: LSD, Blueberry and White Widow, all of which I love and would love to cultivate myself. I haven't got anywhere to store the plants at the moment, which means I'll be getting a closet(Closet might not be the correct word, so I'll just call it a box). This is my first challenge and I find it incredible hard to pick a good box in which these three strains will be able to grow. First - What size would you be getting? I would very much like to avoid indoor tents and everything in that category as they are horrid looking things which WILL stand out in my living room. At first I thought a simple IKEA closet like this one would work: But seeing as it's only 100x77x60 (39 inches wide, 30 tall and 23 deep (+/- 1)) It probably won't be able to fit both the plants AND light which will be able to produce my desired yield. I haven't been able to find any other boxes which are just a little bit taller without being waaay too big (or overpriced) for what I desire. (Bit off the top of my head, but what if I put this box on it's side instead? The plants would be able to grow taller, but would have just a little bit less room, but I should still be enough for these plants? Or am I wrong?) Or better yet. Should I do LST, tie down the plants and force them to stay small? My second question: should I consider hydroponics? Hydro saves a lot of room seeing as the roots don't need to spread though a lot of dirt/ground/soil (what do you call it?), meaning I could lower the plants and attach a proper light. But it also might be overwhelming for a first time indoor grower? When I think proper light the HPS 400watt is what I've read that the majority of growers use and seeing as I'm only growing 3-4 plants shouldn't that be enough? I don't know exactly how big it is, especially with a reflector, will it even fit? If yes, then will I be able to cool it AND keep it from burning my plants and my apartment? Attaching a cooltube might do the trick, but again I haven't got any actual experience with these things so I don't know Ventilation however I've got completely covered. I live on the top floor with a balcony (with roof), when the plants start to stink up the place I'll simply place my box (I suppose I'll put a couple of wheels on it or something) outside and let it stink up the air out there and if it's too cold outside I have plenty of windows which will manage just fine I have more questions, but I believe this enough for one round. I hope you can help me out with starting an awesome grow! TL;DR I have little room to grow, what should I fit in a 39 inches wide, 30 tall and 23 deep box to grow 3-4 plants: LSD, Blueberry and WW.
leave the box or cabinet the way it was intended to go.... yes you need to do some sort of training for your plant to maximize your yield hydro is awesome.... need to know your budget to know how to pick the other things out you should still get a fan and drill some holes... people design their box's or cabinets like this for a reason wheeling your plants around is going to suck.... i wouldn't do it, especially with hydro
Haha, I completely forgot to write about the fans, which I of course will be adding. I'd just go with 12cm computer fans to start with and see how that goes My budget as I said isn't very important (lets just say 1000-2000 USD), I just want to get a proper growbox But you wouldn't see a problem with growing in that box if I hydro and LST? Edit: Also more importantly: Thank you for helping me out, it's MUCH appreciated!
Two thousand dollars. Get a 2x4 grow tent. A proper fan and stick it in your closet. Don't waste your time with ikea. It's gonna leak light without alot of mods. Believe me even a 2x2 tent. Same size as your cabinet you wanna buy and retrofit. It's so much work. My vote. The tent
Or even better.. A LINK! haha High Tech Garden Supply Watch the video on the site, it shows you how to install a fan into the tent. And for lights go ide say use T5's High Tech Garden Supply set up 2 sets of these in your tent and you will be good to go. You will also need a carbon filter but thats a little bit down the line. I have this same set up for my veg tent, you can check it out I have a journal on here. It would be sufficent to flower a few plants in there.
Okay, say I go all the way and get a grow tent (even though they're fugly) should I still go for hydroponics (I'm up for the challenge)? Also, could you hand me a link to and example of a good tent. I have to check if I can obtain one here in Denmark edit: pfff, ^^ read my mind
whos the man.... you da man cant always find the time for links... i figure google has to work some times, and i was on my phone
I'll be heading out in a couple of minutes, when I get back I'll try to find a place which ships these tents to Denmark, without making it too much of a problem
Personally I wouldnt go hydro.. I know im gunna get bashed on for that statement haha, but I think it would be a little to advanced if your using such a small space like that.. I dont think your yeild will be drastically different since you can only grow the plants so tall.
I'm not really in a rush, so hydro might not be what I'm looking for? I just thought it would save me some room for those extra inches in case I had to use that IKEA closet. Let me get some time to check for grow tents which might be able to replace that Mother Keeper (because I very much doubt I can get one).
I'm sure Ikea has other storage closets that are taller, that 30-inch height is going to be difficult to work with. Soil vs. hydro is not something that has a definitive answer, it depends on your abilities. Some find hydro easy, some find it maddeningly difficult. Soil is more intuitive because we've all grown something in dirt before, whether little flowers or an avocado seed as a kid or whatever. My only other advice is that many growers end up expanding their grow op after they move up from being a newbie to having the experience of a few grows. We think we will be satisfied growing 2-3 plants, then we realize there are 4 different strains we want. We get a light that is OK for the smaller grow then end up buying a more powerful light a couple of years later. So...it is helpful to really think about the limits you want to set for yourself down the road and plan for that now, you will save money in the long run by buying everything once instead of twice. Your English is excellent BTW, kudos.
Thanks And thanks for the advice! I'll be heading to IKEA and other shops tomorrow to see if I can find a closet which fits my needs (Not buying anything yet). I've checked the grow tent market here in Denmark and it's actually not all that bad But still I don't want to get a tent before I'm 100% sure that I can't get a good closet to grow in. Lets say I'm wrong and 3-4 plants isn't enough, what would be some good measurements for a grow where I actually have enough room for more plants, still minding that I haven't got infinite room? While I'd love to have 5+ plants - I seriously doubt I'll be able to smoke that much (But I suppose the demand increases with the demand). Thank you all for helping me out, this is gonna be great fun