hey, gettin ready to go buy a 3 1/2' x 12'' x 12'' cabinet and maybe some of the other stuff, not all though cause im not sure what all i need and or how to set it up (if that makes sense). I am trying to figure out the best setup for the smaller space, my biggest questions are: how many plants in that place (was thinking 2-3 max?) i wanted to do a hydro setup from a large like tupperware container (one of the rubbermaid tub things) and was curious what size one to get. what size / watt lights (i was looking into getting either 1 fixture and swapping out from mh and hps bulbs (during different stages) or getting 2 fixtures and doing both at the same time the only thing im worried about that way the heat produced from it. any advice / help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
In such a small space I would suggest HID fluorescent lighting, or even CFL mini twist bulbs. They're relatively cheap @ around $7-8. You won't need ballasts they run fairly cool, and lumens per watt, they are mucho efficient. I'm using 6 of them in my box and it stays right at ambient room temp at the plant level even after 18 hrs. I got 2 bathroom light fixtures, that kind with three bulbs. Those are easy to wire because you only have 2 wires for each fixture and they lamp holders are secured on a metal frame that makes it easy to attach. Check out the lighting section in your local home builder supply store, like Home Depot or Lowes. Another option, if you want to use HPS light is to cut a hole in the top of the cabinet and mount a HPS or MH security light in the hole. (the hole in the top of my box is for a 70 watt HPS security light that I will use during flowering. I can't advise you on the hydro setup, but I'm sure there are plenty of folks who have been successful with SOG or SCROG grows...in fact, if memory serves, I saw some topics about small hydro grows here in the city. One piece of advice I can offer is to be flexible and improvise when necessary. I'm not sure about the dimensions you quoted; is the cabinet 3.5' tall? if that's the case you only have 1 square foot of grow space. I suppose you could grow 2-3 small plants in there. I have seen pix of big buds on some puny ass plants so you might could grow a few oz. every 3 months or so.
yea it's 3 1/2 ft tall x 1ft x 1ft, i thought about the cfl's but i dont know how many i should get for that space, and what watt would be safe in there, cause from what i read the more the light the better, but i dont wanna burn it down lol. anyway, later i might move to a 3 1/2 ft tall x 3ft x3ft or so but if i do that i wanna build it myself. how many lights and what watt would you do? there is also a light i saw at home depot for spot growing (it's looks like a very small spot light with a purple like tint) i thought about putting one or 2 of those over the plants along with the cfls around them but im not sure what watt to get of those either, they had 30w 50w or 100w ones i think.
I don't know anything about the spot grow lights, sorry. As for the cfl bulbs, they certainly produce less heat than MH or HPS. I got a lot of info from this thread here in the indoor growing forum: http://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/122824-kamels-cfl-guide.html
yea, im probably gonna do cfls and just put one of the spot grow lights directly above them all, cant hurt anything i guess lol. I've read that guide and all the posts up to page 6 on indoor and newb area. I just dont know how many bulbs and what watt for the 3 1/2 ft tall x 1ft x 1ft i have.
so no one can tell me what size cfl's and how many to use for my space? (3 1/2 ft tall x 1ft x 1ft) I want healthy plants but i dont the heat to get too high in the space.
if i were you i would try and grow 1 plant in there. as for lighting... rule of thumb is 100 watts per plant so i would go to home depot and get 4 23 watt daylight cfls. there is an awesome sticky in this forum it is Kamels CFL guide. it will answer any questions you have about cfls
i love how he puts "read the stickies" in bold but i guess he didnt read my post... i read the guides....
u have 1 square foot of grow space and 3.5ft high stealth grow box the box is just high enough if u are careful and train the plant. a general ligthing formula is to have 40-80watts per square foot basically aim for around 50w/ft ..u can change that for ur next grow hope i helped
Nerve, I have a grow space much like yours. My closet is 3 ft. tall At first I tried an HPS in there but that was way way too much heat. Right now I am running with only 2 30W CFLs, but the plants are still seedlings. Soon I will move to 2 80W CFLs. You can put there as much CFLs as you can fit, they barely produce any heat. I can't get 100w CFLs where I live, but if I we're you i'd go with 2 100W CFLs and that should be enough for 2 nice and healthy plants.
