1000 watt hps grow tent

Discussion in 'Grow Room Design/Setup' started by housefullOweed, Nov 30, 2009.

  1. Hey guys i just had a few questions that i was hoping you guys could help me out with.

    I am planning to start a grow using a 4 foot wide 8 foot long 6.5 foot tall grow tent or a 6x6x6.5 grow tent. I will be using a 1000 watt HPS air cooled light and then adding a second after my first grow. Which of these tents would be best in your opinions for best light coverage and access?

    I am really hoping in the future to achieve 1 gram per watt but as this is my first grow i know it is highly unlikely. I figure i might as well get all the info i can to make sure i am on the right track to achieving this goal. I am planning on growing 4 plants to the size of 12 inch's and flowering under one of the lights, is this height and this amount of plants per light adequate? As i said i am just trying to make sure i am on the correct path to yielding one gram per watt so i figure i better make sure i am starting out the correct way.

    As far as ventilation goes i am planning on using the 6 inch Vortex 449 CFM Blower but money is tight at the moment so i am trying to figure out what exactly i can get away with. I hope to be able to vent only the lights so i can leave the room sealed for co2. I just need to know how many CFMS i need to exhaust 1 or 2 1000 watt HPS straight threw the tent? I know the vortex would be the best because i am pretty sure it could handle the job and i could turn it down to the level i needed it, but as i said i am on a budget. I also realize that humidity issues may require me to vent the tent, but if so i can always throw on a carbon scrubber and pick up a smaller $30 booster fan from eBay or home depot.

    I am taking Rumbles advice and going with Vic super soil for my first grow or two just to learn the basics and for mediums for my mothers. I have a few bubble buckets laying around and i would rather start with bubble buckets but i figure i should probably go with this for my first grow. Anyways i will be using this recipe and i would like to know approximately how many gallons of soil i will come up with? And i just wanted to make sure that it is safe to use this from seed? i would also like to know how much i should moisten it?

    1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix (3.8 cu ft)
    8 cups Bone Meal - phosphorus source
    4 cups Blood Meal - nitrogen source
    1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source
    3-4 cups dolomite lime -calcium source & pH buffering
    4 cups kelp meal.
    9kg (25 lbs) bag pure worm castings

    - Mix thoroughly, moisten, and let sit (uncovered) 1-2 weeks before use.

    I am also considering starting early with nematodes as preventive measures against bug attacks seems like soil growers have problems with this.

    Anyways what do you guys think? Sorry this was so long and rambling but i would really appreciate any help you guys could offer up?
     
  2. Tent: It depends how you do it. You're going to need to walk into these tents to get to the plants in the back, so just plan on that. Somewhere in there you're going to lose floorspace, with the 6x6 you can do two 6x2.5 rows with a 1' column for you to walk up the middle. This gives you about 30sqft used which is actually pretty good. The 8x4 (depending on what side the door is) will probaby give less useful space.

    The Grow: I think you should grow more plants. Start a whole bunch, as many as you can really, and then widdle it down to the keepers. With a 1000w light your plants can easily reach 3 feet indoors, I'm using a 400w lamp in a scrog and they are 2 feet at 30 days into flowering. If this were my setup I would probably plan on growing 6 plants, three on each side, giving each plant about 24" of diameter and a finished height of 3 feet. I would also use the LST technique to expose the lower bud sites. A proper harvest could be in excess of 1000 grams (like 1200) without too much effort if the growing time is about 120 days from seed to harvest.

    Ventilation: The fan is adequate, even if you get a carbon filter. If money is tight though you should look into getting a blower (squirrel cage) fan. You can get away with anything equal to your room volume (234cfm) so that your whole room can be exhausted every minute. Your room temps will be about 6 degrees warmer than the intake ambient temp so in a home you could just keep the room around 72 degrees. I suggest adding a 6" axial fan for intake, and dehumidifiers are like $30 and can be purchased most anywhere.

    Soil: Personally I'd cut all the nutrient supplements in half and use more of the sunshine mix to compensate. Then I'd use organic nutrient fertilizers during growth. I would also start my seedlings in pure sunshine mix to avoid burning them early which that mix will probably do.

    Here's what my next bubbler style grow looks like:
    Start with a standard square 5 gallon planter. At the bottom place a large air stone, choose a flat one rather than one of the tall standing one. Cover the air stone with 3" to 4" of Hydroton clay pebbles. Then add another 2" to 3" of mini rockwool cubes on top of that. Start your plants in 4" or 6" rockwool cubes, and when the roots start to break through the bottom place the big cube with the plants on top of the mini cubes. Fill in the area around with more mini cubes, and then cover the top 2" with more hydroton clay pebbles to keep down the algae. Place several of these planters into a larger flood tray (rubbermaid tub) and feed them by hand in the mornings (or set up a top feed on timer). Allow the tray to fill to the point where the mini cubes hit the hydroton in the planters. By the end of the day the plants should have swallowed up all that solution and will need more the next morning.

    Check out this guys grow, it's the same system (I'm sorta ripping this idea off from him).
    400W HPS Scrog - 1Plant - 450gr Harvest - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums
     
  3. I have used that mix for years. It is one of the best one out. Very nice setup.

    For god sake, lets see some pictures!
     
  4. I was leaning towards going with the 4x8x6 tent and growing with 4 square feet of floor space per light and 4 plants. But 6 plants with that much space to branch out sounds good to me i just didn't want to get over whelmed my first time growing. So would only one 1000k watt light in the 6x6x6 tent be adequate coverage would 2 be over kill?

    This is the reflector i was gonna go with for the 4x8x but I'm thinking i should prolly go with something more square for the 6x6.
    www.dchydro.com

    As far as the soil goes i really don't know i would like to try fertilizing but i really don't want to mess up to bad on my first grow so i think ill play it safe for this round.
    How long should i wait to transplant my seedling into a pot of the Vic's super soil?

    Thanks for the info on the ventilation very helpful

    That's a pretty crazy grow you linked man very interesting.

    I'm still getting stuff together its gonna be a little bit but ill be sure to post a journal as soon as its all coming together.
     
  5. #5 2Lazy, Dec 1, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 1, 2009
    I wouldn't worry so much about "too much light." Your plants will use it so long as your ventilation is good, and it opens the door to CO2. There are power concerns, anywhere from $30 to $90 per month depending on your power fees.
    If I only wanted to grow 4 plants I would get a 600w lamp as this would be plenty of light and penetration for the area you want to grow in. Later you could double that and you'd still be in good shape while using 1.5 kw/h rather than closer to 2.5 kw/h. Just something to keep in mind I guess.
    Eventually I plan on getting a 1000w system but that's when I'll be ready to utilize it.
    You could grow 4 plants for probably half the cost in a smaller tent with a smaller light and do really well. When you've offset the cost of purchasing that system you could then upgrade to something bigger, keeping the smaller system as a mother/cloning room. It's like a three step approach. Get the small setup, get the practice in. Get the mid-sized setup, develop your genetics. Get the big setup, and never worry again.
    Different strokes though, do what's right for you.
     

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