Lighting and closet set up

BongboyMMA

Active Member
What's up guys can you help me design my closet and tailor fit my lighting needs?

Closet 5x2x6.5ft painted white
I'm all about starting small and working my way up and would like to keep my veg/clone/bloom all in this room.
Sooo. Take 1sqft and partition it off 2 shelves on 2 ft the other the rest of the height.

Top to clone=cfl or hot5. Which is best how many watts
Bottom to veg=same question ( right now 2 are under 92w of cfl6500k, think I need more light. There is no stretch at all from the cfl so the bottom leaves aren't getting light and growing.

Real question the bloom room which will now be 4x2x6.5
2 10gal totes fit perfext= about 2ft of height so with out the lights I have 4.5 ft to grow. Like I said I'm all about starting small and growing :-) 4" cfm fan... How many cfm should it be and cool tube a 250w hps and supplement 4 23w 6500k to even the spectrum and keep heat down. Or a 400w hps. Or a mars2 400w led supplemented by cfls I think heats going to be an issue in such a small place. Oh and looking at 4 plants to bloom. 2 go in 4 weeks later add another 2 plants. This way I can harvest 2 plants every monthish

Ok those are the goals and the space. Critique changes and advice
 

BongboyMMA

Active Member
What's up pros? Think you can hook a super newb up with some advice here? I want to order a light this weekend so I can flower soon
 

FrozenChozen

Well-Known Member
What's up pros? Think you can hook a super newb up with some advice here? I want to order a light this weekend so I can flower soon
go for a low end 6" fan not a "bosster" get one rated at least 250 and a speed control... I would say more cfm is better, especially if you want to add a carbon filter later... 6" ducting as well, as its less restrictive on air flow and most cool tubes are 6 in... I would go with a 400 hps, maybe even a 600... I run a closet that's 2'X3'X8', and split in half horizontally, each chamber is about 4' tall, I run a 600HPS in one with moderate air flow and have no heat problems...
If I had the cash, I'd go for an Area-51 panel.....
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
As long as you can handle the heat get as big of a light
as heat will permit

the only crappy part of a rectangular closets is getting even light spread t5s would be a good option to me as they have a more linear spread of light and low heat

but the bigger the light the bigger the fruit

if it were me id try to get a 1000w digital ballast with dimmer switch
and put a splitter on it this will allow you to run 2 600w lights at about 500 to 550w eAch
this way you got good spread of light

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR HERE IS HEAT

deal with that and you can put whatever you want in there but be warned these Lights put off a shit ton of heat

something to consider
 

TheYokel

Well-Known Member
As long as you can handle the heat get as big of a light
as heat will permit

the only crappy part of a rectangular closets is getting even light spread t5s would be a good option to me as they have a more linear spread of light and low heat

but the bigger the light the bigger the fruit

if it were me id try to get a 1000w digital ballast with dimmer switch
and put a splitter on it this will allow you to run 2 600w lights at about 500 to 550w eAch
this way you got good spread of light

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR HERE IS HEAT

deal with that and you can put whatever you want in there but be warned these Lights put off a shit ton of heat

something to consider
His tent is only a 2x5... which means he will probably have about 2x4 of workable space. A 600w would be fine in there.

He is looking at around 8 square feet of canopy. A 600w puts off about 70,000 lumens. He is still right around 10,000 lumens per square foot if he uses a good hood.
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
His tent is only a 2x5... which means he will probably have about 2x4 of workable space. A 600w would be fine in there.

He is looking at around 8 square feet of canopy. A 600w puts off about 70,000 lumens. He is still right around 10,000 lumens per square foot if he uses a good hood.
Thats why I put in my post the 2 lights will get the best spread

I agree that one 6 is prolly enough
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Still in such a small space heat management trumps the light power
in my opinion

thats why I suggested the t5
Low heat with pleny of light to grow decent smoke

just my 2
 

TheYokel

Well-Known Member
Still in such a small space heat management trumps the light power
in my opinion

thats why I suggested the t5
Low heat with pleny of light to grow decent smoke

just my 2
t5 would be good to get the coverage area perfect, but damn they are a waste of money... in my opinion of course.
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Not a waste in my opinion because everything needs balance
like I still say the heat is the deciding factor to me

id rather have good budds from the t5 then burnt budds from 600w:)
but if the heat is on lock then by all means go with the bigger light
 

TheYokel

Well-Known Member
I had no probs getting a half lb from 8 bulb t5:)
I understand they are effective... but the cost man, the cost. It's like $60-$120 for a fixture depending on what you want, plus another $30-60 in bulbs...

I grow a QP every six weeks from my $30 of 300w (actual watt) CFLs.

I guess cost isn't a factor for a lot of people... but I am half-crippled and semi-retired... aka not good for shit, lol. I have to balance cost vs effectiveness more than some :)
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
If your handy you can make your own but I bought one

no big deal just sell a few bags outa the crop to pay for self sufficiency

I had a few cfls but I didnt like them cause its hard to get a big canopy while utilizing as much of the bulb as poss

their fine if you grow one plant trained around one bulb but I
dont have time for that lol

as long as the op gets the help he needed all I want

im happy if hes growing any way he can some are just more productive than others:)
 

TheYokel

Well-Known Member
I had a few cfls but I didnt like them cause its hard to get a big canopy while utilizing as much of the bulb as poss

as long as the op gets the help he needed all I want

im happy if hes growing any way he can some are just more productive than others:)
Yeah it is hard. I use twelve 26w'ers in three 4-bulb arrays to cover the 3x3 flower space I am working with.

That's a lot of bulbs for a 3x3... but it's what I could afford for a start-up.

And in my opinion, someone shouldn't spend $200 on 326w's of t5 when they can spend $120 for a nice 400w or 600w and blast it.

If I had the money, that's where I would have gone.
 

Cold$moke

Well-Known Member
Yup agreed

but if its the only option for heat its more than acceptable for good results

I ran the t5s in a small 3x5x3 box so for the size
I was not dissapointed in the yeid one bit

but I made a slightly taller bigger room to get some real colas. And went with a 1k dimmable with a 90 w ufo in a 4.5x4.5x5 box and I get very respectable yields for the room size. :)
Edit also I think my t5s where real cheap cause so was I at the time lol cant imagine they would be more expensive so many years later. As in I think I paid mabey 200 with like all the bulbs and mabey another set included but was like 7 years ago I think just when t5s where coming on the scene
 

s10erwin

Active Member
Just a suggestion, use a 6 mil poly which is highly reflective and easily cleaned instead of throwing around any paint?
 

TheYokel

Well-Known Member
Just a suggestion, use a 6 mil poly which is highly reflective and easily cleaned instead of throwing around any paint?
Flat white paint in a closet will work fine. Basically the same thing as using Panda Plastic in a tent.
 

s10erwin

Active Member
I just know how much painting sucks and figure some double backed 3m would throw enough walls of cheap poly up.
 
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