Starting to grow had some questions

lumens are important too. you want 1,000-3,000 lumens per sq foot, you tent is 6.76 sq feet, so you'll want at least 6,760 total lumens. the package your light bulbs came in should tell you how many lumens they produce. the father away the plants are from the light, the less lumens they get, so fluorescent lights are good cuz they can be very close, but hid's are better cuz they give off much more lumens (a 400 watt mh will give off like 32,000 lumens and a 400 watt hps will give off like 50,000 lumens)

are your lights able to be raised/lowered? if your going fluorescent then a 5' tent should be ok cuz you can keep the lights right next to them, if they can be adjusted. i have 9 fluorescent tubes in rubbermaid tubs and im growing 2 plants right now. ive had a couple successful harvests and i get a lil more than an oz per plant with my set up. i plan on getting a tent that is 3x3x6.5, with a 400w mh/hps cool tube reflector hood w/digital ballast, exhaust fan w/carbon filter and possibly an intake fan but i think the cool tube will keep my temps down. fluorescent lights work fine but hid's work better, and if your spending money why not spend a lil more now cuz itll def pay off later.

you'll need an exhaust fan at least, probably a good idea to get one with a carbon filter otherwise (if you grow it right) your house with stink of weed.

Thanks for the posts!

Just ordered tent and also decided to get the fan with filter as well (http://www.ebay.com/itm/280876968539?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649); smell is the only thing that would get me caught so rather be safe then sorry. From what i was reading this fan should be more then enough to get clear the air so got the speed control as well. So I was thinking of having a passive intake, I can always add a fan in the intake if needed.

Also decided to go all out auto flower for first grow then switch to photo for 2nd since Ill have a stash to get me though the wait.

As for lighting plan was to have 4 reflector clamps on the four corners of tent which can be adjusted as much as needed. Then also get a pulley system with some more lights directly over them. Was going to start with 8 6500k, then when they start to flower switch out 4 of them with 4 23watt 2700k. That is ~13200 during "veg" and ~13400 during bloom (almost 50/50% split in color). I was not sure what the best ratio of color spectrum would be for an auto flower blooming (or vegging)

http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/36858/FC23-S65.html - 6500k bulbs was going to get
http://www.1000bulbs.com/product/1583/FC23-23W27K4PK.html - 2700k bulbs

Now need to think about nutes and soil as well as schedule for them. Any tips and feedback is appreciated as always
 
good call on the fan/filter, and yes a 4" (smallest of the effective fan`s) should be plenty for a small tent and CLFs and beside odor control it will also deliver your girls with fresh air and that is so important for a healthy grow, remember to keep them CLFs close, need to be with in 2-4 inch`s to provide really good light, at 4-10 they still provide ok light for lower grow, but after 12" my light meter dont show much, so keep that in mind, normally I would for sure say go scrog or atlest some heavy LST traing with fluorescent light, but if your going with autos I would just let em grow up and finish fast, autos dont do to good with to much stress as you only have a short time to get most out of em so to speak, some light LST early on could work to make em shoot a few main shoots instead of one for more yield, the idea is to get the plant train so when it flower most Bud stand is close to the light source

DSC00476.jpg

indoors no matter what light we need to be creative as we don't have the Sun, we need to grow the plant so we can keep most of it with in the light, and fluorescent have the lowest penetration and intensity of all lights so keep em close

and as my Bro grorite said, use em all, in general with weed, the more light the better, atleast when we talk flowering

add em as the plant grow and need more light to cover them, ratio IMO should be 2-1 and 1-2 in flowering, but in general the more light the better in flowering, Veg plants actually don't need much light to do good, not more then a normal indoor plant (1-3K ft candles) but once in flowering it need around 3x the amount to do good and produce some dank Buds..

I would just use one 6500K over each seedling and maybe a single 2700K in between (if you grow 4) em to start with, add 2 more of each after a few weeks and once in flowering add em all in a 2-1 mix with mostly the 2700K

so 6x6500K and 3x2700K uptill flowering and then vise versa

do you use Y-splits ?

GrowBox9.jpg
 
about nuts and soil, keep it simple to start with, but don't go cheap on the soil, its the home for your babies for the next 3-4 months, and most important is that they stand in the right PH,

weed like a soil with a PH on 6-7 close to 7, some cheap "super market" soils contain to much peetmoss and is to acid with a PH between 5,5 and 6,2

don't cut conners to safe 5$ here, get some good, maybe organic soil with a PH on 6,2-7

beside PH witch also help buffer your water PH (if your water is off to much I would advice you to adjust it) the second most important thing is to get a light and airy soil that drains well, weed don't just take up water and nutrients in there roots, but also O2 (air) "over watering" as Ppl. call it is the most common mistake of the new grower in soil, and is the most common mistake that leads to the dead of plants, and its not Bc. of to much water, but lack of air for the roots, so make sure the Pot`s you get also is well drained (air pots or bag`s is to prefer IMO) and soil should contain stuff like Perlite, hydro/lega stones, coco, sand, and not to much stuff like clay etc. you can also use a air pump to provide the water you use with some air (over night) and never use to hot water, try to aim for 15-20c with 18C as a aim

and don't start out small seedlings in to big pot`s do a few repots on the way to flowering with a last one a week before 12/12, a small seedling wont be able to use up the water you need to use to water a etc, 3 gallon pot, it will stand in damp soil that will loose its oxygen over time, IMO a small cup is the best way to start em, repot when you need to water more then every 2-3 day, to small pot`s can also be a problem and lead to root bound plant`s

another good thing about doing a few repotting`s along the way is that weed like to spread its roots out to the sides and then down, so by making a few repots you make it grow a nice big root net for the center of the final pot, if started in the final pot it wont use around 30% of the soil in the center of the pot so to speak ..

I like to use cups for the fist 2-3 weeks then some 1-3 gallon doing Veg. and a 5-7 gallon a week before I switch to 12/12

about water, what will you use ? RO or Tap ? if Tap check out your local water plant, most have a home pages where you can check almost every thing, to start with check the PH and if it contain chlorine


about nutrients, keep it simple, go for some that is for soil and not hydro/coco, get a simple 2 or 3 part`s from one of the bigger companies (later on you can add more once you have some experience and have done some more research on the subject) and remember, less is more when it comes to nuts, a good soil will in most cases contain enough food for the small seedlings fist few weeks once it have used most in the soil but still is young and small and in Veg you should be careful and start out with a mild strength solution (1/4 of what the bottles say)
 
Now need to think about nutes and soil as well as schedule for them. Any tips and feedback is appreciated as always

i use fox farm everything. fox farm light warrior for seedling, then transplant it into fox farm ocean forest. i also use the fox farm trio pack (big bloom, grow big and tiger bloom), and fox farm kangaroots, microbrew and sledgehammer. the sledgehammer is important because if you use nutes you'll get salt build up which is bad for your roots. the sledgehammer cleans that up. this is my first grow using nutes and i have burned my plants, not badly just the tips, and i used half what the bottle/schedule suggests. everything i looked up said fox farm is the best, so thats what i went with. all their products are available on ebay.

about nuts and soil, keep it simple to start with, but don't go cheap on the soil, its the home for your babies for the next 3-4 months, and most important is that they stand in the right PH,

don't cut conners to safe 5$ here, get some good, maybe organic soil with a PH on 6,2-7

beside PH witch also help buffer your water PH (if your water is off to much I would advice you to adjust it) the second most important thing is to get a light and airy soil that drains well, weed don't just take up water and nutrients in there roots, but also O2 (air) "over watering" as Ppl. call it is the most common mistake of the new grower in soil, and is the most common mistake that leads to the dead of plants, and its not Bc. of to much water, but lack of air for the roots, so make sure the Pot`s you get also is well drained (air pots or bag`s is to prefer IMO) and soil should contain stuff like Perlite, hydro/lega stones, coco, sand, and not to much stuff like clay etc.

about water, what will you use ? RO or Tap ? if Tap check out your local water plant, most have a home pages where you can check almost every thing, to start with check the PH and if it contain chlorine


about nutrients, keep it simple, go for some that is for soil and not hydro/coco, get a simple 2 or 3 part`s from one of the bigger companies (later on you can add more once you have some experience and have done some more research on the subject) and remember, less is more when it comes to nuts, a good soil will in most cases contain enough food for the small seedlings fist few weeks once it have used most in the soil but still is young and small and in Veg you should be careful and start out with a mild strength solution (1/4 of what the bottles say)

very good advice here. i went with fox farm because "Good Things From the Earth and Sea!The ultimate potting soil—everything your plants need, in one bag. Ocean Forest® is a powerhouse blend of premium earthworm castings, bat guano, and sea-going fish and crab meal.
Composted forest humus, sandy loam, and sphagnum peat moss give Ocean Forest® its light, aerated texture. Start with Ocean Forest® and watch your plants come alive!
Garden tip: Perfect for containers and ready to use right out of the bag. Ocean Forest® is pH adjusted at 6.3 to 6.8 to allow for optimum fertilizer uptake. There’s no need for nitrogen fertilizers at first; instead try an organic blend like FoxFarm Big Bloom® Liquid Plant Food to encourage strong branching and a sturdy, healthy growth habit." (copied that from their site)

if you are only growing 2-4 plants then i think buying distilled water from your grocery store is an affordable option. its like $1 a gallon, it doesnt have chemicals and shit tap water does and because youre growing only a few plants you wont be spending a lot of money.

like slipon said, go real light on the nutes, especially at first. i thought i was and i still gave my babies a lil nute burn. nutes should have a schedule, follow it. dont use them too soon or too much.


 
Okay tent is set up with filter and exhaust hooked up, was going to buy lighting today which should be perfect timing as I expect my seeds to arrive sometime next week.

After much more research it looks like HID lights may not be that much more expensive still need to math out somethings. I am primarily worried about energy costs, heat of the HID bulbs, and lack of height I have. But the more lumens per watt and better penetration may be worth it. So I had some additional questions

To give all the deets I think you will need to answer the questions. My tent is 2.6x2.6x5feet, I have a 190cfm inline exhaust with 14inch scrubber and plan to passive intake from basement air. Basement is the coolest place in the house, would think it would get no hotter than 76 degrees in the summer time. Plan was to start of easy a grow 2 auto flowers (Afghan Kush Ryder and Critical +2.0)

1. If I get a 250 watt HID will I need a cool tube or increased cooling? If, yes would I need it if I ran it at 75% (187.5watts). I have no idea how hot these bulbs run, i just know that most people recommend an air cooled reflectors.

2a. 400w isnt that much more expensive. Logically if I ran it at 50% it actually be a lower energy cost than the 250w at 100% since it is pulling 50 less watts, am I right by thinking this(again excuse my ignorance)?
2b. If the 400w at 50w is less energy, is it also less heat? (meaning if I don't need air cooling for the 250w bulb I shouldnt need it for a 400w bulb at 50%)

3. The hps and mh bulbs that come with the ballast/reflector combos don't seem to be the optimal color spectrum (@~2k not 2.7k and around 6k not 6.5k). If I decide to go HID should i not get those bulbs and buy 2700k, or are the spectrums lower on the HID bulbs

4. From research ive done with a 250w light closest I can be to plant is 8 inches and for 400w 12 inches. Without air cooled reflectors i doubt you can get that close so lets say 14 - 18 inches away from plants (worst case scenario). 60 inch tent minus 18 inches gives 42inches or 3.5 feet. Take off 9 inches for planter size means plats can be no larger than 2.75 feet or 33 inches. I am not too worried about the size of the autos, but if i decide to grow regular plants will height be an issue (take into account I can scrog or LST). I cannot get a taller tent as the room in the basement has plumbing pipes that reduce the ceiling height and my wife wont let the tent be anywhere else for fear of guests seeing the tent.
 
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