I'm attempting a closet grow. the main section that's roughly (w) 25"x(L) 30"x(H) 72" & a shelf with (w)25"x(L)30"x(H)25" of space above the shelf. I have a 400 watt hps with a sunleaves reflector. The reflector is missing the sheet of glass that covers the bottom of it. It also has these vent covers that can be screwed off for a exhaust system. I have no idea what type of glass to use and how to hook up the exhaust to it, but I think I can probably get away without that. I also have a 125w cfl which I plan to throw into the shiity little reflector that came with my HTG HPS. Due to the limitations of my space I only was gonna attempt to do 4 super silver haze clones. I'm using happy frog soil, and the clones I'm getting will be rooted. From what I've been told is that using that soil I wouldn't have to fertilize for at least 6 to 8 weeks; he also said that when the plants reach about 8" to 12" I should flower them. My question is should I veg them under the 125w cfl not add ferts, then flower under hps and start with flowering ferts????? Or do I get a hps/mh conversion bulb, move them under that after coming out of the cfl?? If so do start ferts for vegging even if its only for a brief period??? If I can do it both ways is one much better than the other?????? I need all the help I can get. Sorry for the long post ill keep it shorter in the future. I just want as much good bud out of this as I can & any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Advice from EXPERIENCED GROWERS
- Thread starter jbuds23
- Start date
W Dragon
Well-Known Member
if it were me mate i'd put them under the cfl for the first couple of days just to harden them off incase they have just been rooted and then move them under the hps, with the hps i'd start it a little higher then move it down gradually over a day or 2 and then flower them off they'll grow rapidly under the hps as mentioned above the more light the better mate hope this helps no need for extra equipment
pitbudz87
Well-Known Member
use the hps if u want to get the mh conversion go ahead it wuld only benifit you. and to awnser your wuestion about ferts if you were told to not use em for an allotted time then dont this guy told you to flower at a certain height sounds like he has grown the strain and has experience with both it and the soil i would do as he said and gradually add bloom nutes if you have already started flower cuz of the height then wait till the 6 wk mark and gradually start to give them some. your plants will tell you what they need i promise, look into getting a can fan for your light to cool the grow area and a osiclating fan to move the air you dont want stale air in your grow plants do not do well in thos conditions hope this helps yuo and happy growing
W Dragon
Well-Known Member
i would only leave them under the cfl for a couple of days then put them under the hps, the size of the clone is down to you but you should allow for it to stretch to 3 times it's original size, the yeild of the clones will depend on the size they're flowered at and how they are treated through out their lives. if the clones have come from a mature mother the size isn't important it should be sexually mature unlike flower seeds that haven't hit maturity yet. if your unsure how to go about it i'd flower them off sooner rather than later mate
don't really matter what you veg with so long as you do. The longer you veg the bigger your plant will be when you flower and the more yield you're likely to get, all else being equal. If you grow in organic dirt then lighten your nute plan while in veg, when in flower you can add more, like PK spike to help. Dirt is the main nute vector. In hydro nutes get really important.
Don't veg under HPS. CFL is fine. Use the daylight, not warm.
Your height limit isn't going to work. You need more vertical space. You'll need 8-12" minimum space from the canopy to the 400W HPS and your plants will probably end up about 2ft tall if you let them get 12" before putting them to flower. You need a little room to hang the light in so you're looking at needing another 10-12" of vertical space. Figure whatever height you let the plants get to in veg, they'll double in flower. LST is your friend in such a height limited space.
Vegging under the 400W MH bulb would be really awesome for you. Mo-light is mo-bettuh. BTW, at 4 clones you're in a pretty tight setup for canopy space. You'll have no room for much else.
I'd say, big up your space a bit and use all the light you can for veg, slowly add ferts during flower, grow to 12" tall in veg minimum unless you LST, then 8" might just work as long as you have plenty of branches growing upward off the stalk before you put it to flower.
Don't veg under HPS. CFL is fine. Use the daylight, not warm.
Your height limit isn't going to work. You need more vertical space. You'll need 8-12" minimum space from the canopy to the 400W HPS and your plants will probably end up about 2ft tall if you let them get 12" before putting them to flower. You need a little room to hang the light in so you're looking at needing another 10-12" of vertical space. Figure whatever height you let the plants get to in veg, they'll double in flower. LST is your friend in such a height limited space.
Vegging under the 400W MH bulb would be really awesome for you. Mo-light is mo-bettuh. BTW, at 4 clones you're in a pretty tight setup for canopy space. You'll have no room for much else.
I'd say, big up your space a bit and use all the light you can for veg, slowly add ferts during flower, grow to 12" tall in veg minimum unless you LST, then 8" might just work as long as you have plenty of branches growing upward off the stalk before you put it to flower.
mygirls
Medical Marijuana (MOD)
what i would do is put the glass back in.. add a fan to exhaust the heat from the light out of the room leave the one side of the light open to pull and exhaust air from within the room. next add a fan to bring in freash air.. your 400wtter should do just fine. good luck and keep um green
The guy who worked @ the hydroponics store said I didn't need to feed for 6 weeks with this happy frog soil. He also said to start flowering at that height because it will finish about three times bigger on the strain review it says they flowered @ 25 cm & it finished at 155cm. I assumed I'd have to put them under the cfl @1st because the mh bulb would be too strong for it. I'm new to all this, I've grown once before indoors but had to get rid of the plants before they could finish. I'm worried about overfertalizing the plants and I see all these nutrients @ the store it seems like one could use 10 different things just for flowering. I don't mind spending some money but also don't want to go too overboard with all this.
So 12" is what I should wait till I start the flowering process? My buddy showed me how to cut it and get 2 colas, as far as LSTing goes I just tie down the highest branch with some string till the next one shoots up & repeat? Would I be better of doing that? I know I keep answering in questions I'm sorry.
W Dragon
Well-Known Member
i wouldn't wait til it's 12" unless you know you have enough space for it if you do then great stuff mate, if you top it mate (cut the top off) it'll take a few days to recover so i'd probably go with lst (low stress training) there's loads of info out there regarding training your best bet would be to have a look about and see what you think will work best for you mate i say to have a look because with training you can veg alot longer and have more option available but with it comes more time and work aswell, training isn't for every1 and every setup but that all comes with time and practice if this your first grow and your experimenting i'd try something different on all of them but that's just me mate, failing that i'd try to follow the k.i.s.s rule (keep it simple stupid) which is what i do and have been having great results unfortunately though mate it's all trial and error
Thanks for all the info ill definitly have a look @ LST & topping to see what better suits me. Unfortunatley I just don't have a lot of space. Anyhow if I were to get a can fan for my hood but couldn't neccesarily vent it out of the closet would it still be better cause I have air flowing over it or does that not mean anything cause its still eshausting into the same room? I planned on having a little fan blowing on the stalks to strengthen them, then I was going to just open the door a few times a day to let it air out?
varscience21
Well-Known Member
It would do nothing because as you said it would still be exhausting in the same space. I think with a space that small without exhausting you might have to keep the door open to keep the temps down. When I first started I didn't air cool my light(same amount of watts as yours) and I always had heat problems which I know significantly impacted my yield and quality but if you can't afford to air cool than definitely make sure to watch your temps and definitely get an oscillating fan in there. I don't know how other people keep thier temps down without air cooling unless there using a large area and then they are still probably exhausting the old hot air out and bringing cool air in.
*BUDS
Well-Known Member
ok so your not going to cool your light, hope your going to exhaust the closet as a 400hps in basically a 2x2 space will get scorching hot.And if u add more lights your plants will be cookin
Mountainfarmer
Well-Known Member
Yeah son, your definitly gonna need to cool that light. Right now your expectations are too high for what your willing to do. First thing measure your reflector and go buy a piece of tempered glass at a glass shop. I would bring the reflector in and let them measure it for you. Tell them to put a gasket on the reflector to help provide a good seal. Next, your gonna need to find somewhere to pull, preferably cold air, through you reflector and dump it somewhere. You should dump it outside the room. Even with your light being cooled you will probably still need some sort of room cooling system. Set up the light cooling system and see what your temps are like. Anything above 85 degrees @ canopy height and you'll need to add additional cooling. That is just the deal with HID's, they produce a lot of heat. Also, you are gonna want to store your ballast in another room.
I would veg to 8 inches then flip to 12/12. The plants really get big after the flip.
As far as adding ferts you'll just have read your plants and add ferts when necessary. This is one of the drawback to using hot soils, it can be tricky determining when ferts are necessary. Personally I like using a blank soil like promix and as my own ferts. This way I know what is in the soil. Hope this helps!!! GL
I would veg to 8 inches then flip to 12/12. The plants really get big after the flip.
As far as adding ferts you'll just have read your plants and add ferts when necessary. This is one of the drawback to using hot soils, it can be tricky determining when ferts are necessary. Personally I like using a blank soil like promix and as my own ferts. This way I know what is in the soil. Hope this helps!!! GL
Yeah problem is I'm in a apartment so I can't really be cuttin to many holes in the walls, my friend who installed the outlet in the closet with its own dedicated line to the breaker box . He had a hard time getting through the walls there 's a steel plate & concrete in the walls between units to prevent fires from spreading, so going through the wall & hooking it to the exhaust vent in the bathroom might not work out. Already broke. $140 drill bit runnin the wires to the outlet. Were gonna see if it can be done, if not I was gonna have a fan blowing over the plants & ill be using an 18 hour cycle for veg to cut down on the heat hopefully, & will be able to leave the door open or cracked while the lights are on, I hope that would be enough. I was also thinking I have a 125w cfl I could use for my veg cycle. That would cut down on the heat + seeing how ill be flowering them @ 8", then I could throw em under the hps, & @ least the lights are on for 12 hours. Does that sound like a feasible way to do upit?