changed plans!! Going with a closet 2.5 x 2 x 8 ft cycle grow?

the cfls will be best for heat. a 400 watt hps isnt gonna run ya $100 a month. my 600 only runs about $40 a month with all the fans and everything. but i guess that depends on what you have to pay for electric

I'm strongly against cfl... Only because 400 actual watts of cfl won't yield half as much as 400w hps, and the heat output would be about the same.. My space heater I use in the winter is 1500w my 5k living room ac is 650w and my 10k grow room ac is 1k so a little 4-600w hps setup isn't gonna stick out

yea I think I am just going to stick with the cfls for now, maybe later down the road I will change over but just starting out... I will stick to this idea. Right now do I need to leave my tap water out over night before watering my soil for the seeds to go into? or can I do a watering and test the ph off the runoff with a test strip. n00b here sry. I am going to start germinating 2 more seeds tonight after I get back from home depot. I have literally spent all day researching for my situation and think this will work best if i need to change later down the road I will but i think this will work. 3 cfl 43w 6500k bulb on a vanity strip for now for these 3 sprouts and then I will go back after my others germ and get the other strip and bulbs. I am hoping this will do a good job and produce so awesomeness!!!

Any Walmart/home improvement store will have timers for you. I used the same starter mix as you I would go a 2/1 ratio soil to perlite. As for your water, I hear tap should be left out overnight to release some chlorine out of it. I've been getting the one gallon water jugs from the grocery store (soda/water isle). I found getting the spring water one is easiest for me, it's ph is right at 6.5, a couple other I tried varied. You won't have to worry about your soil ph unless your creating your own.

The scrap bin at Home Depot usually has some good pickings in there. All my wood came from it except the pieces I used for my scrog. Are you stacking the bins so they're normal like mine, or inverting the top one?

i agree fir3dragon 400 watt of cfl wont yeild as much as 400 watt of hid, but if the cfls keep the temp right he could harvest more than if using a hid with out of control temps. I just remeber him saying he couldnt cut holes or anything for vents and he needs it to be stealth. My advice would be to find a good journal around here that is doing what you wanna do and try to imitate that the best you can.

bb61 said:

Any Walmart/home improvement store will have timers for you. I used the same starter mix as you I would go a 2/1 ratio soil to perlite. As for your water, I hear tap should be left out overnight to release some chlorine out of it. I've been getting the one gallon water jugs from the grocery store (soda/water isle). I found getting the spring water one is easiest for me, it's ph is right at 6.5, a couple other I tried varied. You won't have to worry about your soil ph unless your creating your own.

The scrap bin at Home Depot usually has some good pickings in there. All my wood came from it except the pieces I used for my scrog. Are you stacking the bins so they're normal like mine, or inverting the top one?

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I already have everything right now i am trying to figure out how you got everything set up to go up and down with ease... I have everything sorta set up like yours except I sprayed the inside of my tubs. Now I have the list of your materials but can not to save the life of me wrap my stoner mind around how you got it to go up and down???? ugh!!

Right now until I can afford the ballast and all that stuff I am sticking with the CFL, but as soon as I have a couple hundred saved back I will upgrade to a HID. I have other expenses that are more important. I havent really spent a dime on any of these materials. GIFT CARDS!! STORE CREDIT!!

whitetanktop421@yahoo.com said:

I am going to go to home depot to make sure what I am getting I really like the idea of that reflector and growing one plant is ideal for right now. of course while I am trying to get a female I will have quite a few seedlings. I am searching on the interwebs but I cant seem to find if that reflector comes with a ballast or what... ugh. I have metal halide bulbs 100watts but no way to power them.....

http://m.homedepot.com/p/ViaVolt-Budget-18-in-Bat-Wing-Reflector-Light-with-5KV-Socket-and-Cord-VBH18RCS/204146230/
this is what I wanted to get and have to light my plant from veg to harvest by changing the bulbs and getting more fans around.

for air I was going to start with computer fans and then move up to the silver fans and go from there. my idea was if I can hold a lighter and the flame move that would be enough air moving... my only issue now is thinking of how i am going to vent this and keep the smell down. i cant cut a whole to the attic...

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I think that wing will be a pain to cool plus you would have to spend another $100 at least for the lamp and ballast. I would recommend checking amazon and ebay for either a cooltube with a wing or a sealed hood with decent ports. You'll keep your room much cooler if you can directly remove the heat from the light itself.
check this one out:
http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK400CTAC-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B00547RGI8/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1376865289&sr=8-12&keywords=cool+tube+kit

a good fan is key though and for closet grow I would recommend 2 fans (supply and exhuast).

oh btw.... walmart has f32 t8 fixtures for $20 and they work great, I always use them for my seedlings, plus you can literally have your plants touch them without burning. just grab a few daylight deluxe 6500k lamps. they also carry 2700k if you want to use the t8's still as supplementary lighting during the flower phase.

whitetanktop421@yahoo.com said:

I already have everything right now i am trying to figure out how you got everything set up to go up and down with ease... I have everything sorta set up like yours except I sprayed the inside of my tubs. Now I have the list of your materials but can not to save the life of me wrap my stoner mind around how you got it to go up and down???? ugh!!

Click to expand...

The 4 verticals are 36" all thread. Basically just a long screw. So the top light fixture I got eye screws that fit over the all thread but not much bigger. And those just rest on a nut on the all thread. So I can adjust the height by finger twisting the nut. If you want I can take some close up pics of it tomorrow.

I will be posting pics soon. I got my seedlings which already starting actually spouting in my paper towel cause this took me so long to decide what I wanted to really do... ugh, but I got them in soil and under lights.

I didn't paint the Rubbermaid good enough so you can still see the light through it so thank god I haven't put them together yet and I don't have anyone coming over for about a week!! So I am painting the bottom one again today with house exterior white paint today. I noticed the spray paint is not as dense as I needed it on these boxes. I did the layer of black then white too... not fun! Remember people if your not an experienced painter by a mask before painting!!! You will almost pass out! lol

So I mixed my starter soil with perlite 2:1 and have 2x Phillips T12 Daylight Deluxe 20 watt 6500k 1075 lumens each over them about 2 inches from top of cup. They are already on day 1 I would say cause they have spouted and green, have leaves and pretty already posting pics soon!!!

What did you secure with to the bottom board I have everything else you have but need that!! I couldn't find them yesterday. Also I have to cut my boards and such to get them to fit, noticed my saw is gone and my hand saw has no teeth, great!! So excited about this. Oh I have 5 seedlings. I only think 1 is going to be making it though. I have 2 more seeds germinating. Some random dro seeds I received from a friend

update I have built everything just need to tweek everything and make sure my lid will actually fit. Also got to add an intake and exhaust, right now trying to figure out what will be the best spot first. I need another fan cause my temps are staying around 85 and 45% humidity... Is that ok or should I change something up??

usually you want your intake near the bottom and the exhaust near the top or on top. try to put the vents on opposite sides of your box if you can. temp could come down a little to 80f if you can get it that far down or a couple degrees more would be even better, maybe 78f. the humidity is about perfect in my opinion

So how is everything coming along? good i hope

I think everything is coming along well... day 5 into veg very green. Got 5 plants in solo cups plenty of drain under 5 cfl bulbs at 26w 6500k 1600 lumens each. And 2 t12 daylight deluxe lights. Temps stay around 79-84 depends and about 40-45% humidity. My house stays a little humid i live in florida... lol have a computer fan 12v as intake fan and a smaller one as exhaust. I am trying to find bigger fans that will serve my purpose just havent looked hard enough yet i think. I have in just in a rubbermaid not yet stacked up and stealth mode but will soon. Dont really need stealth right now but next week i will...

sounds good man. looks like you're on your way to a nice lil stealth grow. good luck and happy growing