First Closet Grow - Ventilation + Questions. Please help!

direct

Member
Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and just attempting my first grow in my closet without a tent. This is what I bought to start off:

- 2 smart pots
- azalea planting pots
- foxfarm ocean organic soil
- foxfarm nutrients
- 4 x 45w (1600 lumen) bulbs
- 125 W CFL Grow Light (http://www.amazon.co...ords=grow light)
- carbon filter w/ fan
- humidifier & dehumidifier
- pH kit
- humidity monitor
- 150W HPS Ballast + Bulb (http://www.amazon.co...-4&keywords=hps)

My grow space is 4 ft (length) x 27 inches (wide) x 7 ft (height) -- but only 4 ft (height) out of that is growing space (there's a shelf at about 5 feet and my closet hanging rod at 4 1/2 ft. I'm growing 1 bag seed, 1 barney's farm lsd, 1 barney's farm liberty haze.

I have pretty much everything figured out because I've been reading up on it for a while, but have a few questions I was hoping you could help me with:

1) How can I ventilate the grow closet without cutting any holes anywhere? Right now I have a fan at the bottom blowing air towards the top. I've been reading around and haven't found conclusive advice on how to ventilate the area. **Temperature is not a problem; it stays between 70-75 during the day and between 60-70 at night. Humidity levels are also maintained with humidifier as the humidity here is quite low.**

2) How far away should I keep the CFL's away from my plants? Right now I'm only using the 4 x 45w CFL's about 2-4 inches away -- but I've been using the soil saturation method to germinate seeds (which works great) and the soil has been getting dried out extremely fast; is the light too close?

3) When should I start flowering my plants so as not to exceed the 4 ft height? I've heard plants can multiply 2-3x their height in flowering so some conclusive advice here would be appreciated.

4) Do you think it's worth it to invest into a grow tent for my closet? Would it help with ventilation + light leaks? I've heard light leaks are very dangerous and can cause a plant to go hermie or male; is this true? Is it necessary to have a grow tent or can I just hang curtains in the closet to prevent light leaks?

My main concern is the ventilation and to avoid hermie / male plants. The plants have not sprouted yet (except the bag one which I actually planted about a week ago with terrible lighting etc while i was waiting for my supplies). Keep in mind I have a carbon filter + fans (multiple); would it be good if I placed the carbon filter pointing upwards and the fan on my top shelf blowing out the closet door? I don't want to use up the carbon filter because the plants haven't even grown yet (there's no odor or anything).

I look forward to some good advice. I've seen a lot of helpful advice here and would like to thank you in advance! Please get back to me before I mess up my grow


EDIT: I'd like to add that I'm a patient suffering from several medically eligible conditions who has only found pain relief with medical cannabis but can't afford to pay the ridiculous price of $360 / oz. I'd rather take the risk of growing to alleviate my daily pains so I can continue to live my life.
 

direct

Member
Bump, anyone? Is the thread too long -- should I cut it down? I just need advice on ventilation; thinking of putting one fan facing upwards and one fan on the top shelf facing out to push the hot air out. Temperatures maintained between 65-75 (70-75 during the day), humidity between 40-60%.

Also, do you think a grow tent would be a worthy investment or is it okay to just grow on the floor of my closet (I don't want to risk hermies, male plants with light leak in through my closet doors). Is that a big contributing factor or should I not worry about it?

Lastly, once it starts flowering and starts smelling -- where would I place the carbon filter exactly? Just set it onto my closet floor / shelf (in case I don't get a tent)? Please guys, really want to do this right so help a fellow "newbie" grower out!
 
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