first time first grow closet

setup in my closet

about 10 ft high, by 9 or so feet long by about 3 feet deep

5 plants

24/7 t5 lights. a small charcoal activated carbon filter/ionizer honeywell unit. an oscillating fan in the top of the closet runnin durin day and the smaller fan used as exhaust runs duin day and night as well.

the closet it directly next to my sliding glass door/back door so i can use it to vent somewhat easily until i put a hole in the wall and connect to my dryer exhaust vent, directly behind wall.


any tips tricks, ideas comments criticism is all welcome.

looks like u have a couple different strains going on there & look good, but u can move that light WAY, WAY closer. I use T5 lighting on my seedlings through week 3, and the light is ALWAYS less then 2 inches from the tops.

my clones are about almost 2 months old. they were cut when the plant was budding, so i must light em 24/7. except the blue dream i picked her up from the clinic 4 days ago.

im using some basically..motorcycle tie downs clamps, thats the lowest the lights can go unless i put the pots on stands.

plus the temp range worries me, so far with closet shut at night and only 1 fan on its gotten to 92F and its not even summer here.

strains are
lazy gurl(biggest), strawberry cough (3rd biggest), white widow(2nd biggest with temp monitor in pot), rebel, and my most favorite strain of all time, blue dream haze.

yo u gotta rethink this setup

i know i gotta rethink it

throw some ideas at me?

thats why i posted this.

its my first time growing at all. my buddy supplied me with the clones, and he helped me get the closet setup(even he says its not ideal) we plan to bust a hole in the wall to use as exhaust vent.


how would this setup be rethought out?

buy a grow tent for 80$ online

basically my equipment consists of

t5 4ft long lighting setup
tornado oscillating fan in closet ceiling
small fan to blow air in or out of closet door facing sliding glass door to open air.
a small honeywell charcoal activated carbon filter.

and my trusty apc power strip

ill be purchasing a timer when i go to flower them to put em on a 12/12 cycle.

im open to anything, and my feelings never get hurt about how noobish i am my first trial run.

the tent would be nice, how ever this is what i have. and this is what im tryin to work with. droppin the cash on the t5 set me back a bit already, a tent...maybe thats for my next grow.

okay u can't move the light, but u CAN find something else to elevate the plants on. That is EXACTLY what I do when I switch from T5 to HID lighting. Hell I even do that when my seedlings r in party cups under my T5. I will cut the bottoms of some party cups & use those as elevators under some of my cups to try to keep ALL the seedlings the same distance from the light at all times. My temps range from 82-92 with the lights on without a problem, but that is under the HID lighting; I was never that high under T5 but again, I am only using on T5 bulb for my seedlings. I also have my fan on the side wall, ALWAYS in position to blow right ON the light to diffuse some of the heat & keep it cool. At the same time, for the most part, it also has blown air on the plants in that same position. Are u keeping ur closet open during lights on time? If not, if you can, or at least as much as you can do that! As well, I always have a box fan elevated blowing into my closet a couple of hours a day, just to help with overall circulation, etc.

yea i can keep closet open durin day/nights here basically i close up the closet and seal the outside with the curtain when i goto bed. and i have that co2 bag to produce extra co2 that may not be given to it from opening door.

for the fans, generally i have 1 up top and 1 on bottom.

maybe i should setup the 1 bottom fan to blow on/across lights and across plants?

i plan on using the t5 thru the whole grow. i know i should swith to somethin better at flowering, but this is a trial run and budget is an issue.

your problem is air circulation. I'd either go with two cheap inline booster fans..one for intake at the bottom of the closet and one to exhaust at the top. Something like this.

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-ACFB8-In-Line-Booster-Fan/dp/B001G6XSGU

or

I'd get a nice inline fan that produces significant CFMS and use passive intake assuming you have enough cracks and crevices in your room to suck air through. I think the Elicent line is the best personally. Just because they seem to be the quietest. They are not the best for the money, but if noise has potential to be an issue I think they are a worthy investment.

Hydrofarm has an affordable one if cost is an issue. But I cannot speak to how noisy it is.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JQ14F8/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001G6XSGU&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=10TJDPJ3472MYX94XATR

The elicent equivelant would be this:

http://www.amazon.com/Elicent-Inline-Fan-331-CFM/dp/B000BR15PG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1300340886&sr=1-1

But as you can see, it's more pricey and blows less air. Both these fans put out a LOT of air. In the absence of proper airflow, your crop won't be maximized my friend.

Hope this helps!

man thats crazy expensive

noise is a concern as i sleep about 5ft away from my grow closet

Put an oscillater on it. There like 2.99 at a thrift store

heres a pic of my closet open and sliding glass door next to it open

pthree said:

man thats crazy expensive

noise is a concern as i sleep about 5ft away from my grow closet

Click to expand...

I hear ya. Until you've got it nailed with the right setup growing is expensive (I'm up to about $1500 on my setup) and I bet those T5s you have are expensive. But what is more expensive is potentially killing five plants that could easily recoup the hundred bucks or so in what you'll save smoking....let alone the electricity that would be wasted if they die. Please don't take this wrong. I am genuinely trying to help and not be a dick. So if it comes off that way I apologize. I've just seen too many crops go by by because of heat or poor circulation issues. Perhaps your local grow store would let you plug one in and see how loud it is. Then at least you'd know how to gauge whether you could deal with it at night time or not. Hope this helps and btw....those plants look good to me. What strain?

so how would i vent this closet best/cheapest?

my wall is directly behind where the washer and dryer are, and i have acceess to the duct work in the garage on other side
its about a foot behind my wall to the dryer vent. my buddy, who does all sorts of construction work and ive worked with him doing flooring, said basically we will punch a hole in teh wall, access the dryer duct, put a T joint in it. add a charcoal filter thing we seen here, and add a fan to it to exhaust/pump old air out basically.

as for air intake, well, it would be using the cracks in my closet around the edges/floor basically. and opening sliding door as needed.

a hole in the wall to the dryer vent. thats about all i can do or the landlord would kill me lets say

this vent, or exhaust hole, itd have to be up high is that correct?

this is relevant to my interests

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/219390-connect-exhaust-dryer-vent.html

if you have a cheapo osculating fan in there then you can put your exhaust lower. Just remember, heat rises. So the higher you put it, the more effective it will be. Also, as mentioned before, you'll need a fan to push the air out of there. Sounds like you're on the right track. Also, if you are on a budget, I HIGHLY recommend searching craigslist and your local hydro store for used gear. People are constantly upgrading or getting out of the hobby and stuff can be had for less than half price.