My Grow Area - comments please....

Ok Guys, I have my area made, and the picture/drawing is below.

Basically it is mostly a stealth area as it is located in my shed in my backyard (my New Mancave). It will be covered in Mylar for max reflect-ability, and if you can't tell from the drawing, it will hold (12) 5 gallon pots with 12 strategically placed 42w CFLs along with a 600w HPS/MH on the top. There is also a space made on the top/back right for an exhaust fan and ductwork outside the box.

One thing I have a question on though - is the 600w HPS (with MH conversion bulb for veg stage) too much for this space? (40 inches high - mounting material - so approx 36" above the floor)

let's say you pot's are 10 inch?
that leaves like 25 inch's for the plant's..

do your match if you want bushy small plants.. also your going to need to raise the Bulb if it gets to warm for the plants and in that hight limitation that can be a prob..
40 Inch box is sounds better for a CFL grow..

12 plants for 1-600 hps is a lot even your CFL's.

you are expecting your plants to grow just up and not bush out?

Cut that 12 number down to 5-6 and give your plants more room to grow.

The pots are 11.75" round, hence one pot/plant per square foot = 4 across, 3 wide. Math has been done and fit is nice (as it is already built) and it leaves just enough room for the 12 42w CFLs as well.

jesus of Cannabis said:

you are expecting your plants to grow just up and not bush out?

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Should have mentioned, that I will be LST'ing all 12 of these plants - so more outward and bushy than upwards. Also, they are all mostly indica so wanna be keeping them shorter than taller.

Do you have room to move around in between your plants?

what jesus said is that 600W of light won't be enough for 12 plants.. you better stick to 6 so they will grow properly..

Cut your plant count in half, and a 400W CMH would be better than the 600W.
Daniels

DB&ST said:

what jesus said is that 600W of light won't be enough for 12 plants.. you better stick to 6 so they will grow properly..

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It is really not a problem to move up to a 1000w, but I was thinking it would be way to much for that area.

What say ya'all?

If the 5 gal pots are basically touching each other you have little room for foliage. The CFLs are probably going to be a waste of electricity with 600w HPS in that small of a space. Add to that, I hope you can keep it all cool. My 2 cents.

There is room between each 5 gallon pot of about 3 inches or so. Also, I have (forgot to mention) a 6" inline fan that will be connected to the reflector. Then with the 400+ cfm exhaust running through the hidden ductwork, I hope that should keep things cool enough.

Mike Angelo said:

It is really not a problem to move up to a 1000w, but I was thinking it would be way to much for that area.

What say ya'all?

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im such a small place it would be hard to cool down a 1000W.. try growing less plants..

I'm adding a 1000watt air cooled light to a 5.5 x 5.5 x8 space this week. I've purchased a dehumidifier AND a 1000BTU personal space AC/unit to go along with my passive intakes. I'm still worried about temps. You should go ahead and plan on needing suppliment cooling in a space that size. Depending on what the ambient temps of the incoming air is going to be and what kind of intake/exhaust your using.

Plan for the worst and you will be fine probably

DB&ST said:

im such a small place it would be hard to cool down a 1000W.. try growing less plants..

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Or go with a 600watt in that space, bet you'll be happier. I'm going to be running a perpetual 10 plant flower room, 5 plants will be halfway through flower while the other 5 will be harvested. Leaves a little more space seeing as how 5 plants will always be smaller than the other 5.

You may want to think about perpetual, but if you only have access to that one room, then yeah I agree, may need less plants