Need advice on budget indoor setup.

Hi all,

Just signed up to this site now to ask opinion on my almost finished indoor grow.

Everything has been done on low budget and semi stealth, so have to use CFL lights ect.

My area measures 2ft x 2ft x 4ft in height.

Painted inside with flat white undercoat

2x 120mm super quiet pc fans, one at bottom for intake and one at top for outake.

Using 4x 23w (Equivalent to 100w each totaling 400w cool daylight for Veg in 6500k) 1460 Lumen each bulb (total 5840 Lumens)

My area is for one plant only as i dont think 2 would fit...what do you think considering the size of the area?

I feel the setup is ok for first time, but now im worried that i dont have enough lumens for the plants? From reading online, some people say the lumens doesnt matter and others say it does. Can anyone confirm this?

Also what size pots do you suggest, was thinking 10L or 15L?


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Pics below show the grow space, and the bulbs i will be using for veg and flower stage.
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My grow area 2ft x 2ft x 4ft (Painted in flat white undercoat)


The bulbs im using for veg and bloom, will probably mix them up...what you think?


This chart shows the bulbs spectrum range (Cool Daylight 6500k & Soft Warm 2700k)

4x 23w bulbs (100w) with aluminum tray lid for reflector . Not installed yet and just holding it to show how it fits inside the area.



Thanks to anyone in advance, i will endeavor to upload weekly updates on how it all goes once my seeds arrive, and any guidance throughout will be greatly appreciated.

Setup looks good. One plant would grow nicely in there, maybe add a few extra cfls in the corners of the space using some clamp shop lights. You can screw pvc pipe up the wall and clamp those lights to it.

Another light setup like the one hanging up already and side lighting should work well. Just ensure it doesn't build up to much heat. You could do sog or scrog in that space to maximize it's potential as well.

My grow space is similar in size. Maybe a little smaller. I put cheep grow lights from Walmart in my corners. $10 bucks each.

I agree with JBT, should be good to start, might want to slap a light on the sides if you can. The 120mm fans will probably not move enough air unless they are really nice fans. My clone cabinet uses one 120mm fan and it barely keeps the temp below 90 with two 23w cfls.

Just a side note, don't bother looking at equivalent watts. That only matters if you're replacing the light on a lamp or something and you're trying to figure out how bright it will be. I have about 250w of T5 and cfl in my flower room, which is almost 1000 "equivalent" watts, but it's nowhere near as bright as a 1000w light. Actual watts are the standard for discussion. Lumens are more important than watts.

Good luck, nice start!

TommyDuhCat said:

I agree with JBT, should be good to start, might want to slap a light on the sides if you can. The 120mm fans will probably not move enough air unless they are really nice fans. My clone cabinet uses one 120mm fan and it barely keeps the temp below 90 with two 23w cfls.

Just a side note, don't bother looking at equivalent watts. That only matters if you're replacing the light on a lamp or something and you're trying to figure out how bright it will be. I have about 250w of T5 and cfl in my flower room, which is almost 1000 "equivalent" watts, but it's nowhere near as bright as a 1000w light. Actual watts are the standard for discussion. Lumens are more important than watts.

Good luck, nice start!

Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for your feedback, so if I double up my lights up to 8x which will give me about 13000 lumen, you reckon il get an ok yield? Trying not to add anymore lights than 8 if possible, due to heat and limited space.

v1sual said:

Setup looks good. One plant would grow nicely in there, maybe add a few extra cfls in the corners of the space using some clamp shop lights. You can screw pvc pipe up the wall and clamp those lights to it.

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Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I will look into that, not sure how I will clip the lights on the pipe though? Do you know if lumens plays a big factor into to plant growth and flower? As this is what I'm concerned about. Hooking more bulbs is not a problem and will look at spreading them out more for sure.

Joe Blows Trees said:

Another light setup like the one hanging up already and side lighting should work well. Just ensure it doesn't build up to much heat. You could do sog or scrog in that space to maximize it's potential as well.

Click to expand...

Hi,

Thanks for you reply. I'm going to scrogg for sure, got my netting ready.

Looking at the bulb photos I posted, can you tell me exactly how many more bulbs I should use to potentially get the best yield. My main question seems to be getting missed out ....does lumens play a factor in growing and if it does, how many lumens should I be aiming for?

grannymae said:

My grow space is similar in size. Maybe a little smaller. I put cheep grow lights from Walmart in my corners. $10 bucks each.

Click to expand...

Don't think we have Walmart in New Zealand

TommyDuhCat said:

I agree with JBT, should be good to start, might want to slap a light on the sides if you can. The 120mm fans will probably not move enough air unless they are really nice fans. My clone cabinet uses one 120mm fan and it barely keeps the temp below 90 with two 23w cfls.

Just a side note, don't bother looking at equivalent watts. That only matters if you're replacing the light on a lamp or something and you're trying to figure out how bright it will be. I have about 250w of T5 and cfl in my flower room, which is almost 1000 "equivalent" watts, but it's nowhere near as bright as a 1000w light. Actual watts are the standard for discussion. Lumens are more important than watts.

Good luck, nice start!

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply, can I ask what is a t5 light? Is it a strip light?

verticalgrow said:

nope, plants need 25,000 Lumen for veg & 40,000lm/m2 for flower

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Wow! So I guess I wasted money buying all these bulbs, seems to me I'm just as well getting a 250hps light and have done with it. With all the bulbs I need to install I see no savings on the electricity. Saying that I've watched a few videos on YouTube with setups worse than mine and using about the same lighting and the plants still bud pretty well. Bare in mind peeps I'm not looking at doing this on a high level and only for personal use. Surely I can get away with 8x bulbs and 13000 lumen. I read that one plant needs about 10,000 lumen?

What they said. Might have heat problems so keep a good eye on that. CFL puts out more heat than most think. As for lights/yield, the more you put in there the more heat will need to be moved out of your cab. It's like a delicate balance. Actually 100 watts is pretty good and will work. A little more wouldn't actually hurt either. I used 4 65 actual watt CFLs in a cab almost the same exact dimensions as you describe. I also had a nice and powerful computer exhaust fan. It wasn't nearly enough. I ended up having to leave the cab open to keep the heat down. Growing in a small space does have its limitations. But overall your set up sounds good to go. I think 2 gallon buckets are perfect for micro grows. Been using 3 gallon lately tho. You might want to consider a fast autoflowering seed. Just so the plant doesn't out grow your space. At minimum you'll want fem seeds of you're only growing 1 plant.

Overall good job bro.

GrowUrOwnDank said:

What they said. Might have heat problems so keep a good eye on that. CFL puts out more heat than most think. As for lights/yield, the more you put in there the more heat will need to be moved out of your cab. It's like a delicate balance. Actually 100 watts is pretty good and will work. A little more wouldn't actually hurt either. I used 4 65 actual watt CFLs in a cab almost the same exact dimensions as you describe. I also had a nice and powerful computer exhaust fan. It wasn't nearly enough. I ended up having to leave the cab open to keep the heat down. Growing in a small space does have its limitations. But overall your set up sounds good to go. I think 2 gallon buckets are perfect for micro grows. Been using 3 gallon lately tho. You might want to consider a fast autoflowering seed. Just so the plant doesn't out grow your space. At minimum you'll want fem seeds of you're only growing 1 plant.

Overall good job bro.

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Thanks bud, I think CFL produce less heat than most bulbs from what I read. Hoping heat won't be an issue, the storage is pretty cold, even its summer time, so was more worried about it not been warm enough, especially when lights are off. So you think 8 bulbs accumulating 184 actual watts and approx 13,000 lumen will be enough to produce ample bud for personal use? By the way I already got some female lemon kush seeds on the way. About 70% indices and 30% sativa. Will start flowering at about 1ft tall, then will leave about 2 and half foot in height for flowering, as I believed they don't grow much once in flowering stage.

Sali-D said:

Thanks bud, I think CFL produce less heat than most bulbs from what I read. Hoping heat won't be an issue, the storage is pretty cold, even its summer time, so was more worried about it not been warm enough, especially when lights are off. So you think 8 bulbs accumulating 184 actual watts and approx 13,000 lumen will be enough to produce ample bud for personal use? By the way I already got some female lemon kush seeds on the way. About 70% indices and 30% sativa. Will start flowering at about 1ft tall, then will leave about 2 and half foot in height for flowering, as I believed they don't grow much once in flowering stage.

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Absolutely. That will do just fine. Especially because they are CFL and you can place them all around the plant. I'm not a big fan of CFL but, I know it works. And for a space that small might actually be the best.

Anyway. I've grown 1 plant many times. Your wattage is fine! Don't need a jillion watts for a small micro grow. I wouldn't even waste the money and watts to go with more. Be careful the stuff you read on here. Often noobs read other people stuff and preach it. I'm telling you from years of experience that is enough. If I were you tho, and I haven't bought the CFL's yet, I might consider getting a few LED screw in bulbs. You will have to do some research on which to use, but I think that route may give you more spectrums and will put off less heat. This is only theory but check out a thread by @az2000 He uses those screw in led's. He may can help you

You're fine bro. Relax.

GrowUrOwnDank said:

Absolutely. That will do just fine. Especially because they are CFL and you can place them all around the plant. I'm not a big fan of CFL but, I know it works. And for a space that small might actually be the best.

Anyway. I've grown 1 plant many times. Your wattage is fine! Don't need a jillion watts for a small micro grow. I wouldn't even waste the money and watts to go with more. Be careful the stuff you read on here. Often noobs read other people stuff and preach it. I'm telling you from years of experience that is enough. If I were you tho, and I haven't bought the CFL's yet, I might consider getting a few LED screw in bulbs. You will have to do some research on which to use, but I think that route may give you more spectrums and will put off less heat. This is only theory but check out a thread by @az2000 He uses those screw in led's. He may can help you

You're fine bro. Relax.

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Thank you so much bud, I know what you mean with so many diff opinions preached from other sources. I have read into this for weeks now and I thought my setup would be OK. I think too many growers are too strict in there setups and think you must pay top dollar for super equipment to get the best gains ect not understanding some people don't have the money nor the space. I will try to find that thread you mentioned, many thanks for your reply mate, I feel more comforted now. Was panicking early reading some of the other responses.

Sali-D said:

Thank you so much bud, I know what you mean with so many diff opinions preached from other sources. I have read into this for weeks now and I thought my setup would be OK. I think too many growers are too strict in there setups and think you must pay top dollar for super equipment to get the best gains ect not understanding some people don't have the money nor the space. I will try to find that thread you mentioned, many thanks for your reply mate, I feel more comforted now. Was panicking early reading some of the other responses.

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Here you go bro and its only 2 pages and is still ongoing. Check it out! I really think having some of those LEDs will help your grow.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/bagseed-miraclegro-tomato-the-cheapsta.891937/

You know, most of the questions you're asking here are covered at length all over this forum. Just saying.

T5 is a size of fluorescent tube light. I'll attach some old photos I have that show what they look like.

I can't remember the ideal ammount of lumens per ft^2 but I think 3000 is the minimum, 5000 is ok, and 7000 is ideal. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

TommyDuhCat said:

You know, most of the questions you're asking here are covered at length all over this forum. Just saying.

T5 is a size of fluorescent tube light. I'll attach some old photos I have that show what they look like.

I can't remember the ideal ammount of lumens per ft^2 but I think 3000 is the minimum, 5000 is ok, and 7000 is ideal. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that bud, yes I'm reading lots of threads now regarding all the questions I've asked. Just wanted to post my setup and get all the answers in one go if I'm honest. The more I read I get a little more disheartened due to,many people saying this is good then others saying it's not good. Sometimes you just don't know who's advice to follow.

Sali-D said:

Thank you so much bud, I know what you mean with so many diff opinions preached from other sources. I have read into this for weeks now and I thought my setup would be OK. I think too many growers are too strict in there setups and think you must pay top dollar for super equipment to get the best gains ect not understanding some people don't have the money nor the space. I will try to find that thread you mentioned, many thanks for your reply mate, I feel more comforted now. Was panicking early reading some of the other responses.

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You've got a couple good points. There are some super particular/picky people growing, but also, most of them have some seriously good weed. This shit can be done fairly inexpensively, but with varying results. Also worth noting. Ive tried to save money by buying a cheaper version of a fan (for example), only to find out it doesn't perform well enough. So, I end up buying the really nice fan I was avoiding buying, and now I have a $30 fan I don't need, plus I had to buy the more expensive fan anyways. The point is, sometimes it's better to buy the more expensive, higher quality item.

Sali-D said:

Thanks for that bud, yes I'm reading lots of threads now regarding all the questions I've asked. Just wanted to post my setup and get all the answers in one go if I'm honest. The more I read I get a little more disheartened due to,many people saying this is good then others saying it's not good. Sometimes you just don't know who's advice to follow.

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Yeah, it's good to get facts and limit opinions (which vary a lot here), and ultimately learn by experience. I think you've got a good start, but will want probably 2 more lights for flowering (you'll be fine got veg with what you have), but heat may be an issue. Also if you haven't considered odor, you probably should.

But yeah, lots of good info on this site. Just remember there is a lot of uninformed opinions, myths, etc. So, be sure to keep that in mind.