New grow idea, what do you guys think?

I am currently looking into a closet grow with 600 HID lighting, Start with Metal Halide and switch to a HPS bulb on a digital ballast. Do you guys think it is really necessary to start with MH, does it bring that much improvement?
I am going to have a 4"/6" inline fan with carbon filter and the specs of the grow tent are 22" by 36" by 63" as this is as big as I can accommodate. I plan on maybe 3-4 plants and was wondering what an average yield would be on this system. Ocean Forest potting soil along with either Fox farm nutrients or Advanced Nutrients, which do you recommend?

Any other advice or suggestions as to what I need are definitely helpful. I will be growing Northern Lights first and I currently have regular seeds, germinating 4, should I add more in case of males? How many is recommended to weed out males?

BTW, I already know most of the standard answers to my questions, I am just wondering about any personal experiences such as someone upgrading and switching over to HPS and MH instead of just HPS and saw noticeable differences.

Yes it is worth using MH in veg and switching to HPS in flower.

Definitely mh in veg. Hps makes plants stretch alot more than mh and the red spectrum from hps lights is better for the plants in flower. I have vegged with both in the past better results with mh for me. As for nutes im not a fan of fox farms imo advanced for sure. Germinate 10 seeds if ur looking for 3-4 females.

I use a Ceramic Metal Halide, Which is basically an HPS and MH in one bulb (it runs off an HPS ballast though)

It gives you both spectrums, And I like it much better than when I was running MH for Veg and HPS for flowering

There's more energy in the MH than the HPS for photosynthesis.
Fox Farm, get the whole line.
do a 50/50 mix Happy Frog and Ocean Forest.
no male plants.

There is no 600w ceramic metal halide that I am aware of. Nor is there a 600 watt HPS industrial bulb. In the case of the 600, do not waste your time with MH (especially the "pulse start" garbage). Blow the $85 at Greentrees to get a Solarmax 600 HPS. Works great for all phases of plant growth and has a higher lumen output than the spectral equivalent Hortilux HPS bulb.

EDIT: Considering the area, 600 may be overkill. The 200 watt difference between 400 and 600 is a big deal in a small space. For that matter, nothing wrong with a 250 but I wouldn't want to go any smaller than that. In any case, go with HPS for maximum yield.

CNN said:

There's more energy in the MH than the HPS for photosynthesis.

Click to expand...

Absolutely false. More lumens = higher yield. It's not even debatable.

Thanks for the replies! I will take each into consideration, If i grow 10 seeds to get at least 4 plants, how will I fit all 10 in there while they are growing before they flower so i can tell the sex??

Cram 'em in there with smaller pots and transplant upon sex determination. Keep in mind you may get 9 females or 3 females or some other number: seeds are always a crap shoot.

EDIT: Foxfarm and AN? Get some Promix or Sunshine #4 and something like GH Floranova.
EDIT #2: Foxfarm does not provide any information on any of their products as to the critical ingredient percentages. I have asked them about it and they are a bunch of flip pricks in my experience. I will not use any Foxfarm product.

W/e you do, don't get sucked into Advanced Nutrients. I personally love the ocean forest mixed with Perlite. 70:30. I also like the fox farm line of bottled nutes. Mainly because they don't need much ph adjustment with my tap water. Fox farm is organic enough to get that nice earthy taste. If you go with the fox farm line get an extra bottle of the big bloom, you'll use a lot of it.

A safe bet would be 1 in 3 fem to male. So if you want 2 fems germ 6 beans. IME it's really a 50 50 chance. I say 1 in 3 to rule out bad luck.

You can veg with an hps if your on a tight budget, but MH has the best spectrum for overall veg growth. It's worth doin the switch. I used a 400/600 hood(mh/hps) and my plants would slightly lean toward the 400 mh even during flowering.

As far as the CMH, I know they used to max out a 400w and they don't work with all hps ballasts. They are also very hard on ballasts as they are difficult to ignite. There really isn't much a benefit in using them either.

What do you mean 4"/6" inline fan? If you can do only 6" it'll be more efficient and quieter than a 4".

Interesting, I would have assumed that the 4" would be quieter? That was the main reason i was deciding between the two was due to noise level because I cant have any people outside the house come in and find out about it

get a 6" with a speed controller.

There is usually not a big difference in price for a 6" versus a 4" and later on you may need the extra CFM if you upgrade

I run this set up


http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-Active-Air-inch-In-Line/dp/B002JQ14F8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361374039&sr=8-1&keywords=inline+fan+hydro

http://www.amazon.com/SE-Electronic-Stepless-Speed-Controller/dp/B000HQAVNI/ref=pd_sim_hg_2


I have full control of the fan and plenty of CFM to run through a carbon filter and cool my hood