Rate my hypothetical setup

Im sure a couple of you have read about the terrible setup i've got currently... it's bad and won't do and i know that much... but i've got an idea in my head and i'm wondering if it's viable should i ever realize it.. so here goes

4' x 4 bulb T5 grow light with a few CFLs (maybe 4?) to suppliment that... hoping i can grow 4-6 plants under this in a small room I'll build with studs/plywood under the stairscase in my garage and paint the inside flat white. I'd add in an air filter to hide smells/circulate air as well as space heater/AC unit/humidifier/dehumidifier to control environmental conditions. I own a couple water dispensers so i'd pick up a big jug of deer park or something to have access to water out int he garage(wouldn't plug it in so the water won't get too cold)

At this point i know nothing about how to check ph or what level it needs to be kept at, what kinds of nutrients to use, or what humidity i should be keeping my hypothetical room at but there's plenty of time to learn.... given what i've described does that sounds like a decent environment? One thing i really want to avoid are the HPS and MH lighting setups... i know they are the best but i don't like the heat the produce (and more importantly neither does my wife) or the energy they consume.. in the warmer months i expect to have a tough time keeping it cool enough so adding that kind of lighting into what would essentially be a closet seems like a bad idea to me.

Decent plan or living in fantasy land?

Sounds decent, I grow with T5's and you should have good grow, you fail to mention what king of medium ( soil or hydro ) maybe I missed it, you will need ph up and down and should have a ph meter and learn to use it, for soil around 6.5 and for hydro you want 5.8, if hydro you will need ppm ( tds ) meter too.

DeeTee said:

Sounds decent, I grow with T5's and you should have good grow, you fail to mention what king of medium ( soil or hydro ) maybe I missed it, you will need ph up and down and should have a ph meter and learn to use it, for soil around 6.5 and for hydro you want 5.8, if hydro you will need ppm ( tds ) meter too.

Click to expand...

That's correct.. i did totally forget to metnion that... i would like to use soil but much like the other things, not sure exactly which kind to use

what does this mean?

I'm not a soil grower, I'm hydro but I believe soil tends to buffer the ph most of the time, however I've heard that there are times when the ph could go off for some reason especially in the run off and you sill need to adjust, hence ph up and down, I'm sure some soil growers will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong....good luck, ph up and down is a solution each for lowering or raising you ph in the water of nutes you are using.

thanks DT... the approval of just one experienced grower is all i needed for my plans.... now i just have to clean my mess of a garage up.... uhg.

DT what is that avatar from? i know i've seen it somewhere... some horrow flick maybe?

BTW i could probly put this setup on the top floor of the garage as well, it's a 2-story garage with a second floor that's unfinished.... i've been leaning towards first floor to take advantage of the concrete floor and heat rising during summer months... though it may be easier to keep things warm during winter months if it's upstairs... one factor i'm unsure of is how much heat i'll generate rfom the 4 T5 bulbs, i know it's nothing like HD/HPS but i can feel heat off just a couple CFLs so it's got to be something... in a small room would 4 T5s function as a heater?

The avitar I found many yrs ago on line seemed to like it and had it for yrs, not sure where it comes from, it might be an advertisement for something, but being the " old cute " that I am it seemed to fit me, your T5's I doubt will throw much heat even with four bulbs, re to setiing up on the floor I'd say for somertime you'd have and advantage as far as heat, but for winter you may be best on the upper floor. best of luck to you, keep me posted I like to see how you're doing.

there will definately be a lull before i get a proper grow started because i'd like to be prepared next time but my buddy with some experience is comming to visit this weekend so he and i can discuss things a bit and he's also going to bring me a few quality seeds for when i am ready to grow again- the ones i got started with generally came from bags of something we call "levittown brown" around here... levittown is an area in the philly suburbs incase anyone doesn't know... and well you get the idea... not the greatest seeds.

thanks for the support DT/others- i'll keep playing mad scientist with my current grow and who knows maybe one will pull out of it and give me something other than experience/education...
see: https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/630403-grow-doomed-3.html