Ventilation

Hello, Im new! Hope Im posting in the right section, but Im setting up a closet for growing, about 2ft-4ft under 4ft 40watt fluorescents, and want to know if I need to set up ventilation for the plants, and if I do would opening the door and putting a normal fan in it be good enough? Its going to be 3-4 plants. Also whats a free/really low cost way to keep down smell from the plants when they get big? Thanks for the help!

EDIT: So I found out that Im going to need something to keep the smell down during flowering, but need to keep noise down b/c its going to be in my closet in my room, so all I got to work with is a normal fan that rotates around, maybe build some kind of scrubber onto it? Also I dont really have anywhere to vent the air to other than out the window, so will a good scrubber keep the smell down enough? Or could I contain the smell by sealing off the closet? And since its a stealth grow would turning off the TV's during the day cover up for the energy use of the lighting (2 tube 4ft fluorescent 40watt fixture w/ 1 34watt bulb & 1 32watt bulb)?

Thanks

You will need a good scrubber and will have to make sure that no air exits the grow area without passing through the scrubber. Otherwise, smell might be an issue.

Providing the plants with a steady supply of fresh air is essential so sealing off the closet isn't going to work in your favor. Tell us more about the window you mentioned.

You might want to invest in a little more lighting than a single 2 tube 4' light. My first grow many years ago I actually had as many as four 2 tube 4' lights. Upon adding a 250W HPS the plants just exploded.

The light should be fine when they're small but if you really want to kick them into gear when they're flowering you can get a cheap HPS system for a little over $100. Because the light is more efficient in terms of output vs watts used you would actually end up saving money compared to more fluorescent lights in the future.

I am currently flowering under fluorescent lighting with a decent amount of success. I use a product called ona gel to help with the smell($10). The ona gel product that i purchased is a solid block and i just use a spoon to get a chunk out then wax my door frame and edge of the door with it(closet and room door just to be sure)...as long as i do this every couple of days i notice minimal smell for my small grow...inside of the cabinet still smells but nothing outside the closet. As for airflow i use a simple bathroom vent fan on the side of my box, but this may not work for you since you are using a closet. as for the lighting itself...it will produce bud but will not penetrate much. I vegged for too long imo for the capability of these lights and was forced to trim off a bunch of bottom growth. Maybe consider lst, top, scrog, side light or just a short veg cycle...saw somewhere a guy recommending flowering at 5 nodes with fluoros. As for energy usage i would not worry about this at all with your current setup...i have a bills higher without a grow set up than with my current fluoro one...my set up is in my signature if you want to stop by and check it out

I was also thinking of trying a scent remover like for hunting to keep the smell down, not sure if it would work that great though, probably best to build a good scrubber? The window is just a 1ft x 2.5ft (approx.) bedroom window that tilts out, but the problem is being up here in Canada its not really an option until April-May. Im not sure how long it takes for the plants to flower, but if I plant next week I might be able to transplant at the cabin b/f they start flowering??? As for the lighting, I found the fixture laying around in the garage, and there is another nicer 4-bulb one, but I dont want to take it incase my dad needs to use it somewhere in the house, b/c it looks almost brand new and its in its cardboard box. But Ill take a look at it today, maybe I'll switch to it.

Thanks again for all the help!!!

EDIT TO ADD: I just checked out the 4-tube fixture in the garage, but it looks brand new and doesnt even have wiring done on it yet, so I think its best to leave it alone incase someone comes looking for it. On the other hand, I could always use it and put it back if anyone is looking for it???