A few questions before I give it a grow.

[dankitydank42]

I've been reading for quite some time now, and I don't think I can pack my head full of much more information than I already have before giving this a shot. I will have about 300-500$ to work with to get something small setup for now. Considering my budget and the need for some degree of stealth, I think I'm going to go with a DIY Rubbermaid grow chamber DIY- How To - Rubbermaid Tub Growbox. Initially I was going to go with a 400w mh/hps because I have a fairly big closet, but ventilation would be an issie... Unless I could just run a carbon filter > fan > ducting > cool tube > ducting out of the top of a part of my closet that I section off... But the top would be exposed and I don't know if that would matter much? I'd be dealing with about 12 ft of height and can only hang the light up to about 6-7 ft. If I go with the rubber maid grow box I plan to do it slightly different from that guide. Light will pretty much be the same, 6x cfls on y splitters at the top 6x 26w for veg 6x 42w for flower proper spectrums or as close as i can get. I plan to exhaust like this and I'm wondering if it would work or not due to lack of negative air pressure... On one side of the lights I'll have 2x PC Fans Blowing OUT into homemade carbon scrubbers https://www.----------------/420/security/60127-ryoko-builds-diy-activated-carbon-filter.html both of them outside of the box attached to each fan. And I will have one PC fan at the opposite end of the box blowing air into the box across the lights and to the fans on the other side. Passive intake at the bottom opposite the carbon scrubber 2/3 the size of the holes made by the pc fans. In that guide I believe they do 6 plants in that setup which seems a lil much to me with only 6 cfls, but he yielded 5 ounces? Or should I maybe do a series of small PC Grows? Most definitely autoflowers. If anyone else has a better idea for how to get started on my budget I'm all ears!

 

[CannaVince]

Yo dank if you grow 6 plants for 1 it's gonna stick to highway hell. 2 your gonna need alot more light! Like led or hps! Although t5s might be your best bet here! If you don't equalize the air in and out you will have a vacuum effect that will restrict the flow of fresh air! I recommend the air exhaust fan, ducting, carbon filter , vents for air intake! Do it the first time and you'll save yourself from the headach of high temps and stale gross, stinky air! Good luck

 

[dankitydank42]

Thanks man, and yeah I understand how venting and everything works, I've been reading about this for years. I'm just still unsure on some of the technical stuff. Like if I'm growing in a sectioned off area of a large closet does the area above the light need to be sectioned off?? I can keep any light from entering during dark periods I just dont know if having the top of the "grow area " open will be really bad due to light leaking out? Because initially I was going to go for a 400-600w MH/HPS closet grow, but I think I would have trouble venting because I can't cut holes in the walls and the doors are sliding and made of oak. So I think for my first grow I'm going to do 4-6 autoflowers in a standard DIY Rubbermaid grow box. 6-12 cfls 200-400 watts. From what I've read with this method you don't need quite as much lighting for good results because the area is so confined that it ups the lumens per sq. ft. One guy claims to have pulled 5 ounces out of a rubbermaid box I think with a 4 plant LST but it was really stuffed in there. The entire inside will be lined with mylar, lights will be fixed to the top and I'll put a table or w/e inside to stack plants to the proper height and adjust as needed. For exhaust I'll have 2 pc fans blowing out of the box through home made activated carbon filters ( one on each fan ) and into the room. Carbom filters will be dryer vents attached to the fans and stuffed lightly with activated carbon. I'll have a passive intake on the opposite side at the bottom. I was wondering, if I put another pc fan at the top, opposite the other two facing into the box blowing cool air across the lights ( it would be on the same side as the passive intake basically blowing air across the lights and through the fans on the other side. Would this hurt my air flow in any way or stop the negative pressure or w/e? My passive intake hole will be half the size of the holes made by the two pc fans that I'm using for exhaust/filtration. I was going to place a small clip on fan inside, but I was told not to because too much air circulation would make it harder for the air to find its way out and could hurt ventilation? I would go for something better but I'm on a small budget (300-500$) and I'll be happy if I get anything out of this seeing as it's my first go. I'm going to germ my seeds, put them in rapid rooters before the tap roots get too big ( root down ) and place them on a heat pad in the bin until they sprout then I'll start giving them light, when the roots start showing through the plugs all around I'll throw them in 2-3 gallon pots (70% FF Ocean Forest 30% Perlite mix ) and keep them on 20/4 for the entire grow. From what I've read watering is generally needed every other day or when the top 3 inches of soil has dried out, just moisten it up again? For nutes I'll using a root stimulant, FF Grow Big, FF Tiger ( or is it Big ) Bloom, Molasses, and Bat Guano (Liquid Bat). Now I have a few questions here, I could look it up, but if anyone with experience wouldnt mind giving me a simple explanation I'd appreciate it. I'll plan to start feeding around 10-12 days starting at 1/4 strength grow big until the end of week 3. 1/2 strength grow big for week 4. week 5 1/4 strength Grow Big 1/4 Strength Tiger Bloom mixed. Week 5 1/2 strength Tiger Bloom, Week 6 1/2 Strength Tiger Bloom, week 7 3/4 strength Tiger Bloom then I'll flush with a flushing solution at the start of week 8 and continue to feed only water/molasses until the trichs tell me it's chop time. Questions - Can I use the root stimulant right from the beginning? Will using root stimulate in the water I germinate with be a good or bad idea? I'm also unsure when to start feeding bat guano/molasses I'm guessing start them with my other nuts? I forgot but bat guano for veg and molasses for flower correct? This is all a rough draft but this is my general plan and I'll be ready to implement it in a few weeks. I plan to make this an LST grow if I can still fit 4-6 plants in there and LST... I'll have to see if I can find some huge 50 gallon bins. I know 200-400 watts of CFLS doesnt seem efficient for that many plants, but if I do the math I'm pretty sure the lumens per sq ft will come out fairly close to what is needed. The guy that wrote one of the guides only uses 6 26 watt lights and claims to have yielded 5 ounces from one of these.

p.s. All pc fans will be approx 120mm. As I said I'll be using 2 blowing out of the box on one side of the lights through homemade carbon scrubber for exhaust. I really need to know if placing a fan at the opposite side blowing air over my lights and thru the other fans will kill my negative air pressure, thanks in advance.

Also... The dryer vents on the exhaust fans will also act as light traps ( they will be pointing out of the box facing down. If I place a fan on the opposite side blowing cool air into the box, across the lights and into these fans, could I just tape up the oppoeiste side of this fan to stop the light from leaking out of should I use another dryer vent? This third fan wont even be installed if its going to mess with my negative air pressure.

 

[dankitydank42]

Also, I never reach full strength nutes because I have read that autoflowers are highly sensitive and hate full strength feedings.

 

[dankitydank42]

This last post was a mistake that should never have been born, but I can't find the delete button.