Meriwether
New Member
What's up 420-ers, 
This will be my first attempt at growing. Now that the vote to legalize passed in our state(!), SWMBO has authorized me to convert a bathroom closet into a grow space.
I'm figuring the growing area inside the closet to be 3'4W x 2'D x 3'T, roughly, and I'm going to hang my soon-to-arrive Mars Reflector 96x3 on a rod directly above two 10" pots. I've insulated much of the lower closet area with bubble-wrap insulation, put a 200W incandescent w/ alu work shield in for heat purposes only, and with that I can get the temp in there up to the upper 80s with humidity in the low 20s. I've also got a small Vornado fan in the space, off to the side below a shelving area. I've got a small, cheap electric heater I can add to the mix for heat if I have to, and there's a humidifier in the house that I might be able to appropriate as long as it's not needed elsewhere. If I take a shower with the closet door open, the humidity jumps up to 50% quickly.
I ordered "Sweet Dark Devil" auto flowering seeds from Herbie's, which have yet to arrive, but once germinated (I'll probably go the paper towel route) I plan to put them directly into the 10" pots, with bottom and top layers of Hydroton pellets, and Fox Farms Ocean Forest in between. I'm not planning any nutrients until perhaps later in the cycles, and I'm going to water with tap water that's been left out for 24 hours, as I want to avoid buying water if at all possible. I am going to buy a pH kit to test water and runoff with. If it looks realistic later in the grow, I've got a home-made PVC SCROG frame ready to go.
I don't know yet how much heat the 96x3 is going to put off, but I'm going to have to find an efficient way to heat the space when I go dark. I also don't know what effect having the pots full of soil will have on the temps and humidity. I'm hoping to go with an 18/6 schedule, with the 6 hours of dark during the day, maybe 11am-5 pm, when ambient temps are highest. My plan is to get the grow space as optimized as I can (without spending much more $, I blew my budget on the light!
) before I germ any seeds, and I already see 2 problem areas:
1) Temperature. It's awfully cold in there. Without a heat source the closet temp drops to the upper 50s and I don't think that will work so well.
2) Airflow. I can't get away with cutting any holes in the closet walls at this point for vents. There's about a 1-inch gap at the bottom of the door that I'm hoping will allow enough fresh air to be drawn in by the Vornado fan, and open space above and to the side of the grow area that I'm hoping will allow for some recirculation. I can probably get away with buying a small clip fan or two to add to the mix.
Here's the space as of now:
The area with the fan and potentially the small heater:
I've been doing a lot of reading here on the forum and it's amazing how much knowledge is out there, and how willingly people share their secrets and tips. I'm brand-new at this and looking forward to learning as I go, hopefully with the help of some of you fine folks. Any and all input is greatly appreciated!
This will be my first attempt at growing. Now that the vote to legalize passed in our state(!), SWMBO has authorized me to convert a bathroom closet into a grow space.
I'm figuring the growing area inside the closet to be 3'4W x 2'D x 3'T, roughly, and I'm going to hang my soon-to-arrive Mars Reflector 96x3 on a rod directly above two 10" pots. I've insulated much of the lower closet area with bubble-wrap insulation, put a 200W incandescent w/ alu work shield in for heat purposes only, and with that I can get the temp in there up to the upper 80s with humidity in the low 20s. I've also got a small Vornado fan in the space, off to the side below a shelving area. I've got a small, cheap electric heater I can add to the mix for heat if I have to, and there's a humidifier in the house that I might be able to appropriate as long as it's not needed elsewhere. If I take a shower with the closet door open, the humidity jumps up to 50% quickly.
I ordered "Sweet Dark Devil" auto flowering seeds from Herbie's, which have yet to arrive, but once germinated (I'll probably go the paper towel route) I plan to put them directly into the 10" pots, with bottom and top layers of Hydroton pellets, and Fox Farms Ocean Forest in between. I'm not planning any nutrients until perhaps later in the cycles, and I'm going to water with tap water that's been left out for 24 hours, as I want to avoid buying water if at all possible. I am going to buy a pH kit to test water and runoff with. If it looks realistic later in the grow, I've got a home-made PVC SCROG frame ready to go.
I don't know yet how much heat the 96x3 is going to put off, but I'm going to have to find an efficient way to heat the space when I go dark. I also don't know what effect having the pots full of soil will have on the temps and humidity. I'm hoping to go with an 18/6 schedule, with the 6 hours of dark during the day, maybe 11am-5 pm, when ambient temps are highest. My plan is to get the grow space as optimized as I can (without spending much more $, I blew my budget on the light!
) before I germ any seeds, and I already see 2 problem areas: 1) Temperature. It's awfully cold in there. Without a heat source the closet temp drops to the upper 50s and I don't think that will work so well.
2) Airflow. I can't get away with cutting any holes in the closet walls at this point for vents. There's about a 1-inch gap at the bottom of the door that I'm hoping will allow enough fresh air to be drawn in by the Vornado fan, and open space above and to the side of the grow area that I'm hoping will allow for some recirculation. I can probably get away with buying a small clip fan or two to add to the mix.
Here's the space as of now:
The area with the fan and potentially the small heater:
I've been doing a lot of reading here on the forum and it's amazing how much knowledge is out there, and how willingly people share their secrets and tips. I'm brand-new at this and looking forward to learning as I go, hopefully with the help of some of you fine folks. Any and all input is greatly appreciated!
Hopefully in a few months we'll both have reason to celebrate!
