Best Dimensions for A Grow Room or Space?

[Mad Professor]

What would be good dimensions for a grow room or space?
I was planning on making my space 4' x 12' with a veg. section and a flower section.
I need to stay within 64 sq. feet to remain within guidelines.
I want to have good airflow and space to work.
Now I'm thinking anywhere from a 8' x 8' square, to a 6' x 10', 7' x 9' or 5' x 12'
any input would be appreciated.

[Screwnuts33]

What type of grow Soil/hydro? How many plants? Lights? Tons of variables.

[Mad Professor]

I'm super noob
It's going to be a soil grow. Was thinking a T5 or 400w for veg and 600w for flower or I might just use 600w's for everything. 24 is the plant limit but I just want to put what will fit and work.
Nice pics by the way of your soil start.

[Screwnuts33]

MP,
24 plants will be a big project. For a first time I suggest starting smaller. Get through your first grow and then step up to the bigger numbers. I started 20 seeds and am now down to 16. Out of that 16 there will be males that I will not finish. My hope is 10-12 females. I have a 4x8 tent with two 600 watt HPS lights and two 432 watt T5's. Without a light mover you will need at least 3-4 600's. With a light mover you can get by with 2. If you have flexability in your room size start small. Maybe start with a 4x6 room to veg and flower for your first grow. That space will easily handle 6-8 good sized plants. Once you are dialed in expand. Use that space to veg and creat a flower room too. If you are growing from seed expect some not to germinate, some won't come up when planted, and some may just be weak and not make it. Then there is the male factor. With standard seeds your odds are basically 50/50 for male/female plants. With feminized seeds those odds are slightly better but not by much. I am counting on a 40-50% loss/failure/male rate. If I get lucky and have mostly healthy females I will be in trouble. lol Not sure I have enough room to take 16 plants all the way.

Do your homework before you start ordering equipment and supplies. Have it all figured out before you start. The more you know the better the grow. Spend some time reading and asking questions here. Pick up some grower's books and get to reading. If you plan your grow and grow your plan it really is not too difficult. Keep it simple until you get some experience and reading your plants. There is priceless knowledge and experience on this site. Utilize it and share what you learn with other growers.

#1 rule of growing, tell no one you are growing. Even if you have a card legal grow tell no one. Except of course just millions of strangers on the web. lol.

[Mad Professor]

Thanks for all the info.
I am planning to start smaller and was going to do what you suggested and only use part of my space at first. just building it full size in case I want to expand later. I'm probably going to make the total space 5' 4" x 12'
Where I'm from regulations for medical use are 24 plants and 64 sq. ft.
My brother is in the hospital right now undergoing chemotherapy and I'm trying to help him out with his meds.
I like your idea of 6 - 8 plants and a smaller space that can be used for veg. down the road.
Do you use your T5 for veg? can I use one 600w for flower in the smaller space?
This will be a legal medical grow with documentation but I do agree that keeping quiet about it is very important. Except for this public notification I will be very quiet about it.
would 5' 4" x 4' be big enough for my initial grow?
Once again thanks for the info.

[Screwnuts33]

MP,
I am using a T5 for veg with 8 6500k 54 watt bulbs. The plants are loving it. I can drop it down to 2-3" above the plants with no heat issues. Very cool to take care of your Bro like that. A single 600 watt HPS for flower in a 5x4 room should be ok depending on how many plants. The basic rule of thumb on lighting is 50watts/SQFT. The 600's are nice as they don't produce the heat that a 1000 does and you can get closer to the plants. You will want to use 5-gallon pots to finish in. Make a run to the store and pick up as many buckets as you plan to grow. Arrange the buckets in your proposed grow space so you have an idea how much space you need. Allow room to work around the plants. I also use plastic drip pans for washing machines for under the buckets. Keeps everything dry and clean. Keep you grow area clean and dry and you will have less problems with mold and bugs.

[aphoric]

Awesome that you are helping your brother out. I wish I lived closer to mine. I got a 600HPS with an air-cooled hood. I can put it at about 12" and leaf temps are under 80˚ with my vent fan thermostat for the room set at about 78˚. I don't know what the footprint is at 12", but it seems big enough for my 4'x4' room. I am starting to play with LST and it seems like the plants are on steroids. So if maximum yield is a concern, you may want to look at some of the training techniques on here.

[Mad Professor]

Sorry about the lag. I had a crazy week and took a mini vacation up the coast.
My Brother is doing pretty good all things considered and is going on a road trip with one of our sisters. Fresh air should do him good.
Thanks for all the info again. I like the idea of buckets and drip pans.
I was worried about keeping the area as clean as possible
I'm set on using 600w for flower and probably T5 for veg.
Do you know how big of a space a T5 can cover?
Ive seen some things about LST on here that I might want to try.
I saw one person was making banzai mothers using LST that seemed cool.
I had to move my space to the other side of the room dimensions end up being L 12' 4" x W 5' 2" x H 8' 6"
Is it a good idea to insulate the space?

[Screwnuts33]

MP,
I had 16, 1/2 gallon pots under a single 8-bulb T-5. Covered them very well for the first three weeks. Now transplanted into 5-gallon buckets under the big lights.

[Mad Professor]

Very nice. So I should definitely be cool with one T5 for veg?
Do you continue to veg under the big lights or go right to flower?
This is probably a noobish question but what does MP stand for?

[Screwnuts33]

Originally Posted by Mad Professor

Very nice. So I should definitely be cool with one T5 for veg?
Do you continue to veg under the big lights or go right to flower?
This is probably a noobish question but what does MP stand for?

MP = Mad Proessor. lol. I vegged under the single light until I transplanted. I am still vegging now I am using two T5's and two 600 watt HPS. Once I went to 5-gallon pots I needed the additional light to cover all the pots. You can easily use T5's from start to finish on your grow. I would just change the bulb color range when you go to flower.