First time grower setup help

[dravensk8]

So I've been toking for quite some time now, and I finally decided I was THROUGH over-paying for some "ehh" quality bud, and start growing my own.

I've been researching on how to grow, necessities, light schedule, etc., but I'm not to sure if the set-up I have designed will work (pics below). It's a 2' x 2' x 3' "stealth" box. As you can see, I have a veg room, and flower room, as well as storage for nutrients, water, etc. Now, my questions are;

1) How many CFL's, and what level would I need?
2) Can I use 120mm computer fans with 100cfm for intake/exhaust, WITH a carbon filter?
3) Is 3ft enough room for some auto-flowering plants to yield a good amount?
4) What soil/nutrients should I use?

Happy smoking!

 

[420truckin]

I could be wrong, but there isnt really going to be much room in there for anything if its only 2'x 2' x 3'... Especially when you start dividing it up. Maybe one plant in each, depending on your growing technique.. Could be wrong, but im also a beginner as well..

 

[dravensk8]

I could be wrong, but there isnt really going to be much room in there for anything if its only 2'x 2' x 3'... Especially when you start dividing it up. Maybe one plant in each, depending on your growing technique.. Could be wrong, but im also a beginner as well..

I figured there wouldn't be much room, so I planned on having 1 in flowering, and maybe 2 in veg. At first I plan on trying some auto-flowering Lowryder to see how well I do.

 

[oldhippie64]

I've always read you need 50 -70 watts of lighting per square foot of grow so it looks like you needs 150watts of lights for flowering chamber and 100-120 for each of the veg/seedling chambers. CFl's need to be 2-4" above plant so the level changes as they grow
2X2X3 + 24cf of air a 100 cfm fan is more then enough airflow
I don't know if 3' is tall enough once you subtract height of soil/planter(what the plant sits in) and light you have less then 2' of growing height.

 

[dravensk8]

I've always read you need 50 -70 watts of lighting per square foot of grow so it looks like you needs 150watts of lights for flowering chamber and 100-120 for each of the veg/seedling chambers. CFl's need to be 2-4" above plant so the level changes as they grow
2X2X3 + 24cf of air a 100 cfm fan is more then enough airflow
I don't know if 3' is tall enough once you subtract height of soil/planter(what the plant sits in) and light you have less then 2' of growing height.

Thank you for the math! I've decided to go with a different approach. Instead I'm going to grow out of an old dresser I have laying around. It's 1' 2" x 1' 6" x 3'. I will be uploading some pics on that soon.
And yes, I am trying to find a 150 watt equivalent 2700k bulb for flowering, and since I'm doing auto-flowering plants that should work. Also, I'll only being doing medium height plants, so about 2 feet of grow room should work, right?

 

[420truckin]

Cfls best light output is from the side of the bulb rather then the top how you have it in that picture. Also because its an autoflower, you should still use the 6500K rated bulbs until it does start to flower. or use one of each or 2 of each etc. You still have to vegetate the plants although they are autoflower. The auto flowering plants do just that, normally you change your light schedule and the different spectrum bulbs but the autoflowering will still veg for awhile, you just dont have to change the light schedule to get it to start flowering.

 

[420truckin]

Also to add to that, 3' really isnt much room, even a medium height plant with a 1.5 gallon pot will be roughly 3' high therefore growing into your light. By the time your plant is fully grown it will probably be pretty crowded in there with your pot height and the full plant. if you were to do it 12/12 from seed you may be ok, but im not sure about a medium bushy type plant. Again, im also pretty new at all this so i could be wrong, but just from researching, seems you may want something a bit taller..

 

[dravensk8]

+rep, I thought the 2700k was to be used throughout. So I could use a 6700k and 2700k at the same time from seed to harvest, or can i use a 150w 16000k HPS? Also, I'm thinking of putting a hole in the bottom of the dresser to drop the planter through, and that should add about 6 inches. I'm not really expecting a huge harvest, seeing as how it will be grown inside a dresser.

 

[420truckin]

You want to start out with the 6500K, that will give you better growth, although if you use one 6500 and one 2700 youll be even better off. A 150W HPS is probably going to be a bit much heat with the small size of the dresser. You would probably need to look into more airflow if going that route. you could probably make a CFL reflector, with maybe 4 bulbs maybe put 2 6500, and 2 2700s in it, make it moveable, so you can lower the reflector all the way down to your plant, the more light, the more itll grow. With cfls, you can get them within an inch from the plant. Also making a hole to recess the planter container, 6" might not be much but with the size of your area, 6" is more then what youve got. Also you will have to seal off arount the pot so no air/smell/ or light gets in or out.. Another thing you could look into is starting them from seed at 12/12. That way you could maybe get 2-3 plants with one big bud, because going 12/12 from seed, youll get more upward growth then a bushy type growth. Therefore allowing you to fit more plants in it. Hope this has been somewhat helpful.

 

[dravensk8]

I will definitely do the 2x 6k00k and 2x 2700k method, using 2 Y-splitters and a tin foil cake pan
You are so much help dude, but ONE more question. Would a 3 inch bilge blower (rated at about 135cfm) work, with a custom carbon filter, for exhaust? I'm gonna use a few pc fans for fresh intake and to circulate the fresh air, and I'm hoping a bilge blower will work for exhaust.

ALSO: I want to Low Stress Train the plant, so I don't think I'll need to recess the planter into the bottom of the dresser.

 

[420truckin]

Even Low stress training the plant, its still going to get pretty tall. As for a bilge blower, they are mainly rated for water removal. I was checking on amazon and they have some 125 cfm inline 4" fans for around 50-70 bucks, not too bad, some even have 2 speeds. As for the carbon filter, check out what this one looks like, got the idea from stratlogic, using a T fitting, in your case, youd just use an elbow, but you make a round "tube" out of some 1/2" x 1/2" square chicken wire, then another one a little bit bigger, and you put panty hose around each one, then get some loose activated carbon and put it between the 2 "tubes" after putting some caulk saver between the two "tubes" to space them out a little bit, then you tape it to the elbow or "T" fitting, and then hook your fan up to it, the chicken wire you can find in building materials @ menards or HD, usually 5' x 24" is like 5 or 10 bucks. which you will have enough to make replacements. then you just put your inline fan sucking through the PVC tube. Another thing, you wont want to have fans pulling air into the cabinet, as well as a fan pulling that air out, i recently had the same idea, and learned that will cause a positive pressure through your cabinet, thus making any crack leak with air as it will want to push air out your cabinet, because your exhaust fan wont be able to pull all that air out fast enough, therefore, you would just need a exhaust fan up top on one side, and on the opposite side on the bottom you would just want a hole with a filter so no dust or anything can get into your box. I will show you the pic of my setup, and ill try to find the page i found the how to on to make that filter, it works very well.
my design..

How to on strats it starts on page 3, and post number 40
Grow Box Construction

Only difference between the 2 his fans are connected to the outside of the "T"s my design has only one tube outside for a single 4" inline fan.

 

[dravensk8]

Damn, I really like your design! Now as for the exhaust set up, I'm working with about 6 cubic feet of space, so I don't want to install a large inline fan. I've read that the bilge blowers are a cheap alternative to an inline fan, and smaller. I'll come up with a pvc setup to go down the back and under the dresser, and attach a filter there.

 

[420truckin]

That should work pretty well, just make sure you get a fan powerful enough to draw the air out of your cabinet. Just get your fan and get PVC that is the same size, and connect it up. Should work fine. Just keep reading and researching. Youll be fine!

 

[latinbudder]

Love the set-up. Asa matter of fact you just gave me an idea. I have an old dresser that I am gonna turn into a Veg chamber.