Help Hazy get started

[HazyClouds]

Well unlike most things I've done. I will actually be trying to plan ahead and not just rush into my upcoming grow, and this is where all the awesome people that seem to gather here will be able to help me plan.

I'm limited on my budget at the moment but I will be trying to buy at least one part for my grow each payday.

The first thing I will be picking up is my grow tent. The one that has caught my eye and is withing my budget is the Secret Jardin Dark Room Pro DR90 II (anyone have any reviews of this?)

Also I know this size is around a 400-600 watt size tent, but for my first grow how do you think I'd do with a 250w HPS supplemented by some CFLs?
(only asking because I already have a 250, and the wife would kill me if I bring up lighting right now,lol)

Just a bit about the grow, it will be set up in my garage in the tent,I have to keep it low profile but not hidden (certain in laws are currently living with us, long story...) I'm planning on using a Sunleaves WindTunnels 6" inline fan and a carbon scrubber then venting it either into the garage.

I'll be vegging under either CFLs or T8 daylight tubes, and flowering under HPS to help with heating I'll be running it on a 12/12 with the lights on only at night.

Whew.. I wasn't expecting to type that much,lol.

Well all for sticking around while I rambled on.. now let mehave some feed back. what do you think?

This ones for you guys, pass it around.

 

[HazyClouds]

Re: Help Hazy get started.

Forgot to mention what I will be growing.

Currently I have 10 seeds of Special Reserve (found in some meds for a local shop)

And 10 Blue Mystic from Nirvana Seeds.

 

[Vapedogg223]

Re: Help Hazy get started.

Well unlike most things I've done. I will actually be trying to plan ahead and not just rush into my upcoming grow, and this is where all the awesome people that seem to gather here will be able to help me plan.

I'm limited on my budget at the moment but I will be trying to buy at least one part for my grow each payday.

The first thing I will be picking up is my grow tent. The one that has caught my eye and is withing my budget is the Secret Jardin Dark Room Pro DR90 II (anyone have any reviews of this?)

Also I know this size is around a 400-600 watt size tent, but for my first grow how do you think I'd do with a 250w HPS supplemented by some CFLs?
(only asking because I already have a 250, and the wife would kill me if I bring up lighting right now,lol)

Just a bit about the grow, it will be set up in my garage in the tent,I have to keep it low profile but not hidden (certain in laws are currently living with us, long story...) I'm planning on using a Sunleaves WindTunnels 6" inline fan and a carbon scrubber then venting it either into the garage.

I'll be vegging under either CFLs or T8 daylight tubes, and flowering under HPS to help with heating I'll be running it on a 12/12 with the lights on only at night.

Whew.. I wasn't expecting to type that much,lol.

Well all for sticking around while I rambled on.. now let mehave some feed back. what do you think?

This ones for you guys, pass it around.

I can't offer too much assistance with the tent since I've never used one. As far as the lighting, if money is tight just go with what you have for now. Just remember that when growing inside, light is usually the limiting factor so don't try to over do it. The optimal distance for 250w HPS is between 5-16 inches without taking heat into account (make sure you don't cook them). The closer you have the light, which is good for the plants, the less of a footprint you'll be able to cover, which means less plants. Also, I think you'll have to LST your plants since you're not going to have enough light penetration to just let them grow 3 feet tall.

Maybe someone that has grown with 250w can offer a better idea, but I would go small for your first run. I'm not sure how well CFL will help you, I use them for seedlings and veg myself, but I keep them 1-2 inches away from the plants. If you can keep them very close they might help.

 

[HazyClouds]

Re: Help Hazy get started.

Hey Frat thanks for stopping by.

The HPS I have is set into a homemade cool tube so the heat shouldn't be TOO bad. I'm hoping the 250 will be enough for my tent size, but only time will tell.

 

[Vapedogg223]

Re: Help Hazy get started.

Hey Frat thanks for stopping by.

The HPS I have is set into a homemade cool tube so the heat shouldn't be TOO bad. I'm hoping the 250 will be enough for my tent size, but only time will tell.

When you are determining whether or not you have enough light with HID lighting, people generally look at watts per square foot. I use 1000 watts for 4'x4' grow space whis is 62.5 watts sq/ft. I looked up your tent, It's just about 3'x3'... 600w would be 66.67 watts sq/ft. This is from memory, so I could be off here, but I believe most growers would say you want to aim for 50-60. To be in that range you would need to look at a 2'x2' footprint.

Even with that rule of thumb, there's more to it...the more powerful the light, the more light penetration you'll get through the canopy, so the bigger the plants you can grow. More light is almost always a good thing, but hobbie growers like myself have to worry about the cost of running more lights and the challenges of mitigating the heat they create as well.

If you try to stretch your light too much, you might be disappointed with the results...not to say you can't grow some fine buds to smoke with even less light, you just need to figure out the best way to utilize the light you have. You might want to research SOG (sea of green) or SCROG (screen of green). Both styles came about by growers trying to make the best use of the light they have.

If you haven't already, browse through the grow journals. You'll be able to see exactly what has already worked for others and model you grow after theirs if you like what you see... I'm rambling a bit here, so I'll give it a rest for now.

Just remember that you first grow is a learning experience, so even if you don't have the harvest you hoped for, you'll gain valuable knowledge along the way, and you'll get better with each grow, so don't get discouraged!

 

[Icemud]

Re: Help Hazy get started.

Hey Hazy...see your sort of new to the forum...welcome!! checked out the tent and if your going to go with the 250w, look into scrog as Fratdogg mentioned...he gave some really solid advice, and a scrog will help you maximize the light out of the 250w....the only thing with a scrog, is you want to make sure you have female plants before you start bending and weaving your plant or it will be a ton to remove if balls show up..

Also I see your in the IE and planning on using your garage... do you have A/C in your garage? Im also in Socal and know right now you will be fine, but come summer months does your garage get above 85F? Generally you want to keep temps in the range of 65-80F...above 80F will stress some strains... just thought I'd mention it..

Cant wait to see this one get started...sounds like you so far got a nice setup on the rise!! Also...luckily in Cali there are a lot of people who grow...check craigslist for deals on lights and ballasts...ive saved a ton of cash buying 2nd hand...

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Re: Help Hazy get started.

I use a DR90 mkII they are good tents with plenty of venting options, i do use a 400w hps with mine & find temperatures reasonable easy to control on a basic set up.


I have toyed with the idea of 600w in that space but figued i would need an air cooled fan & a larger extractor fan possibley to manage temperatures better e.g addittional cost.

I also use CFL for vegging finding them pretty good for the job, T8 (4 foot) are a tad to large for that tent i'm afriad my ol china. T5 2 way/4 way or 125w, 250w, 300w cfl will be fine if they are aviable from where ya come from.


With garage grows you need to think about temperatures at night/winter & summer/days as adverse temperature will farg your plants and methods of heating/cooling will need to be put in place.

 

[HazyClouds]

Re: Help Hazy get started.

Yea the garage is my only option right now, I know the heat will be an issue but I'm hoping with the HPS only on at night I might be able to fight the temps, (my garage is under another room in the house so its hidden from direct sun and it helps keep the temps down, but I may also look into building a small AC box to run into the tent if the need arises (hopefully it wont).

And thanks for the info Fuzzy, looks like I'll be vegging under CFLs and flowering under my 250hps for the first grow, if the temps stay bearable then I'll look into bumping it up to the 400. Hopefully the first of many orders I'll be placing to complete this will be going out this payday.

And thank you all for stopping by I appreciate all the info i can get.

Does anyone know a good PH meter for soil and water? (keep in mind I am on a budget)

And since I just got off work here is one for us all to share.

 

[Icemud]

I have the Hanna PHeP which is just a ph meter only, I think you could probably find online for pretty cheap...seems to be pretty accurate, just have to calibrate it about every 2 weeks, and even then it only might be off by .1 Pretty decent meter for around 50$ or under...Its for testing liquids but good in merky runoff water... for soil i bought 2 different kinds of those 10$ prong type, ph, moisture meter's and using them, have run into ph issues multiple times... pretty inaccurate IMO but I did find the moisture guage to be pretty handy with my scrog..

For me the hanna works fine... I just have to use it more...lol