Grow Box looking for help and/or advice.

Hey so Im new to the site.. Ive run across countless discussions while try to research online. thought might as well sign up, with that being said i hope i posted in the right section and here we go..
SO ive been planning on building a grow box. I was thinking 2 1/2' X 2 1/2' X 3' tall..
In side the box i would like to be growing a auto-flowering strain. I was in at a local head shop to speak about some of the things i will need. I thought I would walk out with more of a clear understanding. but am still kind of confused. He told me to stay away from LED lights all together.. said i should be good with a 400 watt but didnt specify as to what type of bulb.. I would like my set up to not increase my hydro bill drastically as im living in an apartment and stealth is key.. And with sooo many bulbs out there im confused as to what type i should pick. how strong of a bulb.. how many.. if i will be needing to change them out or not? As the guy at the head shop said i could grow auto flower plants with one light and no need to change them.. Also I wanted to have a decent sized exhaust fan. with two smaller ones at bottom of box for intake. could anyone suggest a few quiet fans they have come across that will suit my space well? I also asked about a carbon filter at the headshop the cheapest they had was worth 125 dollars he said it was the smallest one they had and it should do me good.. the box looked to be about a foot long.. any help in regards to the setup or advice, on lights or whatever would greatly be appreciated. also in this size of a space how many auto flower plants would i be able to fit comfortabley without them being too crowded?

Wow... I would recommend CFLs. As many as you can handle. Bright daylight (6500) for veg and then soft white (2600) for flower, assuming you don't do autoflower. I think those stay in the bright all the time. With that little space, you won't be able to fit one of those fans and filters. Why not make the box bigger and just get creative in the decor?

Issue with not haing the cabon filter is odor. From what I experienced, as soon as lights go off they start to smell, even in veg. But the inline fans for the filters aren't quiet, even with a muffler. You can check out my journal to get an idea.

You won't need two fans for intake. With that size you may not need any as the exhaust will pull the air in as long as there is a place to pull from. I just use one small desk fan but am thinking of getting rid of it as I don't think it does much.

You may want some sort of oscillating fan in the grow area to help with heat and keep the plants strong and ale to hold themselves up. I use a tower fan on low speef 24-7 and am very happy with it how it has done, strength of plants, no leaf damage, etc. Depending on the temp of your apartment, you may have a heat issue. my grow area is in my office and when the room gets cozy and comfortable for me, even with only using CFLs the heat can build up to the mid 80s. I figured out a way to get some fresh outside air going during lights on and warmer room hours and it is working nicely.

Most of all, if this is your first grow, realize it is a learning experience. Everyone's little details are different and there are no magic answers no matter much we search for one on RIU. Well not unless it is general stuff. Things I did not plan well for in my grow area were heat, odor, and most of all being to able to get in there comfortably to worm on the plants. Shit happens and you need to drain the excess water holder. Have you pondered how you will do it, how you will get something else under it if the plant is still dripping, is it durable enough to pick up the way you intend. Little logistical shit like that ends up creating frustrations. Some are easily remedied. But others aren't simple once the box/tent is built.

I thought if i left this for a while i would get more replies i guess not.. I want to do autoflowers so am i goin to have to switch the lights to increase or better my yield or can i stick to one type of light all the way threw? And will the two you mentioned work well for autoflowers ? Also If someone could tell me in that amount of space what would be a good number of lights? and how many plants do you think i could grow comfortabley with out crowding them?

hello?????

My suggestion for lighting would be 250 Watts of metal halide or HPS (400 Watts is more suited to 90 cm x 90 cm / 3' x 3'). They're much more efficient than compact fluorescents so you'll get lots more light (up to two-and-a-half times the lumens for the same Wattage), but you may have height issues with only three feet of headroom.

If that is an issue you could perhaps use a pair of HPS at 100 Watts apiece. You obviously wouldn't get as much light as with a single 250 Watt, but it would still be much brighter than the equivalent Wattage of compact fluorescent (probably by about 75% or so).

As for the fan/filter space issues, perhaps you could mount them on the outside of the box and blow into the filter (which works just as well).

My suggestion for lighting would be 250 Watts of metal halide or HPS (400 Watts is more suited to 90 cm x 90 cm / 3' x 3'). They're much more efficient than compact fluorescents so you'll get lots more light (up to two-and-a-half times the lumens for the same Wattage), but you may have height issues with only three feet of headroom.

If that is an issue you could perhaps use a pair of HPS at 100 Watts apiece. You obviously wouldn't get as much light as with a single 250 Watt, but it would still be much brighter than the equivalent Wattage of compact fluorescent (probably by about 75% or so).

As for the fan/filter space issues, perhaps you could mount them on the outside of the box and blow into the filter (which works just as well).