newbie with interesting question

Hi all

First off can I say that I'm new here and if I have posted this in the wrong forum then please accept my apologies. Everyone makes mistakes.

I have never grown my own before but plan to. As I live in Spain and enjoy long, sunny summers I planned to do it the simple way, not bother with grow rooms etc, and just have 5 or 6 plants in our back room which has windows on one wall from floor to ceiling. This means that this room gets a lot of light. I figured that this would allow me to get reasonable success and a small crop for my own use.

However I have been doing a lot of reading and I now realise the big importance of light, and understand why many people use artificial light. having said that, I don't feel ready yet to invest in a full grow room and I was wondering if I could buy a light from my local grow shop (400 watt) and grow the plants using a mixture of daylight and artificial light (12 hours of daylight and 6 hours of artificial light in the growing stage, then 12 and 12 etc). I wouldn't cover the plants with anything, or construct anything special but just keep them in one side of the room where I can hang the light.

The room is reasonably large, and ventilation is no problem because all the large lower windows open.

I realise that this is no substitute for having a proper grow room with regulated lights but I'd still like to know - can it work? If not, why not?

Any help anyone can give me is much appreciated. thanx.

get flourescent lights. they sell em and home depot i seen 150w ones theyre.

so get 3 of these or get 8 43w ones at home deopt. you wont be sorry it will help alot.

thanx cali-high. Not sure if we have Homedepot here in Spain but should be possible to buy flourescents. So are you saying that a mixture of flourescent and daylight WILL work? Should I just hang the flourescents from the ceiling to cover the room with light?

yes. you wont have to worry about keeping your room cool either because the floros are cool.

so as long as you get your house no higher then the mid 80s you will be good.

im glad i could help you.


also if you dont have a home Depot.

then go to...

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

they got growing lights and supplies for cheap.

florescent lights and fixtures.


you can get a 43w bulb on theyre for $5 american

only americans need a home depot every 5 miles

keep the floros 1-2 above you plants for optium lightage

you know what bud smoker....maybe so but then again we got hydroponic shops every 10 miles so i dont got to worry about my supplies either.

If you get a 400w light, that alone is enough for 5-6 plants (assuming you don't grow too big). Quite a few folks around here use 400w for that many plants. If ventilation is not a concern, then light is the primary investment. Why not just grow under the 400w without the sun and peicemeal the rest of your growroom when you can? Again, if you're not getting fans, ducting, etc., the rest is not too expensive (wait for co2 and other "luxuries" until a later time, if ever).

That being said, having both artificial light and sunlight is difficult in the way that you described. While I don't have any experience trying this, you're liable to confuse them with light schedules and turn them into hermies.

Keep it simple, choose one or the other.

dude he said in his post he dosnt want to spend alot of money on lights ect.

so he wants to use floros.

and the light sceduale wont be messed up because the artifical lights are only theyre to suppliment the suns rays

I went swimming in Barcelona in March. Man that water was cold. My friend and I were the only ones that went in that day. What part of Spain are you from. VV

cali-high said:

get flourescent lights. they sell em and home depot i seen 150w ones theyre.

so get 3 of these or get 8 43w ones at home deopt. you wont be sorry it will help alot.

Click to expand...

hehe, home depot, in spain

Can you elaborate on the laws in Spain? Would it be cool for you to just grow it outside in your backyard/in full sun somewhere around your home?

What you describe will work..but the bud size will suffer seriously If the plants do not get AT LEASt 5-6 hours of DIRECT sunlight. Indirect light will make things lanky and you will end up with more stem than you will bud. You might be able to supplement the 5-6 hours with your light...but NO LIGHT is a powerful as the Sun...so that is you best bet if at all possible.

Floros hung above will not give you enough light to make decent bud. They will help manipulate the photoperiod to keep them in veg and offer SOME help in flower (over no light at all)...but they are not the answer or the best choice for budding plants. (the never are!)

good luck

bt dt

VV - you are very warm with the Barcelona. You must be psychic lol. However i'm not Spanish but English. Just hanging out here...

Bayou_Billy - thanx for your advice. maybe I'm naive but i figured i could just have the plant in a good spot next to the big windows, let them get sunlight all day and than at night when the sun goes down turn on the 400 watt for around 6 hours.

It is a cost thing right now. I'm not ready to invest in a grow room (yet) but I could afford a light and thought it would help.

Don't want to screw the plants up and turn them into hermies though.

yeah if you wanna get a 400w then go with an HPS(High Pressered Sodium)

instead of buying a MH(Metal HAulide) and the HPS the hps will be fine when vegging with natural sun.

i would run the light 18 hrs aday and get sunlight your plants will be great!

beenthere donethat said:

Can you elaborate on the laws in Spain? Would it be cool for you to just grow it outside in your backyard/in full sun somewhere around your home?

What you describe will work..but the bud size will suffer seriously If the plants do not get AT LEASt 5-6 hours of DIRECT sunlight. Indirect light will make things lanky and you will end up with more stem than you will bud. You might be able to supplement the 5-6 hours with your light...but NO LIGHT is a powerful as the Sun...so that is you best bet if at all possible.

Floros hung above will not give you enough light to make decent bud. They will help manipulate the photoperiod to keep them in veg and offer SOME help in flower (over no light at all)...but they are not the answer or the best choice for budding plants. (the never are!)

good luck

bt dt

Click to expand...

beenthere donethat - thanx for your help. the law in Spain is more relaxed than in other parts of Europe (except Holland of course). If you have or are growing cannabis on YOUR property - including a balcony or garden - there is nothing the police can do. I think there maybe some maximum amount clause, to stop people growing on a huge scale for selling, but small amounts are not a problem. Also the atititude here is quite relaxed generally. Its possible to smell cannabis being smoked on the street most days, and its easy to buy.

My room gets direct sunlight every day starting at about 1.30 to 2pm and continuing til about 7pm so that makes 5 hours. Its strong sun and the room gets warm so I'd have to keep my eye on the temp. So do you think it could work to utilise the sun during day and then hang a 400 hfs (not flourescent) over the plants at night?

(I should add that I dont have a garden. I do have a balcony on the other side of the house but its a bit narrow.)

cali-high said:

yeah if you wanna get a 400w then go with an HPS(High Pressered Sodium)

instead of buying a MH(Metal HAulide) and the HPS the hps will be fine when vegging with natural sun.

i would run the light 18 hrs aday and get sunlight your plants will be great!

Click to expand...

thanks cali-high. Wow, so much to think about.

yeah you will get alot of bud if you leave the light one for 18hrs then when its starts 12 hrs of light flower your plants and you will be a happy camper

thanks again cali-high. One thing that confuses me though is this: i read somewhere that when you are using a grow room and you are in flowering stage with 12 on 12 off etc, you should never let any light in to the grow room during the 12 hours of dark.

If I grow in my room uisng sunlight and the hfs how can I control that no light gets in to the room during the 12 hours of dark? I mean people live here (me and my girlfriend), and lights are on around the apartment during the evening/night. (they are just normal room lights but wont they interfere with he plants? Or am i being naive again?)

well when the season changes to 12-12 thats when you switch your HID light to 12-12

also if you have your othr lights on for a min i dont think they will affect em. you dont want to have your light on constantly. or anything like that.

also you can out a whole bunch of cardboard boxes together and make a box for your plants when theye supposed to sleep.

then you wont have any worries