Starting First Closet Grow - Need Input! PLEASE

Hey everyone, I am starting a growroom in my closet. Its about 5 or 6 ft. long, and about 1 1/2 ft. deep, and is roughly 8 ft. tall with a metal shelf about 7 ft. up. I have done more than enough research on lighting and reading post after post about fixtures and all that, but my questions are as follows.

Specifically which lights should I get. I have 2 fixtures each for a flourescant tube (with hood) about 2 ft. I plan on getting 25w tubes for those, along with two fixtures of 4-5 sockets, with 23-45w CFL's. Which CFLs as in what wattage, which lumination (for veg and for flowering). Also how many lights are needed? I'm trying to grow 5-6 plants, lined up one by one so each plant has about 1 1/2 base ft. What should my light setup be, and also where should I get it (locally). What soil should I buy like specifics, as well as which nutrients I should use later into the process and when. Another thing is the reflection. I want to line the entire area with relfecting paper, what should I use? What type of pot should I start the seedlings in and should I transfer, if so, to what? I am buying seeds now, so I need to have this set up within a week! I'm very dedicated, and have the knowledge, just need help from the experienced!! \thanks alot and any input is greatly appreciated.

i think if your gana do 5-6, i would think highly into an hps

I used a closet about the same size to grow my first..... under 4-4' floros. My lowryders did very well and I finished 3 under hps but kept two under floros full time. Floros will give you a small harvest for your effort......it's really about just how much you really want to grow but floros will definitely give you a start.......

Would anyone recommend starting the seedlings and putting the plants through veg with 6500k or 5000k flouro or CFLs and then that would give me some extra time to follow up on an HPS system? If I go with an hps, how much would the whole setup cost that could plug into a normal wall socket? Also, for 5 plants in a horizaontal row, do I only need one? Or Will I need two? Also what wattage and how do I get a ballast and such. Thanks!

Bump. I'm ordering seeds today so I really need some help so I have everything setup in time! I am thinking that I am going to start the seeds with a couple CFL's just to get them a few inches, and then switch the CFL's for either bigger and better ones, or I am going to get a special ballast that can switch between MH and HPS so that way I can have two 400w MH's and 2 400w HPS. For growing 5 plants in a row, will one HPS be enough light? How many will I need? Also, can I put a normal window fan in the room above where the leaves are blowing horizontally across the top of the plants to get some air flow in there? Thanks.

Vegging under cfls is fine you want 6500k for sure u can buy pack at walmart for very cheap they also sell y socket for light bulbs I would advise picking some up. It would almost be worht the wait depending on your time line if you had a mh hps ballast 400 w for your closet would be perfect and you are going to doubble your yeilds over cfls with it easily.

Thanks for the reply. I am thinking that I will use CFL's for the start, and eventually get bigger and better ones, anywhere from 5000k-6500k for the veg. For flowering, I think I am going to buy two 24" flourescant tubes (2700k-3000k) and place them on one side of the closet and the other side horizaontally. I may also buy a 400w-1000w HPS system and put it in there. I am only planning on growing 5-6 plants, and I am only really worried that I'll have enough lights to cover the whole area. Here's a shitty painted picture of my closet

harvest time dude.. get the 6500k bulbs daylight those are best for vegging cfl wise however having a mixture is also not a bad thing 2700k or soft white

if yur set on getting an hps yu can look on ebay they have ones for 119 plus s&h and everything matches up.. until then yu still have yours cfls to veg under then when your hps comes yu can simply use yur cfls for germ. or veg times n then put them under the hps.

either way to me purchasing the cfl's to get things started is exactly the way i am going..

hope this is some help to you

Harvest, If you get a 400watt hps make sure you also get a conversion mh bulb,youcan use the mh for vegging and switch to the hps bulb when it'e time to flower. The difference in hps over cfls is measured in grams !! many more with the hps !! if your in a closet the only problem you may have is the heat issue but with a vented light your golden !!You can if you'd like use cfls all through the vegging period, but deffinatly use the hps for flowering!!

Ok, so I think I found on craigslist some guy with about 20, possibly old looking, but definetly industrial indoor growing 1-1000w MH/HPS ballast and hood for $50 each, including bulbs. I think I might pickup one of those, and start the vegging with a couple CFL's , then eventually switch to a 400 or 600w MH for the rest of vegging, until about 18-20" and then switch to a 400 or 600w HPS for flowering. What wattage do you think I should use for veg and for flower? Also, what is the easiest way to good soil? Is there a good soil I could buy pre mixed with nutrients and the right minerals that I need already? What kind of pots should I use? Buckets or pots, and what size? Thanks alot!!!

hi i grow in 2 x 4' h 4' w and 2' D rooms. I use 2x 125w blue eco's in my veg room and red blue red in the other.my plants are only 3 1/2' - 4' but the BUDS are BIG and loads of THC.at the mo iv got 2 super cheez and 1 mexican breed i had off a friend.it all works a treat .All i do is veg the plants till ready to flower take a few cuttings of each plant.veg the cuttings and flower the plants its just 1 cycle.and then just do the same.no need to keep buying seeds.my setup is simple and cheap .The lights are £30 2 fans £10 each 2 filters £80 each all you need then is piping and pots.i use an ALL-MIX BIOBIZZ soil as it covers both veg and flowering cycles i use three nutriants bio bizz bio-bloom and blossom-blood and if you are going to take your own cuttings don't forget rooting compound and thats it.

Lights = Always read the actual wattage. The eq means jack. For vegging you want 6500Klm and 2700Klm. Most people think more light once you hit flowering but you really want more light during the vegging stage as this builds up your plants into the women* they become. If i was you, go for those 23-26W cfl's for vegging, get around... 8-10, if you can fit 20, your doing a good job and you'll be plesently pleased with the growth but around 10 will do. Make sure you place them very close tho because cfl's dont penetrate too well.

When you get into flowering you may wish to switch over to HPS, however, you do need to keep in mind that this will require you to have some sort of ventilation system set up in your closet or it should be left open due to the heat build up caused by these lights. If you want to stick to CFL's it can be done but a lot of coverage is needed. Good thing about cfl's is the placement you can achieve with them. Specfically, you can place maybe one or two cfl's at each bud site to help it develop to big buds, or you could just provide a large coverage at close range and still get very good results.

A good book you might like to purchase is Marijuana Bud for less by SeeMoreBud, very good read and really elaberates the importance of ph testers and soils

Soil : Don't ask for a specific type because you'll get 1000s of different answers. Everyone has their prefs. You've gotta choose between a time-released soil, which has nutrients already in it, or a soil-less mix, which means you would either add your own in or just add nutrients at around 2 weeks but they may suffer a bit by then, im not too sure about soilless mixes as i've always used time released.

Pots : Go for the square ones, work best.
A good rule of thumb ; Match the size of the plant to the size of the pot. a 1ft plant shud have a 1 gallon pot, 2ft = 2 gallon etc. But once it reaches 2ft, i'd leave it an extra week to ensure it uses up all the space before changing over to the bigger size.
Sprout -> Seedling = 16oz, or 10x10cm pots. The small ones basically.
Seedling -> Veg = 1 gallon pots
To finish off veg = 2 gallon pots
Then if you want and you think they need more space = 5 gallon pots

Make sure you utilise the space in your pots, you dont wanna transplant them if the roots aren't using up all the space otherwise your just wasting, so dont go rushing. Watch your plants, if you see growth slowing down then you know it could be time (Ensuring no other factors are causing this). A over rooted pot is better then an under rooted pot (in my experience). SO, UTILISE THAT SPACE.
(This is only a guide line).

Btw, just a side note. If your gonna use CFL's the best bet is to keep the plant below 20" otherwise the light really cant penetrate well enough to reach the lower leaves unless adequate side light is in place.

Reflective = Try and get reflectors for all your lights, For CFL's you can simply make these out of cans from fizzy drinks e.g. coke. Also, definatly coat your walls with mylar, helps a lot with reflectivity. Although the difference between white washed walls and relfective surfaces is around 0.5% so the difference isn't major but the mylar can also offer thermal restiance, meaning police cameras are less likely to detect it (if they do search over houses). and it is also fire retardent in most cases.

Places = I dunno where your from but if your in the USA then most of those big hardware stores sell bulbs and everything else. E.g. Radioshack.

Hope this helps Feel free to send me anymore questions and +rep if yu feel like it

Wish yu all the best brother

EDIT : Just read through the post again and realised (im very-ay high) that you've been swayed towards HPS. Good choice for flowering They do benefit. An experienced CFL grower can pull off the same yield as a HPS user but it does use a lot more effort and precision. (This will start some sort of debate).

HPS are swell for flowering but listen to what the other geeza said; 'HEAT'. It will be a issue with a HPS in a closet. The bigger the Wattage the bigger the heat change. Don't over-look this because the last thing you want is to set down and realise your plants are all dead because you didn't look into proper ventilation. Get a cool-tube HPS so the heat from it is directed straight out and it'll effect the heat in the closet less. This does require you to get a proper ventilation system which is more dollar but if you've got it, its definately worth a buy. + Whilst you wait and they're vegging you can save some dollar up

you could learn what I learned when I learned https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/48123-new-beginning.html

Ok everyone, I went out yesterday and got some supplies. I have a 48" ballast with two 48" flouro tubes, 3000k and 27w, and two more ballast, each with one 24" flouro tube. Then I have 4 CFL's with their own "dome-shaped" hood, and are 45w 2700k or 3000k im not sure. This will start the plants and take them on their journey for a little while, then I still have to decide if I want to switch or not to HPS>

Bump. Does anyone think they could give me a complete rundown of what they would do in my situation? Like lighting, soil, all the important assets that will grow as many nice plants as I can in there. Thanks.......................

im going to try 10 auto blueberrys under 24 hrs of 4ft 8 bulb 40000 lumen t5 hot bulbs with ff ocean forest soil in the closet. I hope to get at least a half o per plant. ill tell yall how it comes out.

The 2700s are for flower I believe you want 6500 k for vegging...

Alright thanks. and yeah I have 5000 and 6500k bulbs not 2700 i was really stoned when writing that. I recently got about $100 online so I think I'm going to order some mylar, and some good soil and nutrients, because I have yet to find any locally. You think It'd be smart to buy anyhthing else online?

harvest time said:

Alright thanks. and yeah I have 5000 and 6500k bulbs not 2700 i was really stoned when writing that. I recently got about $100 online so I think I'm going to order some mylar, and some good soil and nutrients, because I have yet to find any locally. You think It'd be smart to buy anyhthing else online?

Click to expand...

dude get fox farm ocean forest! Its got bat guanno worm castings and other nutes in it already. Its the best soil barr none!

Yeah I think I'm buying the mylar, fox farm ocean forest, and a 400w mh/hps ballast/hood (with built in cooler, perfect for small area)!!! I'm excited to get this rolling! Now I'm down to picking which feminized seeds will be the best and yeild the most from this type of grow... any input?