Complete Newb Planning A Very Small Grow

[RevChris]

Hello, I am planning on doing a very small grow in the near future say 1-2 units at a time. I am trying to keep costs down on both setup and maintenance.
I am planning on using diggitydank420's DWC modified down to 2 units and Pappabear's poly wood cabin to house with a DIY CO2 boost as well.

One of my goals is to not need a ventilation system so I am going with a low/neutral odor strain, I expect low yields of 10-15g a plant. I was going to go with a modified aqua garden but if I can sort this lighting thing out I might be able to get setup for cheaper.

My big hold up right now is deciding what light source to use. As I am trying such a small setup I am having a hard time justifying a big increase in my light bill and given my other goal to reduce ventilation/heat dispersion I am very interested in an L.E.D. light option. I keep seeing posts regarding "quality led" being very expensive but eBay sellers are offering 90W 8:1RB UFO lights for only 65$ and a variety of other options. Essentially I am looking for best bang for my buck on a 1-2 plant setup. Any lighting advice would be much appreciated (the sea of info available is hurting my head a little, hence the question post).

 

[turdnugget420]

LED's suck...when compared to HID, it's like night/day

 

[RevChris]

I am not closed minded to HID or CFL lighting either.
If I can't find solid LED info (which seems really hard to come by) I was thinking of going 100-120 actual Watt 6500K CFL (4x25w ish configuration over 2 plants) for Veg and ditto but 2700K for Flower.

 

[Nocturn3]

One of my goals is to not need a ventilation system so I am going with a low/neutral odor strain, I expect low yields of 10-15g a plant.

Ventilation is not just about odor and heat removal. Plants need a good supply of co2 in order to grow well. Without ventilation, they will use up the available co2 quickly, and suffer for it. Also, lack of ventilation can lead to high humidity, which in turn leads to budrot, mold and loads of other problems.

Figure out some form of ventilation, and you won't have to limit your choices on lights, strains etc, and also your plants will be healthier and produce more, with less risks.

 

[Medi 1]

10 to 15 gram a plant is not worth growing. would be cheeper to go buy that, and running hydro for a first grow is harder than soil is to learn in. may want to re-think that. and spend the money on the room. with a wrong set up room nothing will work as it should. you cant go without venting

if your concerned about light running ciost a 400 hid on average is only about 20 bucks a month to run..also less cost to run in soil to over hydro

 

[RevChris]

Sorry , I was going to grow Ganja Dwarf which is listed as 10-15g a plant but I decided to go with blue mystic instead, maybe this strain is more worth it to grow. I am interested in these compact strains. I had read in one grow guide that opening and closing the door to a closet grow 1-2 times a day would provide sufficient ventilation to a small number of plants. Combined with a DIY CO2 source like yeast/sugar will this ensure enough co2 / ventilation?

I could rethink the whole grow but I really love that DWC design, it just seems so simple.

 

[Medi 1]

realy...simple. how is a pot and soil harder. no ph to continuously adjust like in hydro. dont need to be so quick to solve food isues. like in hydro. less cost to run and buy and maintain.
opening a door a couple times a day does allow air but not to what we need. and them homemnade co2 dont do anything enough. needs to be about 1500 ppm. that will do about same as outdoor air is at 450ppm. there is morew from just being in the room and our breath than that stuff.

 

[RevChris]

Maybe i should rethink the build and read more about building with a classic dirt design....

 

[Medi 1]

im not tryin to tell ya what to do but thats what id do. is easier and cheeper. then once you learn the deff`s and how to deal with them then move up. your begining at an exp level. with no experience.
especialy running auto or not a large plant count. to me is a waste of money.

 

[RevChris]

thanks for the input, I want this to go as smoothly as possible but I also want to be efficient with my money so all input is greatly appreciated.
I think I'm going to go read more of the resources on dirt growing. Maybe I should post more details of the space I have to grow in for more input.

 

[RevChris]

I just picked up the "buds for less" book that step by steps a small grow, soil use, cfl and everything is DIY. I think I am going to follow this word for word and drop this hydro idea.
I notice the book doesn't talk about if the indoor room is a closet or large room does anyone have advice on that? I have a 10x10x10 room to grow in with ambient temperature of >19C (66.2F) and humidity of 65%. I can section off the room by mylar or emergency blanket or similar and I have a small fan and dehumidifier if needed. I can also control the temperature using standard heat controls (the room is finished) and the lights of course will heat the immediate area.
If I am using the fan to move air around should I worry about the room humidity?

 

[Medi 1]

you want day temps about 78 to 82. night as close to that as can get. not below 70. stomata start to close below that thus slower growth and food processing is done.
humidity in veg is 55% and then once flowering drop to about 40.

you have a huge room and going to use cfl`s???? cfl need to be withion a couple inches of plants to work right. they dont have the pentration power. gonna need a shit ton to cover that size room...cheeper to go with HID lights. and a note that if you try and follow that word for word it will most likely fail as no 2 rooms are the same. you need to run it as your set up runs best for your applications. use others only as a guidline.

 

[RevChris]

Oh, I was going to cordon off a 2x2x3 or 3x3x3 section of the room in w/b poly to actually do the grow in and do only 2-3 plants the first grow. I described the room because I thought it might help give an idea of air flow (the room has no windows but the doorway leads directly to the rest of my finished basement and up into the house proper) and temp/humidity control at my disposal.

Good advice on the guideline bit I don't want the first try to be too bad of a flop.

 

[RevChris]

I have a question thats very important to my wife. If I were to grow 1-3 or even 3-5 blue mystic plants indoors (in my tent) and dry them inside how bad would the odor be? I have read blue mystic is a low odor strain and am growing a relatively low amount. Anyone with experience with this strain want to talk about the odor during flower and drying?

 

[Medi 1]

youll smell any so called low smell plant with no filter once in flower and during the dry. need a filter

 

[Nocturn3]

Agreed. Get a proper filter and fan. Don't bother with a DIY filter, and don't waste your time with cheap "duct booster" bathroom fans or PC fans. Get on a hydro website and grab a proper centrifugal fan and matching size filter.

A good fan/filter combo will remove 100% of the smell, and is well worth the money. This way, you won't have to limit yourself to "low odor" strains, that usually aren't, and you greatly reduce the risk of getting busted, robbed, or pissing off the wife.

 

[RevChris]

Yea I live in the middle of nowhere with nearest neighbors 100+ feet away. Biggest fear is pissing off the wife who absolutly cannot smell of it in her work environment.

 

[RevChris]

So I have picked up a 1x1x2m (3.3x3.3x6.5ft or 40x40x79 inches) Mylar grow tent. I have decided against the DIY room build due to necessity of the low house odor issue.

Will post some more about venting and lighting as I figure it out but any advice will be appreciated. I am currently trying to figure how many plants will fit and how much light they will need.

 

[GimpDoctor420]

you havent done a PROPER newb grow, until youve stuck a seed in dirt, and put it under an incandescent light in a tiny 1X1X1.5 space and still pull off a joints worth that made a happy day

 

[Medi 1]

ok so your cfrm for that room is about 60 cfm. so need a fan and filter to match that size. normaly we exchange the air once every 3 to 5 min but with heat froim light and for any bends or curves in the vent line i keep to the same cfm as the room is and im usualy good to go. myself id run a 400 in there. those are meatn to cover roughly the 3x3 foot[rint at the rigtht hight from plants. a 400 is only good to 18 inches for max lumens then each inch it drops by close to 50% lumens....so keep em shorties. id flower at about 8 inches tall...,.some will triple in hight once flowering depending ion the strains....and how well you use the light. i run only hps dual spec for both veg and bloom. in the 400 range use the hortilux.(my preff) 430 watt. you get more lumens than a reg 400 and 30% blue with it to help that veg for side growth.

oh shit you said your running cfl didnt you...oh well now you know about 400`s....lol....or are you convinced to use a real light now....lol. its not much to run to be honest. about what a pc cost to run with a 400 watt power supply...same draw...if using the whole power of the pc...