Few questions before I get started

Well let me start off by saying hello, I just became a member and have been reading everyone's threads. Well I recently decided I wanted to grow, i'm a caregiver with 5 patients. I'm planning on growing 60-70 plants. I'm going to be using approximately 20 1000w lights. Sunmaster 1000W MH Cool Bulb for Veg, Is that a good bulb? I was thinking about neutral but couldn't decide. I'm planning on Agromax 1000W HPS Bulb for Flowering since it produces the most lumens. I'm going to be using lumiteks ballasts. I'm planning on using bubbleponics. Another question I have is about my lighting, I'm planning on using vertical sockets and hanging them from the ceiling for lighting, I read that a reflector actually takes up more light, is this true and would you guys recommend it? If you do, don't you think it would get wayyyy too hot with 20 bulbs? Another question is the minimum I will go is 5 Gallon buckets, do you think I should go bigger? The bigger the roots the bigger the yield isnt it? And my final question, I'm going to have airstones in each bucket, now what about a pump? Some people say that the bottom of the roots getting oxygen and water from the bucket is enough, some say its best to run a pump up through your hydroton pellets so that the top of the roots down all get water and nutrients, what would you recommend? All I need is basic nutrients correct? Won't I be missing basic nutrients found in soil like NPK? If so what liquid nutrients can replace them? Should I run the airstone and pump 24/7? Thanks for your help in advance.

First off,I am in no way an expert at growing so try and take everything I say with a grain of salt......But I do know some basic rules and stuff I've picked up from trial and error so I'll try and answer your questions in the order you asked them

1. Sunmaster 1000W MH Cool Bulb for Veg, Is that a good bulb? - honestly I couldn't tell you,but from what I've seen CMH is the way to go for vegetation and flowering and I'm planning on getting one for my next grow

2. I read that a reflector actually takes up more light, is this true and would you guys recommend it? - Almost all light is good light when it comes to plants,just make sure that they get uninterrupted sleep

3. don't you think it would get wayyyy too hot with 20 bulbs? - It depends on how much and what kind of airflow you will have in your area,If you're planning on starting your grown in the middle of the summer when it's 100+ degrees outside then you better make sure that you have at least 1 AC unit per light otherwise your plants will overheat under 1k watts,I just use a 150w HPS for my 1 plant every so often and I still have an occasional heat spike from summer time weather........anything over 90 degrees will destroy your crop in days

4. the minimum I will go is 5 Gallon buckets, do you think I should go bigger? The bigger the roots the bigger the yield isnt it? - I use a waterfarm for my grow and it technically is a 5 gallon bucket (2 gallons for hydroton and 3 gallons for the reservoir) and I'll get 3-4 ounces when I crop out....and it's the HEALTHIER the roots the bigger the yield

5. I'm going to have airstones in each bucket, now what about a pump? - I couldn't tell you,I've never done bubbleponics,unless that the new name for using a waterfarm,otherwise don't bother with the airstone

6. All I need is basic nutrients correct? Won't I be missing basic nutrients found in soil like NPK? - Yes,you will miss out on a lot of nutrients without soil,your basic NPK nutrients can be found at your local grow shop in green,red and pink bottles,almost all nutrients have a guide on the back of the bottle and should be administered by their standard with slight tweaks depending on what you plant is doing,too much and your leaves will get nutrient burn,too little and they'll starve

I hope I was some help,remember,I'm not an expert myself,just trying to help out with what I do know...





and wtf?,how come everything came out all bold?!?!

Thanks but I don't understand how a aircooled reflector works?

askonja said:

Thanks but I don't understand how a aircooled reflector works?

Click to expand...

ohh yeah, you are SOOOO ready to manage a 20,000 watt grow. Way to hot with 20k watts of light? LMFAO, no dude, it won't get hot in there at all.

1 watt = 3.40 BTU's. so with 20,000 watts your going to be generating 68,000 btu's of heat. Your ass better be living somewhere cold. LMFAO.

Or you could go with an AC unit. here is the AC unit that MIGHT keep it cool enough..http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/hvac/air-conditioning/portable/portable-air-conditioner-5-ton-1-speed-3?utm_source=google_pr&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Portable-Air-Conditioners-google_pr&infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=CPax6fTkm6oCFQQ3gwodogPozA

askonja said:

Thanks but I don't understand how a aircooled reflector works?

Click to expand...

Since the other guy didn't actually respond to your question, I will. Aircooled reflectors that are enclosed are using a 6 or 8 inch ducting tube in combination with a powerful in-line fan to pull the hot air generated by the bulb out of that area. Now if you just have a wing, that heat generated dissipates into your room. With an enclosed system you can direct the exhaust of your system away from the room. With 20+ 1000k reflectors you will want the largest ducting so you can run them in series. 8 inch ducting and inline fans, powerful ones.

This will not dissipate all heat generated by the bulb, but it does help. In addition you will need, as the other poster suggested, AC, and lots of it. You can calculate your BTU's including ballasts, bulb, other equipment in the room. Take the max temperature of the room under normal conditions. And then you can calculate how much AC you need to make this work. It is probably in the neighborhood of at least 50,000 BTU's.

What state are you attempting this in?

Southeastern Michigan

I highly suggest getting more exp before wasting all of your money on a bad ass set-up like that.
Or you can pay a grower that knows what hes doing. Is this gonna be your first grow?

whodatnation said:

I highly suggest getting more exp before wasting all of your money on a bad ass set-up like that.
Or you can pay a grower that knows what hes doing. Is this gonna be your first grow?

Click to expand...

Seriously bro... you are gonna be wasting a whole lot of money and time if you think you're ready to deal with a grow as big as you are talking about. Why not get 1-1000w and try a grow or two? Invest 6 months of your life to save yourself the headache. After two years of growing and months of research before I started, I feel like I'm just starting to really get the hang of it.

20 - 1000w lights is not necessary for 5 patients. Do they each smoke 3 pounds a month? I would think you were joking if you didn't write so much. The point of me saying all this is to caution you before investing, what? $20,000 into your first grow.

If you really have that much money to burn, why not just fly me out to get you started and walk you through your first grow? Just kidding.

Good luck no matter what you do. RIU is a good place, just don't pay attention to the idiots that want to start fights. If someone starts to knock you, just click their name and hit the "add to ignore list".

peace

Wasn't really trying to knock him.. Well maybe I was. These threads come up time and time again. AT least 20K to get that set up going, probably 30K.

You guys spend all this time giving advise to him, but really, how many people do you know that are just sitting on 30k, have absolutely NO experience growing weed, and decide to set up a 20k watt operation.

How in the world is he going to wire that room if he doesn't even know how an AC hood works? Seriously. I'm ready and willing to help a brother out, but come on. My time is somewhat valuable.

legallyflying said:

ohh yeah, you are SOOOO ready to manage a 20,000 watt grow. Way to hot with 20k watts of light? LMFAO, no dude, it won't get hot in there at all.

1 watt = 3.40 BTU's. so with 20,000 watts your going to be generating 68,000 btu's of heat. Your ass better be living somewhere cold. LMFAO.

Or you could go with an AC unit. here is the AC unit that MIGHT keep it cool enough..http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/hvac/air-conditioning/portable/portable-air-conditioner-5-ton-1-speed-3?utm_source=google_pr&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Portable-Air-Conditioners-google_pr&infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=CPax6fTkm6oCFQQ3gwodogPozA

Click to expand...

Was that really necessary to put me in your sig? It was just a question u fucking loser i'm sorry I don't have 10+ hours to sit here and read like your dumbass does.

Dude... did you miss my post about people who want to start a fight? It seems you might be one of those peeps that likes to fight. I mean you get some good info from people and all you respond to is something you don't like... then you start knocking that guy.

Lol man. I can see where all your threads are going.

And I gotta say about putting you in a sig... that shit is pretty funny man. I mean seriously, can't you even see the humor in wanting to drop HUUUUUUUGE ammounts of money on something you know very little about.

Last thing (as if you are getting any of this) if you don't have 10 hours to read about growing MJ, you are going to be an EPIC EPIC Failure at growing. Shit takes a lot of attention and time.

Thanks for the chuckles.

subd......
I wouldnt have found this thread if it wasnt for lglyflying's sig

Seriously think about jigs advice and run just 1 light and see how it goes... I would also put hydro on hold and play in some tried and true organic soil that is pretty fool proof.
Im just trying to save you a major headache and possibly your life savings.
Please dont tell mell me how much you make either, thats beside the point.

askonja said:

Was that really necessary to put me in your sig? It was just a question u fucking loser i'm sorry I don't have 10+ hours to sit here and read like your dumbass does.

Click to expand...

I wouldnt worry to much about him, he's proving himself over and over to be a punk ass troll who spends his days on here harassing others. His life obviously sucks so bad he feels a need to belittle others to make himself feel better.

FlyLikeAnEagle said:

I wouldnt worry to much about him, he's proving himself over and over to be a punk ass troll who spends his days on here harassing others. His life obviously sucks so bad he feels a need to belittle others to make himself feel better.

Click to expand...

Yeah, its much better to follow me around and talk smack about me.. .. oh booo hooo my life is sooo terrible. LMAO shitheads like you and your clueless buddy are what keep this forum fun.

hey yall are both flying.

Id like to hear something back from the op.

whodatnation said:

subd......
I wouldnt have found this thread if it wasnt for lglyflying's sig

Seriously think about jigs advice and run just 1 light and see how it goes... I would also put hydro on hold and play in some tried and true organic soil that is pretty fool proof.
Im just trying to save you a major headache and possibly your life savings.
Please dont tell mell me how much you make either, thats beside the point.

Click to expand...

I think I might do just that but soil requires more attention and in my opinion bubbleponics would be more easy. I wouldn't have to worry about constantly watering and that their isn't to much npk in my soil, in my opinion, it would be easier this way plus water and oxygen get directly to the roots.

How many harvest do you have under your belt?
In no way shape or form does soil require more attention.... more than hydro???? really?

Water only soil is by far the easiest way to go... Just mix it properly and you wont have any issues... So maybe you can concentrate on other things like your environment.

askonja said:

I think I might do just that but soil requires more attention and in my opinion bubbleponics would be more easy. I wouldn't have to worry about constantly watering and that their isn't to much npk in my soil, in my opinion, it would be easier this way plus water and oxygen get directly to the roots.

Click to expand...

Soil needs more attention than hydro? You sure about that one?

Bubbleponics is a registered trademark of Stealth Hydro which is talking about a modified DWC where rez water is also pumped directly into the base of the plant. Are you going to buy a water pump and little tubing to go to each plant. If not I believe what you are talking about doing is a strait DWC. Also, I've seen grows where people pulled something like 3-4 pounds from each plant... and each one was in a 5 gallon bucket, not sure you need to go bigger.

I'm going to shut up now and see what's next. Excitedly waiting...

askonja said:

but I don't understand how a aircooled reflector works?

Click to expand...

DUDE, listen to none of these people! 20 lights? Do 40! Growing is super easy and I bet you could do it all for under $10,000. What do the vast number of growers that collectively agree on RIU really know about this stuff anyway right man?

^ He's being sarcastic by the way.
Dont listen to him lol