How many plants would fit in a 36x20x62 tent?

Hey, first post, first grower, and I have a few questions.

I've just played around with seeds to watch them grow for a couple weeks, but never really grew anything seriously. I'm getting sick of emptying my pockets for a nice sack, so I'm going to get weed from the cheapest place I know: home!

I think I'm going to get a 36x20x62 grow tent. There's this one on ebay, but I'm waiting for a better deal:

Hydroponics Tent 36x20x62 Home Hydro Cabinet Grow Box - eBay (item 320316185010 end time Dec-03-08 19:10:55 PST)

So, the barrage of questions:

1. How many plants could I fit in here without hurting the quality of the harvest?
2. How tall should I grow the plants?
3. What kind of light/light schedule should I use, and what wattage? I'm eyeing a 150w hps, but I heard it's good to start with cfl. Why?
4. I hear about needing ballasts for lights. What are ballasts, and do I need them?
5. What's the easiest way to configure the filter/fan? I want to keep this as small as possible, so I can't have smell, nor can I have big silver tubes coming out the top and side. Could I just have a small fan in there and open up the front a couple times a day?
6. I've heard of cfls that actually filter smell. Could I use these in conjunction with an hps? Will the light be strong enough to replace the need for a filter?
7. How often will I be able to harvest? What would be an approximate harvest size I could reasonably expect?
8. I have some so-so seeds right now. What's a great strain to start with? I want a sativa if possible, but anything potent is good.

Thanks a lot! I'm sticking with this forum; some of the people on other forums are pretty sharp-tongued.

I know the price is nice on that thing, but the dimensions seem odd to me. I personally use something like this. I found this one with Google and it appears to be a little cheaper than the Homebox. By the way, a 150W light isn't going to be nearly enough light for a grow tent. You will need a 400W light minimum, preferably a 600W. CFL's and fluoros are cheap, but HID light is the way to go if you can spare the extra cash. HID's generally produce denser buds than fluoro.

Regardking your other questions, I suggest starting with the growfaq link at the top of the page. You'll find much, if not all of the answers there.

1. the 20 inch width concerns me. If you are going hydro then it just depends on your hydro set up my knowledge is all soil based. In soil you could flower about four plants in there comfortably. 20 inches doesn't offer enough depth to put them two pots deep.

2. grow them about 15 inches tall then start flowering. As long as you have the lighting to support that.

3. CFL is not "good" for anything if you are only using 150 watt HPS change the answer to question number one to two plants. Buy a 400 watt HPS for that closet if you want a real yield

4. Yes you need a ballast to run an HID light go to www.htgsupply.com and look at their light selection it should give you a better idea of what you need.
5. That is going to vary from grow room to grow room. If it stays cool enough with just a fan and an occasional door opening then your cool. If not you will need at a minimum two fans doing intake and exhaust. which is a lot easier with big silver tubes coming out. Just experiment with this until you find the right way
6. You heard wrong
7. it varies but if you just have one grow room and light you are looking t a harvest every 3-5 months. How much you yeild depends on you with 150 watt light I wouldn't expect more than an ounce total with a 400 I would expect 3-4 ounces from a newbie who reads a lot before starting.
8. I am an indica guy and i recommmend Indica for the beginners because if you end up only harvesting like an eigth your first grow you just saved yourself a month.

You should check out htgsupply, the tent i got from there is 48x48x78.5 the top measurement of the tent u posted a link to said its like 62? thats not very high imo. This here is the tent i use High Tech Garden Supply its 100$ more than the one u posted but it got way more room.I run a 600w light in mine with a aircool hood High Tech Garden Supply . I also run a fan and carbon filter in it too High Tech Garden Supply I grow around 7-9 plants in mine,mostly indica's

STUNNED - aren't your yield expectations a little low

I am hoping to get at least 250 grams from my 400W HPS setup, 4 big bushy plants

indica is easy to grow but I personally would pick sativa for smoking anytime, indica is too stoney and lazy, I like getting high, ain't a stoner and don't really like it

sadly my current plants are almost all indica, but I will be experimenting with sativa my second grow

This is really helpful. So, I've looked around and the 150w light does indeed sound stupid.

In terms of HID lights, which is better? MH or HPS? Though I'd like an ideal harvest, I still have to make certain compromises, and I won't be able to buy one for veg and one for flowering. If I have to choose one light from beginning to end, which one should I choose?

I found a 500w MH on Craigslist, seems pretty legit. Would that be a good choice? Would I have heat issues if I choose HID?

As far as the 20 inch depth, I live in an apartment so I'd like to be able to hide it if pest control, etc. comes, and my closet is 21 inches deep.

MH is good only for vegging

if you are getting one lamp make sure it is HPS - it is suitable for both vegging and flowering, but MH I repeat - only for vegging

I have 2 weeks old babies growing under a 400 HPS and they grow like there is no tomorrow:
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/129962-help-me-identify-strain.html

What about filters? I'd like to keep this as stealthy as possible, and smell is maybe the biggest component of that?

Are carbon filters the only feasible option? How much would it cost?