My first cheap grow...

Ello folks,

I am new to the whole 'ponics community. I have a 4'x4' built room I use as a vocal booth also. I am using a 5 gallon bucket bubble set-up. With 2 bubblers. General Hydroponics maxi-gro and maxi-bloom granules. I'm starting off with bag-seeds just to get the hang of it all. I am still in search of a growlight for my room. I'm not sure if I should use a cabinet to put this baby in when she comes or if I should use the white krylon or w/e on the whole inside. Any ideas? I'm running a cheap budget right now due to unemployment. But, I don't want to do outdoors due to my location at the moment. Would the cabinet idea be better than using the whole 4'x4' booth? Pics coming soon.

I would say it largley depends on what lights you choose. When your using compact florescent (CFLS), I think a cabinet would be just fine. However if you want to use a HPS or T5 lamp i would highly recommend using a tent, i use a little 2 by 2 by 5'3 homebox tent. The reason for this is heat, HPS lamps spit off ALOT of heat no matter what wattage it is. T5 on the other side don't, which is why i use one myself. I use a 8 bulb New Wave T5 light. I really like it and the bulbs arn't that badly priced around 12 bucks each, so when your switching spectrum it's not to pricy. However the t5 arn't real cheap, but i love them. There usually cool to the touch! CFLS are real cheap and effective to a certian degree, a few 42 watt CFLS can no doubt do the job. I hope this helped.

Thanks man. So CFLs would probably be what I want to use. I don't want to ask the guy at the hydro store as he seems sketchy on what i'm doing. I think I am going to use a cabinet though. Would the CFLs be fine to grow and flower also in the cabinet?