New Grower - Would Like Your Input On My Setup - THANKS!

Hello everyone - brand new user to this forum, and brand new grower! I have spent hours/days scouring many sites and am going to attempt my first grow, but I need to setup my environment first. I certainly would appreciate your collective knowledge to help me get off on the right foot :)

Initially I was looking at supercloset because it is just plain ready to go. However, since this IS my first attempt, I am going to try to set it up myself and keep the cost *cough* *relatively* low. Some of the stuff I am looking at will be able to be used should I ramp things up, or at least that is the plan. That in itself is keeping this from being a budget setup. Still cheaper than supercloset, and more room to expand.

I will try to grow in soil first as that seems to be the best approach for a noob. I am attaching a zip file that contains a web page with links that shows what I've got listed out so far - I'm SURE I am missing things, but I will hope that you will be able to help fill in the blanks :) If the column is blank, it is there for reference only, as something else I was looking at.

My goals? 2oz a month of product, and no waiting in between. For this reason I am looking at the Secret Jardin DR90T, which has a cloning chamber as well (I assume this will help with the continuous production). I am hoping that this tent would hold maybe 4 plants and that (assuming all goes well), this is capable of supporting my goals. If not - do let me know what I need to adjust! I am looking at Heavy Indica's as this is primarily for pain. So that means shorter plants. I don't have a LOT of height in this thing, so I am guessing that maybe a SCROG would be the way to go - I'm all ears.

I have two different lighting options in here, one an air-cooled 600W dimmable HPS, and the other going all CFL's. Given that I've found a good price (I think) on the HPS setup, it may be the way to go for the extra few dollars. Of course, the HPS may involve more fans/ducting; not sure on that.

I was thinking I could redirect the out-sock of the bottom chamber into the top, thereby pushing air from the veg/flower chamber into the cloning chamber (this is to save $$). Was thinking the ducting would start with a filter at the top of the bottom chamber, ducting connecting it to the right side of the light, left side of light going to the fan and then out the left side of the tent, connecting to the in-sock of upper chamber, then venting outside on right side. Right side of tent would be closed off at the top of bottom chamber, bottom right sock would be intake, I'll just put a piece of ducting in there to hold it open. Kind of like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVqu4oz2EbM

Would I want a booster fan maybe in the upper chamber to help vent out? I am thinking with just the sock open on the bottom right, this will keep negative pressure inside the tent.

As it sits - I'm looking at right around $1000 + any shipping - which I think is pretty decent given what I've got listed out. Most of what I've found on Amazon has free shipping so shouldn't be much additional there.

This is all VERY new to me - I think I've put quite a bit of research into this so far - I look forward to your comments!
 

Attachments

If the tent is the same as the one I'm thinking of, 90cmx90cm at the base, I don't think you would want to scrog 4 plants in such a small space? I am not an expert, but if you only want a couple of ounces per harvest, you could get that with 2 scrogged plants, even 1. The problem is that the scrog will take up the whole flowering room, so you can't really run a perpetual harvest (you said you wanted a harvest each month with no gaps). It would take at LEAST 2 months to do a scrog. Maybe a SoG would work better for you? Then you can have some plants at different stages being moved in and out, taking clones as you go. Something to think about anyway, good luck dude.
 
Also when you're talking about venting the exhaust from the flowering room to the clone room, I don't know if there is any point. The air from the bottom will be hot and ideally low on CO2, which is the last thing you want pumped onto any plants. A single 4" or pc fan as an exhaust at the top, with a little desk or intake fan for circulation if you're veging up there, would be sufficient.
 
Definitely makes sense on the plant count - it will spread out quite a bit in a SCROG from what I understand. However - with the top chamber I would have clones at least getting ready to go wouldn't I?

I guess what I'm thinking is that if it took say 3 months for first harvest - I would need enough from that harvest to last me about another 3 months, which would be 6oz. How many plants and what method would achieve that? Does the top chamber for clones even help me in this case then?

Thanks for your quick help!
 
Also when you're talking about venting the exhaust from the flowering room to the clone room, I don't know if there is any point. The air from the bottom will be hot and ideally low on CO2, which is the last thing you want pumped onto any plants. A single 4" or pc fan as an exhaust at the top, with a little desk or intake fan for circulation if you're veging up there, would be sufficient.

That makes sense to me - since it's a small chamber - would a 4" booster fan suffice?
 
That makes sense to me - since it's a small chamber - would a 4" booster fan suffice?
The three factors to consider are the temperature, the mechanical stimulation of the plants and the air recycling. With CFLs in the veg room temp will not usually be an issue but I dunno your climate. When growing from seedlings it is good to have a fan blowing on them so the stems grow strong, I also read a study that this sort of stimulation improves growth. You need CO2 rich air to go in so the plants can use it and be happy, then the CO2 deficient air needs to leave. I think people tend to agree that if you had to choose one or the other, exhaust is better than intake.
On my clone room I have a 4" inline fan as an exhaust, and this tiny 'desk' fan to blow air around the room. Intake is passive. I hear people use PC case fans, I just had a look on ebay, they're like $5 each, even cheaper some places. Just make sure they will be easy to connect to your power mains.

I would need enough from that harvest to last me about another 3 months, which would be 6oz. How many plants and what method would achieve that? Does the top chamber for clones even help me in this case then?
Yeah you can take clones and if you time it nicely, just after you pull your plants for harvest you can replace the plants with some clones that have been veging a few weeks. People tend to veg into the screen though so you could only have so much of a head-start.
As far as yields go, you can look around the grow journals for examples. I've seen decent 400W scrogs with 4 plants get around 1 lb. I think that takes some pretty good technique though.http://boards.cannabis.com/closet-cabinet-growing/52326-lovely-ladies.html?
Scrog tends to be pretty good per m^2. I couldn't tell you if you will achieve your goal, but I think most people will say that you'll get the most out of your space with a scrog or a sog. There are many threads comparing the two.

peas
 
Thanks again for your input .. much appreciated! I am in the northwest US so pretty good temps to deal with, summer might get a BIT warm. With the 6" inline fan pulling through filter/light and then exhausting out of veg/flower chamber I think that should suffice. I guess a 4" booster in the clone chamber would do well enough for clean air, and as you said a small fan up there to strengthen the clone's stems. And of course the clip-on fan for bottom chamber.

I know 'yield' has many variables - I'm sure this will be a trial/error thing for me that is very dependent on my learning curve, etc.

Aside from that - what do you think of the list of parts I've put together? Could it be improved, have I missed anything that you can see? Or can I even make this a cheaper investment to start? I know I could save some $$ by going with CFL's first ...
 
looks pretty thorough mate.
I doubt you can save too much money anywhere, I think you'll find that you like certain things a certain way and will need to buy bits and pieces in the future as you learn/make mistakes.
Get started I reckon!
 
Cool - like I said, I have spent tons of time reading up so I don't ask too many dumb questions ;)

Anybody else with input? I know there is a lot of experience floating around here!
 
Also - if my plan to just put a piece of ducting in the right bottom of the lower chamber will work for air intake - would I need an elbow or at least some ducting on the outside so that light would not come into the tent?
 
A second consideration that I am looking into - just starting with a cabinet grow first, using this cabinet:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ameriwood-Industries-Pantry-in-Inspire-Cherry/15711884#rr

It is already white so good for reflectivity - not as deep as I'd like - but I think other than that, it would be a good cab, would just need to open it up to accomodate fans, etc ... I would go with CFL for this grow ...

If I really wanted to scale it down - I suppose I could LST and use this cab:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Storage-Trends-Utility-Base-Cabinet/14003479#rr
 
A second consideration that I am looking into - just starting with a cabinet grow first, using this cabinet:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ameriwood-Industries-Pantry-in-Inspire-Cherry/15711884#rr

It is already white so good for reflectivity - not as deep as I'd like - but I think other than that, it would be a good cab, would just need to open it up to accomodate fans, etc ... I would go with CFL for this grow ...

If I really wanted to scale it down - I suppose I could LST and use this cab:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Storage-Trends-Utility-Base-Cabinet/14003479#rr

The first one you link is the cab i have now.
Couple things to consider if you get it: The back is cardboard. Literally. The hinges go into the cabinet a couple inches so you lose some depth if you keep the original hinges (i didn't).

I like it. But if i could do it again i would just buy $20 worth of plywood and make my own cabinet then get the laminate so it would be stealth.
 
The first one you link is the cab i have now.
Couple things to consider if you get it: The back is cardboard. Literally. The hinges go into the cabinet a couple inches so you lose some depth if you keep the original hinges (i didn't).

I like it. But if i could do it again i would just buy $20 worth of plywood and make my own cabinet then get the laminate so it would be stealth.

Thanks for your feedback :)

I think I will just bite the bullet and go with the Secret Jardin tent - I will forgo the HPS/MH lights for now and start with CFL's - once I get confident and get more money, I will upgrade to those lamps I think. I just hope I'm not 'skimping' on anything else that is important!
 
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