Outdoor Grower Moving Indoors

[sheckylovejoy]

Hi. I've had a small outdoor grow in So Cal for several years with pretty good results until this year, which has mostly been disastrous. Six weeks of overcast skies followed by 100+ degree temps. Ouch.

I'm looking to set up a small indoor grow so I'm not so dependent on a single crop a year.

• Looking to yield about 1-1.5 lbs a year from the indoor setup. Of course more=better.
• I will be growing only 7-8 months a year with the indoor setup. It will be too hot in the summer months in the locations I have available. I will do a reduced outdoor grow March-October.
• I've grown cannabis and many other things outdoors but never anything with lights or soil-less.

First off, location. I have 2 possibilities:

1. In the garage I have a 4x2.5 foot space with an 8' ceiling. There is currently heavy steel shelving there I can use for the setup if that would help. Or...
2. I would take over half my outdoor grow space with a 7x7 foot shed. The shed has a peaked roof, 8' in the middle and 6' on the sides

Which do you think is a better choice?

Secondly, lighting. I'm pretty sold on the benefits of LED over other options, mostly energy consumption and heat dissipation. There seems to be a lot of choices, and I don't mind paying a little extra for something that will perform well and last many years. I stopped by the local hydro store today and he carries the Spectrum King, which looks like a very solid unit, but there seems to be many other well-liked brands like Kind and Advanced Platinum and others. What brand and size would you recommend for the space I have? One thing I'd like to avoid is a light that has to be very far away from the plants during flowering, as I don't have high ceilings in either location above.

Thirdly, soil or soil-less. Like I said, zero experience with soil-less, lots with soil. Will soil-less allow me to keep plants closer to the floor, and thus grow taller? How much is there to learn with soil-less setups?

I know there are a hundred other decisions I have to make here and I welcome input on anything you think is important to know, but these are the three decisions I have to start with.

I would like to have this up and running by Nov 1, so there's plenty of time to mull this over and wait for new products on the horizon.

Thanks for reading this overlong post.

 

[qballizhere]

Hi. I've had a small outdoor grow in So Cal for several years with pretty good results until this year, which has mostly been disastrous. Six weeks of overcast skies followed by 100+ degree temps. Ouch.

I'm looking to set up a small indoor grow so I'm not so dependent on a single crop a year.

• Looking to yield about 1-1.5 lbs a year from the indoor setup. Of course more=better.
• I will be growing only 7-8 months a year with the indoor setup. It will be too hot in the summer months in the locations I have available. I will do a reduced outdoor grow March-October.
• I've grown cannabis and many other things outdoors but never anything with lights or soil-less.

First off, location. I have 2 possibilities:

1. In the garage I have a 4x2.5 foot space with an 8' ceiling. There is currently heavy steel shelving there I can use for the setup if that would help. Or...
2. I would take over half my outdoor grow space with a 7x7 foot shed. The shed has a peaked roof, 8' in the middle and 6' on the sides

Which do you think is a better choice?

Secondly, lighting. I'm pretty sold on the benefits of LED over other options, mostly energy consumption and heat dissipation. There seems to be a lot of choices, and I don't mind paying a little extra for something that will perform well and last many years. I stopped by the local hydro store today and he carries the Spectrum King, which looks like a very solid unit, but there seems to be many other well-liked brands like Kind and Advanced Platinum and others. What brand and size would you recommend for the space I have? One thing I'd like to avoid is a light that has to be very far away from the plants during flowering, as I don't have high ceilings in either location above.

Thirdly, soil or soil-less. Like I said, zero experience with soil-less, lots with soil. Will soil-less allow me to keep plants closer to the floor, and thus grow taller? How much is there to learn with soil-less setups?

I know there are a hundred other decisions I have to make here and I welcome input on anything you think is important to know, but these are the three decisions I have to start with.

I would like to have this up and running by Nov 1, so there's plenty of time to mull this over and wait for new products on the horizon.

Thanks for reading this overlong post.

First why choose if you use the 4x2.5 space for veg and then use the 7x7 for flower you could set up a perpetual grow. Also for the summer time grow you can plant late feb or early march and grow trees in veg before they go outside.

Second have a look at the led section there are several members here that make cob lighting and they are better than the plurple lights you mentioned. I will be switching my 4k garden over to cob leds soon.

Third soilless similar to soil and the benefits of hydro

 

[sheckylovejoy]

Thanks for the reply.

1. Not sure I have the spare brainpower to run 2 separate setups year round, but it's worth thinking about. AFA summer goes, I'm in So Cal, so I germinate on March 1 and put them right outside. No danger of frost here in March (though there is the occasional heat wave).

2. If I were just doing the 7x7, which is what I'm leaning towards right now, what sort of lighting setup would you recommend? I'm getting the idea that many people prefer multiple small lamps to 1 big one. Is that the case? How many total actual (not equivalent) watts would I need for the 7x7?

3. What soil-less medium do you like?

Finally, you mentioned COB LEDs, which I'm just learning about now. What brands do you like or is it DIY?

Thanks again

 

[qballizhere]

Thanks for the reply.

1. Not sure I have the spare brainpower to run 2 separate setups year round, but it's worth thinking about. AFA summer goes, I'm in So Cal, so I germinate on March 1 and put them right outside. No danger of frost here in March (though there is the occasional heat wave).

2. If I were just doing the 7x7, which is what I'm leaning towards right now, what sort of lighting setup would you recommend? I'm getting the idea that many people prefer multiple small lamps to 1 big one. Is that the case? How many total actual (not equivalent) watts would I need for the 7x7?

3. What soil-less medium do you like?

Finally, you mentioned COB LEDs, which I'm just learning about now. What brands do you like or is it DIY?

Thanks again

1. I was suggesting separate veg room instead of planting early march you plant early feb and veg them out for a month and then in early march you have 5-6 foot tree not one you just poped. You do have the brain power hell I have to use a calendar and write everything on it easier to keep track of when they flipped.

2. Well if you would like to get down each side you have a 4x7 area or are you filling the whole area and not go inside? what type of lighting determines how many ect. I will use the 4x7 for an example I would look at solis tek 1000w ballast and use the 600 splitter so 2 lights 600w each only 1 ballast. You could go 2 1000w de. You could go cob led there are diy options and also a few members here make prebuilt units. If it were me and the budget allowed it I would go cob lighting for a 3x6 area and that would give you great coverage. IT all depends on what you want to do and what the budget is.

3. Depends what my store has but coco loco and cyco are the main 2 i get

Have a look in the led section you can diy or buy pre built cob lights. Several members make the prebuilt lights and I cant personally say one is better than the other.

 

[sheckylovejoy]

Thanks for all the help. I'm just now getting around to putting a budget together. Thanks for the help.