New Member, First Post. HELP

[Tom369]

Evening all,
New member and first (of many probably) post.
So I’m planning on setting up to start growing for strictly personal use.
Im planning on only 2 plants per grow.
Ive tried to do a fair bit of reading as I’m sure most will be aware you get a lot of views so it’s hard to get an answer to my questions.
So I thought I’d ask myself then I can at least ask more questions on specific answers (if that makes sense )
I don’t want to buy the Cheapest, but I also don’t want to buy stuff that will cost me on bills.
Im not sure what tent size really as some say 75x75 will do, other say 1m?
I think I’d be best to go for an HPS bulb but again I reading 400w will do, or 600?
I’m leaning towards a digital ballast.
Carbon filter for smell and a 5/6inch extraction fan?
No intake fan but a bit of ducting in the bottom tent vent?
Think that’ll do for now as I think that’s pretty much in equipment.
I feel more comfortable with medium and process but there probs will be some questions down the line lol.
Cheers all

 

[Doug Dawson]

Evening all,
New member and first (of many probably) post.
So I’m planning on setting up to start growing for strictly personal use.
Im planning on only 2 plants per grow.
Ive tried to do a fair bit of reading as I’m sure most will be aware you get a lot of views so it’s hard to get an answer to my questions.
So I thought I’d ask myself then I can at least ask more questions on specific answers (if that makes sense )
I don’t want to buy the Cheapest, but I also don’t want to buy stuff that will cost me on bills.
Im not sure what tent size really as some say 75x75 will do, other say 1m?
I think I’d be best to go for an HPS bulb but again I reading 400w will do, or 600?
I’m leaning towards a digital ballast.
Carbon filter for smell and a 5/6inch extraction fan?
No intake fan but a bit of ducting in the bottom tent vent?
Think that’ll do for now as I think that’s pretty much in equipment.
I feel more comfortable with medium and process but there probs will be some questions down the line lol.
Cheers all

Hey Bud, welcome to RIU. Is that 75 inches by 75 inches? If so that is over 6 feet by 6 feet and way more space than needed for 2 plants. Are you planning on sticking with 2 plants? How much space do you have to set up a tent? What at the temps like in the room you are going to set up in? Do you have issues with LED?

 

[Kalebaiden]

A 400 would cover it easily, keep the plants relatively close together but not touching. 600 is always better,1000 is best (yes, I said 1000 for 2 plants).

Look into LEDs, I've seen alot of great grows on here but LEDs do have a learning curve.

Welcome to RIU.
Come for the facts, stay for the crazy.

I'm Kaleb and I'll be your assigned pet rock. I don't do anything but if you throw me at someone hard enough, I'll probably make them cry.

HID issues include heat, heat and a hell of alot of heat.

75x75x75 is roughly a 2.5' -3' x 2.5'-3' depending on manufacturer. You will always need active exhaust for HID lighting.

 

[Tom369]

Hey Bud, welcome to RIU. Is that 75 inches by 75 inches? If so that is over 6 feet by 6 feet and way more space than needed for 2 plants. Are you planning on sticking with 2 plants? How much space do you have to set up a tent? What at the temps like in the room you are going to set up in? Do you have issues with LED?

Cheers Pal, appreciate it.
Sorry my bad, I’m in Uk so I’m talking cm.
Yes i think 2 plants will be my limit. It’ll only be for myself so I think that’ll be enough to cover me. 1 Sativa, 1 indica is the plan so I have a choice depending what I fancy.
I don’t think I’ll struggle with space as I’m planning on doing it in my garage, but that leads onto the temp question. It’s pretty cold at min so hopefully the heat from the bulb will help, if not I can stick some tube heaters in there to help. In summer I may have to rethink.
Only reason I’m leaning away from LED at the min is due to price as I’d like to get comfy with everything first before moving up in gear.
hope that helps.

 

[curious618]

Cheers Pal, appreciate it.
Sorry my bad, I’m in Uk so I’m talking cm.
Yes i think 2 plants will be my limit. It’ll only be for myself so I think that’ll be enough to cover me. 1 Sativa, 1 indica is the plan so I have a choice depending what I fancy.
I don’t think I’ll struggle with space as I’m planning on doing it in my garage, but that leads onto the temp question. It’s pretty cold at min so hopefully the heat from the bulb will help, if not I can stick some tube heaters in there to help. In summer I may have to rethink.
Only reason I’m leaning away from LED at the min is due to price as I’d like to get comfy with everything first before moving up in gear.
hope that helps.

Welcome to RIU.
Im a rookie myself, but if you don’t mind a knockoff, I found my QB LED for pretty cheap. If you go the LED route make sure they get some CalMag. Good luck with it my friend and post your progress!

 

[Doug Dawson]

Cheers Pal, appreciate it.
Sorry my bad, I’m in Uk so I’m talking cm.
Yes i think 2 plants will be my limit. It’ll only be for myself so I think that’ll be enough to cover me. 1 Sativa, 1 indica is the plan so I have a choice depending what I fancy.
I don’t think I’ll struggle with space as I’m planning on doing it in my garage, but that leads onto the temp question. It’s pretty cold at min so hopefully the heat from the bulb will help, if not I can stick some tube heaters in there to help. In summer I may have to rethink.
Only reason I’m leaning away from LED at the min is due to price as I’d like to get comfy with everything first before moving up in gear.
hope that helps.

No worries, glad to help. Ok so a 2.5 x 2.5 foot space will work fine for 2 plants. If you are doing it in a garage I would actually go to a 4x4. I say this because you would have more space to work and if you wanted to do a couple more plants you would be able too yet if you only want 2 than it's perfectly fine. Your call. If doing in a garage you are defiantly better off with MH/HPS. You will however have to set up a heater for when the lights are out so you should thing about that. An inkbird timer with sensor is only around $35 so you could set that up on a cheap analog heater and it would just turn the heater on when it hit a min temp and turn off when it hits a max temp. Super easy and cheap. If you are going with the 2.5 x 2.5 I would get a 600 watt. If going with a 4x4 I would get a 1000 watt. Most are dimmable now so either would suit your purpose well. A 4" carbon filter will actually do either tent but if you go to a 6" it would be better and quieter.

 

[Killaki]

Cheers Pal, appreciate it.
Sorry my bad, I’m in Uk so I’m talking cm.
Yes i think 2 plants will be my limit. It’ll only be for myself so I think that’ll be enough to cover me. 1 Sativa, 1 indica is the plan so I have a choice depending what I fancy.
I don’t think I’ll struggle with space as I’m planning on doing it in my garage, but that leads onto the temp question. It’s pretty cold at min so hopefully the heat from the bulb will help, if not I can stick some tube heaters in there to help. In summer I may have to rethink.
Only reason I’m leaning away from LED at the min is due to price as I’d like to get comfy with everything first before moving up in gear.
hope that helps.

Ah. Yeah temperature is going to be a major obstacle unless your garage has heating and cooling. Bulb may give some heat but not enough depending on temps. What are your coldest temps/night time temps?
Also what's your vertical space? A sativa may not work well if you're keeping it short.

 

[Mattmaximus]

Alright mate, At the moment when it’s cold your going to have temperature problems when your lights go out. I’m in a summer house with 100mm celotex insulation, ply either side of that, then plaster board on the inside and thick cladding on the outside. I’m still having to heat my tent with a oil filled radiator when the light are out. When it’s freezing outside and lights are on I’ve had temperatures low as 22 and had to put the rad on to warm it up a bit. If I was you I’d get a bigger tent if you can to make space for any equipment like heaters etc. I didn’t and ended up buying a bigger tent just to fit in a heater and dehumidifier as i suffered with huge amounts of mould from humidity in the summer

 

[insomnia65]

Excellent post OP, Whenever I read that opening line "help" in my head pops the Beatles skiing.

Welcome aboard RIU OP, and good luck.

Instead of "more cowbell" please insert "don't forget the Cal-Mag" at least with Led anyhow, the Alibaba China knocks quantum boards are an amazing price, I will deffo be buying there for the future, like you I'm from the UK, I chose HLG 135 for my 2. X 2.3 X 6 cupboard space, I paid £200 for it Inc postage, if I had to do that again I'd go Alibaba and get double quantum board for less that 2 3rds of price including shipping.
The quantum board is brilliant on cost to run, that's why I got it.

 

[Tom369]

No worries, glad to help. Ok so a 2.5 x 2.5 foot space will work fine for 2 plants. If you are doing it in a garage I would actually go to a 4x4. I say this because you would have more space to work and if you wanted to do a couple more plants you would be able too yet if you only want 2 than it's perfectly fine. Your call. If doing in a garage you are defiantly better off with MH/HPS. You will however have to set up a heater for when the lights are out so you should thing about that. An inkbird timer with sensor is only around $35 so you could set that up on a cheap analog heater and it would just turn the heater on when it hit a min temp and turn off when it hits a max temp. Super easy and cheap. If you are going with the 2.5 x 2.5 I would get a 600 watt. If going with a 4x4 I would get a 1000 watt. Most are dimmable now so either would suit your purpose well. A 4" carbon filter will actually do either tent but if you go to a 6" it would be better and quieter.

Would you rule out a 3x3 then, as I get what you’re saying but I honestly don’t think I’ll be doing anymore plants but based on what you said maybe I could introduce a possible 3rd using 3x3?
Would a 600 be fine for a 3x3?
I’m leaning away for anything bigger just because of the cost, but when you say dimmable, do you mean I can turn the power down so 600 down to a 400 for example?
Yes I use inkbirds for my homebrew ferm fridge and kegerator setup so happy with these and that was in me head to use with some tube heaters
probably going to go with the 6” then as anything to keep it on the DL is preferred.

 

[hotrodharley]

Would you rule out a 3x3 then, as I get what you’re saying but I honestly don’t think I’ll be doing anymore plants but based on what you said maybe I could introduce a possible 3rd using 3x3?
Would a 600 be fine for a 3x3?
I’m leaning away for anything bigger just because of the cost, but when you say dimmable, do you mean I can turn the power down so 600 down to a 400 for example?
Yes I use inkbirds for my homebrew ferm fridge and kegerator setup so happy with these and that was in me head to use with some tube heaters
probably going to go with the 6” then as anything to keep it on the DL is preferred.

A 400 would cover that but buy the biggest light you can. I run a 600 MH to veg under. 1000 HPS to flower in a 4’X4’. Air cooled reflector running a 6” fan through it.

600 can cover 4X4 easily.

 

[Tom369]

Ah. Yeah temperature is going to be a major obstacle unless your garage has heating and cooling. Bulb may give some heat but not enough depending on temps. What are your coldest temps/night time temps?
Also what's your vertical space? A sativa may not work well if you're keeping it short.

No just a standard uk garage. I’m hoping a couple of tube heaters will crank the heat up enough
only area I got unfortunately.
i think it’ll be 2metre high

 

[Tom369]

Alright mate, At the moment when it’s cold your going to have temperature problems when your lights go out. I’m in a summer house with 100mm celotex insulation, ply either side of that, then plaster board on the inside and thick cladding on the outside. I’m still having to heat my tent with a oil filled radiator when the light are out. When it’s freezing outside and lights are on I’ve had temperatures low as 22 and had to put the rad on to warm it up a bit. If I was you I’d get a bigger tent if you can to make space for any equipment like heaters etc. I didn’t and ended up buying a bigger tent just to fit in a heater and dehumidifier as i suffered with huge amounts of mould from humidity in the summer

What size oil radiator would you say for 1x1 then mate?
mum happy to get a dehumidifier in summer but trying to focus on the first grow lol, which hopefully will be soon

 

[19-Sean-86]

I agree with the getting a 4x4 and a 600w dimmable hps because the cost difference is minimal. This way if in future you did want to grow more than 2 plants the option is there or you can just carry on with 2 plants and dim the light down.

 

[Topshelfruns]

It seems like everyone has everything covered my only 2 cents would be too add some supplemental uva/uvb spectra into your grow room since a 2k hps produces no uv.
Also if your running hid one of the most important things you can buy is the reflector! Along time ago i purchased a 3rd generation blockbuster 6inch reflector and holy crap it distributed the light more evenly than my radiant reflector in my 4x4 tent.
The blockbuster was the best reflector i ever owned when i grew in a 4x4 using H.I.D it will perfectly light up every corner of a 4x4.
The best ballast i owned was solis tek
And the hps bulb i used was hortilux.
Good luck with your grow my man.

 

[Tom369]

So here’s my basket at the min, have I got everything covered?
4x4x6.5 tent
600w digital dimmable light with reflector
5” Fan with filter
Heavy duty timer and contactor
4x ratchet hangers
Organic soil and nutrients
Heat resistant metallic tape.

Extras I’ll be getting elsewhere:
Radiator/heat tubes with inkbird
Humidity meter
Pots and saucers

 

[Kyzersozay]

I run a 3x2 in a closet, with a spider farmer sf2000, with a 6 inch inline, airpots with promix bx, under this set up i can run 3 autos, and pull about a 1lbs, every ten weeks, while I do find hos light to be better the leds, once you factor your additional cooling and the extra in power to run it that puts led into the lead..especially when you never have to change a bulb, the sf2000 is about 400$..and it produces great harvest

 

[Doug Dawson]

Hey man, I would not rule out anything. If you think 3x3 is for you than go for it. A 600 will work great in that space with a 6" carbon filter. Yes you can dim down most of the new ballasts so it is possible to run at 400. An analog heater with an Inkbird will take care of your heat issues fine.

 

[Kalebaiden]

Another fight I'm having with 500w of HID lighting is humidity.

I can usually keep my temps under 30 but the winter grow humidity is around 20.

I grow in a tent, in a partial insulated porch with a heater in the porch.

So you might want to get ahead of that issue before you have it.

 

[Tom369]

Hey man, I would not rule out anything. If you think 3x3 is for you than go for it. A 600 will work great in that space with a 6" carbon filter. Yes you can dim down most of the new ballasts so it is possible to run at 400. An analog heater with an Inkbird will take care of your heat issues fine.

How’s my list looking to you? I’ve altered it slightly as the price for a 4x4 is barely much more but I’m leaving for a 5” fan.