32 cubic ft: Please Critique

Looking to get at least 8oz every 2 months. Please look this over and give some feedback.

-ph will be in check
-mild nutrient schedule and let the plant decide ppm
-24/0 veg light 6500k w/ 8 x 26w bulbs
-12/12 flower light 2700k w/ 8 x 42w bulbs
-all containers will be dwc bubblers
-5 plants clone/veg for 8 weeks
-5 plants flower for 8 weeks
-temps @ 85F



Any help is greatly appreciated.

I always hate trying to guess yield, so many variables. you'd be looking to get 1.6 oz off each plant....I honestly dont know if that attainable with 8x 42wat bulbs. thats 336 watts of light, so if you figure a half gram per watt thats 168 grams, so it comes out to 6 oz, unless my calculator is wrong....its probably not possible. maybe if the environment is perfect and you add co2?

Build a mock-up out of cardboard and tape. Put some pots in there, and try to picture your lights and plants all together. Headroom goes quick. I wouldn't try to put 2 chambers in there, you just won't have the room (assuming 3x3x4 dimensions). You'll need a decent bit of vert for a full veg cycle, I'd say about 2' with some crafty CFL placement. Before you know it, your plants will outgrow your veg box and your flowering plants will still be a week away from harvest.

Looks like you're also trying to put a lot of wattage in a small box, you'll want an exhaust fan with at least double the CFMs of your ³ft. Home Depot has some bathroom vent fans that move 70cfm's and would be perfect for your box, but they're a little noisy.

8oz dry seems like a lot to pull out of a box that small, but I'm sure somebody's done it. Looks to me like you're expecting 1/2 gram per watt? That's tougher to do with CFL's as they aren't as efficient as HPS, almost half as much.

My prediction? You'll get 2-3oz dry out of that box on your first run, and that's if everything goes right. With some experience (and more lights) you might get 8oz, but definitely not on your first run (assuming you're new to indoor growing by your questions)

Is this going to be a box that slides in and out of a closet? If you have more room, why not go for 3x3x6 or 4x4x6? 5 sheets of plywood or some PVC and panda film will make you a nice sized closet (I prefer wood, more sturdy, can easily mount an a/c, fans, outlet... or whatever)

cool...i can double the lights no problem. i plan on lst and doing whatever possible to maintain a shorter plant. i have about 3.5' growth room for height in the flower chamber. the setup is a 24"x24" shelf heavily reinforced set at 5' high in the corner of a storage closet. with a 3' veg chamber on top. i have b/w poly with velcro and duct tape enclosing the other 2 sides. i'll be keeping the lights within 2' of the canopy. i figure if i start training early i can keep them fairly low. plus i can add a screen in the flower chamber to spread them out as well. i was also looking at getting 2 cpu fans @ 120+cfm ea. newegg has some pretty good deals.

i really appreciate the feedback fellas...thanks

I grow DWC in a much smaller total area (3x3x3). I have been doing it for a while and believe
I have designed a nice micro setup. The first thing I notice is your flowering light and your expectations.
my best attempt so far has been 2 oz per plant, two plants total. However, I used 300 watts of hps, and ive gotta
say the grow went real smooth. My first attempt was using 300 watts of flouros, and the buds were very airy and disappointing. To be fair, I was learning and the environment was far from perfected. So basically I am recommending
you ditch the CFL's in the flowering room and use a HPS. Now in order for me to run 300 watts of HPS in such a small area, I have a very solid ventilation system. i clear the air with a 4" vortex blower, which is a hell of a fan. I also use 12v 80mm fans to provide great intake, and also some 120mms to constantly blow on the HPS fixtures (2 150 watt bulbs+ballast). During winter, my temps were a perfect 72(very coooold basement to counter the heat). During summer, Im sure im going to have to shut off one of the fixtures due to high temps. Your ventilation as is, does not look good enough to vent a HPS. You would need to put a good 4" fan pulling air out near the HPS. My exhaust filter is about 12" away from the farthest point of my HPS fixture and it just seems to suck all the heat right out.

So if your looking for advice, I would say upgrade the ventilation and just use HPS! I was pissed after I bought some CFL bulbs and overall I paid more for them than I did for a 150 watt HPS. Make sure your construction is solid, and be ready to adapt it once you get some real testing on temps and such.

by the way im currently designing my next cab, and its about the same size as yours. Im using a similar two chamber setup, but I have
another area for veg elswhere. I use the top section as a soundproof room to house the fan and air pumps and what not as well as a sweet systems controller im making. its gonna be sick

good luck!

thanks to everybody for the advice given so far. + reps to all

i see what ya mean with the lights brother. i guess i should go ahead and just do the lights and ventilation properly. i was just gonna go with what i had because i have no hydro shops nearby. just lowes and places like that. i would probably save money in the long run if i went ahead did it right instead of upgrading as i go. i've seen some very good grows with cfls as well though. i go through an oz a week of medication...mainly regs. i just want to be self sufficient and supply myself because money aint fallin' out of the sky. plus i'm a southern boy and i hate our oppressive, intrusive government and their ignorant ways...if i wanna grow a plant and let it dry and smoke it...that's what i'm gonna do.

You will definitely save money in the long run if you set it up first. But hey, its all a learning experience. I pretty much trialed and errored my environment for a while in the beginning and learned what each problem did to the plant and how to fix it etc...its fun an addicting. Sorry to hear there are no hydro shops around you, and since your down south you probably dont have medical mj either. I guess I often overlook how lucky I am living in a mmj state with at least 40 dispensaries and hydro shops around. Just be safe man, being smart about it is key. Something I heard in the beginning that stuck with me was "loose lips sink ships", keep that in mind. (dont tell anyone what your doing!!!) I actually got fucked cuz I had to kick my roomate and gf out of my house on very bad terms (take a guess) and I imagine they probably blabed their stupid mouths to someone. they were the only people who knew too. fuck em!
best of luck

yeah, you guys are lucky man. as far as the loose lips aspect....my wife knows...but we had a talk about it and i was pretty fuckin' adamant about not saying a fucking word to anybody. my state has pending legislation on mmj...but i live in the south bro...so i aint holding my breath.