Closet grow help

Hey,
I've been browsing around on this forum, reading everything I can the past 2 weeks, as well as spending time to read an excellent book called "Greg Green - The Cannabis Grow Bible (4th Edition)".

I'm looking to do an indoor grow, more specifically in a closet. Privacy or security isn't a problem for me, but a closet just seemed ideal, since it's very easy to access to me, and I'm only looking to grow one or two plants for now.

Money isn't that big of an issue, especially since I'm only looking to grow one or two plants -- so my question is, what kind of lighting should you suggest for something like this? Since it's a closet, heat and space are factors, but I have no problem adding a small fan and ozone machine to help ventilate.

I heard you can grow with JUST CFL's, or use those for a week or two, then switch to MH, then HPS. I want a strong plant, with as much resin/thc content as possible from the lighting. I've seen things about UVB light, as well as other lights to help increase resin production, but I'm not entirely sure.

So, what do you all suggest?
Also, with everything stated above, what would be a strain thats prefect for a first time grow, for the closet, along with being very potent (or as potent as possible! haha).

Thanks, I GREATLY appreciate any kind of feed back, not just on lighting :]!

go with an air cooled 600w MH/HPS with digital ballast. i got two and they are sweet.

600 watts might be a bit much for just 2 plants, i currently have 15 plants under 400 watt hps, and i will be adding another 150 watt hps tommorow

you would be good with a 150-200 watt hps for just 2 plants...... but the 600 watt is probally not much more expensive, so if power consumtion and heat are not a concern, go for it, and when u decide to grow more, you wont need to upgrade lights!

ozone generator gets rid of the smell, and i hear they are kind of dangerous..... you will need a vent with some sort of fan bringing air in and out of the closet or else humidity and heat will become a problem. also a carbon filter is good for the smell, although i personally love it

600w is straight and yeah you dont want to buy a 250w that you will never use once you want to grow bigger. and the 600w's are pretty cheap so besides energy usage, which isnt that much more, and heat its a solid buy. in my opinion if youre going to go HID go no less than 600w digital.

Wow thanks for the quick responses guys =p So as I understand, you guys suggest just a single HPS light, for all 3 stages?

Edit: I don't know if Ill ever want to grow a shit load of plants. Eventually but not now, I'm just looking to grow some personals. 4 Plants max

Im in the same boat you are 4-6 plant's max. I have my eye on a HPS 250watter from HTG supply. Plus i'll have a 4-T-12 flouros running along side that for flowering. I just don't want anything to big.

Hank.

they are all about the same size depending on whch reflector you buy. get a ood reflector whatever you get since you want the light you are using to be spread out among your plants the best you can and se all those lumens you are paying for. since it isnt that much more money (i use 2 600w HPS for my flowering setup) to get a 600 over a 250 you ight want to look into it. a 250, when you get into bigger grows, even double that size, will be unusable for a list of reasons. including heat. get an air cooled reflector. make sure you can get the lights close to the plants without burning them so air cooled is the only way to go for me. any closer without air cooled and you will burn them no matter what wattage HPS you are using. i dont know, if you want to go with a 250 just get an air cooled reflector, i like the air-o-flow since it is pretty big and has good light distribution. ive heard good things about t-5s too so you might want to check those out.

i am looking to do the same grow 3-4 plants and i am also looking for the best cheapest setup can i use a 250-300watt hps throughout my whole grow or would i have to switch lighting at all

you can use it throughout but many people will say you are lacking blue light which helps the plant grow in vegetative state. so throw in some cfls and your straight.

I'll probably end up growing 2 lowryder plants, and as I'm aware those don't have vegetative states So, would blue light still be necessary? I understand MH is mainly for the veg state, and HPS the flowering stage, but would an auto-flowering lowryder like the MH light for any reason? Or should I just stay with a HPS on it the whole time.

id say use MH for the first few weeks for sure and then switch to HPS when it starts to flower. are you using lowrider or lowrider 2? i hear the lowrider is mad weak. might want to switch strains.

I assumed lowryder was real weak, so I was going to use lowryder #2. Hear anything about that? I'm looking for something real potent, but controllable in a closet environment ya know? So what else would you suggest for a very potent and good strain for all of this :] I want some kill, haha

yeah i dont think either are too strong. try a SOG grow cuz they are pretty easy cuz they are shorter than just growing big plants. also a scrog is cool but it take longer to veg. but you dont have to take care of many plants anad again its very controlled. im not sure ab the strains though. ak48 sounds good, short flowering time and strong potency

Wow -- thanks for the tip on the Ak-48, it seems to be exactly what I need! After doing some quick research, seems very easy to grow, not that big, along with a body paralyzing high!

But some places say the taste isn't so good, oh well :] (The yield says 400-500g, isn't that a ton if its supposed to be a short / small bushy plant?

I was also taking a look at NL x Shiva, and Bubbleicious, they seem like good beginner / potent strains too.

northern lights shiva cannabis seeds
bubbleicious cannabis seeds

Any opinions on those? Suggestions from personal experience, etc..

Alright, so for a lighting kit, I was looking at this :
NEW 250 watt HPS Sodium GROW LIGHT &/or 250w MH Halide - (eBay item 180186433387 end time Dec-23-07 19:15:00 PST)

Complete lighting system with a 250W HPS light, and I have the option to add a 250W MH light too, which is perfect. Good to get, or would you suggest something else? Sorry for all these questions, it's just that theres never too much information

yo if you are buyin form htg the 250 and 400 are the same price just go with the 400. for me running a 400 18/6 i figured will cost me about $30 a month. no big deal, if you are worried about it dont use as much electricity elsewhere. you smell me???

yeah, and if you are going 400 just get the 600w cuz its cheaper than the 400. for a sog grow you could get away with either a switchable or just a HPS. but if heat will be an issue as it always is with HID lighting get an air cooled reflector. you will be able to move your light closer to your plants without any heat damage. i ordered two air-o-flows which seem to be pretty sweet. i ordered also ak48 and bubblicious under the owners advice. check out htgsupply.com for some setup info and call them up. did i miss anything? how much space do you have again?

Well, I live with my parents still -- and yes they do know I will be growing some plants. Thats why I don't want to use 400 or 600W really, because I don't want to be disrespectful and run up the light bill, though I will be throwing my dad money for whatever charges I do run up. So, with that said, I know you guys recommend 400W-600W, but would a 250W work WELL with just a plant or two? I would think so

Also, I'm doing this in a bed room closet. Not a full sized coat or storage closet. Though its possible to move the setup to the basement, but its preferred I keep it to the closet

So does that lighting system I posted earlier do the job, or any last suggestions? (I looked at one 250W system on HTG(~20K Lumens), and it seemed inferior to the one on eBay(33K Lumens)). Should I buy some form of air cooling for the light, or will that not be necessary? If I do, any pointers would be nice (for that system on ebay, or an entirely different complete system?). Once I get the lighting system, I'll construct a grow box. Any recommendations for size on that? Once thats settled, I should know everything I need to know to grow! WOO!! haha

Edit: Ill probably go with AK48 or Bubbleicious, but I'm worried about the plant height because I've seen some cases of 6-8 ft plants! ?

250 is good for one plant but you will only be able to harvest once every two or three months that way. if you get a bigger light you can grow one plant a month and harvest an ounce or two every month

EH, Ill look into 400w now, any estimates about how much they increase light bill? Also any comments n my previous post? ^^ thanks
Edit: I think I'm going to get this, 400 watt HPS GROW LIGHT SYSTEM w 400w SUN LAMP +BALLAST - (eBay item 180186433238 end time Dec-22-07 19:15:00 PST)

And then I know some family members who can get hardware related items at wholesale -- so Ill just get a MH bulb from them. With these systems the bulbs are interchangeable right? Now just for the box..