****First Grow****

SPLAU

New Member
Me and my roommates are starting our first low budget grow. We're growing in a 3x3x5 ft closet space. We want to implement the scrog method to maximize our yield. As of right now we are germinating 10 mystery seeds we found in some bud. So far we have bought Miracle Gro Seed Starting Potting Mix, some SuperSoil potting soil, five 9-inch pots (roughly 2.5 gallons), a 150 W Sun System Grow Light with HPS bulb, a timer for the light, and a 6-inch fan.
We are going to purchase a metal halide bulb for the veg stage and a cfl bulb for the seedlings. Any help and advise would be awesome because we are all very new at this.
. photo 1.JPGphoto 2.JPG
 

BxHaZe87

Well-Known Member
lookin prety good so far for a "low budget grow" ive seen alot worse. lets see how you have everything set once they pop out of soil. Cfl's for seedling stage for at least a week or 2 is a good idea im doing that myself. just watch out for overwatering as a newbie alot of people tend to do that.
 

SPLAU

New Member
Thanks BxHaze i'll be sure to do that. We put up aluminum foil as a reflective surface and put the light on chains so we could change it's height.
photo 4.JPG
 

doniawon

Well-Known Member
you should lose the aluminum foil, its reflective properties arent that good actually. the white paint on your walls is much better.
 

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
I would also recommend running the set up before you get started. Get your timer set, and let your light go on and off for a couple days. While your doing this you need to monitor a couple things to make sure once your seeds sprout they have a good comfortable home(and they will grow)!

I know you said low budget, but one thing I think is VERY important to have(and less then $30) is a digital thermometer and hydrometer with a min/max feature. Might even be able to get one on ebay for less. Actually, for now you can get away with going to PetSmart or PetCo or some other big box store and buying the regular ones they sell for lizard aquariums. I have a set of those, they come as a pair, the thermometer and hydrometer for like $12.00

Get your set up running and monitor your temps when the light is on, and when the light is off. Same goes for the humidity.

Your going to need that 6" fan for exhaust. Set it up high and run ducting out of your closet. Your also going to need a fan speed controller. Again, your going to need a fan speed controller. The first hydro store I went to(where I bought most of my equipment) sucked and gave me terrible advice, told me I didn't need one. Well that 6" fan at full speed is way too powerful! If you can't adjust the speed of the air being sucked out of your grow tent/room then you won't really have any control over your environment!

That being said, your gonna need fresh air coming into your closet as well. You can do this two ways: with a passive intake or an active intake. I'll explain...

Passive Intake: This requires you to create some type of opening or a simple duct low in your tent so your exhaust can pull fresh air into your space. If there isn't an intake of some kind it would be like trying to suck air through a two litre bottle. A passive intake would be like putting a hole in the bottom of the two litre bottle so you can suck air straight through it.

Active Intake: This required you to have another fan. It doesn't have to be as big as your exhaust. If your exhaust is 6" you can go with a cheap 4" for your intake. Again, put this fan on a speed controller. The fan can be placed outside or inside your closet. Run 4" duct either into your space from the fan(if the fan is outside) or out of your space(if the fan is in your grow space).

Keep the exhuast high(heat rises) and your intake low. This ensures you have fresh cool air coming in from the bottom and being pulled up through your tent.

Once you have your light on and your exhaust fan running, monitor your temps and humidity.

For vegging it should be 70-80 degrees and you want at least 50% humidity.
For flower is should be 70-80degrees and less then 50% humidity.

Unless it's really humid where you live, you'll probably realize once your light and exhuast/ventilation are running and constantly exchanging the air in the room your RH(realitve humidity) stays really low. If this is the case go to CVS, Target, WallMart, etc. and buy a cheap humidifier(approx $15-$45). Put that in your space and again check your temps and humidity.

Definitely make sure your set up is running and your environment is on point before you put any plants in there.
 

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
One more thing...

Make sure there are NO light leaks!!! This is pretty important. Sit in your closet, in the dark. Make sure the lights in the room outside the closet are on. Wait about 15mins and make sure you don't see ANY light, not even a pin hole! You gotta stay in there for at least 10-15mins and let your eyes adjust to see the real tiny ones.
 

SPLAU

New Member
Awesome. Thanks Squidbilly. As far as the fan speed control goes, the fan has two settings on the back of it, Hi and Low. If I just set it on the low setting will that be good enough for a passive intake? I'm also not sure if I even have the right type of fan. It's just a simple fan that I planned on using to just blow on the plants while they grew. Not sure if I need to buy a fan specifically made to be an exhaust fan.
 

SPLAU

New Member
Also I need to figure out how to build a partition that can separate my washer and dryer from my set up, giving me total darkness. I can also cut holes in that so i can run ducting through it. Any ideas on how to do this?
 

banks dank

Active Member
I closet grow in a rented apartment so damage is pretty important...

what I did was hang panda film like curtains interlacing each other and routed my exaust thru the bottom beside the passive
intake. Pandas thick it works for me, and my intake sucks in chillyed ac air from my apartment.
Be sure to leave a foot or two of excess filming so it will
rest on the floor and not show light underneath...
U could probably set up like that im thinking?
 

Squidbilly

Well-Known Member
All good suggestiong. I thought you had a 6" inline fan. What you have will be fine for blowing your plants around but your gonna need some type of exhuast/extractor fan. That HPS will heat that closet up big time.
 
Top