First solo grow

Whats up guys?

Been doing lots of research and browsing around. Have helped out on numerous friends outdoor grows and one indoor grow just have never set up one myself.

I’m currently out of work/ Acl Tear/ So have lots of time off right now. And am rather mobile so not worried about that. But time isn’t a major issue.

I want to have a perpetual grow going. I have two extra bedrooms and a rather furinished basement available for growing.

I want to do a soil grow, in tents. I was going to build rooms within in the bedrooms but seems kinda like a big task at the moment.

I was going to try and get LEDs to save on electricity but the upfront cost might be a bit pricy for the moment. So was thinking T5s for Veg and HPS for flower, should be reasonable on Elec.

I got a pack of Sherpa Seeds(12 seeds) and lots of clones st my disposable.

Want to start the perpetual grow with 10 in veg, what would be your guys input on ideal tent size and wattage for that? For a veg and flower set up ?

Also a little help on exhaust and whatnot, kinda confused what I exactly need.


Stoked to start.

Roughly speaking you can use a 4x4 tent and 400w for veg and 600w for flower. You can use less or more for veg but get slower or faster growth. You can use more for flower, like a 1000w hps but then you have more heat to remove and more electricity to pay for. If cash is an issue go the middle ground. 400w veg , metal halide may be a cheaper option to buy since ballast are cheap these days. 600w HPS for flower.

The fan requirements greatly depend on your climate. Your starting (ambient) air temps will obviously rise with the wattage you use so it depends on if you live in a cold climate where minimum ventilation is required to stay in good temp range or if you live in a hot climate where you only have a few degrees to play with before going into the too hot region.

Below is a chart which can help you decide on fan cfm/m3ph based on your ambient temp and wattage.




What you need to do is think about how much you want or need to produce and work out how many tents you want to run.
I would learn to walk before you run though and start slowly adding to it as your budget and experience increases.

For each tent you want 1 extraction fan, 1 filter, ducting, a couple of circulation fans, 1 or 2 hygrometers as minimum basic equipment.

Best of luck, don't be afraid to ask more questions
You need to figure out where your going to send all that warm air when you extract it too!

coreywebster said:

Roughly speaking you can use a 4x4 tent and 400w for veg and 600w for flower. You can use less or more for veg but get slower or faster growth. You can use more for flower, like a 1000w hps but then you have more heat to remove and more electricity to pay for. If cash is an issue go the middle ground. 400w veg , metal halide may be a cheaper option to buy since ballast are cheap these days. 600w HPS for flower.

The fan requirements greatly depend on your climate. Your starting (ambient) air temps will obviously rise with the wattage you use so it depends on if you live in a cold climate where minimum ventilation is required to stay in good temp range or if you live in a hot climate where you only have a few degrees to play with before going into the too hot region.

Below is a chart which can help you decide on fan cfm/m3ph based on your ambient temp and wattage.

What you need to do is think about how much you want or need to produce and work out how many tents you want to run.
I would learn to walk before you run though and start slowly adding to it as your budget and experience increases.

For each tent you want 1 extraction fan, 1 filter, ducting, a couple of circulation fans, 1 or 2 hygrometers as minimum basic equipment.

Best of luck, don't be afraid to ask more questions
You need to figure out where your going to send all that warm air when you extract it too!

Click to expand...

awesome just what I wanted to hear, super good info. Thank you. I’m located in VT, so generally colder indoor temps. the rooms they would be in arnt really heated, they are around 50-60 degrees, Which I assume might help the process. Not in summer obviously it’s a bit warmer but for the current.

Also if i’m harvesting 8-10 plants, obviously depends on my growing method but what would be an estimate on yields just to get an estimate for how much time I would add in to that for my growing process ? Obviously varies a lot but what are some estimates ?

trapdevil said:

awesome just what I wanted to hear, super good info. Thank you. I’m located in VT, so generally colder indoor temps. the rooms they would be in arnt really heated, they are around 50-60 degrees, Which I assume might help the process. Not in summer obviously it’s a bit warmer but for the current.

Also if i’m harvesting 8-10 plants, obviously depends on my growing method but what would be an estimate on yields just to get an estimate for how much time I would add in to that for my growing process ? Obviously varies a lot but what are some estimates ?

Click to expand...

It would be easier for me to say aim for filling a 4x4 tent with 9 plants and 4 weeks veg + 8-9 week flower and pulling 1-1.5lb dry, 1lb been a starting point.
So lets say you have 13 weeks to do the whole crop starting from clones to save some time, you might want 3 tents all the same size and then have a crop every month or just over a month. Or you might want 4 tents and get quicker turn around.
There are lots of options, veg tent feeding separate flower tents or starting and finishing each crop in its own tent, in that case just change lights around as needed.

It sounds like you have plenty of room for rise in temps, but don't forget when sizing up a fan to work to the worst case scenario, like summer temps, then you can use a fan speed controller on your fans to slow them down in winter.

coreywebster said:

It would be easier for me to say aim for filling a 4x4 tent with 9 plants and 4 weeks veg + 8-9 week flower and pulling 1-1.5lb dry, 1lb been a starting point.
So lets say you have 13 weeks to do the whole crop starting from clones to save some time, you might want 3 tents all the same size and then have a crop every month or just over a month. Or you might want 4 tents and get quicker turn around.
There are lots of options, veg tent feeding separate flower tents or starting and finishing each crop in its own tent, in that case just change lights around as needed.

It sounds like you have plenty of room for rise in temps, but don't forget when sizing up a fan to work to the worst case scenario, like summer temps, then you can use a fan speed controller on your fans to slow them down in winter.

Click to expand...

Okay sweet, deff like what i’m hearing and sounds rather doable on my own. Just got to nail down what fan and venting i need. Venting out a window? or do i need to like cut into the wall to vent that way?
Going to start with one tent then grab another once those are about to flower i think. Could always expand, have two full sized bedrooms that are empty

Sounds like could make some $$ with a veg and flower tent, a Lb a month minimum would be tight. I don’t smoke all that much really, jus


also i saw a Phresh vent exhaust kit on hydro builder but i can’t post a link, anyone knownof goodnexhaust kits? for now might be easiest for me?

Out of a window is fine, or a chimney if you have a disused one you can tap into, although best to only do that if your sure its not in use.

As an example using the chart above.
Say you have summer temps of 70 degrees and you want to run at 76 degrees with 700w total wattage inside the tent you would chose a fan that has 348 cubic meters per hour, then add 25% for filter resistance. Then you buy a filter with at least the same rating in airflow to match the fan. Duct it out and your set.

Hi guys i am thinking of starting on my first solo grow, only going for a plant or maybe two at max . I am thinking of purchasing a 18” wide, 24” deep and 30” high cabinet (due to money and size constraints), also have ordered a few auto seeds so the plant grow small..

My question is how do i keep the height of the plants small so they do not outgrow my cabinet, as i feel they might do. using any methods like SCROG or lst or hydroponics?

its going to have
one 200W IP56 LED panel
with two 4” AC fans each one for intake of fresh air and the exhaust
A one-way air pump and an air stone to oxygenate the water for irrigation.
4” carbon filter

30 inches high? Why bother?

brashpotato said:

Hi guys i am thinking of starting on my first solo grow, only going for a plant or maybe two at max . I am thinking of purchasing a 18” wide, 24” deep and 30” high cabinet (due to money and size constraints), also have ordered a few auto seeds so the plant grow small..

My question is how do i keep the height of the plants small so they do not outgrow my cabinet, as i feel they might do. using any methods like SCROG or lst or hydroponics?

its going to have
one 200W IP56 LED panel
with two 4” AC fans each one for intake of fresh air and the exhaust
A one-way air pump and an air stone to oxygenate the water for irrigation.
4” carbon filter

Click to expand...

First off your better going with photoperiod plants because you have control over how long you veg for, autos do what they want.
30" is very small and you going to lose some of that with pot size and light and filter if you run one.
It is possible but your opening yourself up to high chance of failure by limiting your height that much.
If you can I would go for at least 4ft of height. You can adapt any old cupboard or chest of draws or build something from scratch and make it look like a sock draw.

As far as keeping low profile yes scrog is good for that, but you can tie a plant down anyway you see fit. You could put a 90 degree bend in the stalk low down and stake it so it grows horizontal, but when you flip to flower your growth is going to go up.
With such a tiny space 12/12 from seed might be a good idea.

Check out the micro/stealth section.

hi thanks for the reply! it would be too small? then it might have to come out of the wardrobes and i have to build my own cabinet, there are very few choices here in IND when coming to grow tents and carbon filters, i was getting that automated grow machine for around $450. anyways if i do decide to go with building my own cabinet i would really appreciate your help guys as i will have to make do with what i have got. I am thinking of a wooden cabinet 80cm in length 70 in width and 120-130 cm in height. I will only be going for auto flowers as i am not sure what else would i be able to grow in such heat here.

my first major problem is the activated carbon filters i will have to use the air purifier carbon filters and hepa filters as i am not able to get the cylinderical one here, these guys suck upto 0.3 microns i am not sure if that is enough. i will be posting a link to these filters below

carbon filter: https:// amazon. in /Philips-FY2420-10-NanoProtect-Activated/dp/B01LDD6VDM
HEPA filter: https:// amazon . in /Philips-FY1410-10-Protect-Filter/dp/B01MR6KOM0

https:// amazon .in /Airifi-Compatible-Activated-Philips-Purifier/dp/B079Y79YMH

sorry about the links i wasn't allowed to post the links so, please remove the spaces and have a visit.

will be going with PC fans, will that work? and how do i connect all of this in one main socket do i use a motherboard or something?

please recommend good grow lights preferably LED's?

HLG quantum boards are very popular, but its usually by ppl that are willing to wire them up themselves that buy those. Timber, Cobshop, Rapid LED sell Cob cree LED lighting which are probably the king of LED's.....Cob Cree LED

https://www.ledgrowlightsdepot.com/ <----- if ya don't wanna assemble the lights yourself SHOP HERE for LED. Best prices and free shipping.

You can buy a 4 x 4 (6.5 to 7 foot tall) grow tent for about $100 or so. Apollo and HydroCrunch have quality grow tents cheap.

Gorilla makes the best tents, but prices are doubled.

what about the carbon filter? is the one i chose going to be okay, i am going to make a bundle of both and wrap it from the sides using aluminium tape.

Okay back to topic. been out of the loop

TOre my Acl mcl nd meniscus, so curious how the growing will be on almost one foot.

But about to pull the trigger on some grow stuff.
Got 12 GSC cookies and getting 12 more of Northern Lights.

Might just get the veg tent going first and then a flowering set up once it’s time to flower.
What’s a go to veg set up?
should i grab LED for the veg?

Also some help on getting pants ready for a summer outside in vermont ? When should they be safe to be brought outside and some general info about growing outdoor in vermont but starting them indoors before.

You can use a full spectrum white LED grow light.
https://www.sunplix.com/product-category/led-grow-light/

Going to go hydro.

Ebb and flow or DWC.

have 8 GSC non feminized. 10 Big Bud fem, and two freebies that are fem.

Going to get a T5 for seedlings and hps/mh for veg and flower.


doing some more nutrient research currently