Small attic grow setup

Hello, I am a first time grower and I have a really basic understanding of how to grow. I am only looking to grow these plants for personal use and wouldnt mind if i got a half decent yeild. All advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am looking to do a stealth grow in my attic, it's not big enough for me to walk around, but I figure that it has just enough space to grow a strain like the Blue mystic or Northern lights.

I have drawn a really crappy outline of what I think my setup will be. However, I'm not sure if it's going to work...

here is the drawing...


It's not super accurate, but you'll get the idea...

I have decided to use 4 cfls for this grow, I'm looking to grow 2 or maybe 3 plants. I'm still not sure on what cfls to use whether I should prioritise lumens over watts or vice versa. I'm also on a budget so don't suggest anything to costly.

I thought I would throw in a blue and red LED grow light as well, I figured that this would offer a wider light spectrum to the plants.


I decided that I should
use a aluminium car windshield protector to direct the lights to the plants


I heard that blue mystic was a low odour plant and thought I could get away with just using ona gel to cover up the smell. I didn't want to get a carbon filter since the fan maybe slightly Loud.


So I will try to assemble these inside a cardboard box. So all the contents you see in my "diagram" will be closed in the box.

I'm still not sure on what type of pots or soil I should use. I'll probably be growing a blue mystic auto.

Also I didn't think I would need a fan since there is a breeze that runs through my attic. However, I am concerned that it might be slightly to cold at nights for the plants since I live in England, even in the summer seasons.

PLEASE DONT HOLD BACK ON ANY CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM.
PLEASE POINT OUT ANYTHING I MAY HAVE MISSED OUT OR ANY MAJOR FLAWS IN MY DESIGN.

No fans...sounds...hmmm.

As far as lighting goes watts are almost completely irrelevant, the reason you want more watts is because they produce more lumens. (so it's a rough measure, since 'watts' are the most approachable measurement)

I tried it as a kid living in Southern California. It got way too hot in the summer and I had no ventelation. Go ahead and get a fan to stimulate plant growth for stronger plants. You should be able to pull that off. You may need to get into Low Stress Training to keep them from hitting the ceiling too soon. The CFL's will provide some heat. Maybe a small ceramic space heater with thermostate control for any real cold nights... Good luck!

orangesabc123 said:

No fans...sounds...hmmm.

As far as lighting goes watts are almost completely irrelevant, the reason you want more watts is because they produce more lumens. (so it's a rough measure, since 'watts' are the most approachable measurement)

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Oh okay, so do you think a 4inch or 6inch clip on fan will do the job?

Right! thanks for clearing that up.

Appreciate the info Bro.

Final Phase said:

I tried it as a kid living in Southern California. It got way too hot in the summer and I had no ventelation. Go ahead and get a fan to stimulate plant growth for stronger plants. You should be able to pull that off. You may need to get into Low Stress Training to keep them from hitting the ceiling too soon. The CFL's will provide some heat. Maybe a small ceramic space heater with thermostate control for any real cold nights... Good luck!

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It's nice to hear from Someone who has had some experience with a similar situation. I have decided that I will be getting a fan! I will definitely take lst and the heater into consideration.

May I ask you about the odour? Did you have any problems with it? And do you think I will have any problems with it?

niceguy69 said:

Oh okay, so do you think a 4inch or 6inch clip on fan will do the job?

Right! thanks for clearing that up.

Appreciate the info Bro.

Click to expand...

Best to do what others do.

Find a way to isolate your grow from the rest of the attic, coat the walls with something reflective, put a 4'' inline fan scrubbing through a filter, ideally you would want to use a HID light, but cfls will do if need be, keep in mind attics are not temperature controlled so they may be quite cold in the winter and quite hot in the summer.

orangesabc123 said:

Best to do what others do.

Find a way to isolate your grow from the rest of the attic, coat the walls with something reflective, put a 4'' inline fan scrubbing through a filter, ideally you would want to use a HID light, but cfls will do if need be, keep in mind attics are not temperature controlled so they may be quite cold in the winter and quite hot in the summer.

Click to expand...

I am trying to find a way of isolating my growth from the rest of the attic effectively.

I will most certainly take your advice about the fan.

However, the reason I went with cfls was to keep costs down since they are cheap to purchase and also very energy efficient. I don't want my electricity bill increasing too much XD.

And for the temperature I think I'll try to.do what final phase said and use a ceramic space heater. however, I do not think it will get too hot, but the fans should be able to deal with that anyway.

Thanks for the advice, greatly appreciated

niceguy69 said:

I am trying to find a way of isolating my growth from the rest of the attic effectively.

I will most certainly take your advice about the fan.

However, the reason I went with cfls was to keep costs down since they are cheap to purchase and also very energy efficient. I don't want my electricity bill increasing too much XD.

And for the temperature I think I'll try to.do what final phase said and use a ceramic space heater. however, I do not think it will get too hot, but the fans should be able to deal with that anyway.

Thanks for the advice, greatly appreciated

Click to expand...

Heat is heat whether it comes from HID or CFL.

Imo, that ona gel doesn't work very well. It won't cover the smell up very well. It will just smell like weed and ona gel. A small carbon filter with a small fan will make very little noise and eliminate the smell if you can isolate the area you are growing in. You would only have to run it from about week 2 or 3 until harvest to be safe

707humboldt said:

Imo, that ona gel doesn't work very well. It won't cover the smell up very well. It will just smell like weed and ona gel. A small carbon filter with a small fan will make very little noise and eliminate the smell if you can isolate the area you are growing in. You would only have to run it from about week 2 or 3 until harvest to be safe

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Thanks for letting me knowhat, since I was told ona gel actually worked well... XD

do you think I should just buy a carbon filter or just make a DIY carbon filter.l?

orangesabc123 said:

Heat is heat whether it comes from HID or CFL.

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I think you missed my point hahaha

If the clip on fan is not oscillating, you can get wind burn,
And if you set it so your lights go on in the evening then the heat is off during the day.
Home made filters are fairly easy to make, just search for it and you will find a plan that works for you.

OneEyedCat said:

If the clip on fan is not oscillating, you can get wind burn,
And if you set it so your lights go on in the evening then the heat is off during the day.
Home made filters are fairly easy to make, just search for it and you will find a plan that works for you.

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I had not idea about wind burn... hahaha thanks for letting me know. I'm always learning bits and pieces.
Your advice is very much appreciated!

I'm in the UK, you should be okay in the attic, temperature wise, this time of year.
I would definitely go for Low Stress Training with the height you have to work with. (And a good thing about LST; there's always something for itchy newbie fingers to do )

sworth said:

I'm in the UK, you should be okay in the attic, temperature wise, this time of year.
I would definitely go for Low Stress Training with the height you have to work with. (And a good thing about LST; there's always something for itchy newbie fingers to do )

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I've been doing a lot of research and I was think that I should do a mainline and also lst at the same time.
Please let me know of I can't do this. XD

Hahaha for sure, I can certainly see myself checking my plants every two minutes hoping that they would be ready for harvest

Sounds like you've got a plan niceguy! Popped those seeds yet?

sworth said:

Sounds like you've got a plan niceguy! Popped those seeds yet?

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Hahaha yeah I do, I'm making sure I have everything planned and thought off, before I pop my babies XD.

I'll probably wait until I finish my exams before I start hahaha. Wish me luck

Good luck!