small tent with cfls?

i was in a local shop and they suggested for a small grow i could get the a small secret jardin and fill it with 2 foot tds. would i be able to flower a plant or two succesfully with this set up?

this would be 2X2X4 so i figured 2 foot t5s and the real attraction is the tent with four bullbs with brackets and cords will make the whole set up cost less then 300 including soil and pots.

i forgot to add i plan on postioning the bulbs vertically and have one in each corner

would not put the lights vertically, its ok for getting extra light to the plants lower leaves but you need light directly over the plants. also what country you in. if its 300 euros then its not that cheap, you could get a hps set up for that. if its dollars then maybe it might be cheap but im not sure what you get over there for that price, normally cheaper in states though.
let us know anyway. dont you have room for a bigger tent, the 4 foot height might restrict you in further grows. always plan ahead when you start growing its adictive.
lu

i plan on keeping is small though. i thought that since its such a small space it wouldnt matter. but your right im already planning how i can lie it on its side to use it for a scrog.

scrog grow is great for good yield over quicker time. your best bet then would be a secret jardin dr60. little bit taller than four foot but not much and ideal if the plants end up getting a little taller. i found a link for you to have a read up on it.
http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=135774
good luck with it.
lu

the tent is 110 dollars at the shop and its the cheapest ive seen so far. since space is an issue im not interested in going bigger. thank you for the link though. my only interest is having a small perpetual grow. i plan on having four auto plants in differrent stages of growth going at once. the first run i will do 4 and hope for a tonne of seeds. clean the whole thing carefully to remove any traces of pollen. then i start over

yes man you need a 250w hps for this area, and for seeds you don't need to ruin an entire crop lol you simply separate males and pollinate one branch then mist plant to kill pollen, you'll get a bunch of seeds much morethan you would need and still have buds

zem said:

yes man you need a 250w hps for this area, and for seeds you don't need to ruin an entire crop lol you simply separate males and pollinate one branch then mist plant to kill pollen, you'll get a bunch of seeds much morethan you would need and still have buds

Click to expand...

I agree with what Zem is saying - get yourself a 250w HPS, when it comes to the flowering stage it will easily beat a load of CFLs. Long as you've got some extraction (very important to get yourself a carbon filter too) and air flowing in you shouldn't have a problem with heat. It's also important to get air flowing in for the plants themselves too.

Don't pollenate the whole grow either, just segregate a male and carefully pollenate a few buds and you should get plenty of seeds.

Good luck!

i get killing off the males asap and pollinating as little as posible and i aim to do that. but why is everyone so hung up on cfls. the t5s im looking at need very little ventilation and produce little heat and with ona i shouldn't need a carbon filter. its really strong stuff.

you will need venting both ways, hps is the more efficient way to flower this area,check lumen output for that, minimum 5000lum/ft to flower, too much cfl's required, just tryin to help

Don't get me wrong, CFLs are alright (especially for vegging) but when it comes to flowering a HPS will give you better & bigger buds. A 250w won't be that hot either, but you'll need to bring in fresh air into the tent anyway and could simply direct it at the light (that's what I do - works a treat too).

Admittedly I've not ever used ONA, but surely physically removing the stinky air will be better? Before I got a carbon filter my plants were beginning to stink. A few hours after installing Carbon filter you couldn't smell a thing.... I was genuinely shocked how well it worked.

I didn't believe ona would work as well as it does either.
Im testing it right now and I hope it should be enough.
i have been researching my next attempt for a while and im hoping for a simple set up that will produce.
this just seems like it may work wll since t5s are very efficent and i have seen succesfull grow in smaller areas with less light rollitup before.

whatever man, you're not flowering anything worth it with 4 t5 bulbs in a 2x2 and you're trying something that scientifically can't work, not inventing the wheel, and it takes many months for plants to be vegged and flowered, lost time and effort for you... why do newbs ever ask for advice when they don't take even the most basic out of it? dude you can buy cheap magnetic ballast and a 250 hps, make a diy reflector and you'll end up with a decent harvest

nick ive tried the cfl route and for veg it was great but for what your talking about your going to be much better with the 250w hps. the guys giving you the advise know what they are talking about and have been there done that. you are getting the benefit of many peoples trial and error, if i were you id take the advise and never look back. also if you did not want to go the seed route you could take clones.
good luck with whatever you do anyway.
lu

I do appreciate all the advice. I probaly will get an hps if its cheaper the the t5s.
the only experiance i have is using smaller cfls and the sun and neither worked out that well.

either grow in the sun or grow outdoors, i would not try both because your asking the plant to keep switching between 2 enviroments which can stress the plant, if you get the hps(which you probaly will cos cheap) just grow indoors.
just go buy the stuff and get stuck in.
lu

I can pretty much guarantee you'll be on here offering the same advice to newbies in 3 months time if you get a HPS!

Get the 250w HPS mate, you'll be shocked by the results compared to what you've done previously. I'm only just coming up to finishing my first proper indoor grow and I'm incredibly pleased with the results. Because I started off with CFLs, then noticed it wasn't going to get the results I desired, I then paid out for a 400w HPS. I wish I'd bit the bullet in the first place and bought everything in one go - the amount of time I've wasted waiting in for deliveries is ridiculous!!! My advice for anyone who doesn't need to go completely 'stealth' is buy a decent HPS light, tent, carbon filter and in-flow fan all at once... there's plenty of kits available from grow suppliers and off ebay for around £200-£300 ($300-$450)... sometimes less in fact. You will reap the benefits.... LITERALLY!!!

Look at this way. If I'd stayed with the CFL's I'd maybe have an ounce or so for my hard work...... but I invested a few hundred quid and now I've got a couple of oz of autos drying and 2 bagseed plants still going..... one has a main cola over a foot long and a few inches wide, the other has 2 slightly smaller main colas, plus god knows how many pretty decent sized buds lower down..... I'll probably have 3 to 4oz dry off those 2 girls now........ they look INCREDIBLE and there is NO WAY I'd have such good buds without my HPS.

Trust me (and all the other posters on this thread)... go HPS... you will not regret it!!!