Thanks everyone this has been extremely helpful and if vaporhaizer can carry the load he has, I can definitely make time to build or fabricate my own boxes or get a tent.
You've got a great attitude towards this; way to be dude! :Cushty:
Would definitely recommend a tent for a variety of reasons; it's an all-in-one grow area that's self enclosed; already will have 4" or 6" vents, possibly passive air intakes, and many tents come with a reflective drip tray that the plants sit on to help prevent overflow (at least mine did!) I started out with an Aviditi tent and liked it so much I went out and bought another. Had them running for over a year and a half easily and zero problems, heavy duty zippers, heavy duty fabric. If you are an Amazon guy; type Aviditi Grow Tent into the search and click on the tent that shows up (I only found one listing for the tent; but on that listing you could choose like 10 different tent sizes.) You can do a search around here too, lots of tents and lots of happy users.
As for lights; you'll need to decide if you're going to use CFL's, T5's, High Pressure Sodium (HPS)/Metal Halide (MH), or LED. They all have advantages and disadvantages. I personally use HPS/MH. Check out the LED forum on here; some of these guys grow AMAAAAZING plants under those LED's. Different lights output different spectrums and give off different kinds of heat; so depending on how much you have to spend, what kind of heat you have in your area you're growing, and how much you are able to exhaust/vent, that will factor in on which light would most likely be best for you.
You will need fans. Period. You will need air flow in that tent. Hot stale air and no movement from your plants can cause harm and damage to the plants. Also, the fans causing the plants to move and shake actually produces stronger plants and promotes stronger stem growth. Plants thrive with a source of fresh air; this can be achieved either through your passive air intakes (which work) or through an intake fan system (which works better.) With a small space like that; you could probably easily get by with 4" inline fans (which are around $20-25 a pop.) You will also want an exhaust fan; this is very important. With those lights beating down in your tent, and even with fans inside the tent blowing on the plants; you will want a way to remove, or exchange, that hot air inside the tent with fresh air. So you install an exhaust fan, a fan more powerful than the intake fan. The exhaust fan pulls air from the tent, exits the tent, and you can run a duct to where you want that hot air blowing.
Maintaining a good steady temperature is very critical. All sorts of nasty pests and bugs THRIVE at hot temperatures. Terpenes and terpenoids (the compounds that cause odors in plants) destroy rapidly in hot temperatures (releasing the STINK.) Plants also thrive in a certain temperature range (which means they will grow outside that range; but again they won't grow as well as they COULD.)
You will want to explore odor control FOR SURE. PLANTS STINK. ALL PLANTS STINK. There is no "no odor" plant. There are "low odor" plants. Low odor is not "no odor." Don't let people fool you with "well I grew a few plants and they didn't stink." I had 27 seedlings (SEEDLINGS) started and it REEKED like growing cannabis in my little seedling box. One of the best ways you can destroy odor is by using a carbon scrubber. Carbon scrubber uses activated carbon (charcoal,) which creates thousands of tiny little micro pores in the surface of the carbon. As odor causing molecules pass through the carbon chunks (which is either granulated or powdered,) they get trapped inside the pores and the smell does not get past the scrubber. Hands down by far, a carbon scrubber is the most effective and best bang for your buck long term when it comes to odor control. You typically would install your
exhaust fan to suck air through the carbon filter and exhaust it outside of the tent. There are other methods of odor control you can use as well; such as essential oils (ONA products) and whatnot; but some are more effective than others. I started writing a guide for odor control and reduction methods; it's a work in progress but other members have told me it has helped them understand odor a lot better; so take a look if you want some reading material on odor:
Vapor's Comprehensive Guide to Odor Control and Reduction Methods
Plants will grow to the size of the pots they are planted in, so keep that in mind when you are picking out strains. You wouldn't want to plant some of these in a 5 gallon bucket in the space you are growing in, but if you wanted to keep the plant short and small; you could use like a 6L or 2 gallon pot instead.
I don't know anything about hydro; you'd have to hop down into the forums a bit to talk to those boys; but they would definitely set you up. My recommendation would be to start simple; start with soil (which can be a little more forgiving, especially if you're time constrained, gives you a little more turn around time to fix problems.)
Your time is valuable; so I suggest focus on the methods that will give you the highest chance of survival from start to finish since you're new to it. My first crop of seeds was obliterated by spider mites. Be clean. Clean up everything. Spray things down if necessary. You want a pest free environment. You want a pathogen free (or minimal) environment.
I know that's a lot of food for thought; but start making a list, post what you have, post what you want, if you're comfortable let us know your budget; and before you know it you'll have people subbed up to your first grow journal. I know I will. Good luck man; I like your attitude towards this and I can respect someone who is willing to put in the work. Have a great day man! :smokebuds: