Indoor PLEASE help me utilize the space that I have!

[wheredaweedat]

Please bare...(maybe its bear? lol) with me, as this is only my second ever grow, first with Autos...

I know a lot of people would punch a monk in the face, for the space that Ive got and am not utilizing, so Im hoping someone can help me out by telling me what they'd do with this...

We are trying to improve our grow closet. Until today, the set up has been extremely basic. Flat white walls with 250(actual) watts CFL in a homemade rubbermaid ballast with a few additional cfl on each side.
Have yet to make any actual changes to the closet itself- wanted to get some input beforehand.

We just got in a 10x10 roll of mylar and a 250w ballast (NOT air cooled) with MH and HPS bulbs.
This is what were workin' with -
-Intake and exhaust-




-Best shots I could actually get/and or/find of the closet itself-
this is the side weve been growing on. since its an L shaped closet, we blocked off the longer top part of the "L" (to try to help keep the humidity around the plants.
This is the other side of the closet where the fan and humidifier are. This is also the side where the intake is. Last grow, at harvest we used the clothes bar on this side to hang dry.
this is...vaguely how it looks now. (you know you love the road closed sign, stop playin' ;p)

With the closet partially blocked off, the dimensions are ROUGHLY 5.5 feet long by 4.5 feet wide and with the lights hanging from the clothes bars, about 5.5 feet of head room, 98% on it having 8.5 foot ceilings otherwise.

how would YOU set this up?
what would you add/take away??

Thanks to everyone who replies in advance

 

[wheredaweedat]

all right AFN. thanks for the help

 

[Eekman]

WDWA,

all right AFN. thanks for the help

A good grow requires patience at every stage. A lot of peeps were gone yesterday, I noticed it myself, and this morning is real slow too for some reason.

you can just write "bumb" when you want your thread to get more exposure, or there is an smiley that says the same thing.

So let's get to your issue. What are your actual dimensions?, and you open the door out, that is good, gives you more space. Can you remove the hanging Rod, and the shelf, looks like you may bet a few more feet of space if you do. A screw eye or two in the ceiling. You could probably use one side for vegging with a good flourescent light behind the door, and the flowering side with 600 watt HPS or LED equivelent. I would do LED because heat may be an issue in that closet.

That is my two cents. And put some of the mylars on the floor. just cuz I do that, lol.

Peace

Eek

 

[seraphim19]

Hey mate

I have been putting together a reply and a plan for you but I thought if I asked one question it would help me to help you.

What do you want to get out of your grow space? Do you want a steady supply or do you want to do one big grow at a time?

 

[wheredaweedat]

Hey mate

I have been putting together a reply and a plan for you but I thought if I asked one question it would help me to help you.

What do you want to get out of your grow space? Do you want a steady supply or do you want to do one big grow at a time?

Thats awesome, thank you As far as what Id like to get out of my space, Im growing for personal use so, it wont be one large grow, but maybe 3 with a max of 5 plants, staggered so Ive got continual harvests.

 

[seraphim19]

Ok that helps a lot

Do you have your light housed in a plastic box? The reason I ask is that all light except leds put out a lot of heat and having it in plastic seems like a fire risk to me.

In the last grow space I set up for a friend I had a similar space to work with so with all the equipment you already have it should be pretty simple

For the perpetual grow set up I would recommend using both your 250 cfl and your 250 hps. I agree with Eek the first thing I would do is to remove the shelf and hanging bar. This will maximize the useable space.

One side should be enough to keep you supplied and you can keep the L part for drying as you currently do.

I would put the 250 cfl on one side which would be the side for the younger plants, and the 250 hps on the other side for budding, supplemented by your small cfl bulbs when needed.

I would also fully line the space with mylar to maximise light reflection. Once again I am going to agree with Eek and say that mylar on the floor is a great idea. I use mylar and staples to make a tray of sorts so it reflects light back up and also collects dust, dirt and fallen leaves making cleaning out my grow space a lot easier.

Once you have good light coverage, next comes temp and humidity regulation. This is just a question of adjusting airflow through your space and around your light to ensure that things stay stable and in the right range. If things are too hot you may need to look into getting air-cooled fittings for your hps/mh or look into getting an led light

Then all you really have left to worry about is your planting/harvesting schedule with your space 5 plants looks like a good number to plan on. you can always add more if you find you have too much unused space.

So that means if you plan on 5 and put down a plant every 2 weeks you should harvest every 2 weeks and be well supplied

 

[AndyBotwin]

Been busy but I'll give some thoughts in the next day or so. Patience, young Jedi...

 

[Joedirt]

If your Just starting out I would suggest that you concentrate on 2 to 3 plants in a space like that. in 2 to 3 gal pots. you can get a nice amount of bud with that amount of plants.
this gives you the chance learn your growing capabilities and add more plants threw out the grow if wanted.
I know nothing about LEDs but if you run MH/HPS 400wt minimum 600wt ideally. I would have a vented hood to get the heat out. Dont skimp out. get a 6" fan!! you will end up getting one anyway. You will want to get a carbon filter.
You need to clean house. get everything up off the floor and out of your room. store all your equipment out side your room. Line your walls ceiling floor with miler. then start setting in your light filter fan.
I guess what Im trying to get across is, start small but have everything in place to get bigger if needed.
Good luck lots of good advice on this sight!

 

[wheredaweedat]

WDWA,



A good grow requires patience at every stage. you're right. patience is 100% something I need to work on. A lot of peeps were gone yesterday, I noticed it myself, and this morning is real slow too for some reason.
now I feel like an ass lol
you can just write "bumb" when you want your thread to get more exposure, or there is an smiley that says the same thing.
oh, no shit? lol I had no idea/never seen or payed attention to it. and if i did, i probably didnt know wtf bumb was lol
So let's get to your issue. What are your actual dimensions , and you open the door out, that is good, gives you more space. Can you remove the hanging Rod you know, i actually NEVER thought of that. Im pretty sure the rods do unscrew some how, but the shelves (theres one on each side) dont come out. they're like..built into the wall or something haha, and the shelf, looks like you may Get i fixed your typo it was driving me nuts lol a few more feet of space if you do. A screw eye or two in the ceiling. You could probably use one side for vegging with a good flourescent light behind the door, and the flowering side with 600 watt HPS or LED equivelent. Thats actually a really good idea, though I would more than likely use all of the CFL on the veg side, and the HPS on the other, or the MH and warm CFL for flower.. just to cut back a bit on all the heat. I would do LED because heat may be an issue in that closet. I meaaaaaaaaaan, LED would be a good option, but i litterally JUST ordered the MH/HPS ballast and Ive got sooo many CFL bulbs, I dont wanna buy anymore lights til these bulbs die, lol

That is my two cents. And put some of the mylars on the floor. just cuz I do that, lol. It's a solid 2 cents, thanks for sharing it =P I also thought about putting some mylar on the floor somehow. Possibly taking a large cardboard box, break it down, then cover it in mylar and lay it on the floor with the beebs on top.

Peace

Eek

thanks!!

 

[low_and_slow]

Things I learned growing in a closet:

-Temperature will tend to be high. If you own the property and are responsible for modifications to it, I would recommend you vent upwards through a hole made in the ceiling. An extractor in the attic/crawlspace can vent your air outside the growing area. Put a suitably sized charcoal filter inside the room pulling the air from the top of the space and you'll avoid smell issues.

-This type of ventilation means that you are supplying fresh air through the cracks around the door to the closet. You might consider putting an air filter on the incoming air to prevent dust/dirt/pet hair/anything floating around from getting into your grow area. Optional, by all accounts, but a nice touch.

-I would put down either tarping or flat plastic mats/trays to protect the floorboards. Carpet like that is pretty resilient, but odd moldy odors can give your grow away and get you in trouble if you're in a rental situation. Protect the floor with something and you'll feel more comfortable tending your plants without worrying about drips and spills.

-The plant will outgrow your space. Period. At some point, you will be good enough at this (maybe not right away, but eventually) that you'll end up with a space problem. When growing Autoflowers this means you'll need to master Low Stress Training (LST). You can do that by bending/tucking/tying down/ScrOG'ing, etc. Lots of methods, all of them discussed in depth on this site (search function will assist). If you're growing photo-sensitive cannabis, you can do some more violent/permanent pruning to keep things under control since the plant will be able to recover in vegetative growth prior to the transition to a flowering light cycle. If all of that is Greek to you, jump into some of the stickies in the growing forums here...

-I would want to start with 1 or 2 feminized seeds at first, simply to learn how to grow cannabis and guarantee I got a female plant that produced bud. I would transition to non-feminized seeds as soon as I felt I could complete a healthy grow from seed to harvest, simply to learn how to identify male plants, sexual maturity, etc. This will be an asset in your growing life since you will at some point either want to breed or just make seeds for future use. It happens to the best of us, best to learn traditional cannabis gender identification and not simply rely on feminized seeds. That being said, there's nothing wrong with starting with some fems just to guarantee your effort is rewarded...

-Humidity is hard to increase in a closet made out of plaster/drywall. I'd recommend either lining the room with panda plastic or some heavy duty mylar. If you run a central AC system, it will likely remove a good amount of water from the air, depending where you are. Plants need between 30-60% humidity to grow properly, depending on the genetic background of the strain you select. My area has virtually no humidity during the winter months and the summer is nice and mellow, so for me I usually have to add humidity into the space. I would not want to do that in a room that would eventually melt into drywall mud...60%+ is my goal during veg and then down to around 50% during flower, that means I run a baby humidifier wide open with the lights on.