First time indoor grower lighting question

T

triddle1410

New Member
hey guys so i need some help... I am gonna start my first grow inside and when i went to the hydroponics store they had s many choices i didn't wanna make the wrong one so i held out for a little bit till i get some advice. I am gonna be using my closet to grow these plants. Now i want a light/ hood that can do what i need. I am only gonna start out with two or three plants. But in the future i want to be able to go to 6-8 plants. What would be a good hood/ reflector should i get. And dose all lights fit in these reflectors or hoods. I am unsure about these. and what kind of bulbs should i use i am probably gonna start with Auto-flowering seeds to make sure i can have a constant supply of my stash. Any help would be nice just looking for the right light/hood/reflector any advice?
 
Some advice for you triddle! Growing MJ is not that difficult if you follow some basic rules. In order to help you we will need some information first. This is very important as to what and how you grow! Not to rain on your parade but you are getting a bit ahead of yourself here. slow down and take a breath! First, what are you growing? Meaning from seed or clone? Second, what is the size of the closet. (length,width, height) Money will come into play here making these decisions so do you have cash or are you strapped and need to go low budget? Not trying to be a jerk but if you want to grow and be successful these are serious questions you must think about. Many people just jump in and want to start growing and waste money and time only to find out they did everything wrong! Answer these couple questions and we'll get you started in the right direction!!! I'll keep an eye on the thread....
 
Hey no problem i don't think your being a jerk that's why i asked those quotations is because i want the right information. So lets start with i am gonna be using seeds. The closet is 34 in wide 20 in deep and 83 in tall. I am want to start on a low budget but not no money at all. i was gonna buy a grow tent but realized those are a little more money then i want to spend so i am gonna use my closet. To tell u the truth i want to go with some feminized auto flowering. I have so many questions if u have the time maybe we can take it step by step if that's OK with you. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. Happy Hempin hope to hear from you soon...



Smokie
 
Have you considered LED lights? Might work perfectly for a small space. Autos are fun. Quick turnover, seed to harvest 70 days or so. That is a big advantage starting out.
 
I'm a first time grower as well. I can tell you my set up,maybe you will pick something up that will help you.
I have 30 x 48 inches in space
I'm using kylar paper to cover my walls with
Using 400 watt hps light.Found that a mh is better for veg and a hps for flowering
Light has a 4 inch hole on top to hook a fan to.I have a 4 inch fan hooked to the ceiling to draw heat out.
The light is a 13 x 20 inch and is from Sun Leaves garden products
Closet has sliding doors on it so I put a fan in to blow in and another to blow out.
I use DWC with 13 inch baskets and I use clay pebbles
I use purified water [ I find that the ph level is easier to control ]
My plants are about 45 days old and come sunday I'm going to start training them
oh I bought the seeds from Attitude seedbank
I have learned a lot from this website so hang around.
 
Check out my first grow it was done in the closet of our office. I had a 600 W HID light and it worked great although I had to keep the door open for heat, but it was very cheap compaired to LED and the results did not lie. Even now I am doing a small closet style grow, but my first was a true closet grow, and a successful 1st attempt also. Your in the right place to get solid advice from some very experienced growers. Growing soil not DWC will save you money also....
 
good point, ripples. as a newbie, i got ahead of myself too. go easy. slow. they only grow so fast. dont force em. no need to ever go over 1000 ppm. dont worry about yield, starting out. they yield, as it comes, will tell us how we are doing in the learning dept. i learn constantly. i am approaching 9 years of a perpetural grow. i have two rooms. and use only some of each. i like to move about. lol. i have just harvested four different plants/strains. all have orange hairs. odd. i rememered, i added snow storm, to the bloom nutes. must be it. smells good. tastes good. looks good. good luck. and move slowly.
 
I used a 600W for one plant in my last. Sure it was overkill by all means but it was without a doubt the #1 contributor to my overall yield. Do a search through the forums lots have been written about these two. A big factor is price however, that's why I went with HID it has proven results at a lower cost. Yes it does produce significantly more heat then a LED. Also energy consumption will be higher on the HID so that's a factor also. There are calculations for what light you will need but I think that for 3 plants 600W would be great. If you end up with 6-8 plants then it may be a bit little for the circumstances. Heat can very easily be an issue so prepair for that in your decision also.

BTW I use a Apollo 600W Dimmable Ballast with a MH/ HPS combo. I chose this set up due to the ability to dim down to 300W and 450W. It makes it nice when the plants don't need the full 600W. A cool tube is available also and that will help with the heat issue... That is if you forsee one.
 
triddle1410 said:
pete2 thank u what are u talking about pebbles? What are those for? And as for the Led lights i have no clue what i wanna run i am trying to find the best thing for me. I was thinking about getting a 600 watt light but then thought that might be to much for a small space. Wht is the diffrence between a grow light and a leds.
Click to expand...

The clay pebbles is the media,what your going to grow in.There are a lot of different media out there to use. I am using clay pebbles now, but am going to use something else next time.
I'm new to this to so I'm not sure about any of the differences with the lights yet.Like I said I'm using a 400 watt hps with an area that is 30 x 48 and is doing just fine.I can't tell you what to do,You can look a lot of this stuff uusing google.Not saying anyone won't help you,they will,but the more you read about it will let you make better educated guess.Keeps your hopes high.
 
As you can see triddle they are many way to grow MJ... And as mentioned this is the right site for your questions and answers! You have been thrown a ton of info in a short period of time, and it may seem overwhelming but that's why it's so important to make a decision how you want to grow. My suggestion is very simple "Start Slow"... All of the above would work fine but you need to decide what is right for you. HEAT is always going to be your biggest enemy with a closet grow so choosing the correct lighting system and grow medium will be crucial. Your choices are numerous, so read up a little on the different mediums (that's the stuff you grow in, Soil, Soilless, DWC, etc.) For a first time grower I feel soil is the easiest and cheapest way to go. As far as light, well that's a big decision! This is where cost will come into play! Look up the different types of lighting. HID meaning high intensity discharge like MH/HPS, or LED or CFL... Each have a different quality and all will work. I use HID... See if anything makes sense to you and try to decide which will work both for the grow itself and your wallet! Make those couple choices (lights and medium) and we can move forward from there. keep us posted!
 
Ok no problem i am way ahead of you i already had some picked out just needed some advice with them and what i should be looking at. So i was gonna start with a H.Y easy-cool 8 reflector with a 1000 watt M.H for veg and a 1000 watt H.P.S for the flowering. And as my medium i have always heard good things about CoCo and that's probably going to be my medium is the Canna CoCo a huge bag of it is only 20 bucks when the soil is over 39 so its cheaper as well. Now do you think those bulbs are a little much. Now when u guys talk about heat do you mean its going to make my room too hot or i am gonna have to find a heat source.
 
And i wanna thank everyone for any advice you are giving you cant get me to much info. i wright down the stuff i think is important which is almost everything. SO that next year i can write a new book. I have been growing stuff my whole life but never the good stuff, im still young tho only 22. But when i was living with mom i couldn't grow so i Just fantasized about it. lol Now that im in my own place its time i start. Its way to much money to go and get my meds down at the dispensary. That's why i am growing it. Thank you all again for the help and time you took to give me i am truly grateful. Happy Hempin


Smokie
 
triddle1410 said:
Ok no problem i am way ahead of you i already had some picked out just needed some advice with them and what i should be looking at. So i was gonna start with a H.Y easy-cool 8 reflector with a 1000 watt M.H for veg and a 1000 watt H.P.S for the flowering. And as my medium i have always heard good things about CoCo and that's probably going to be my medium is the Canna CoCo a huge bag of it is only 20 bucks when the soil is over 39 so its cheaper as well. Now do you think those bulbs are a little much. Now when u guys talk about heat do you mean its going to make my room too hot or i am gonna have to find a heat source.
Click to expand...

Tell me what this Canna CoCo is never heard of it. Is it soil ? I'm a hydro man myself.
As far as the light goes , It depends on the size of the grow room you should beable to find a chart on google or on the light it self that tells you how mant watts you need for your size of grow room
Temp an RF does matter a lot, I keep my temp around 80 degrees and the RH around 75%
:thumb:
 
Triddle, with the size of your closet I would say 1000w is way to much. I grow with 1000w in a much bigger and better set-up and have heat problems myself at times. The hood you want is pretty big as well, remember "start small, stay simple" you can always go bigger as you learn more. That closet will cause you big headaches if you don't! with regards to the light, do you have a way to cool the area? Ventilation is the important, a necessity to being successful. If not then you really need to stay small... Money sounds like it may come into play here? HID lighting requires a ballast. That's what makes the light work. They are not cheap. My 1000w bulb/hood/ballast cost 700$... You can go HID smaller and cheaper! How much are you looking to spend? Maybe a CFL set up might be better for you to start? Cheaper and doesn't produce as much heat. You can still grow a nice plant with CFL...
 
So i looked a lot into it and found a set up with a 400 watt hid with ballast its the complete set up. now i have been reading a lot about heat and humidity. I am going to be able to attach fans all in my closet but is that going to be able to control the heat and do i absolutely need a vent leading to outside. but the set up i am getting is ballast reflector light bulb hps cord and timer. Do i need the M.H for veg and the hps for flowering or can i run everything off of one light. I was also going to buy a 4in inline fan for the hood/ reflector. what is the difference between a digital ballast and a regular ballast. do i need to get a inline cooled reflector of i cant be running venting out my window.
 
pete2

this is what it is CANNA Coco substrate is a 100% organic product having a fine, uniform structure, free from viruses, chemical additives and soil diseases. The fact that CANNA Coco is not steamed is not the only thing that distinguishes it from other substrates; this is also achieved by the use of pure, first class source materials. Which come from India, where CANNA’s production facilities use fresh water only to soak the coco. This to make sure no salts gets in contact with CANNA Coco, ensuring a clean product.

Strong root formation, powerful growth and reusability are combined in the CANNA Coco substrate. It also combines the tolerance and organic nature of soil, with the feeding precision when growing in hydroponics. It has a complex balance between water and air which means that it outstrips other substrates. CANNA Coco substrate has been developed and tailored to the needs of the CANNA grower.
 
triddle1410 said:
So i looked a lot into it and found a set up with a 400 watt hid with ballast its the complete set up. now i have been reading a lot about heat and humidity. I am going to be able to attach fans all in my closet but is that going to be able to control the heat and do i absolutely need a vent leading to outside. but the set up i am getting is ballast reflector light bulb hps cord and timer. Do i need the M.H for veg and the hps for flowering or can i run everything off of one light. I was also going to buy a 4in inline fan for the hood/ reflector. what is the difference between a digital ballast and a regular ballast. do i need to get a inline cooled reflector of i cant be running venting out my window.
Click to expand...
.


You need to post some pics! It's very hard too help without seeing what you really have! A 400w should be fine but no stronger. As far as heat that remains to be seen. The fans will definitely help but won't know for sure till you're up and running. You can run with 1 bulb. both is better but more money. Venting out side is not crucial but would certainly help. Do you need to worry about smell? During flower things can get strong! Don't really know what you have going on and what's around you? PICS would help!!! What is the kit name and where did you see it. I can look it up... post the link
 

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