Help with 4 X 4 Grow area setup. Pics at bottom

[Myzz617]

For my first grow I intend on using a 5 gallon bucket for a hydroponic grow. The area I have is 16sq feet, which is inside a 32sq foot closet. 4 X 4 is the planned grow area within my closet.

After doing the math the MAX lumens I need is 96000 or 1600w, min is 48000 or 800w; so I will aim some where within the middle of those two perhaps 1000w-1200w

I am not completely sure about my lighting scheme but I plan on using CFL’s per Rosemans awesome cfl tutorial and the fact I am Cheap LOL. I have the money to buy a 400w MH-HPS system if needed and can supplement the remaining watts with CFLs since I will need a min of 800w. I plan on growing one plant for my first time, then try two, one plant in each a 5 gallon bucket. I am open to light scheme suggestions, I would like a plant no taller than 5 feet if possible. Below is my plan for a CFL grow.

VEG PHASE:

12-20 42w feit daylight bulbs from < Amazon: Feit Electric ESL40TN/D 42-Watt Compact Fluorescent High-Wattage Bulb, Daylight > Most likely 1

7 42w GE softwhite ( I already bought 8 but for flower I will buy more.) Amazon: GE 47452 42 Watt (150 Watt equivalent) Energy Smart Soft White Spiral T4 Light Bulb

Recommendations and suggestions go here

So as you can see I will have nearly 27 lights just alone for vegging which is why I am unsure about my light scheme. How many circuit breakers will I need? I am thinking of about 10 MAX, but the catch is I only have one outlet which is outside of my closet. I live in an apt which means I rent so I am unsure of how to go about a SAFE way to have this setup. I just bought a socket adapter that will extend my outlet to six. I also bought a 25 foot heavy extension cord. I am going to include pics of what I have bought so far so people can see what I am working with so far.

FLOWER PHASE:

15-20 42w GE softwhite bulbs

4 42w daylight bulbs.

So far I have taken a few pics of my grow area so you can get a midst of what I am working with. I just picked up my MJ bible so I will read that before making final decisions on my electric setup, I have the panel in my house I just need to see if all panels are wired. People keep mentioning solar energy to me but I think I can wait until I own my own land for that. So here is a pic of what I have collected and the grow space and what I have to work with so far. I am going to end it at this since my electrical-light situation seems to keep me smoking, thinking and reading.

- 420 Magazine Photo Gallery

 

[LighTer]

if your only growing one plant, i dont think u will need that many lights until you get towards the end of VEG stage when the plant is larger. but, the more lights always the better. i would skip out on the 400w if this is going to be your first grow, just to make sure it is something you want to do again. (save the money just in case tho!)

 

[Myzz617]

Thanks for the feedback. Only reason why i mention the 400W is because my min is 800w and them lights are said to yield better end results. If i learn enough from this first grow I definitely want to have two plants at the least and then graduate to a DWC Deep Water Culture system. I would rather buy everything to have all the things out of the way rather than trying to save money and worry about where i am going to get a MH/HPS light from.

 

[LighTer]

you will def have better results with the 400w hps and if this is something your going to want to do more than once, then go ahead and buy it. it all comes down to your call man. if you got the $$, then why not?

 

[Myzz617]

you will def have better results with the 400w hps and if this is something your going to want to do more than once, then go ahead and buy it. it all comes down to your call man. if you got the $$, then why not?

Controlling the temp in the room in my main concern if I use a 400w system. I want one where i can use either MH or HPS since they say hps is better for flowering.Plus I have one outlet in my room that is close to my closet which leaves me doubting it will be enough for all the electrical fitting. I will look at my circuit breaker when i get home tomorrow.

 

[FryingPanFlyer]

Controlling the temp in the room in my main concern if I use a 400w system. I want one where i can use either MH or HPS since they say hps is better for flowering.Plus I have one outlet in my room that is close to my closet which leaves me doubting it will be enough for all the electrical fitting. I will look at my circuit breaker when i get home tomorrow.

Bingo, heat will be a huge problem if you're living in an apartment. If you go with the hid you will definitely need to vent the heat out of there meaning you will need to punch a hole in the exterior wall. You can't go up into an attic due to fire walls and area separations etc, fire code regulations for multi-family dwellings. I don't think an hid is realistic in an apartment.

Your situation is exactly what cfl's are good for. They still produce heat, but not nearly as much. I'm guessing you could get away with fewer lamps if you choose to. The 6000 lumens/ft is great to shoot for, but for one plant I bet you could get away with less. Of course the more the merrier, but you can work around it with got lamp placement.

As to circuit requirements, take the watts you are using, divide by the current (110 volts) and that gives you amps required. So, 800 watts divided by 110 volts is less than 8 amps. Most circuit breakers are 15 or 20 amp, see what else is on that circuit, add it all up and that will tell you what you need, you may want to plug your tv say into another circuit. But you'll be surprised how much you can fit on a circuit. But I'd advise leaving some wiggle room, many items pull a lo more power when starting up.

I'm subscribed, let's get it on man! I want to see you growing!

 

[Myzz617]

Bingo, heat will be a huge problem if you're living in an apartment. If you go with the hid you will definitely need to vent the heat out of there meaning you will need to punch a hole in the exterior wall. You can't go up into an attic due to fire walls and area separations etc, fire code regulations for multi-family dwellings. I don't think an hid is realistic in an apartment.

Your situation is exactly what cfl's are good for. They still produce heat, but not nearly as much. I'm guessing you could get away with fewer lamps if you choose to. The 6000 lumens/ft is great to shoot for, but for one plant I bet you could get away with less. Of course the more the merrier, but you can work around it with got lamp placement.

As to circuit requirements, take the watts you are using, divide by the current (110 volts) and that gives you amps required. So, 800 watts divided by 110 volts is less than 8 amps. Most circuit breakers are 15 or 20 amp, see what else is on that circuit, add it all up and that will tell you what you need, you may want to plug your tv say into another circuit. But you'll be surprised how much you can fit on a circuit. But I'd advise leaving some wiggle room, many items pull a lo more power when starting up.

I'm subscribed, let's get it on man! I want to see you growing!

Cool-I was thinking of buying a new door and cutting out the squares. Having one for intake and one for outtake, do you think that would work? I originally wanted to use CFL's but as everyone says read, read, read and MH/HPS would give me better results. If possible i want to use a MH/HPS system but if it seems like my situation is not built for that I can wait. As far as my outlet I only have a alarm clock running off of it. I just need to see if there are any circuits that are not wired or any open circuits that i could have wired and make use of them. I would like to have a little more than just 800w perhaps 1000w, so about 9amps my light would chew up alone. Is this the same if I were to use a MH/HPS light it will use up the same amps right? I know you said MH/HPS is not realistic but if there is a will there is a way, but if not as long as i can get a str8 grow with decent yield im happy. I do plan on using the Deep Water Culture system as Im sure one plant is going to take 3-4 months to grow and eventually i will want more MJ too smoke. Anyhow whatever you guys think will work best and what is safe to go with is fine for me.

 

[FryingPanFlyer]

You've got to take the heat out of the room and replace it with relatively cooler air. If you just put it into a bedroom the room will heat up, and then if you take air from that room it will be heated from your exhaust and you'll just be replacing with heated air, the temps will build up. You've got to dissipate the heat, either remove it from the area or chill it. I suspect that if you want to go hid you'll need air conditioning.

 

[Moustache]

Hey Myzz you wont need that much light for 1 plant. Your plant wont cover the whole grow are so you can get by with a lot less. Maybe half or even less of your grow area. You aent growing 16 plants just 1.

 

[Myzz617]

Hey Myzz you wont need that much light for 1 plant. Your plant wont cover the whole grow are so you can get by with a lot less. Maybe half or even less of your grow area. You aent growing 16 plants just 1.

1-10 plants MAX, so question would be what could i use to get by for lights? I deff want to use a bubbeponic system eventually so I want to keep that in the back of my head. And at fryingpan, since summer is coming I will have an AC in my bedroom. I want thinking to put like a dehumidifier in the veg room a small one I have seen at walmart, would that be sufficient combined with venting out some of the heat and pulling in some of the AC air from my room? Hope that does not sound too confusing. And thanks for the feedback guys, appreciate your time and brain cells

 

[FryingPanFlyer]

1-10 plants MAX, so question would be what could i use to get by for lights? I deff want to use a bubbeponic system eventually so I want to keep that in the back of my head. And at fryingpan, since summer is coming I will have an AC in my bedroom. I want thinking to put like a dehumidifier in the veg room a small one I have seen at walmart, would that be sufficient combined with venting out some of the heat and pulling in some of the AC air from my room? Hope that does not sound too confusing. And thanks for the feedback guys, appreciate your time and brain cells

Well, at some point it's just a guess as to what will work. HID's put out a ton of heat and I'd hate to see you fry your plants and then have to go buy cfl's because that was too hot. But it's impossible for me to say exactly. In essence I had to make that same guess, but I own my home and was able to cut in the required ventilation.

So, it's a bit of a crap shoot, I don't know exactly what to tell you.

 

[NEPharmer]

I think you could get away with a 400w hps if you do the door venting. I would do a DWC grow first, it's a very easy set up, and a good way to break into hydro with huge results. Good luck

 

[Roseman]

Your apartment situation is ideal for CFL growing and the reason why many growers use CFLs. ONE Plant will not take up 16 sq ft, so I suggest you reconsider and grow 3 plants, or use less light. Maybe after4 weeks of VEG, or into Flowering, you could throw the light to it but in early Vegging, that is over-kill on lighting.

I am subscribed!

 

[Myzz617]

Your apartment situation is ideal for CFL growing and the reason why many growers use CFLs. ONE Plant will not take up 16 sq ft, so I suggest you reconsider and grow 3 plants, or use less light. Maybe after4 weeks of VEG, or into Flowering, you could throw the light to it but in early Vegging, that is over-kill on lighting.

I am subscribed!

I could possibly grow three since i have 3 buckets already. But if i choose to just use CFLS for now 800w is my min and 1600w is my max correct regardless of how many plants? I am kind of stumped on how much light i should start out with after germinating the seeds. Would 4 6500k 42w bulbs and 1 2700k bulb be good enough to get my plant started for the first week?

What if I use a 250 MH for veg and a 250 hps for flower, would that be better then using a 400w because of heat issues? I want to get the most out of my grow of course but obviously the first two-three grows are for testing. I have been thinking about using some 105w cfls bulbs but I dont want to get too ahead of myself. I should be home soon so I can have a better idea of my amp situation.

 

[FryingPanFlyer]

I could possibly grow three since i have 3 buckets already. But if i choose to just use CFLS for now 800w is my min and 1600w is my max correct regardless of how many plants? I am kind of stumped on how much light i should start out with after germinating the seeds. Would 4 6500k 42w bulbs and 1 2700k bulb be good enough to get my plant started for the first week?

What if I use a 250 MH for veg and a 250 hps for flower, would that be better then using a 400w because of heat issues? I want to get the most out of my grow of course but obviously the first two-three grows are for testing. I have been thinking about using some 105w cfls bulbs but I dont want to get too ahead of myself. I should be home soon so I can have a better idea of my amp situation.

I've got three Sour Diesels flowering under 440 watts of CFL's. You can check out my fixture in the CFL thread and the plants in my grow journal, they are 5 weeks into flower and are looking awful sweet! I just posted new pics this morning.

 

[Myzz617]

I've got three Sour Diesels flowering under 440 watts of CFL's. You can check out my fixture in the CFL thread and the plants in my grow journal, they are 5 weeks into flower and are looking awful sweet! I just posted new pics this morning.

Lol I deff seen the Sour and the NL in your grow journal, they are SICK! You have a good thing going on with the method you use for feeding your plants. That is good stuff, you only used CFL's through-out the whole grow?

 

[FryingPanFlyer]

Lol I deff seen the Sour and the NL in your grow journal, they are SICK! You have a good thing going on with the method you use for feeding your plants. That is good stuff, you only used CFL's through-out the whole grow?

My intent was to veg under the cfl's and flower under the hps, but I ran out of room. I was going to add onto my original grow space but then decided to go another direction so the SD's are riding it out under the cfl's. I don't have any commplaints. So far they are doing better than they did under the hps last grow. But they were pretty well crowded out last time.

 

[Slowpuffer]

I could possibly grow three since i have 3 buckets already. But if i choose to just use CFLS for now 800w is my min and 1600w is my max correct regardless of how many plants? I am kind of stumped on how much light i should start out with after germinating the seeds. Would 4 6500k 42w bulbs and 1 2700k bulb be good enough to get my plant started for the first week?

What if I use a 250 MH for veg and a 250 hps for flower, would that be better then using a 400w because of heat issues? I want to get the most out of my grow of course but obviously the first two-three grows are for testing. I have been thinking about using some 105w cfls bulbs but I dont want to get too ahead of myself. I should be home soon so I can have a better idea of my amp situation.

The 250 will heat up also. So on hind sight, i suggest a 4X4 tent, placed right in front of your only outlet. That way, no holes to cut, no new door, and way more convient. I grow 4 plants in a 4X4 tent, with a 400 watt hps/mh light, and i get from 12 to 14 ozs. from the 4 plants. And i got a 170cfm fan and matching carbon filter. I take clones at the start of 12/12, and by the time i harvest, i have nice 8 week old plants to throw into 12/12, and it can be a never ending ordeal !! Ha !! But I'm still playing in dirt !! I believe that you'll harvest more than i do in dirt, but i like the taste of orgaanic grown anything. Use the 4X4 area in your closet for vegging ?? And make the tent for bloom room. Buy a heavy duty surge protector and a short heavy duty ext. cord. Get a good tent, don't skimp !! Like I say, if i did'nt have to worry about electric, i'd have gotten a 600 watt light !! And i rent also and have an antique wiring system. And if that wall socket is not tight when you plug something into it, install a new one !! Can you leave the room door open all the time ?? So your exhaust fan does'nt build up heat !! Can you run an ext. cord from another room for your veg area ?? If you decide to go the tent route, buy the best. You could also use another smaller tent in the closet for a veg area. And just use a circulating fan and leave the door open . Since you're not concerned with $$, i'd suggest two tents. Good luck !! And if i can ever be of any help, don't hesitate !!

 

[Myzz617]

Seems like two tents might be best. any specific suggestions? Should i go with two 4X4 tents? Or just a 4X4 for vegging and use my closet space for flowering? I want to make sure I get rid of them odor caused by the plant, I have already bought most the parts to start building a carbon air scrubber. all i need is a 6in end cap, stocking or nylon (might use one of my Du rags lol, more active carbon and hardware cloth) I also want to get a light i can use to try cloning. FPF, all you used to veg your SD was just 400w of CFL's? Or did you use an HID in addition? Also for reflectors I found some at Home depot and amazon. Which ones should I use?



or

Amazon: Prime CL050506 Reflector Clamp Lamp with 6-Feet 18/2 SPT-2 Cord, 8.5-Inch

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[FryingPanFlyer]

Seems like two tents might be best. any specific suggestions? Should i go with two 4X4 tents? Or just a 4X4 for vegging and use my closet space for flowering? I want to make sure I get rid of them odor caused by the plant, I have already bought most the parts to start building a carbon air scrubber. all i need is a 6in end cap, stocking or nylon (might use one of my Du rags lol, more active carbon and hardware cloth) I also want to get a light i can use to try cloning. FPF, all you used to veg your SD was just 400w of CFL's? Or did you use an HID in addition? Also for reflectors I found some at Home depot and amazon. Which ones should I use?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Actually 440w, it's not what I planned but it's the way it worked out. You can see by my pics they are not suffering any!

I don't have much of an opinion on the lamp reflector, but you amy want to get a socket extender because some cfl's don't fit in those. I've seen people but one reflector, put an extender in, then a "Y" so they could put two lamps in one reflector. It's in Roseman's tutorial if you get a chance.