Ive had the idea to grow my own for awhile, and have been piecing together the things i need, and im going to be recieving my seeds pretty soon, and have been getting more and more into the growculture only to realize that i may be completely lacking in alot of areas, namely ventilation. I have a 6x2x10(LxWxH)closet im growing in with a door right in the center. I live in an apartment, so knocking holes in walls is out of the question. My room has a filtered air vent, but the closet of course does not. I plan on keeping the closet door closed while growing. First off, is it going to be necessary to vent the room? The door isnt airtight, so air can get in and out, but im (probably) going to be buying a 400watt hps fixture sometime in the near future to put in the room. As it is, the room stays at about 76deg F with 80watts of flourescent lights on. I would like to make one point though. I read alot of technical things on the forum that seem to be pretty extravagant sometimes. Im really only looking to do things that are necessary for growth. If the benefits dont outweigh the costs, im not down with it. For instance, if the plants ARENT going to produce a decent amount more WITH venting, i probably wont do it. Damnit i meant to put this in the advanced forum, or the beginners forum. (Edited by Quaker at 4:36 am on Sep. 17, 2003)
Ventilation is a must!!!!!!!!!!!!Fresh air from outside is highly recommended. Why? 1) If with the fluos u have 76F when u put the 400hps the temp. will rise for sure and youre actual temp.is what is ideal.Fresh air will decrease temp. 2) Plants need the co2 in the air and consume it fast producing humidity, u need to control this humidity to 50 percent to prevent mold and to dry the plant's immediate environment to make the leaves swet and thus grow! 3) A fan inside the growbox is also a must because it it "breaks" the stream of wind of the extractor and distributes it in the whole room. U want ur plants to be slightly swinging as this reinforces the stem. Make sure ur fan blows on the top of ur ladies making them dry and forcing them to grow! In ur case u would require a 300cm3 air extractor. When I started i tottally disregarded the vent. but when i redesigned my grow box and made it hermeticaly seales and put hardcore vent. there was a huge difference in the way the plants reacted. MJ is a strong plant that adapts to very different environments. If it is alive, no matter how crappy it looks and how crap the setting, it will almost always give something.Depending on ur means and on ur intentions u can also always make it better So wether it is worth it or not, it is ur choice to make...But ask a dank lovin' freak and i will tell u try to seal ur box to the max and ventilate that **** like it is growing in the himalaya or the downslopes of the hindu kush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I dont know how many plants yet.... Right now i have neither seeds, nor the 400watt light. Right now i dont have any idea on how to split off my growroom into 2 sections, letting me set up a female for cloning, growing the clones, and a SOG flowering section on 12/12 with that 400watt hps i dont have yet. I may have to germinate more seeds, veg them, and flower more females, getting seeds from a bud to do my next crop, instead of splitting the growroom. I had my hopes up for doing 2-3 females with my 80watt flourescent light, but i dont know if thats possible. Mabye ill do 6 under a 400watt hps. My seeds are NL#2, 100% indica.
here's my 2 cents, if you got a fourhundred watt, you're gonna need to vent to heat. even if you don't vent the room for fresh air and Co2, you need to remove the heat produced by that 400. have you ever felt a 400 w/the back of your hand? they're HOT! i would go air cooled vent, a blower (i like DAYTON), dryer vent, and a glass plate under the light. remove the "stock" closet door, and install one that you don't mind cutting holes in. maybe $30 at lowes for a cheap-ass door. use the "stock" door to partition off your closet, Flower & Veg. you want 50Wts per SqFt. 50 into 400 === 8sqft 2ftX 4ft if done right you're looking at 1/2 lb. I have a 600wt. in the same space w/the set up i mentioned (blower, dryer vent, etc.) i never have to open the door. also got CO2 injection in enrich the air. hope i've been some help. also i found it alot easier doing hydro in the said space than soil. that's just me.
I would also be looking at the size and draft factor of the cupboard etc. You always need fresh air vent no matter ao the plants will adventually reach a cirtain height and virtually stop groeing or rarely move along at all. This is as Simple described. Also a 400 watt is reall good for round a 3'sq, and as the cupboard is 2foot wide, 6'long, you may be best to split for a section with the 400 and 1 for the flos, or set the 400 in the centre and flos on the two ends, outskirts. If you do not own the place (cant punch holes in walls etc) is it possible to remove the door, replace with a shorter door and parcel out the top with a little ply etc, to set an extractor fan in? No matter what, I believe you will need ventilation with a 400w minimum for any sort of real success and if not good ventilation for the hood aswell. Sometimes the beginings sound extreem but for real we are trying to simulate nature and the better we do so, the better they grow. Too easy HJays 2cents.
Two vents(incoming/outgoin) are usually better than one. I have a 400watter air-cooled with the glass connected to a $12 bath fan. One bath fan keeps my 2x4x6ft high growchamber around 105 degrees Farenheit.Not good enough. So i added another $12 bath fan(rated at 50cfm) to actually inject air into my growchamber. My temp never goes higher than 87 degrees Farenheit. Also...i use an oscillating fan.I have about 7 femalez in there now. So...for well below $50...you can achieve proper ventilation...
Too many people say how many plants....it's not the plants, it's the SQ feet.If you were to flower in 12 SQ feet you're looking at 33.33 watts per sq foot....far below the 50 watt standard.You want at least 1 sq foot per plant...that is the minimum to let it branch out...they hate to be crowded.you're best bet is to split it in two and flower 6 plants at 66.6 watts per sq foot. It could be a problem seperating the closet to insure there are no light leaks from the veg/clone/mother chamber while lights out in the flower chamber.If nothing else i would just split the closet in two and use it for just flowering. Using a used door/store bought door instead of the existing is a good idea.....i've done that and suggested it in the past. ventilation is a must....even w/ proper ventilation you can expect a 5-10 degree increase over ambient temp.For an example my ambient(outside the grow space) temps were 75 degrees and my grow chamber with a 400 was 85. i would highly suggest for that space to use a ventilated hood or cool tube,you can buy one or build it for 1/2 the price. i'll be showing how to build a cool tube in the next couple of weeks in my How to build a "stealth" box thread in advanced cultivation.
