I'm in the planning stage of building my growbox and was having a look at one of these starter kits.

I'm planning on building my box 2ft x 2ft x 7-8ft high (I'm planning on a maximum of four plants). Using oldtimers rule of 50W per square foot, I should be OK with this starter kit shouldn't I?

Also, the kit states it comes with a Son-T lamp - is this a HPS or a MH bulb (or is it a flouro)?

Son T plus is HPS

the more watts you can get in there the better, but as with more watts comes more heat therefore more ventilation is needed unless you grow in the colder months only?

you can fit a 400 watt lamp and buy a inline fan to exhaust the hot air out of the grow box.

Thanks for the reply - perhaps you can answer this one aswell...

I've just seen on e-bay, a dual spectrum Son-T bulb. It claims it operates at both ends of the spectrum thus negating the reason to change bulbs when going to 12/12.

Is this familiar to anyone and is it worth a go?

Hi, was it one of these? "Sylvania Son-T Grolux 400w"
I've only read a few post on this bulb but they liked it..
I would have thought 2 seperate bulbs in the correct wavelength would be better tho, I use 250w of blue envirolight(flouro) for veging and a 600hps for flowering both seem to be doing well. Im half way through my first grow so im a noob myself.
Good luck m8

Click Click Click

Ta very much.

I think I might go with one of those growlux when the time comes. For a budget grower, if I only have to buy one bulb/ballast/reflector etc. then that's a good thing!

Hi Greeney,Lid,
I used a 400w son t agro bulb made by philips for my first six grows, start to finish.
Results were fantastic. I then tried a 400w MH. for two complete grows, using same seeds.
3 northern light, and 3 bubblegum.

My conclusion was that with the MH the veg stage was shortened by about 4 days, but the flowering time was
extended by about 10 days, and the buds, although very good, were not as good as the first six.

So I reckon if its perfection your after get two bulbs and change over after four weeks or so.

Also the bulb life will be extended this way. I don't know what system you are going to use, and I am far from expert, so I may get shot down here, but I reckon 2ft square would be too small for two plants, let alone Four.
Well good luck with your crop, you will always get an answer to any probs on this site
Cheers Lid.
Casso

Depends on the lamp power I suppose ..

I'm currently growing 5 plants in 5 square feet with two 250 watt lights but then I have a rectangular space.

To make best use of a single 400 or 600 watt light in that space, perhaps a single topped plant, vegged for a bit longer would work better - Though I would almost certainly veg. 8 for a bit longer with the hope of flowering 4.

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would you not get as much yeild from 4 plants with 62/3watts each vs 1 plant with 250?

I'd be inclined to agree with you on vegging 8 with the hope of flowering 4 (shit, what if they all turned out to be females ). Even with the reduced yield per plant from sharing the light I reckon I'd end up with more bud in total than I would from a single topped plant... What do you think?

Additionally, since I'm just in the planning stage, I could even go to 2.5' x 2.5' just to give me a bit more room. If I still used a 400w it would give me 64w/ft² per square foot (which I think would still be OK) and if I could stretch to a 600W starter kit it'd give me 96w/ft² ...

All depends on the finances when I come back from holiday at the end of the month...

I reckon that with the 60 ? seeds from 4 different breeders I've sown over the past 3 grows, I've ended up with a 50/50 male/female ratio.

With my 8 square foot cupboard I vegged 24 to end up with 12.

Growing from seed is a bit of a bodge ....

I'm guessing that Scrogging or (SOGging from clones) with as little as 25 watts psf would yield the absolute most bud from a space - I actually grew for years with only 250 watts in my 2'6" x 3'3" cupboard.

I guess 50/50 is what I'm expecting really. The Euphoria seeds I've got were from Dutch Passion (I think, there's so many I forget now and I haven't got them with me, they're chilling in the freezer). I've also got 4 Mexican Sativa which a mate got from Sensi Seeds on a Dam trip last month. I know they're an outdoor strain but they should be OK to grow indoors shouldn't they? So out of the 15 seeds I've got, I'm hoping that at least 7 will be girls...

Clones, Scrogging WTF! I think I'll try and get a straightforward seed grow under my belt first and then I might have a go at something a bit more ambitious .

OK, I'm just about to click 'Order' in the growshop and have chosen the 400W complete system and have added the Eco Switch 2, but what about extraction and intake? Can someone tell me the difference between an A1 and an L1 RVK fan?

The extraction/light calculator says I'll need a minimum of 58m/2 per hour extraction with the space I'm planning (2.5' x 2.5' x 8') so I guess the 100mm will be OK (175 m/2 per hour) but there is only an A1 in that size.

Also, if I did go for that particular fan for extraction, what should I do for an inlet, will passive be OK?

OK, progress report and a couple of questions..

I've got my lamp (400w Sylvania Grolux HPS) and ballast and reflector and also got an twin-speed inline fan. I actually discovered a hydro shop in Cardiff (Hydrodragon) which sold a 'hobby kit' so I went for one of those and including the fan (100mm), it cost me £135. The guy in the shop even showed me how to wire the fan to change the speed and they were very helpful and informative. I'll be going back to get a digital timer for £17.50 and some mylar when I complete my box.

At the moment, I've just built a sort of carcass and will be getting the outer material later, what do you guys use? I was looking at some 4mm mdf or there was some hardboard which had a white melamine backing on it, does it really matter what I use as long as I make sure the inner chamber is completely sealed with duct tape and mylar etc?

Time is running out as my 5 out of 10 seeds have broken their shells and are starting to germ - I've got 4" pots ready with seed and cutting compost for them. So, my final question, once they pop out of the compost, can I get them straight under the lights on an 18/6 light cycle?

Yes you can ...but if there going straight under an HPS you will need to keep them at leat 3-4 ft away - otherwise you'll fry them...


Move the light down in stages until the're a minimum of 20-30 cm away...


Laz

Steer clear of Ebay, specially for bulbs which could already have been used (they have a short shelf life for growin, but to look at you wouldnt know)

I use spectrum balanced bulbs, they work well, but you can veg and bloom fine under the 250w light you posted. I still use one of these for veg to keep the leccy bill down. Spec balanced arent available in 250w in the shops I use.

In such a small space your gonna need expensive fans to cool even a 250 HPS, consider enviro lights as well, they aint as good, but will cost a lot less (in ventilation), be a lot less hassle (burning tops), and from pics posted by people using them, you still get a decent crop.

Personally I swar by HPS, but they are a lot more hassle. In one thread I saw someone using a 250 hps in your kinda space, they were talkin about fucking it off to buy enviros, again cos of heat probs.

Ok youve gone down the hps route.... your about to have some fun ,

You dont need mylar, its a nice to have, and again it will keep heat in. White matt paint or white/black sheeting are about 85% reflective, dont reckon 10% extra on mylar is really gonna improve your yield.

Yeah seal the chamber well, no light leaks.

Im assumin the timer is from the hydro shop and fit for purpose?
You know most DIY shop timers just blow with HPS lamps?

Put em straight under the lamp, but put the light up high (4ft or more) to start with, bring down slowly as plants get stronger. Get em too hot when their that small n youll be off to buy more seeds.

Cheers guys, since that post you replied to Grow-Monkey, I've got myself a 400w HPS Grolux so I'm getting worried now about the heat you mention. I've got a 100mm inline to extract so I'm hoping this will be OK (my space is also now 1m x 1m x 2m).



Lazlo: I'll be having the lamp on chains hooked to the box ceiling so I was going to adjust the height of the lamp throughout the grow. Cheers for the advice.

On buildin your chamber, I once built a wooden frame and stapled white/black/white sheeting over it. Total black out, white either side and 85% reflective. Not stealthy but fast and effective. Im usin the same stuff in my current tent, pics of which are in the link of my sig below.

Im in the same space with a 600, i have 100 intake and 125 exhaust. But before this I used 100 exhaust with passive intake. You will get away with this if you vent outside. If you vent back into the room, the room just gets hotter and hotter, and your chamber hotter still.

Before you vent outside get a carbon filter, unless you live in the middle of nowhere with no postman :-) These things STINK when they get goin. You will smell them a couople of weeks in, after 4 weeks you will have a significant problem.

Its an expensive game to accumilate all this stuff, but youll get it all back on the money you save buyin it off someone else, in your first grow if your lucky.

That's a great idea with the black and white sheeting, I'd never thought of that; probably a lot cheaper and cooler that a hardboard case but I see what you mean about not being too stealthy. The grow is in my garage but I couldn't ever guarantee somebody going in there with me and asking what is was...With a wooden exterior I could get away with saying it's a storage box for tools etc...

As far as the smell, I was going to see how bad it was in the garage (it has vents running along the eaves) and since it's at the back of the garage, most of the airflow should go out the back of the garage where no one goes, if it was getting noticeable I was going to get a carbon filter then (I'm a stingy Northerner at heart!)

OK, my box is almost done and it was a lot more work than I first imagined!. Just got to put the floor in and a small bit of hole plugging to do (shoddy DIY and all that!). So, my question is this: how lightproof does it need to be? Where I've left small gaps with my shoddy DIY, I've covered them up with duct tape but when I stand inside the box with the door shut, I can still see the light in the garage through the duct tape. Obviously, when the grow starts the light in the garage will be off and it get's almost pitch black in there so will I be alright come flowering time?

Having said all of this, last night my Wife decided that she didn't want me growing weed at all so all my efforts might have gone to waste... .

"The light is on for the masses and it is shining brightly..."

Finally got the lamp on in my box and my 9 little seedlings are now basking in 20 hours of 400W HPS - Hoo-effing-ray!

However, I have a question about this whole stressing the plants out... My seeds popped out of the soil about 11 days ago and due to my DIY ineptitude and lack of time they've only just gone in the box under the lamp. They're all standing between 4 - 6" but about 5 out of the 9 have sort of flopped over and are resting on the edges of the pot so I'm worried that the long period of just being in a room next to a window (which isn't in direct sunlight) might have damaged them in some way. Now they're under the lamp, can I expect them to spring back up again and start reaching for the light or are they knackered?

And finally, I'm going to pot up when I get good root visibility through the bottom of thie existing pots (4" at the moment) and change from B & Q seedlings and cuttings compost to something else but should I start thinking about feeding them or should I just let the compost do all that?

(P.S If you see this thread Joolz, could it be moved to the grow diaries thread as I'd like to keep updating it with my progress...Ta)