Indoor NEW AND NEED HELP!!!

[dwolf420]

CFL's are great for veg. If you want to flower with them you need to have a mix of CFL's. 30% blue and 70% red. Look into CMH lights, you only need one light for both veg and flower and cost is about the same. Also CMH do not run that hot if heat is an issue

 

[killakill86]

hey man no expert here still on my first grow but man am i glad i just went ahead and bought a grow tent. threw in inline fan and scrubber with a light and bingo rdy to plant . what i did to get rdy for my first was to google some grow tents and grow tent setups u will find tons and tons of forum post from people who have setup a grow tent and what size light,fan, and scrubber"if needed smell is bad for me so had to get one" the tent could hold. i'd suggest to figure out what size tent u want, and since u already have the light do a search on that tent and see what size fan others have used to cool same tent with same amount of wattage in it. not a complete answer to ur q but i hope it helps a little

 

[whatsgoodie]

You still seem confused, let me give you some options, in what I believe would be the best order -

1. In that small of a space, invest in a cool-tube or ventilated hood(a reflector would be sick in such a small space). They're great for small spaces, I run a 600W in a 3.5x2 room. Temps never go above +2 ambient. Works wonderfully. Ideally, you want 50w/sqft.. so get a 250 HPS or a 250W CMH (ceramic metal halide, in case you're unsure..). You didn't specify, but you said 4ft11 (or so) tall.. so I'm figuring probably 2x2 giving you 4 sqft.. Gives you 62watt/sqft.

2. Go with CFL or LED. You can get a 90W UFO LED for ~$140+shipping, click here. Or order a 250W (probably overkill, but would be worth it with CFL light... such a small cab not a lot of space to position different lamps. Maybe do a 150W CFL and 4 26W in each corner.. 2 blue, 2 red.. make sure the 150W is red as well.

3. Get stronger exhaust fans. A cabinet that small could be scrubbed by an in-line duct fan almost.

Also, not really an option but more of a suggestion..

Get better ventilation. Make sure you have more fans blowing air out than in. Even if you have 2 exhaust and one in-take fan, a passive intake with 3 exhaust would be better if the fans are weak. Make sure the exhaust are near the top. Heat rises.


As far as a "good wattage", CFLs are probably best in the 26W range supplemented by one large lamp, or tons of 26W range lamps, majority red light with supplemental blue. For your cabinet I'd reccomend at least 250W of CFL as well. Remember, the point of CFL is to bring the lamps close and to "sculpt" the lights to your canopy. CFLs have weak penetration so they're great for micro grows or trained grows to expose lower nodes.

 

[silent assassin]

ok cheers everyone for that great info... can one of you correct me on this please.... so if i buy a tent i found that is 1m x 1m x 2m and i got a 250W HPS or MH or CMH put some fans in and fans out then i should be sweet? i wont worry about CFL cause i dont want to have to change the bulbs and shit... just want a simple light that will go from seed to bud... and also what i understand is more fans pushing air out??? so instead of me having having 2 blowing in and 1 blowing out i would have 3 going out and 2 comming in?

 

[whatsgoodie]

Exhaust is better. So more pressure pulling air out of the cab is much better than air blowing into the cab. Passive intake is almost optimal in most situations unless your ambient temperatures are that extreme. In which case some intake fans might be useful. Invest in a large exhaust fan, not multiple exhaust fans. Have all of your air leaving through one exit and hook that up to the light. Negative pressure is almost what you're aiming for. It will reduce the smell, keep the RH in check and remove heat quickly. It's especially useful in smaller rooms as to keep the exchange high. I'd still recommended a vented hood with a 3x3x6 room, that's only 9sqft with a 250W light. How much is the 250W light + the tent? Can you throw in a vented hood and pull air through it? If you can't, definitely get a Ceramic Metal Halide light instead of an HPS. Don't even consider a MH without a vented hood. What are your ambient temperatures right now?

Also, CFLs aren't about changing the bulbs. You can run with a 75/25 setup from the start of RED/BLUE light. I.E: For every 75 watts of RED add 25 watts of blue (real watts, not equivalent.) It's more about positioning the bulbs around the canopy for the best use of the light as the penetration is low.

 

[dwolf420]

Well said whatsgoodie. Also keep in mind the CMH will grow all stages. I am really impressed with the grows I have seen from those lights. Philips is the only CMH I would recommend also. I have done some intensive research into CMH and Philips makes the very best hands down.

 

[silent assassin]

well i just checked the temp and it risen to 48 degrees C (haha) not good i know. so i completely turned it off dug the seeds out and found the soil so dam hot and the seeds where crispy lol... i found a tent for like 150 dollars off ebay and it has all these flaps and shit where ya can just open it for extra output of hot air.??? when u plant the seed and cover it with clear plastic for a humidity effect what temp should that be? i never even thought to check that temp. it must of been high though for the soil to be very warm. i think the light was 150 dollars too, but i haven't looked at those CMH lights... why are they so good? do they produce less heat? also i was thinking.. my cab it only 120cm tall and most seeds grow roughly 80cm tall and with the 400W HPS it had to be 60cm away from top of plants so add those two numbers together and that is bigger then my cab so it looks like a 2m tent would be the go?? less hassels i guess... cause if i keep the cab that means i gotta drill more holes etc and still wont be able to grow me AF's to their full height.

 

[whatsgoodie]

With an aircooled hood or cool-tube 60CM is wayyy off for distance. You can get away with 12-18CM, EASILY. Yes though, I'd reccomend a taller cab. Still, if you get the tent - everything else really does still apply.

 

[silent assassin]

the CMH light, will that run in my 400w hps socket and thru my ballast? i just read they will work but it wont work with a digital ballast.... so can i just buy the bulb ya think?

 

[silent assassin]

where do i find an air-cooled hood from ? i dont want to self wire stuff cause it will be bad if i try hahaha... im no good at that stuff...