advice

[Guest bozbongou]

O.K. gentlemen, I have a closet space that is 18 inches wide X 6 foot long X 8 foot high. I want to more or less use all of this space to grow. I had thought about soil because it sounds easier to me, but Tom might explain otherwise? I was wondering the following:

Could I grow tall in such a narrow space? Sativa maybe?

Could I grow both indica and sativa in that space?

What light is recommended?

I will sort out more later, I'm still planning, eh. But Basically, let me know what you all would do with that space. My budget would be around $500 (US) but less spent is always better! Go ahead, recommend an entire arrangement... save me some brain busting. So anyway, this space can be easily ventilated etc.

Your site is fantastic... hope to share the project developments with you. Hope to sprout some seeds in August. Peace

[boe~pimp]

18 inches... the only problem i can see would be access... if you have access from the front/side (6 foot face) then it wouldn't be a problem i would imagine... just won't be the most optimum of conditions due to light penetration in later stages of veg/flower however should be relatively easy to keep cool. considering you'd never fit a conventional HID light in there i would suggest fluros. Although on OG i've seen these 'cool tubes' but haven't been able to find the glass for them... fuckin great idea... if you live in america basically just a glass tube the HID globe fits into with an exaust at one end drawing air from the room, over the light, and out the exaust outlet for those who haven't seen them... quite intruguing. (if anyone can help with the glass in Australia PM me please!)

 

A sativa/sativa dominant strain would most likely suite the area i'm guessing, because a more busy indica dominant strain will bush out alot more than 18 inches and become too dense for the light to penetrate (this will more than likely be a problem anyway)

 

putting into a yield for cash perspective i would personally put the money into a closet setup. a thread covering a budget 400watt HPS grow room can be found by clicking here

 

i doubt fluros will have the 'power' so to speak, to be able to make such space effective..

 

depends what your after... personal smoko or for you & family/friends, commercial etc.

 

For a few more ideas check out the indoor setups forum (clickable) and focus on the yield that growers get from different spaces... from there you can make a descision as to which way you want to go...

[pipeman]

that sounds big enough to divide off into a flowering section & veg section. I would suggest a 400HPS in a 4 ft wide flowering section, and have the other 2 foot for mothers, clones, equipment etc.

 

In terms of simplicity of growing systems just a perlite/vermiculite mix in pots & saucers hand watered with water & hydro nutes is about as simple as it gets and should give good results. there is really limitless options with systems, depends on how much trouble you want to go to. Some people get obsessed with tweaking their grow even when they don't need to.

[boe~pimp]

i just finished another post in a similar thread with you in mind bozbongou, can check it out by clicking here

[Guest bozbongou]

Excellent, figured the great advice would start flowing. I especially like the idea of 4/2 ft. separation for mothers and veg. it would require two lights to get the height right I suppose. So ideally I would have a 2 ft tube and a 4 ft one. Oh, then the lower light could help get to the lower sides of the others! I could just turn them occassionally, yes? 15 cfm fan and I also look for this HID globe. Any idea what they cost? Heat could be a problem in the summmer, what lights (aside from fluros) are the coolest? Another problem would be drying. I need to use the same space, but what then about the mothers, clones and gettin ahead of myself heheheh. Could I put them into a kind of low light dormacy mode or something and hang the harvest above them? I am stuck on the idea of hang-drying because I believe that somewhere I read that this is best for THC content. Sound familar to anyone? This does not sound too hard. One more question, can one go from seedling to the large pot, or will I need some in between sizes? Also, about lights, I have to be slightly careful about electricity because there are current limitations and easy to blow the fuse

peace

[Tom]

For your first couple of grows go with the media you feel most comfortable with. I would divide the cupboard as pipeman suggested, for lights I would use a 430w Son-T-Agro in the 4' section for veg and flower and a couple of compact fluoro's in the 2' section for the mothers and clones. If the power limitations won't allow the Son-T then look into some lower wattage HPS lights or 10+ compact fluoro's, flouro's will not give you anywhere near the yield that the Son-T would though.

 

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[Guest bozbongou]

Yeah, Son-T-Agro and compact flouros. I think that I can manage that. I think that I will skip the summer months and go for two winter harvests. What is this "double flowering"? Anyway, from what I can tell, three to four plants + mom twice a year just might give me what I want for personal smoke IF all goes well, and that is all I am after. Where I live, it would not be wise to overproduce... the bastards!!! I'll move to Canada in a few years I reckon, if Bush does not get us all killed before hand.

I'll look up the rest of my questions throughout the threads and reference sites. I will be back. Thank you for all of your help. Oh one more- It looks like Sativa/Sativa for me, given the space, I enjoy it, but I wonder is there a hybrid that grows tall and thin like that because some Sativa that I have had in the past, although pleasant, can be overly cognitive at times. Also, what is a good short height for Indica because with 8ft clerance maybe I could do a double deck sort of arangement? Peace, I'll leave you all to it for awhile... most helpful! Cheers!

[pipeman]

hey boz, I meant divide the cabinet vertically, not horizontally. 8ft height is a luxury you should use for a flower chamber. Could come in handy if you want to grow sativas as well.

 

The mother section you can divide vertically to say have one shelf for mothers, one for clones and one for equipment/timers. Remember you'll need the division between your mother/clone area and flowering area to be light proof.

[Guest bozbongou]

Pipeman, of course, vertically, I must be crazed. Actually, I knew that you meant vertical but I am still crazed because I did not even consider the light proof aspect of the seperation of clones and flowers... thanks. It can be done, uh, with much effort. Oh, I forgot I already have some drywall (sheetrock) or whatever you call it on your side of the world. Yeah 8ft. how high should I grow the suckers? Anyway, I just saw a full-spectrum fluoro (2 bulbs) that is only 30 inch long (wide?) whatever. It slides on a couple of nice chrome stands. Would be great for the clone side huh. Anyway, 100 bucks is a bit much but it does include bulbs. They got real nice seed starter kits too, self watering and all dat. Anyway, I am in heavy research mode just now. I had to break it down into parts: soil, light, material, strain, etc. etc. and you know there are multiple aspects to all that too. There should be a special botony degree. I want to get it right! I wish some folks I know would do the same because the street shit really sucks just now. I want it to be as natural as possible though. For instance, I was thinking earlier about the fact in nature light does not just come on and off like hey get up its day. No chemicals etc. What I really want is a good strain recommendation. I want a sativa/sativa that is NOT too speedy oh what the fuck am I doing here kind. Or a hybrid that grows tall and thin like sativa for my 18in. wide by 8ft. high. Sorry these posts are so long but I type really fast. Cheers.

[pipeman]

If you are growing indica you should count on the plant to double in height from when you put it into flower to when you finish. Sativas can triple in height. Very general rule of thumb, depends on growing conditions and strain. 18inches is not that narrow, in fact is probably an average cupboard grow depth. In terms of what strain you want indicas for indoor preferably. They grow shorter and bushier and take less time to finish. I am looking at Skunk#1 for my next purchase, because apparently it is a Sativa dominant but grows short and finishes reasonably fast like an indica.