I've always wanted to try to scrog but like the ability to pull the plants out and move them around. If I did scrog it would be those cool parabola ones.
I really like watching this grow man, keep updating it.
1) what was your temp when u had your 4 sqft space??? and how about now in the 7.11 sqft??
2) what is the height of your grow space??
hey dnkng5 beautiful plants!
i plan to do a very similar set up as u as a first time grower using 250w cmh or 400w cmh. i have a few questions if u dont mind me asking
sry if my questions if it has been asnwered but i want to do things right in my first grow
Thanks for the kind words Poker! I definitely appreciate doing things right the first time but the one thing growing has taught me is that mistakes and mishaps will come by the dozens but the more mistakes you make, the more opportunities you have to learn. I guess what I'm trying to say is figuring out as I went along has been part of the fun.
My space used to be 33" wide by 19" deep and it was about 62" tall but I was only utilizing about 48-55" of that for growing the rest of the space was taken up by ducting and my light, which was in a cool tube at the time but is bare bulb now. My space now is 55" wide by 19" deep but it's only 52" tall with the light sitting at about 42". My screen sits at about 24" (way too high. I'll drop it 8"-10" next time) and the tops of my plants are at 30-32". My temps on average are about 80 degrees, but this is by choice. I could have temps at 78 degrees but I turned off the fan that blows directly on the bulb (I'll explain why I did this in my next update).
I'm planning on switching to a 600W next round. I know, I know, you're thinking my temps are going to be in the high 80's/low 90's. Before I explain why this will work I need to explain a little about the cab. It has an 9"x19" intake w/ a 10"x20"x1" filter and I am using an 465 cfm axial fan. The temperature in my house during the day, when the lights are on is 62 degrees, for the last 2 hours of their day, when I come home from work the temperature is bumped up to 67. This 5 degree increase of house temperature results in a one degree increase in cab temperature. At the beginning of veg (end of summer, still hot outside) when the temperatures in the house sometimes spiked to 72-73, the cab wouldn't get above 78 degrees. hmmmm how is this possible??? Well even though the temperature in the house is cooler there is MUCH more vegetation in the cab. One of my critical design flaws this round was I made the screen too high. This had multiple disadvantages but in relation to temperature control the problem with the screen height was that is was above the cab intake. So essentially the exhaust is having to pull air through the canopy and this is acting as a restriction to flow and reducing the amount of CFM's the exhaust can pull, thereby increasing the temperature. The reason this system is still working so well is I have nice cool intake air and I am exhausting the air outside, if I was just exhausting to the room, this wouldn't work and if I had a spike in ambient temperature for any extended period of time I'd be in trouble. But it's the chilly season now so I think I will be safe.
By lowering my screen 8-10" I will increase the surface area of the intake that is above the screen by 50%. I am hoping that will help offset the heat increase I would see by swapping my 400 CMH out for a 600 hortilux. Lowering the screen will also help give me a bit more distance from the bulb, which will also help regulate the heat. If I can run a 600 in this cab it will be my coup de grâce. This new goal obviously means I'll continue to run this cab, in conjunction with the 4x4 tent I'll be adding to the Lab. Where is he going to veg the plants for all that new space you ask???
Over the past weekend I built a new veg cab, it's 53" wide by 22" deep and it's about 32" tall. I haven't decided on the inner workings (fresh air, electrical, etc.) but it currently has (2) 48" HO T5's, I might add one or two more in the future, depending on how far I can get with those. The new cab is going hold my bonsai mothers, that are currently growing out, and will also serve as a veg chamber. I will continue to clone in the top part of the flowering cab. This will allow me to have two completely different flowering chambers. One will be ideal for SCRoG'in and the other will be my Vert chamber. The best of both worlds...
I was going to talk a bit about where the plants are at now but my eyes and mind are tired and I hear a skillet heating up, time to do some dabbin' Enjoy the pictures
its hard to find a person that does a 400w cmh in a similar grow space. i see that u are moving up and upgrading your setup. very nice looking forward to seeing what kind of weight u can get with a 400w cmh, buds getting frostyyyyyy
when u switch from t5 to the 400w cmh, how high do u set it from the canopy? and how often to do u lower it down?
At week 7 these ladies are really starting to swell. There has been a bit of foxtailing in the last week but it seems like it's localized to the area directly under the light, hot spot I guess. 
