Semi-new grower, need some advice

Foreword: Hey y’all, long time lurker but just made an account cause the collective experience, knowledge, and quality of this forum is unparalleled by anything close to it. Props to everybody on here who’s been doing this for however long, grown however many pounds and so forth, I salute ya - that said, I’m a young guy, almost exclusively grown outdoors, and thus want some advice and clarification to avoid any mistakes I may be prone to.

So, my background is purely outdoor guerilla in Minnesota’s deep north, now I’m doing the complete reverse - indoor closet grow in the Deep South. I have a spare mini closet that is just the right size for just the right strain.

Space: The closet is about 30 by 30 inched height and length, with about 26ish inches of depth/width. I only want to grow one plant - this is merely a test to see what I’m capable of indoors before/if I take it any further. As far as beyond basic techniques go I’ve only ever employed topping, are there any tricks to maybe shrink/conform my plant?

Strain: Being in America’s less than legal zone I’m under the impression Herbies is one of if not my only options and I’m happy with their selection. Yield wise I’d really at least 75gs+. I make BHO and plan on doing so with at least 25% of my yield, hashplants seem pretty short and was wondering if it was feasible or anyone had suggestions. I’m willing to do an auto flower if it doesn’t compromise the quality of potency or my ideal yield I live in a rental so shorter flowering is ideal. Resinous + compact + seed to chop in 4 months or less = perfect

Lights: So all I know about lights is what I could soberly retain from MN indoor growers I’ve briefly met (not many where I’m from), so if anybody can advise, answer or correct these statements/questions it’d be appreciated: 75W is the necessary wattage to grow a healthy, potent, quality plant? LED is the most energy efficient means of growing? What kind of lighting do I need to churn out 2-3 high quality ounces? I don’t want to be cheap but I don’t want to buy something that’s overkill. Also, when I put up my reflective siding and flooring is there any best kind that improves any kind of variable? Is it safe to let a cords and such lay around on the reflective? I plan on using heavy duty extension cords to my closet. Should they be taped? Anything I can do to save energy?

Stank: I’ve heard a lot of good things about vaportek via icmag. They make a passive system called the EZ-twist, it says it covers up to 2000+ sq ft of permeating malodors - but the device itself only costs 8$! - too good to be true? Are passive system in general ineffective? Can I get by on ozium gel or something? I feel like charcoal is a really expensive, albeit it almost too effective way to odor control one plant. Inline system is also complicated/overkill financially and productionally for what I’m doing. Worst case scenario are 1-3 clip fans enough? Our neighbors (apartments) are okay with me smoking, and not to say I don’t trust them but this op is between me and myself if I can help it.

Other(?): What size gallon should I grow in? I find root size = bigger plants. I’m planning on doing potting soil, whatever looks good at the nursery, I know miracle gro is a no but but anything else I should watch out for? I live in Florida and don’t know much about how humidity can be indoors, any good ways to maintain it? I’m deathly afraid of spider mites and mold, any good ways to pre-emergently prevent bad things like pests or climate from getting to your crop? I used neem oil outdoors on my buds and it worked pretty well, I also released 250 live ladybugs I ordered off the Internet into my trellis nets when I thought I had an aphid problem - granted the last effort was excessive and unproductive hence what I’m trying to avoid. Any way to keep the area ultra sterile?


I know I’ve asked probably 1000 questions, some that may not even be that necessary, but if anybody could point me in the right direction on just one of these questions you’d be helping out a future grower a lot. I miss living/growing in the bumfuck country, but with change comes adaptation. Florida’s drug dealers are less pleasant than Minnesota’s and I just plain old miss the feeling of growing. Thank you to this priceless community in advance for the all the badass information I can learn/apply here

I use 1100 watts per plant in overlapping units of LED and CMH overhead and LED and fluorescent on the sides.
But that does not help much I guess.

With 400 watt CMH two feet away I get 1000 umol, which is about right. With a 330 watt LED at a foot and a half the umol is closer to 800 which is about right also.
My plants do not go into the bud room until over two feet tall so this does not help much either.

The Quantum Flux meter is the single most used instrument I own. Even with smaller plants and less wattage the number of umol at the top of the plant should remain the same 800 to 1000 umol.
In a 30" x 30" area this will be closer to 120-150 watts so cooling will be quite important.

Mylar and polished metal reflectors are more efficient with blue (95%) and less so with reds (80%).
White reflectors are less efficient overall (85%).
Variations occur with brand.

I rely on more knowledgeable gardeners for the other answers.

An LED or bulb(s) hanging vertically are gonna be your best bet for the size area you have. More than likely LED, as you said you don't wanna spend a lot on ventilation equipment. For the yield your looking for, you will either have to veg one plant for a good month and then flower. Or grow a quite a few smaller plants and flower them a lot sooner, than if you just had one large plant.

I would advise with either option to have a "bed" of soil, or the largest container that fits in the space. 4"-6" is plenty deep enough. Your gonna have several months between crops with the method your using. Something to take into consideration if you plan on supplying yourself without running out in between crops.

A perpetual set-up would work in that space, granted you'll only harvest half the space, and need another small area to veg plants. So I guess the options above are your only options, if you wanna stick to your original idea. Auto's are definitely worth looking into. You could do those perpetually without needing a separate veg area. Today's auto's , there are quite a few that compare somewhat to photoperiod varieties. As far as potency is concerned. They can yield surprisingly well as well.

At any rate I'm just throwing idea's out of what I would do. Ultimately it's your grow and you'll do what you want. One thing I would strongly consider is getting a carbon filter and fan. Look at the cost as an investment towards your peace of mind. Happy growing man.

75 watts isnt gonna get you 3 ounces, IMO. I run a 900 watt led in my 3x3 tent, and i think a 600 watting in my 2.5x2.5. In reality, these numbers are misleading. Leds put out far less light than those numbers suggest, at least compared to HPS's.
Autoflowers wont really skimp out quality. Ive grown plenty. To me though, if you want it to flower, flip your lights. Why limit yourself to just those, when you can make em flower anyways.
30" of height, especially when you have a light involved, aint shit. Good luck, youll have to train em from day one. You have a pot and light, poof there goes no less than 12". Your down to 18" of plant growing area. Yeild cant be much, unless you really train em. Top and bend all branches to each side.
Can it be done, sure. Will be interesting. Good luck.

Your description of the "space" is a little confusing. Try reposting for us in this format - Width (left to right) x Depth (front to back) x Height (top to bottom).

Sounds like a pretty tight space but enough to grow a couple of plants, maybe as many as 4 in the right situation. You will need to learn how to train your plants to utilize your space properly. For example, you could have 1 large plant that is trained outwards with 4 or 8 main tops.. That would deliver a uniform canopy for you.. Or you could use 4 smaller plants with 2 tops each and achieve the same uniform canopy inside your grow space. Choose indica dominant strains. Sativas will cause you much problems in a limited grow space such as yours.

Lighting options are almost unlimited. LEDs is the best bet in your situation. Mars Hydro is a sponsor here on ICMag and their panels are great introductory panels for beginners. Choose a panel with 300-600w equivalent power which will be 100-200w actual power draw. If you can get your hands on a PAR meter, you will want to utilize that to raise/lower your panel to spec. Otherwise you will have to pay special attention to your plants and the newest top growth to make sure you are not overheating or bleaching your plants. The newest LED panels can be very very strong when using 5w or 10w chips. 3w chips can be a happy medium. Read more on this in some of the stickies.

Odor is going to need to be handled via an activated charcoal carbon scrubber. Make sure your space is sealed up to a degree so that any air leaving the space is first passed through the scrubber. You can use negative air pressure inside by exhausting more air (through the scrubber) than you take in (through your intake). Negative pressure will ensure any air leaving your grow space is first passed through your scrubber on the exhaust.

Your yields will vary depending on many factors. Get back to us on your setup once you make some decision and we can try to estimate yields for you... Strains make the biggest difference.... Lighting second..

As for pests.. You should not have any issues if you are only growing a few plants. In the event that you do have a spider mite or two, just pick them off. You would not need to spray or use neem oil in a situation where you only have a few plants.

Depending on where in the SOUTH you are, humidity could be a concern. You will want to keep the relative humidity at 50-70% in VEG, then lower it in flower. Week 1-2 50%, week 3-4, 40%, week 5-6 30%, on down to 20% if possible for the last week of flower. You have such a small grow space that a dehumidifier may not fit. Let us know what happens... You could end up with mold problems if you are flowering in high humidity. Whatever you do, keep the air circulating and exchange the air a few times per minute if possible. At minimum once a minute and this is considered quite slow.

Consider using a source of dry air from inside the house when outside humidity is too high. You may find that you can only grow in the winter when humidity is lowest. The summer could just very well be too hot and too humid unless you are using A/C and Dehumidifiers. Again your grow space is so small though.

For pot size... That will depend on many other factor such as temps and humidity in the grow space. You want your media drying down frequently so that you have opportunity to water and fertilize your plants. You do not want your plants sitting in water logged pots for a week between water events. For a small space like yours, you may end up using 3 gallon pots maybe 5 at the most. If you have 1 large plant, use 1 5 gallon. If you end up growing 4 smaller plants, use 4 3 gallons. Something like that.

If you decide to use SOIL - try a commercially available mix such as FOX FARM OCEAN FOREST soil. This is an organic mix (more or less) which is formulated very well for what you are trying to do. The brand soil you use does not really matter as long as you can trust that the soil is clean of contamination like spores or eggs or larvae. You can amend your soil with additives as you see fit. See the stickies in the organic soil growing section here for more information.

My suggestion would be to use a hybrid soiless media such as coco coir mixed with perlite. You will find yourself feeding more often than in a hot soil because the soiless media generally is inert unless you add organic components. See the stickies in the COCO section for more information.

Or ask.

Let me know if this helps...

Lol sorry if i misread the height wrong.
Rex has good advice.
In addition to mars led, look into viparspectra. Mars i think has a touch better prices, and probably comparable in price. Im running a couple viparspectras and happy so far.
If you want a 2-3 ounce yeild, i cant see a newish grower getting that in less than 5 gallons. 3 gallons, maybe.
To emphasize what has already been said. If you just through a charcoal filter in a closet, dont bother. It has to be a sealed area. If its just a closet by traditional meanings, slider door or open type door, you have work to do. You can find filters pretty cheap online. Also research low smelling strains.

my first space, goodluck.

Duluth said:

Foreword:
Space: The closet is about 30 by 30 inched height and length, with about 26ish inches of depth/width. I only want to grow one plant - this is merely a test to see what I’m capable of indoors before/if I take it any further. As far as beyond basic techniques go I’ve only ever employed topping, are there any tricks to maybe shrink/conform my plant?

Click to expand...

For a cabinet that small, I would recommend manifolding or mainlining your plants. Awesome yields for small spaces. You need a little extra veg time, but you will get the most out of that space.

https://www.growweedeasy.com/manifold

Duluth said:

Foreword
Strain: Being in America’s less than legal zone I’m under the impression Herbies is one of if not my only options and I’m happy with their selection. Yield wise I’d really at least 75gs+. I make BHO and plan on doing so with at least 25% of my yield, hashplants seem pretty short and was wondering if it was feasible or anyone had suggestions. I’m willing to do an auto flower if it doesn’t compromise the quality of potency or my ideal yield I live in a rental so shorter flowering is ideal. Resinous + compact + seed to chop in 4 months or less = perfect

Click to expand...

I would definitely avoid autoflowering strains since you cannot do any training with them. Your height will probably be the most limiting factor of your space and autos will be all up in your lights. I get my seeds through seedsman.com. They ship very discretely and you will usually get a decent amount of freebies. Stick to Indica's or short hybrids. Your hash plant idea sounds good, especially if you are making concentrates.

Duluth said:

Foreword
Lights: So all I know about lights is what I could soberly retain from MN indoor growers I’ve briefly met (not many where I’m from), so if anybody can advise, answer or correct these statements/questions it’d be appreciated: 75W is the necessary wattage to grow a healthy, potent, quality plant? LED is the most energy efficient means of growing? What kind of lighting do I need to churn out 2-3 high quality ounces? I don’t want to be cheap but I don’t want to buy something that’s overkill. Also, when I put up my reflective siding and flooring is there any best kind that improves any kind of variable? Is it safe to let a cords and such lay around on the reflective? I plan on using heavy duty extension cords to my closet. Should they be taped? Anything I can do to save energy?

Click to expand...

Mars Hydro 300 or something similar is probably best for that space. Its like $75 on amazon. If you use LED you wont need to worry about heat.

Duluth said:

Foreword
Stank: I’ve heard a lot of good things about vaportek via icmag. They make a passive system called the EZ-twist, it says it covers up to 2000+ sq ft of permeating malodors - but the device itself only costs 8$! - too good to be true? Are passive system in general ineffective? Can I get by on ozium gel or something? I feel like charcoal is a really expensive, albeit it almost too effective way to odor control one plant. Inline system is also complicated/overkill financially and productionally for what I’m doing. Worst case scenario are 1-3 clip fans enough? Our neighbors (apartments) are okay with me smoking, and not to say I don’t trust them but this op is between me and myself if I can help it.

Click to expand...

Before you go out and spend a bunch of money, I grow in two 24"x24"x48" cabinets (one for veg and one for flower) and I have wasted countless dollars on expensive fan/filter combos. After a lot of trial and error, noise issues, power issues and such, I am currently using activated charcoal from the pet store and a couple pc fans to control the smell. I grow in my garage which does NOT smell like weed. My space is a little bigger so should be no problem for you. Do a google search for "DIY pc fan charcoal filter". That should get you started for cheap.

Duluth said:

Foreword
Other(?): What size gallon should I grow in? I find root size = bigger plants. I’m planning on doing potting soil, whatever looks good at the nursery, I know miracle gro is a no but but anything else I should watch out for? I live in Florida and don’t know much about how humidity can be indoors, any good ways to maintain it? I’m deathly afraid of spider mites and mold, any good ways to pre-emergently prevent bad things like pests or climate from getting to your crop? I used neem oil outdoors on my buds and it worked pretty well, I also released 250 live ladybugs I ordered off the Internet into my trellis nets when I thought I had an aphid problem - granted the last effort was excessive and unproductive hence what I’m trying to avoid. Any way to keep the area ultra sterile?

Click to expand...

I am getting 2-3 ounces per manifolded plant in 3 gallon buckets. Manifolding is my preferred growing method because of the short height of the finished plants, but also because you end up with 8 donkey dicks and almost zero larfy popcorn/junk bud. I do six plants at a time, three in veg and three in flower and harvest 6-9 ounces every two months. If I only had 30" of height to work with, I would probably cut the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket off down to about a 2 gallon size. That would give you 2 gallon short pots. Make sure you drill some holes for drainage. I would do 2 plants if I were you to maximize that space. I see no reason why you can't get 2 oz per plant from that set up. Don't scrimp on the light though. Good Luck!!!

That space is so small good luck man leds all the way you need to keep heat down. Train into a flat canopy and then maybe train up the sides to make it a semi vertical grow. Just a idea