[Karn]

I was going to grow some plants in my closet, and my budget is very tight, was hoping to use floro's and dirt, but i want to grow year round and im afraid it might get to hot in the summer and to cold in the winter and was wondering if anyone knew of any cheap solutions.

[Karn]

will be using hogs homemade ebb and flow 5 gal bucket system (https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=4147) if i can get enough money together to make it, and i was also wondering if anyone could give me any tips on super cropping or low stress bending ( not sure if thats what its called), or just any tips in general for a first time grower.
Thanks

[icough2getoff]

Hey what's up Karn? Welcome to IC mag! How big is your closet and how many watts of floros were you planning? What's above and around your closet? Some people cut holes in the celing and vent into the attic. I dont know what your situation is, but maybe you could vent into a room beside your closet?

Also, if you're not planning on a lot of watts, floros dont usually get too hot so it might be possible to use co2 on a budget with buckets, yeast and sugar. I've grown in a walk in sized closet before with about 380W of floros and I just used co2. However this was in the winter time and it may have been quite a bit hotter in the summertime.

[wickyd]

in the summer you could use flouros, and you can use some actual wattage in the winter to keep the plants warm, like a 70 or a 150w.

Super cropping is a training method, as is LST or low stress training. Basically you try to get the plant to grow as horizontally as possible(along the ground) by forcing it, and bending it gently, to cause very little stress to the plant. I'll see if I have a good LST pic of my plants.

Good luck on the small grow, they're difficult but really fun!

wickyd

[wickyd]

not really a great pic, but this is the result of LST. I just bent the main stem to run horizontally, and all the budsites are about at the same height!! so they will each get equal amounts of light causing bigger buds!

again, good luck!
and welcome!
wickyd

[Karn]

My closet is a small walk in closet hooked onto my bedroom, its about 3x4x8 feet. How many plants could i grow in this small of area? And how many watts should i have per plant?

[Karn]

which training method is better?

[BuzzBob]

Hey Karn! --

First, welcome to ICMag, the friendliest Cannabis Site on the web! {imho}

I feel your pain; I really do! i.e., "The horns of dilemma!" What to do, how to grow it, what system, what lights, etc, etc, etc... So many questions! So many knowledgeable opinions offered...

And before I continue, let me say this as well... For every question you may have, there will be many "correct" answers. There are, probably, as many methods and techniques of growing, as there are growers! So, as you do your research, be prepared for conflicting responses. In most cases, nobody is "wrong," it is just that there are variances in everyone's preferred methods!

You say in your first post that you want to grow in dirt... But then you go on to say you are interested in HOG's E&F Buckets. The latter, obviously, is a Hydro system... So I am guessing you are now leaning towards hydro? That {hydro} was my choice as well when I first fired up my GrowOp a few months back...

3'x4' space, eh? That'll be a tight squeeze, for sure! Especially for a large bucket system unless you can place some of the components {Controller and Reservoir} outside of the closet. Some more details of how many plants you are hoping to grow would be very useful in making refined suggestions on system setups...

Lighting: You can grow using only Fluoros! However, everyone will tell you that it is best to at least have a High Intensity Discharge {HID} light for Flowering. The HIDs {Metal Halide {MH} and High Pressure Sodium {HPS} preferred} will produce more heat, but the results will be well worth the effort of dealing with the associated issues... You can build your own HPS grow light relatively inexpensively. I would definitely recommend you look into this, and plan to propagate/veg your plants under Fluoros, and flower under an HPS.

Training: Oh, what a contentious subject!!! You will see, hear, and read all sorts of methods and opinions in this area... LST: Low Stress Training. Check out this thread for excellent demo: LST training in detail. Why bushes are better -- SuperCropping: Some consider LST a method of SuperCropping... Others differentiate SuperCropping as the method where a grow stem is crushed slightly , and keeled over horizontally. After which a "knuckle" forms at the point of crushing. I, personally, prefer LST and have not done a lot of research on the other methods...


Well, I seem to have gone into Babble Mode again... Bottom Line: Read a lot! The GrowFAQs on OG are an excellent resource!!! Spend a few days there reading... Don't be afraid to ask questions!!! There are many very knowledgable people here who are always waiting to help out the new grower!!!

Hope that helps!!
-BuzzBob

[Karn]

I should be able to put the controller bucket outside the closet but i for sure cant put the resevoir outside. Ive been looking around for some kind of kinda flat square one. Then i could put the buckets on top of it to optimize the space. Im plannin on growin 4. Do you guys think they would get overcrowded or would 4 be fine? And would a 25-30gal resevoir be enough for 4plants? Thanks for all the info everyone.

P.S. hey buzzbob i was just wondering if you could post the link for the thread about making a light, couldnt seem to find it anywhere. Thanks

[GreatLakes THC]

BuzzBob is absolutely right. There are a variety of ways you could set up your closet grow. I know you're set on E&F buckets, but have you considered DWC. Two 10-20 gallon rubbermaids sitting side by side would fill that space nicely. You could put 4 plants in each rubbermaid and flower out 8 plants per run. They're very simple to make and will in my oppinion cost you less to build. You'll need a couple of air pumps or one good air pump to run both rubbermaids, nutes, net pots, and a HPS light. The most inexpensive Lights I've found on the internet are through InsideSun. Check them out. I'd forget the flouros except for vegging or clones. Another thing you might want to consider is running an E&F table in there, also inexpensive to make. Chances are you're going to change your mind on how you'd like to grow in the future, so build something up cheap, get your feet wet, and keep reading. If you're gonna plunk down some change I'd do it on a HPS light. The rest can be acquired pretty cheap. Hope this helps and good luck.

GreatLakes THC