Planning a grow.

[Goding]

Hey everyone, I figure its time I test myself at growing indoors, I dont have alot of room to work with... and stealth is a MUST.

My work space dimensions:

Height - 18-20" (If this is to small, I can look at modifiying it for height.
Depth(Front to Back) - 12" (I have about an inch on either side to play with, 12" to be safe"
Widght(Side to Side) - 17"

I want to go with 4 or 6 CFLs (probably 43watts). Im not sure if I want to do 1 or 2 plants, I can think I can fit 4, but I just want to test it out with 1 or 2. Im just wondering if my dimensions are big enough?


Any ideas, suggestions, critisim anything is appreciated.

 

[jasonk]

Check out the PC grows as they're about the same square footage as your area. Im not positive so dont tkae my word, but I doubt you'll need more then 150W of CFL in that area. And I think height is one of the most crucial dimensions, 20" is pushing it but possible by scrogging little girls.

 

[Mr_Micro]

I'd say your idea sounds good, but 20" is probably the absolute minimum you could get away with for height. Its gonna be a bit tough LSTing the heck out of your plants to keep the height under control, but it is certainly do-able. Just make sure you have at least 11" or 12" of available growing room after you install the lights and your planters. And as long as you have good reflectivity in the box, 4 to 6 42watt CFLs would work just fine I'm sure.

From personal experiance I can tell you that the maximum number of adult plants you will be able to comfortably fit in your setup is 2 if your growing from seed. If your using clones and SOGing you could probably cram 4 in there, but from seed 2 is the max since your going to be LST'ing them to make them short and bushy.

If your going from seed than just start with 4 plants and flower early (like at 2" or 3" tall) and hopefully you'll get two good females.

And if stealth is your prime concern here, a good carbon filter is an absolute must. Red Greenery's design is a very good one and can probably be scaled to a smaller size if needed, but I've been using a Can 705 filter hooked up to a 3" 50cfm PC fan with very good results. In any case a carbon filter is definately something you'll need even with low odor strains. Even if your carbon filter works well, have a backup solution for odor control if needed... an ONA block, a low output ozone generator, or even just some Ozium.


Your other battle in this setup is going to be your ventilation and temperature control. If using CFLs you will generally need 1/3cfm of exhaust per watt of CFL. So lets see here... 4 CFLs at 42 watts each works out to 168 watts. That would mean you would need 56 CFM of exhaust. I've been using this fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106608 for my cab and I gotta say is absolute best compromise of power v.s. noise you will find in a computer fan. 52 cfm airflow and only 19dba noise level (pretty much silent) Just remove the heatsink off the back and wire it up to a 12volt DC wall adapter (red wire to red or white wire, black wire to black wire, connect wires with wire nuts)


But yeah, something to think about. Just make sure to keep the noise level under 20dba if you want stealth. Also, a good carbon filter will restrict that 52 cfm fan to around 30 or 35 cfm, but your temps still shouldn't be too bad.
But get creative! I'm sure you can come up with some great ideas on your own, I'm just tryna point you in the right direction.

Take care, stay safe, and keep us updated!

 

[Goding]

Yea, I havent seen a grow on here that has been less the 24", havent look at all of them yet though.

What is the shortest height I can scrog at?

 

[Goding]

Thank you guys both for the advice,

Im going to do a little bit more revision on my box, see what I can come up with to add some extra height in, ive got some good ideas in my head.. ill draw them up on cad tonight and see what I can come up with.

One thing ive always done before building somthing, is having a complete and functional drawing. Measurments, screw sizes, everything. Call it bad habit, call it obsessive compulsive.. but I cant stand building somthing that I havent seen before :S

Anyways, Il lsee what I can come up... Thank you guys for the advice..

 

[Guest]

Sweet plans. I love it when I take on a new grow. I myself am in the beginning of a stealth micro grow...my first time at it. At least I have about 25" myself and it can be done as long as you start LSTing and scroggin small. With Fluoros you'll be fine.

On cheap odor control - I like the idea of sunsimulator's bucket of pinesol with a bubbler in it for stray smells hahaha.

 

[Goding]

Can someone elaborate a bit more on LST.?

 

[Guest]

That's Low Stress Training. I usually use string or dental floss to tie down the tallest tip of the plant to below or the same height as the rest. This causes all the other tips to grow as colas. It creates more bud sites and lowers the canopy.
Plants always grow through the Apical Meristem or growth tips. The highest one will grow higher than the rest and more vigorously.
Then when another tip grows up and bvecomes the new tallest tip, I grab that one and tie it down also. After a while you could have maybe 5 to 6 branches tied down to the same height. So you have a low bushy plant with many colas instead of one tall one with a big cola and lots of smaller nugs and a height issue..
Peace

Here's one with the initial tip tied. See the others growing up? I started this one early, this is like a week later...

 

[Guest]

Pieceofmyheart has some great LST micro grow pics!

 

[Goding]

Ahh alright, I understand that method.
I think ive deceided to change my box plans and goto a PC Case grow, I have TONS of cases sitting around here, so im sure I can make shift a bigger box and not have it look conspicous.

Ill post in a few days some designs im lookin at...