Grow room help for total noob

[maz3282]

Here's the story. My prospective grow closet is 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep and around 5 feet high. There's a little hanger rod where I plan on hanging a 175W MH and a small shelf with about 2 feet of space. Pic below. The operation is going to be small scale, with 2-3 plants. I'm looking for advice on ventilation and odor control. Waiting on some AK47, which I hear can get pretty stinky. Is this a good space for a discreet grow or should I build a box to fit into the closet? Also, how does the paint look for reflection? Any help will be extremely appreciated.

 

[moneyme]

I would use some mylar (what's shiny on helium balloons) for reflection. The walls won't reflect much usable light. I'm doing pretty much what you're trying to do in a closet space that's about 2.5 x 2.5 x 4 feet. A general rule of thumb some use is getting about 50 watts of USABLE light for every square foot of growspace. You could use a 175 watt but I would upgrade to a 250 watt or a 400. As far as odor control, I use a potpouri slow cooker for liquid potpouri (find at Wal Mart), and some odor killer gel I got at a local growstore. The gel kinda smells like vicks vapor rub but it takes all smaells out of the room and it's only $10. If you're planning on having 2-3 plants you should start off like 6-10 seeds. Then after you find their gender just choose the most dominant females you want to keep. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[moneyme]

By the way, I was skeptical about hanging my 400 watt HPS from the pole in my closet, but then I weighed it, it was about 22 pounds. i got to thinking if I had that side of the closet filled with clothes it would be much more than 22 pounds of clothes. It hangs no problem, doesn't even flex the pole at all.

 

[maz3282]

Thanks for the tips, Money. The 175W was the best thing I could buy at my current budget, but I can upgrade that in the next month or so (Valentine's Day, girlfriend's birthday and anniversary within 4 weeks!). I noticed the box fan. Does that provide adequate venting or have you done anything else?

 

[moneyme]

Well, as long as I haved the doors cracked on both sides it works. It sucks air from the right door crack and blows out the left door crack. When the doors aren't cracked it gets way too hot in there! Like 90-95 degrees! But with the doors cracked it stays between 78-84.

 

[maz3282]

Beautiful. I'm thinking about hanging a black sheet to cut down on the light coming out and block light coming in. Good call?

 

[Canadian_Budder]

Have u tried using the low heat hi lumen output from fluorex? they are dirt cheap and work great... I run a closet setup : )

 

[Bubby]

I'd ditch the pole, and hang the lights from hooks screwed into the ceiling, because you're already in a tight space, and I assume you won't be hanging clothes in there.

 

[Canadian_Budder]

the ceiling is about another 4 or 5 feet up - im going to turn these to 12/12 in about 2 - 3 weeks - so ill be okay for space. I can raise the lights another 20 inches.

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

yeah, screw that pole. Hang the light from the ceiling so your plants have even more room to grow. Probably get a bigger yield.

For odor control I suggest you get yourself a small ozone generator. You need to be careful though and make sure you get the right size for the amount of cubic feet you have. Obviously if you get one rated to deodorize a room that's 500 cubic feet you're going to have a health risk. Go for like a 5ml/h ozone generator and it'll take care of that smell no problem.

For ventilation, it depends on your HPS light. If you're using a 175w you can ventilate that thing with some computer fans. If you're using a 400w or higher you'll probably want to get some stronger fans to do that.

Where did you plan on exhausting all the hot air anyway?

 

[Canadian_Budder]

There really isn't any hot air because the lights dont generate heat. The flowering light does generate heat, but when Im budding that sucker is only running in the day when the door is wide open and venting thru a window with duct work.

 

[LaserKittensGoPewPew]

I meant maz3282...or are you him?

 

[Grownothing]

I run a closet setup with a 400W HPS light, and a full aeroponic setup.
The only problem I had at first was the light was too close to the bottom of my closet, and there wasnt any ventilation.
I unscrewed the light fixture in the closet, which when it was unscrewed, it was a big hole into the attic. I stuck a fan over the hole so it would blow air out of the closet.
I only have the one fan right now, and I can have a closet at about a stable 80F with 30-40% humidity. Once I get another fan, I think I can get a lower temp and more humidity.
I would consider the 400W, only because you can use it wherever. It has enough power to probably churn out like 10-15 plants at a time easy.
I love my HPS light, I got it for pretty cheap too, which makes me more happy.
I cant wait to start growing.