help on growing indoor weed

[vagellie007]

Hey guys, Im totally new to growing yet im doing alot of research , wondering how much lightning i need to grow a couple plants in a 32x32x60. Grow box . And how much do they cost? I saw multiple growing kits yet need to know exactly what i need. Any help would be much appreciated. Tx

[BBB]

Hi there
That really depends on what type of lighting you want to use.
I hear about a lot of people using CFLs in grow boxes. With heat not being much of an issue you can really pack these in, making sure you light the sides as well as above.
LEDs are also good and this forum now has an LED expert who will be able to help you out with that.
As for good old HPS/MH... I wouldn't go bigger than 400 watt in such a confined space and guess that 250 would do the job. If it was me I would probably use a 250 watt HPS above the plants and line the sides with CFLs.
Let us all know how you get on with it.

[Dang ol Stoner]

There is, of course, the expensive option...
Word on the street these days is that they've come out with full spectrum LED grow lights. They don't suck a whole lot of juice, but I guess you'd need a lot of them! They make narrow strips of LED lights now; you could pack in a good 20 rows on each side of the grow "box."
The cool thing about these is that there are no bulbs to burn out, and no ballasts to worry about. That and they stay cool like CFL's. Super expensive though! Perhaps better suited for relatively small growing spaces...which seems to be the case here!

[Mr Scruff]

I've heard the same thing said about LEDs. Not tried it myself, the cost puts me off, but I'm convinced by the youtube clips I've seen and I'd like to give it a go.
I have read elsewhere on the forum a couple of people recommending http://www.supergrowled.com/ as I say, not tried them myself but reports sound very promising.


EasyVape

[Dang ol Stoner]

Yeah, you should definitely give it a try!

[Anthony C]

The general rule of thumb for growing plants is 5,000 lumens/sq.ft.

Your grow box is just over 7 sq.ft. (7.11), which means you need about 35,000 lumens to aqequately light it.

Now on to the real-world stuff: I can't affort 5,000 lum./sq.ft., so I never have had the priveledge of seeing the beauty it brings first hand . The most I have ever used is about 4,000, but generally I use about 3,500 lum/sq.ft. (I use a 600 Watt HPS sulveaves Optilume, which claims to put out 90,000 lumens initially, on a 5' x 5' area), and average ~1.43 grams/watt on landrace indicas, and ~1.92g/watt on landrace sativas. Now, not trying to be obnoxious or anything, but I am a real-life plant scientist, and use excellent genetics, various pgr's, make my own nutrient mixes, etc., so my results are skewed compared to an organic or "beginner" grow, but my point is that 5,000 lumens per square foot is completely unnecessary in terms of achieving good yields.

So, now back to your grow box. At 7 square feet (roughly), and 3,500 lumens/square ft., you will need to use about 25,000 lumens to light it. Now, here is the important part: I have NEVER had the same results with flourescent as I have with HID. EVEN at the same lumens. Flourescent just doesn't have the umpf that HID's do. So, if you decide to go flourescent, I would suggest adding on at LEAST an additional 25% to the 25,000 lumens for a new figure of ~32,000 lumens, and also try to get the light on the sides as well as from above.

I know this is an old post, but I hope it can help someone who is just getting started out and has questions about lighting. If you DO happen to see this and still need help, by all means, ask away.

Anthony

BBB is right in saying that a 250watt will do the job. I would definitly recommend HPS over MH, but a 250watt HPS will put out right around the lumens/sq.ft. I just mentioned.

[heavensent30]

lighting

I know craigslist has a bad reputation but there are a lot of honest people
who use CL just because of the free advertisement. I am not sure where you live
but if cost is a problem you might try looking on CL to see if anyone is getting rid
of Growlights in your area. A lot of people try to grow and if it doesn't work out for
them the first time, they sell all their equipment for cheap just to recoup some
of the cost.
I live in Michigan so CL has an abundance of lighting and equipment for reasonable
prices. I know Cali has a bunch too... colorado also...
look around

I bought the marijuana grow bible also has tons of information and resources. Google is a
great place to search for info.
go to a grow shop and pick up a pricing book for the products they sell there. The books are
usually free there...
hope this helps some.
We are using a 1000W HPS light, 1- 6" inline fan, 1- 4" inline fan (for cooling the light), The 6" is attached to the
carbon filter. My hubby is a sheetmetal guy so my basement is hooked up like a pro did it. I have intake and exhaust.
everything is done with insulated metalic flex inside the room. outside is hard piped and insulated. We have a fresh air motorized damper on a timer so when it calls for fresh air, this is prewarmed so as not to break the light with the freezing air we are having right now.
This is our first indoor grow. We grew outdoors over the summer.
I have an album on here and a diary I started. hoping to get more feed back on this as well... check out my album and let me know what you think or leave me a note on how I can improve on things.
Thanks,