Grow box setup Idea help needed

Okay so here is my plan on building a grow box. I would like ideas,opines,suggestions and any comments you feel you wanna share.

I am going to build a 4X4X6ft box.:jointsmile:

1.) Build this box and leave it 4x4x6 and put a 600w air cooled hood in here?
2.) Build the same size box and make a divider and divide it in to 4x3 and leave other side of box(1X4) for future use 2nd or 3rd grow? And put a 600w in the 3X4X6 space now that would put round 7500 lumens a sq. ft.?
3.) Build the box and put a duel spectrum lamp (800w) in the 4X4X6, Duel spectrum is 400w MH an 400w Hps in same hood(air cooled) of course...
4.) Take 4x4x6 box and put divider inside to make it two 2x4x6 chambers and use one as a veg. side and other a flowering side.?
5.) Or just build 2 separate 2x4x6 boxes and and do the same thing as 4.?
6.) Build two 2X4X6 boxes and than start one box around 3-5 wks. later than the other one so I have a harvest shortly after my first.?

Which way do you think would be best yieldin = money efficient:thumbsup:

All ideas,comments welcomed an i look forward to you responses thanx for your time.. One more thing i can't remember but if any1 knows with them duel spectrum ballasts can you run 2 hps or 2 mh at same time. I think you can but dam I can't remember I am gonna try to find out again if any1 knows off hand it would help ...Thanx:thumbsup:



~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

I kinda like option 2... though i do have comments about all of them... i'll just run through them quickly:

first off, a general comment that applies to all of the options... how tall do you intend on letting the plants get? I;m not sure how far away you need to keep an air cooled HPS/MH light from the plants, but I know they kick out a ton of heat, just make sure the box is tall enough for the strains you want to grow that you can keep the light far enough back to not burn them. I have heard that ~20" is generally where HPS lands (though I know its all about the comfortable hand tecnique and could be closer), but using 20" as a guideline, that means you can have plants that are going to have a maximum height of 6 feet, minus the 20 inch light distance, minus the height of your pots (3gal pots are what? 10-12 inchs tall maybe?), and lastly, minus the space the bulb/reflector/cooler/etc. takes up at the top of the box (say 4-6"?) giving you a max plant height of 34-38", so about 3.5 feet. Not a bad size at all really, but certain strains could be cramped.

option 2:
- this is my favorite option of all of them, you could use the smaller area as a seedling/cloning area, or a mother veg area, etc. it also gives you great light intensity on the main chamber

option 3:
- would you run the MH and HPS at the same time? I am not real familiar with them like i said, but I think you would run into heat problems without some very very serious ventaliatoin for the box and the air-cooled tube as well... i'd probably go for a setup where you could just run MH for veg and switch to HPS for flower... not to mention, 800watts of 12-24 hours per day usage is going to = $$$ on your electrical bill

option 4: this is kinda similiar to option 2, but IMO, flower chamber should be larger than veg chamber... as you need extra space in flowering for when the plants stretch... and some strains stretch alot

option 5: i agree with you, its basically the same as option 4... i do kinda like this option better than 4 as it just seems a little more flexible, if you needed to re-locate the boxes for whatever reason it would be aloter easier than moving one big clunky one

option 6: this is really the exact same as 5, and really just deals with different planting schedules... i don;t think one is any more effecient than the other, its just a question of what you want... to put it in math terms...

a) do you want to harvest X yield every Y months

or

b) do you want to harvest X / 2 yield every Y / 2 months

both ways give you the same yield over the same amount of time, so its really all preference. Personally, i could go for option (b), mainly because its faster turn over and lets you work on multiple things at the same time... i have a bit of a nasty habbit of getting bored with things if i find myself just diong the same thing over and over again, so splitting my focus a bit would help keep me interested.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by syde00

I kinda like option 2... though i do have comments about all of them... i'll just run through them quickly:

first off, a general comment that applies to all of the options... how tall do you intend on letting the plants get? I;m not sure how far away you need to keep an air cooled HPS/MH light from the plants, but I know they kick out a ton of heat, just make sure the box is tall enough for the strains you want to grow that you can keep the light far enough back to not burn them. I have heard that ~20" is generally where HPS lands (though I know its all about the comfortable hand tecnique and could be closer), but using 20" as a guideline, that means you can have plants that are going to have a maximum height of 6 feet, minus the 20 inch light distance, minus the height of your pots (3gal pots are what? 10-12 inchs tall maybe?), and lastly, minus the space the bulb/reflector/cooler/etc. takes up at the top of the box (say 4-6"?) giving you a max plant height of 34-38", so about 3.5 feet. Not a bad size at all really, but certain strains could be cramped.

option 2:
- this is my favorite option of all of them, you could use the smaller area as a seedling/cloning area, or a mother veg area, etc. it also gives you great light intensity on the main chamber

option 3:
- would you run the MH and HPS at the same time? I am not real familiar with them like i said, but I think you would run into heat problems without some very very serious ventaliatoin for the box and the air-cooled tube as well... i'd probably go for a setup where you could just run MH for veg and switch to HPS for flower... not to mention, 800watts of 12-24 hours per day usage is going to = $$$ on your electrical bill

option 4: this is kinda similiar to option 2, but IMO, flower chamber should be larger than veg chamber... as you need extra space in flowering for when the plants stretch... and some strains stretch alot

option 5: i agree with you, its basically the same as option 4... i do kinda like this option better than 4 as it just seems a little more flexible, if you needed to re-locate the boxes for whatever reason it would be aloter easier than moving one big clunky one

option 6: this is really the exact same as 5, and really just deals with different planting schedules... i don;t think one is any more effecient than the other, its just a question of what you want... to put it in math terms...

a) do you want to harvest X yield every Y months

or

b) do you want to harvest X / 2 yield every Y / 2 months

both ways give you the same yield over the same amount of time, so its really all preference. Personally, i could go for option (b), mainly because its faster turn over and lets you work on multiple things at the same time... i have a bit of a nasty habbit of getting bored with things if i find myself just diong the same thing over and over again, so splitting my focus a bit would help keep me interested.

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Well I figure with the pot size and the hood being aircooled i can get 4ft. height on my plants easily. Option 2 would only be useful come my 2nd or 3rd grow so that is always open anyway I guess. And 800w will only kick my electric about $24-26/month. An its spring so I am good as cooler weather I was using 1500w space heater to warm things up :thumbsup:. Air cooled hood thats sealed so it will push a lot of the heat straight out also making less heat in the box. Egh guess I am stuck dammit Thanx for your opinion I am gonna go do sum serious thinking. ...:jointsmile::jointsmile:

Any1 else with comments please feel free.

~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

Okay here is what I have came up with:thumbsup:. I have given great consideration on most all my above ideas, And guess what... I scraped most of them and decided to down size. Here is my new idea I am going to go with a 400w system. It will either be in a 4X2.5x6 or 3x3x6. What do you guys/gals think about this compared to my other options. I may also incorporate a 150w system to wit alternate light to each cycle(400w Mh w 150 Hps and vice versa). Again the 150w system is not yet a for sure does anyone have any advise or opinions or experience wit a similar set up.:jointsmile: I will give sum Rep (even tho might not be much) to who ever I feel has helped me out the best ways. Looking for sum experienced growers with good advise and maybe a grow or 2 under their belt.:rasta: Thanx for stopping by



~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

I think the 3x3x6 with the 400w would be a good choice. you could also possiblly add a couple of CFL's for secondary side lighting. which ever way you go just make sure to do some shopping when buying bulbs, they all might say 400w and run at 2100k temp but they all dont have the same lumen output so be carefull of the cheap bulbs.

Thanx Tiny I know some bulbs put out 50000 lumens and I think there is one that puts out 55000 lumens I will make sure to check them. Thanx for stopping by I was thinking maybe a few cfls to help promote under growth also:jointsmile:.



~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

I think thats a good plan... I think once i have a couple grows under me, I will probably make a move to a small MH/HPS at the top (probably a 250w) and then use CFLs as supplemental lighting to hit some spots from the side