New Grow (Second time growing)

I am currently preparing my 2nd grow and need much advice. I am looking to grow between 9 and 12 plants and am starting with unknown seeds, hence the range since I dont know how many will be males.

I am growing in an unfinished, unused, unheated, nonlighted attic. When I found the area I instantly realized the insane amount of potential. For this first grow in this area however I plan to start small, however the area does have the potential to grow hundreds of full-sized plants.

My aim is to have an approx. area of 4' x 4', which would allow for my goal of around 10 plants. I need to check the temp. of the area because i DEFINITLY do not want to chill the plants too much, and i plan on doing so within a few days.

The seeds are an unknown variety and by the looks of the bunch of seeds that i aquired, they might even be different types. Im going to start with 20-24 germinated seeds to ensure that I get enough females.

I already have 2 x 42 watt CFLs that produce 2600 lumens and are labeled "warm white light" so I assume that they would work better for secondary side lighting durning flowering than for veg.

My questions are which lights should be used for this area, conditions, # of plants, and growth stages?

I know HIDs are the way to go, and if i can aquire them for good prices at local stores (I DO NOT wish to use the internet for purchasing anything), then I would much rather use them than CFLs or fluoro tubes. However, I just am not sure which lights to get and whether it is essentialto use different lights for different stages.

I should also add that I plan to use as basic a potting soil as possible since my last grow I used Miracle Grow soil and was very unsatisfied. I am also going to go completely organic (no nutes), since i also used MG nutes and I want to see a different way of growing (and hopefully will get better results).

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated, and please ask if there are any other clarifications or questions needed about my planned grow.

Thanks, peace
frozentide

I have had no luck with cfl's, It wasent until i purchased an HID that i got anything good to grow. go to a local hardware store and get a HPS floodlight, i've heard of people having good results with them. Or look in the phone book, or on websites for addresses of hydroponic stores near you, they tend to post up in places you would have never thought of looking, I think they get cheaper leasing that way, or something.

ice got a 200w envirolite and a small cfl and they seem to be doing th etrick ive had some pretty nice results so far
cheers all

Buster you should put a piece of white PVC in the middle of the bulb as a reflector.

So which type of light would be the best for my grow description? MH for veg? HPS for flowering? Could i use one light to do it all?(since that would be cheaper than buying two lights)

For my area and number of plants i wish to grow would i need more than one light? How powerful of an HID light would i need? Could 1 x 1000w HPS be better than 2 x 400w HPS?

On my first grow i only used CFL's so I really dont know anything about HID (HPS or MH) lights besides that they are better... I dont even really exactly know why they are soooo much better.

Any help from all of you professionals out there would be most appreciated!!
thanks,
frozen

Any help at all? currently im in limbo since i dont want to start my grow without having the proper info cuz that will just waste time and money...

HELP ME o' wise and noble gardeners.

Wise and noble? Well, I can definitely say I'm not wise, nor noble. Well, maybe a wise ass. I can say I have experience, and maybe a few grams of information. Heh. With what you're wanting to do -- ten plants -- and get the best results from, you're going to need a kilowatt of power. With that, I think you should go with an HPS ballast -- fit to use a 1000w bulb --- and an MH conversion bulb for vegetative growth. The MH conversion bulb can be used in the HPS system, and it provides basically the same light as a Metal Halide bulb. This would give you the best results without needing multiple ballasts. A 1kw system with a good reflector will cover about a 5' x 5' space, easily.

To go along with this would be some decent ventilation -- you're going to need to keep the bulb vented if the area isn't already ventilated well. Don't get me wrong, if this attic is as large as you say it is and isn't insulated, you might be able to get away with not having a cool tube, maybe just substitute it for a power fan blowing directly at the bulb / reflector.

Another thing to consider is the odor control. How are you going to kill the stench of those plants when they're flowering -- or better yet, already in full bloom? People will say Ozone. I personally don't use it -- prefer carbon filtering coupled with ionizing. Safe and actually healthy for the plant and can be ran 24/7 with only bi-monthly maintenance.

Thanks Kush Over. First off ventilation isnt a problem... there is easialy a few 1000 sqr. ft. in this attic LOL. Im more afraid of the temps when i get into flowering and the lights are off... hopefully by then the weather will be warmer.

As for smell, there is a basically a direct hole from the attic outside at the top of the roof... my question is at the maximum amount of smell from 10-12 plants would it be noticable outside? (considering that the fumes would be reaching the outside air at the height of a house)

Would anybody be able to help answer this for me?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by frozentide

As for smell, there is a basically a direct hole from the attic outside at the top of the roof... my question is at the maximum amount of smell from 10-12 plants would it be noticable outside? (considering that the fumes would be reaching the outside air at the height of a house)

---

I realize that the strain of the plant depends greatly on how much it will stink but i dont know what type my seeds are...

any help would be great,
froze

I've got no personal experience to back this up, but I doubt anyone could smell it.

Then again, I can smell my roomate's bowel movements from the living room, so who knows!!

i grow in a attis with the same measurements as you are talking aboutand i use a 1000 watt hps and a heater to keep the temp up at the moment i dont know if you are in a warm climate as i am in ireland so the temps are low here at the moment so heres a link to a light thats getting good things said about it .

http://www.progrow.co.uk/acatalog/fl...t_systems.html