Converting Wardrobe Into Grow Room for My First Grow! Have 5 questions!

[WorGanja]

ooooooo....:wtf:

Oh, dear.. I may have made a mistake then.. I dont have room for a cool tube, however I could downgrade my lights and sell the one I get.. Just curious, what would be the highest power light I could get in there, without causing heat issues?

Oh, and I have made alot of headroom, if that would help at all.. about 30 inches.. I previously had lots of things to store in there so I could only get that much hight, however I've managed to make more room, which I was going to use for harvesting while the cuttings underneath grow back, just as a nice cycle. I've uploaded a pic of the extra space (all of the stuff from in there has been piled up beside it, lol).. anyway, maybe it would be easier to buy a less powerful bulb. Heres what I mean about cheaper anyway;

The 600w Bulb
http://www.growell.co.uk/p/0152/Grolux-Lamps.html

with..

The,
Budget Reflector Only (IEC connection)
http://www.growell.co.uk/p/1084/Budg...t-Systems.html

is, £37.15..

whereas if you buy the cheapest full-kit, with any power bulb and it's more than double the price. (in the last link)
:stoned:

[elskeetro]

Did you buy a ballast? you need a ballast. Not just a bulb and reflector. And you MUST match the wattage of the ballast and bulb (ie - 600w bulb and 600w ballast...250w bulb and 250w ballast...) other wise it won't work at all or will burn your house down (seriously). If all you bought was the 600 watt bulb and have yet to buy a ballast, then you aren't in too bad of shape. Just eat the cost of the 600 bulb and get the 250w kit that will come with a ballast, bulb and reflector. Or see if you can return it. Lots of the hydro stores in the states are super cool about returns and customer service.

The added headroom is definitely good. But i still think a 600 is too much for that space for 2 reasons:

1. Still TONS of heat for a 23" x 19.5" cabinet.

2. The average 600w puts out around 95,000 lumens. According to the square inverse law, light loses half its intensity every 12 inches. So, if your light is 2 feet away from your plants because of heat, you are only looking at roughly 40,000 lumens...which still isn't bad, but move it up another foot and you're at about 20,000 lumens. The best 250w i've seen is around 33,000 lumens and you could put that shit within a foot of the canopy. Not to mention it'll use a 1/3 of the power and probably 1/10 of the heat.

as far as floor space in your cab, you have 3.1 square feet. I believe the ideal lighting for great growth is 5,000 lumens per square foot. So you are
looking at 15,500 lumens. Seeing that figure now makes me think you'd do just fine with a 150w ballast and 150w bulb.

I'd definitely like to hear from one of the pros on the forum. But that's what i've come to understand.

Givin' ya something to think about...
Skeet.

[gotmudatv]

Man oh man. I am in the stage of learning that in this cabnet you need to put into flower when she is about 6 to 7 inches.( I waited till she was 12 inches) And you need to LST her down. I think my main cola is going to not do to good. Do to being so close to my hps. But I would say that a 150 hps is going to be the best for this cabnet but a 250 gives you room to grow if after this grow you want to double you area and get the same cabnet that is twice the width and depth. On the fan i have a "desk fan" you know a 4 inch fan with the metal housing. It is working out great for me and it only cost 7 bucks.

[WorGanja]

No, I don't have a ballast, just the bulb and a reflector.. but this gives me abit of choice.. bulbs are fairly cheap, so what do you recommend I do, 150w or 250w? just don't know which one to buy..
:thumbsup:

[WorGanja]

Besides, I'm going to set the room up, but I don't plan on starting the actual grow until after christmas. Alot of people come here around christmas time, lol. Would'nt want people knowing what I was doing.. despite the lock.

Will be setting everything up when I've sorted everything out with Growell, theres been a big mixup because I'm an idiot. I'm going to send back the lights and buy the whole 250w light set.. (told you I was one to jump to conclusions, lol). I just thaught it might be cheaper to buy them all seperately...

[elskeetro]

Ha. totally cool. When i started i had a hell of a time trying to get all my equipment together. I spent probably 4x what i could afford just buying stuff, trying it out, and replacing it with something better.

I would say get the 250w kit for sure. That way you'll have everything you need as far as lighting is concerned. And £79 (about $120 USD) for a 250w ain't too bad. Could find a cheaper one in the states, but international shipping grow equipment is probably not too fun.

The 250w should work well in that cab, it's about 10,000 lumens per sq ft. Which is 2x the standard i told you about above. as long as heat is under control and you can get a handle on watering and feeding and all that stuff, you should have some enormous buds. The best part about the light is that you could double your cabinet floor space and still use the same light.

Don't get too crazy. It's your first grow. there's a huge learning curve ahead of you. You may kill them all the first round, or you may be a natural. Don't spend too much, keep it basic (good light, good soil/nutes, good air flow) and you will be rockin'.

Til' next time.
Skeet.

[bushbhoy]

hi worganja,growing in a cupboard with 400w halogen lamp,soil and nutrients,im on first day of flowering and they look fantastic.if your still undecided then visit here for your lights Lighting systems for indoor growing including Coolshade and remote ballast, lamp & reflector with Metal Halide or Sodium Bulb 250W 400W 600W and 1000W ..ive got 3 northern lights/haze and have no temp control or fans.nl/haze is a very robust plant so ive had no problems at all.as for the smell well they are very pungent so its best to get a few stick on air freshners.hope this helps m8..let me know how you got on at ugrow..ill post pics after 1st week of flowering

[elskeetro]

400w halogen lamp

Did you mean 400w High Pressure Sodium? I'm pretty sure your plants would not look fantastic if you were using a halogen. All heat, not much usable light.

whatcha say?
Skeet

[bushbhoy]

sorry m8 your right its a hps lol this my first grow so still not used to the names of certain things

[bushbhoy]

can someone tell me how to post a pic?tryin to post one of 2nd day flowering