First time grower here, trying a small scale high quality cycling cabinet grow, here are the specs:

Light: 150 watt HPS Sun System® IV Micro Mini (supposedly 20k lumen)
Soil: 100% Fox Farm Ocean Forest Organic Potting Soil
Plants: Dank bag seed growing 8 small seedlings hoping for 4 mature females
Cabinet: 1x1x3 is current setup
Cooling: Drilled air intake holes bottom left of cabinet, one 6" computer case fan cut into top right of cabinet by the light
Training: FIM for all plants and then SCRoG when flowering starts

Questions:

Do I need to have more blue spectrem light in the vegetation phase of growing, like a MH or flourescent light? I figured that since the plants will need to be small and very buddy the HPS would be sufficient, but I'm worried about stretching and not acheiving compact plants for my SCRoG. On tight budget, not buying MH bulb would be good.

Should I mix the Fox Farm Ocean Forest with perlite and vermiculite? How important is vermiculite?

Do I need a bigger cabinet? I think probably yes, how large should it be? How much space do I need from floor to ceiling of cabinet? How tall/large should the pots be, how tall should the plants be, how much space will I need between the light and the tops of the plants?

Will I need better cooling for the cabinet? Can I use a plastic or glass pane hanging down below the light to keep the heat from the plants, and how much lumen reduction will I suffer from this? What type of material should I use if I do this?

How soon should I start flowering? If I want the final plant height to be between 1 and 1.75 feet, how soon should I start the 12/12 cycle?

How often do I need to water the plants? Is there a way to set up automatic watering, like cutting a hole in a waterbottle and letting it leak into the soil or using the water whick method? What is the best passive watering method available? (Excluding, obviously, hydoponics.)

When should I top the plants, when the 3rd node developes or at a certain height?

If there is not enough room in the cabinet for a fan is the "Rustling" method of bruising and rustling the plants to imitate nature's wind a good method for stronger stems and increased yield?

What kind of yield can I expect with this grow and how long will it take (roughly) from seed to harvest?

Thanks very much in advance, this board rocks!

-KindBuddha
onekindbuddha Reviewed by onekindbuddha on . FoxFarm FIM SCRoG 150watt HPS Cabinet Grow:) First time grower here, trying a small scale high quality cycling cabinet grow, here are the specs: Light: 150 watt HPS Sun System® IV Micro Mini (supposedly 20k lumen) Soil: 100% Fox Farm Ocean Forest Organic Potting Soil Plants: Dank bag seed growing 8 small seedlings hoping for 4 mature females Cabinet: 1x1x3 is current setup Cooling: Drilled air intake holes bottom left of cabinet, one 6" computer case fan cut into top right of cabinet by the light Training: FIM for all plants and Rating: 5