Help with my cheap-o setup

Howdy, I'm new to the forums and I could use some help. I smoke for medicinal purposes and I'm trying to grow weed just for myself to save money, so I'm trying to do a very small, very cheap grow op. I've been doing a lot of research, but a lot of advice is geared towards more advanced, high quality, higher budget grow rooms. I'm trying to grow 1 or 2 plants at a time, most likely Lowrider clones, using good old fashioned pots and dirt. When I get the hang of it I'll upgrade to a nice hydro SoG setup, but till then!

The Setup
I live in a 1-bedroom apartment, and plan to use my bathroom closet as my grow room because it provides me the best security without making a stealth box or tent, which I'm trying to avoid doing. This places 3 doors between the plant and the air filter in the living room (maintenance comes monthly to change it) which hopefully, combined with MightyBuddha's DIY carbon filter and the fart fan, will eliminate the smell as well. My place usually smells like weed from my vaporizer and they don't care, I just don't want them stumbling across my plants, or even thinking that I might be growing.

The working footprint is 16" x 24" x 8', which looks pretty good if I'm growing 2 lowriders side by side. Forgive the messy closet, but be aware I am willing to dedicate the entire closet to growing. The idea, as replicated with my trusty towel in the pic, is to make the light box by hanging the light from one of the racks, and then covering and sealing the front and top. I'm probably going to use white posterboard because A) its cheap, B) it will be easier to cut holes for ventilation, and C) it's easy to move when I have to water them.

So, all that being said, here's my questions.

Lights
I know, collective groan. I've read up on lights, and I'd love to have sets of 1000w HPS lights out my ass shining all over my acres of weed. But I'm growing shit in dirt out of my bathroom closet people, I'm not expecting to grow the next Cannabis Cup winner here so let's be realistic. My local shop has a 400w dual MH/HPS setup that would be awesome, but it ain't happening yet. I know all about lumens and lux, fluoros, CFLs, etc...but they don't mean anything to me because I've never grown before so I need you guys to hold my hand here kiss-ass. I'm growing two lowrider plants at a time in a 2' x 1' area. I have no idea what kind of yield lowriders are capable of, but all I need is 1 to 1.5 oz per harvest to keep me going. So, realistically, what kind of lighting can I get away with here for my ghetto grow? Can I get the lux I need from a 125w cfl, or do I need to make an investment in a lower wattage HPS? Keep in mind the dimensions of the closet.

Man, I'm high and this is turning into a long rant of sorts so real quick my last question is on ventilation. In the pic you can see that with the door closed there is about an inch of space on the bottom for air. Keeping in mind my cheap laziness, is it possible to just throw a light in there, put some posterboard on the top, put in an oscillating fan and just shut the door? Or do I need to man up and make the whole box with intake and exhaust fans?

I really appreciate the help guys, marijuana has been a significant part in improving my life and I've been so excited about growing I've been losing sleep thinking about it. I know these are variations of questions that have been asked over and over, but I just need some help on the specifics for my grow.

You can use as little as a 150w hps, or a couple of the big grow cfl's that are around 75w actual wattage or a handfull of 42w cfl's you can find at any local big store or I would go with a 250w and diy cooltube. If you shop used like craigslist you can find warehouse lights for like $25 in the 250 and under size range, but then you would need $10 of ducting and a $6 candle chinmey from michaels craft store and a decent sized $15 bathroom fan or $25 duct booster or similar and you're set. You can find most of what you need used real cheap these days because so many people quicklly upgrade if they have the room and money.

I would advise you not to use a closet though the best grow in an apartment is in a wardrobe closet or similar piece of furniture. They can never look in your furniture during an inspection but they can look in every other nook and cranny of your apartment. Often they are required to look everywhere just for grows or water leaks or anything, even a little closet way in the back is not safe but any piece of furniture is safe because by law they can't look there. Even if you only use dryer sheets over a fan to cover the smell and have it right in the front room right under their noses you'll still be fine.

I have an old coin op video game cabinet I was going to use to set up a stealthy grow inside but have since gone to bigger grows.

You can get gutted cabs for like $20 or even free if you call around or you can find suitable furniture at goodwill etc or on craiglist. It helps if you have a truck or a friend with one.

Seriously think about using furniture even if it's a big hassle to get it home. I swear it can save your life.

OregonMeds:

I would advise you not to use a closet though the best grow in an apartment is in a wardrobe closet or similar piece of furniture. They can never look in your furniture during an inspection but they can look in every other nook and cranny of your apartment. Often they are required to look everywhere just for grows or water leaks or anything, even a little closet way in the back is not safe but any piece of furniture is safe because by law they can't look there. Even if you only use dryer sheets over a fan to cover the smell and have it right in the front room right under their noses you'll still be fine.

I have an old coin op video game cabinet I was going to use to set up a stealthy grow inside but have since gone to bigger grows.

You can get gutted cabs for like $20 or even free if you call around or you can find suitable furniture at goodwill etc or on craiglist. It helps if you have a truck or a friend with one.

Seriously think about using furniture even if it's a big hassle to get it home. I swear it can save your life.

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Exelent advice OregonMeds