I Need Tips on Making a Setup

Hello to all,

My roommate and I have decided we're tired of being broke and wanna grow. Neither of us have grown before (at least I haven't) so this will be our first time. We are doing it indoors but we aren't sure what to use and we were looking into either PC setup or possibly making a DIY tubberware (30 gal 31x17x19) thing of some kind.
Now we've been baking and reading on this all day. I sort of have a grasp on what the basics of a setup are. I've been reading all kinds of different types of places, conditions, containers, etc. so that's why we have decided on either the pc or the DIY (We going to scrog either setup). We are going to place the setup in a closet. I was going to go out and buy some materials today but I'm not sure what I should use. I already have the tubberware containers though
We live in a apt complex within a quad with different apartments on two storys (Each apt is around 1100 sq ft and think a square building design with a courtyard and apartments on each of the 2 floors). I dont think the "odor" is going to a problem from one or maybe 2 plants but I'm no expert.

My biggest questions are - Coming from more experienced growers, in your opinions:

-Which do you think would be the best and easiest setup to go with?
-Should I go with these hydro setups to grow or a pot and good ole natural dirt and nutrients?
-Whats the best screen for scrogging (In terms of size of each hole)?
-Is it better to paint the tubberware container or put the reflective shit around it (for insulation)?
-Should we fix the lights (i.e. mount) or should we use a system of moving light to make the plant grow taller (we were thinking of using velcro strips vertically up the tubberware and on the backside of the powerstrip rather than using glue and then having the freedom to adjust the distance of the whole light fixture from the plants)
-If we were to use the DIY tubberware, what size and how many fans for the space and 2 plants (I was thinking 2, one in and one out)?
-In terms of electricity, what's the cost of runnning a 1 or 2 plant setup for a month (going from wet paper towel seed start on up with an indica feminized and probaby an auto and with a general light/fan set up)?
-Should worry about odor being a big concern for outside the place of grow or will the smell be contained to the grow room/spot?

These are a few for now. The more we get into it, the more I''ll have pics and questions I guess lol.
 

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member

  • -Which do you think would be the best and easiest setup to go with?-i would build your own cab with 2x4's and plywood and put it in your closet with a 150w hps
    -Should I go with these hydro setups to grow or a pot and good ole natural dirt and nutrients? i would do soil
    -Is it better to paint the tubberware container or put the reflective shit around it (for insulation)? mylar/white flat paint works for reflecting.
    -Should we fix the lights (i.e. mount) or should we use a system of moving light to make the plant grow taller (we were thinking of using velcro strips vertically up the tubberware and on the backside of the powerstrip rather than using glue and then having the freedom to adjust the distance of the whole light fixture from the plants)-use light pulleys to move up and down
    -Should worry about odor being a big concern for outside the place of grow or will the smell be contained to the grow room/spot?-your whole apartment will prob smell. you might even be able to smel it outside the door aswell i highly suggest a carbon filter

    and to your electric question... it prolly wont run up more then 500w.. my 10,000btw ac in my window is 1000w so you would be fine i would say​
 

ZeeBuds

Member

  • -Which do you think would be the best and easiest setup to go with?-i would build your own cab with 2x4's and plywood and put it in your closet with a 150w hps
    -Should I go with these hydro setups to grow or a pot and good ole natural dirt and nutrients? i would do soil
    -Is it better to paint the tubberware container or put the reflective shit around it (for insulation)? mylar/white flat paint works for reflecting.
    -Should we fix the lights (i.e. mount) or should we use a system of moving light to make the plant grow taller (we were thinking of using velcro strips vertically up the tubberware and on the backside of the powerstrip rather than using glue and then having the freedom to adjust the distance of the whole light fixture from the plants)-use light pulleys to move up and down
    -Should worry about odor being a big concern for outside the place of grow or will the smell be contained to the grow room/spot?-your whole apartment will prob smell. you might even be able to smel it outside the door aswell i highly suggest a carbon filter

    and to your electric question... it prolly wont run up more then 500w.. my 10,000btw ac in my window is 1000w so you would be fine i would say​


ditto haha


but yea i`m in a similar boat as you, but its hard for other people to answer your questions sometimes-- just keep in mind that you`ll almost definitely need to adapt to the changes that your plants give you :)

i agree with everything that FD said with his post. but if you wanna figure out the exact cost of running your lighting just take your wattage of lighting, divide it by 1000 to get kilowatts, then multiply by the hours they`ll be running in a day to get kwh`s for that day--then you multiply by what you pay per kwh to your power company to learn the cost of running your lights for that day.

(remember to allow for both vegging and flowering light times if calculating entire harvest season)

cheers dude!
 
yeah i noticed its hard to get a direct answer sometimes -_- lol. So what exactly are carbon filters? I've seen pictures and my roommate said something about they help the plant do something.

But I found this gnarly setup we were thinking about using and maybe modding a little bit to keep it more discreet.

http://420tribune.com/2010/03/diy-stealth-grow-box/

I've got two 31 gallon tubberware containers (bigger than his 21 gallons) but am thinking of maybe just using one with a lid instead of stacking them like he did. That would take my overall height down to around 19 inches instead of being around 30. No I was going to SCRoG as well but I wanted to know if I took down the size (From being stacked to just one with a lid) would I need the same amount of light?
 

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member
yeah i noticed its hard to get a direct answer sometimes -_- lol. So what exactly are carbon filters? I've seen pictures and my roommate said something about they help the plant do something.

But I found this gnarly setup we were thinking about using and maybe modding a little bit to keep it more discreet.

http://420tribune.com/2010/03/diy-stealth-grow-box/

I've got two 31 gallon tubberware containers (bigger than his 21 gallons) but am thinking of maybe just using one with a lid instead of stacking them like he did. That would take my overall height down to around 19 inches instead of being around 30. No I was going to SCRoG as well but I wanted to know if I took down the size (From being stacked to just one with a lid) would I need the same amount of light?
a carbon filter goes on a inline fan and sucks air through the filter and throws it our the other side which is where ducting comes into place. what it does is take all heat,moisture etc thats inside the grow room out and also makes it so during flower it doesnt smell.
 
Ok so looking at the guide I posted (as I am using that as my guide for my modded one), would that be proper ventilation if I did 2 in and 2 out?
 

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member
Ok so looking at the guide I posted (as I am using that as my guide for my modded one), would that be proper ventilation if I did 2 in and 2 out?
im not sure that you mean 2 in 2 out but you only need 1 inline fan and filter... put the filter inside where the plants are run ducting outside the box. look videos up to show you better.
 
Yeah I was planning one getting those bead smell good thing (im too baked to remember wtf it was but its pretty widely used lol) but its for odor control. I went to the garden store today and saw what they were selling as far as carbon fans. But which fan would this be for? The one blowing out right? (sorry for the hella slow understanding. I just wanna get it right lol)
 

fir3dragon

Well-Known Member
Yeah I was planning one getting those bead smell good thing (im too baked to remember wtf it was but its pretty widely used lol) but its for odor control. I went to the garden store today and saw what they were selling as far as carbon fans. But which fan would this be for? The one blowing out right? (sorry for the hella slow understanding. I just wanna get it right lol)

its called a inline fan. the filter that attaches to it is called a carbon filter. look it up on youtube.
 
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