working on a large closet room

I've moved from a huge 12 x 6 x 6 room down to a small closet shelf and now up to a decent sized closet, and I'm making sure that I keep this as my room. I have never put a project together like this so I'm really excited.

lights: I plan to have a fairly substantial amount of 23 watt CFL's hanging down with Y-splitters hanging down (all connected by a pulley system so I can move them) as well as CFL's mounted on the sides! I'm keeping it as one room for now (will veg and flower my plants together), but I may try to section it at some point.

Air: The closet is already ventilated up into another room which will help for heat and smell, hopefully.
size: I should have enough room for 4-5 HAPPY plants, but I'm not sure
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I plan to make a large grow-shelf/table for the plants to sit on. I'm going to have it drain properly into a bucket or a tray attached to the table. If anyone has suggestions or ideas to help me out, I'd appreciate it!

sorry for the mess...had to put something together quickly when I realized I could help save my plants and just grabbed whatever I could find around the house to set it up as properly as I could.

closet size = 82" deep, 25" deep, 84" tall

For something that size and that many plants... Why would you go with CFL man ? ... HID for something that size

James!

Today I saw a 400w MH bulb at the store and I HAD to get it

I'm going HID after almost a year now

That's sweeþ dude ... Don't forget the ballast and y
Gonna have to have abit more cooling in there too

James!

I'm working on the ballast and reflector as we speak XD! I'm not sure how to buy one cheap...kinda thinking i want one with mh/hps and just get a switching reflector/ballast. you can get some pretty cheap HPS that still get the job done.

How would you recommend cooling it more?

Oh, the ventilation labeled in the picture is actually a duct that pulls air out not just a hole of some sort...so i can probably turn that on fairly high.

All you need to do is get a air cooled reflector (90%+ reflectivity is better, although you can still eaisly get away with 80%+) for the reflector you should get either and air cooled hood or a cool tube, you choose, (An air cooled hood isn't as effective as a cool tube at moving air *mostly due to its shape*, the cool tube is a tube and the air cooled hood is a square or a rectangle *Go figure* ) as for the ballast get a digital or magnetic ballast that will accept both HPS and MH... (Most of them do as far as I'm aware *Just check incase*) and the reflector socket.. The part where the bulb goes in is universal *It will take both MH and HPS* ... But be careful some ballast sockets don't fit into some reflector sockets *The cable that leads from the ballast to the hood (Not the wall plug) doesn't always fit into the reflector light socket* as for the cooling of the hood get some ducting (Preferably smooth walled, for better air flow)... And get a inline fan or anything like that ... Those fans aren't my forte so I don't really know much about em

That's about it any questions?... Ask me, or someone else if you don't like me

James!

I went to the local grow/hydro store today and checked out some ballasts and reflectors...they were charging $200 for ballasts and $150 or so for reflectors...I'm sure I could get that cheaper online. I'm looking into a ballast that will take HPS and MH and I'm looking into cooled reflectors. I just need to find both of thsoe cheap! I managed to find some cheap MH/HPS bulbs (i'm not blowing $90 on a light bulb :/) but they should still work fine. I'm constrained to only a few hundred dollars to spend.

Also, the guy at the store was very convincing that I should use hydroponics...I could make a good system for like $20 apparently (which seems pretty nice). I just don't know how challenging it is to run a hydro setup! James you've been very helpful! I will probably have tons more questions soon XD

Thanks Man ... I'm sure you can find cheaper online (Not neccesarily New ) and Going hydro is up too up (I choose soil cause I like natural, so I also don't use any Chemical fertilizers) be careful hydro can get expensive ... And then you have to buy hydro solutions for your plants and you have to constnatly check ppm and stuff like that (I'm not good at hydro, so anyone correct me if I'm wrong) ... Go check other forums and see what they say ... Ask me anything aswel

James!

I just can't afford a nice ballast/reflector, sadly...these are my best options, any idea which one seems to "shine" more ;D?

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Dimmable-Ballast-Light-System/dp/B0071GCPYU
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM5976034601P?sid=IDx20101019x00001a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=SPM5976034601
http://www.amazon.com/Pressure-Sodium-Halide-Electronic-Digital/dp/B004YXDHC2/ref=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=2972638011&s=lawn-garden
http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponic-Pressure-Reflector-Comparable-Hydrofarm/dp/B005EVYVEQ
http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Dimmable-Hydroponic-Reflector-Pressure/dp/B004L34QS4

Well man... I can't really say ... But I wouldn't trust the first in the list (Only because it says 400w and 250w and 150w lights included in the discription) if I was in your situation I would go for the last one (Appolo or what ever it was...) Only because it has a 3 year gaurantee *well they say it does* it comes down to what you are most comfortable buying, DO NOT... DO NOT... Take my word for it man just look around ask around... Don't just go with I say... DON'T

James!

Also a problem with the *Appolo brand* one is it says it comes with a cool tube... In the picture its a reflective hood... Not tube... TRUST NO-ONE

James!

Either a tube or a reflective hood would be fine for me in the end..I just need that ballast and reflector soon because my seeds are germing and they will only need the CFL's for so long until I'm comfortable upgrading them! The Appolo one looks pretty good to me as well ! Nice and cheap.

rep+ for all the help, by the way ...if I can find the rep button

That's cool man PM me and tell me what it turns out like The rep button is underneath my avatar thing next to journal this post *it looks like a police badge * ...

Thanks

James!

It was during the time when RIU was going through some weird updates so the rep button disappeared couldn't tell if it was that kush or RIU was glitching XD

Haha ... Not a glitch The kush talking :y

James!

the kush is silent compared to what I'm feeling right now.

Haha I know what you feel ... You even had to PM me about what you feel

James!

It was beautiful!

Two of my seeds germ'ed today ! Just another 1 or 2 and I've got enough for my closet that I'm hopefully getting done soon.

Post your pics

James!