First independent grow...here's the situation

I've got space constraints, but have an old grow closet from previous plant growing (peppers, tomatoes, etc.).

The grow box is about 4.5 feet high, and has 250W HPS with vent fan, active carbon filter etc. Room on the floor will allow 5, 10 liter (2.5 gal) pots. I may have access to decent clones, otherwise I'll start with some indica seeds.

My friendly local growing store said all would be fine, but flower them early. If I'm growing an Indica strain, what do you think this means? I understand that an indica can gain about 100 to 150 percent of its height during flowering. So I figure that if I flower when they're 8-12 inches high I can squeak them into the space I have. I'm not worried about a ton of yield.

I could (if they got too big on me) finish them in a cold frame on a glassed terrace with plenty of sunlight...just would have to be careful about controlling the 12/12 cycle .

Thoughts? Am I missing something way important?

sounds good to me. i am growing clones out until they are 4-6" and the cube is enmassed with roots. then they go into 6" pots and are put directly into flower. i just put some 6" OG kush into flower about a week or so ago i'll go measure them real quick..........

.......they are now between 16-20" (things grow like weeds that's what 2" per day). the tops were bent and tied down to slow growth. my attempt is to yeild 1 ounce colas off of each plant. check my gallery. i expect a couple more inches of growth. but once they are bent most energy goes to the flowers. i'll try to get photos of my bending technique in the next day or so.

I run a SOG op where cuttings are flowered as soon as they set root, usually 7-10 days after poking them in some rockwool cubes. No vegging time else than when they are in the clone box (18 hr fluoro). Of course, the mums are also under 18-24 hr light.

I start with fairly large cuts, 120-150mm. Clones are flowered for 8-10 weeks depending on space available as I feed more clones into the flowering area (1000w HPS).

They gain all their height by about week 5-6 under 12/12 lighting and then go on to bulk out through wk 8-9, but as the previous poster said, most of the veg spurt will happen inthe first 2-3 weeks, then the plant will getr serious about flowering .

Almost all my plants wind up about 1-1.2 metres (~36-40") tall. This is ideal for indoor lighting which can only penetrate so much foliage.

Thanks for the input guys. Really appreciate it.

When I am using this 250W HPS setup, I was wondering about temperature beneath the lights in this space. My fan setup is enough to keep things cool in there, so it's just right below the bulbs that I want to concern myself with. Last time we grew at a friends place he was using 1000W HPS so obviously the distance requirement was a lot higher.

Is there a good rule of thumb that I could estimate the distance from bulb to plants (minimum)? I'll test this in the room of course...but just for planning? I also heard that a simple way to check is to hang the thermometer from the reflector and check that way. Ideas?

Flourescents: proximimty
400w HPS: 1 foot
600w HPS: 1.5 foot
1000w HPS: 2 foot

I prefer my 1000W HPS lamps to be a bit further than 2ft off the tops- closer to 3' is better for my space. Much closer than that and I start to see heat stretch in my top colas.

Heat stretch not familiar with that term.

Im guessing heat stress haha

Put your hand on the tops, and lower the light until it feels hot. I get my 250 about 3" away. Close is good. Keep ventilation 24/7.

as above post states, do the hand test, i am able to get my 400w hps 6 inches from my highest plant.

mogie said:

Heat stretch not familiar with that term.

Click to expand...

When grow room temps remain consistently high (over 30C), the plant will elongate, increasing the distance between nodes.

Heat stretch.

GraF said:

Im guessing heat stress haha

Click to expand...

Heat stress will induce heat stretch.

You must be new at this to not be familiar with the phenom.

OMG Im so sorry man, how could I have said something so horrible? please forgive me! please! I should have been familiar w/ the term! now Im new at this!

sorry that was uncalled for everyone can flame me now