First time grower

Hi guys,

I built a shed from 50mil polystyrene 8' x 8' x 7' high. I got a 250 + a 70 watt sodium light(s) plus an 8 tube florecant light designed for in door growing. The temp gets to 84 deg. But once I install my filter/extract fan I expect the temp might drop.

Q. How often should I have extract on and for how long.

Also, do you guys wait till plants start to bud before going 12 on 12 off?


Cheers, any advice welcomed

Wats up skem, welcome to RIU, i really wouldnt be able to tell u about ur fan setup but i can say that it's not until you to switch 12 on 12 off that they start budding

Exhaust all the time if you can, it'll do nothing but good(unless its dropping temps too low like under 70)

You also have to factor that those lights will give off heat so if its 84 in there with nothing going you're definitely going to need a cooltube for the lights and get a couple 600w HPS(high pressure sodium) in there and is that 8 tube setup t5 HO? If not i'd find something else for vegging.

Whats your goal with all of this? How many plants?

Also plants will not bud until they go 12/12 and thats assuming theyre females. As far as veg lighting goes its 18/6 or 24's and MH(metal halide) work the best. You want to switch to 12/12 when your plant is sexually mature(this way you're not wasting more time on males) and when they're about half to a third the size you want them to be as a plant will remain in veg state after going 12/12 for up to 4 weeks.

First time got it right. What water are you gonna use. Also hell yes on that cool tube if possible. Directed exhaust through the lights and outside will drop your temp easily 5-10 degrees ( depending on the wattage. Size of grow etc). Have your exhaust going out of your grow space and away outside if you can. If you were in a closet with a tent in that closet and were pushing hot air outside the tent but not the closet. Over time the temps would rise like crazy ecause the new ambient temp around that tent would rise. Over time causing the temp in the tent itself to naturally rise. Add a 4 in inline fan running 140-160 cfm and you'd have some nice neg pressure with proper ventilation. Also if temps drop during dark too much if you add in the intake, you can set it up on a timer that works with your lamps on and off to keep it all really stable

Exhaust always to remove heat and humidity which can be a major problem for indoor grows. Once plants are put into flower it takes a week to three weeks to show flower depending on strain and cultivation practices. Holler if you need any help man and Congrats on getting your thumbs green

Thanks for the tip re budding

Thanks again for all the input guys...much appreciated.

What's a cool tube?

As for water, I piss in a bottle, add a bit of seaweed feed and top it up out of the tap. They seem to like it
I started with a 250 + a 70 watt hps and they loved it, the first few leaves were like bleeding lettuce, huge! But I blew the 250 bulb and used a 500watt but the temp was 110 and not surprisingly, the girls struggled. Anyway, I've got another 250 and they are showing lots more shoots.

My idea was to start the "day" with 2 x 70watts (its a twin adapter), then have the 250 come on then replace those lights fort 4hrs with the 500 watt. And do the reverse mimicking how the day gradually gets warmer, hot and then cools down before for dodo.

As for my florecant, not sure what type except that on the box it says the closest to natural light we can get.

I only have two babies at the mo....kinda like experimenting till I get it right but if all goes well (with all your help), my next attempt will be about 15 plants.
My shed is in the bedroom and its Frigging cold in there, not the shed, just the room. So no heat escaping. So I think I'll be able to learn e bedroom door open and intake air from the landing while have a drier hose from exurst hanging over the stairwell. There's a window next to the door for fresh air but I'm concerned it might be too cold this time of year. What do think?

I also have 4x 1ltr bottles with yeast sugar solution in there for theCO2

a cool tube is a glass tubular encasement for your light, you need a fan to push air through passing by the bulb, in effect cooling it to the touch of the outside of the encasement, in turn... allows you to lower the light significantly closer when dealing with hid blubs
good luck

Plants don't bud until u change the light to 12/12. Happy growing

Thanks boys...much appreciated

your welcome, as is rep =) haha

Hi guys....my florecant is 5 tubes, not 8 as I said earlier, found the box.

It's 2700k red/ 6400k blue, 125w , 50Hz. Maxigrow.

I've gone 12/12 today and turned this lamp off as I believe it's mainly for foliage. Is that right?