Perpetual Self Smoke Harvest

forgotmeownname

Active Member
OK, so like a lot of growers out there, I am only interested in harvesting enough for my own personal use. (not that I grow, smoke or have anything to do with anything illegal :) ). But in my years of experience, and different plans to diversify a crop and keep in continually bringing a strong supply of bud.

Grow room size: 3ftx18inx5ft. You heard it right, a full perpetual harvest inside of that small box, with decent yields.

First off that main area is split into 3 sections, first a vertical splitter is put in making a larger chamber of 2ftx18inx5ft. This will be the SCROG flower room. The other 12inx18inx5ft section should be split in half to make two 30in. boxes on that side.

Pretty much my main plan was to reduce energy costs while still yielding a decent amount of bud, and in this case it was done.

The top smaller chamber is used on an 18/6 light cycle and is used to house my mother, You can keep tow in this space, but I opt for only one. This plant is held under only fluorescents to keep it growing but not too vigorously. Using 4-6 42W CFLs on the mother.

The bottom small chamber is for the clones taken from the mother and is on a 24 hour light schedule, and never turn off. Clones are taken every 3-4 weeks, every two weeks can't be handled in this grow area. I usually take clones from the mother right as or just after I put my new plants into flowering. This room also only uses fluorescents to keep the plants going. In such a small box the fluoros work perfectly to get them to 12-16" to be ready for floweirng.

When ready, two plants are put into the flowering chamber which uses a 150W hps with some help on the side from 2ft fluoros. Using a scrog setup, I easily yielded 3 ounces using this setup between the two plants, even as a beginner, and with some strains can see a harvest of over a quarter pound, more smoke than I know what to do with, my friends see me giving it away to them sometime.

By the time harvest is ready, the new clones are ready to go into the flowering chamber. This usually brings me nugget every 6-8 weeks, in good quantity as well.

Other options being looked over:
Another 150W hps for the lower smaller clone chamber to put them in early flower a few weeks before they move into the "big" flower room to make the harvests closer, maybe 3-4 weeks apart.

Using the lower room for breeding. I have been breeding for a few years now, and this small room will be nice to flower out small cuttings to use strictly for seeds. There is a lot of potential in a room like this.

[img=http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/792/perfectclosetje7.th.png]

I have a lot of faith in this system, and it can be universally altered for soil/hydro. I have it all hydro right now, with 2 - 3 gallon reservoirs in the flower room, a mother in soil, and clones kept in a mini bubbler. So far quite the success rate out of this, and recommend it to anyone who wants a personal inexpensive perpetual harvest. Not cheap, but not expensive ;).

I hope this helps some of you small growers out in your designs, although simple in design, it took a lot of work and planning to keep a supply of smoke coming in a 3ftx18in box, I personally will never switch from this method unless I need a bigger op for some reason, I wouldn't see why.
 

forgotmeownname

Active Member
Figured people would care because everyone on here always tells people to go and buy 400w hps setups or bigger. I can go to home depot, buy a 150W outdoor setup and alter it to hold a HPS grow bulb for ~$40, as compared to 200+ for a 400W. Pointing out that all these grow room designs (yes they increase yield and bud size), but this just goes to show none of that is needed. This entire grow box will never use more than 400-500 watts of power (450W is my computer supply). But you can be a critic :)
 

oh really???

Well-Known Member
I got with what you're saying. in fact i'm setting up a system like that. except with a 250hps and 900piece blue led instead of cfl. Can you send me your blueprints. i went on the website and it was so small i couldn't read the words. i like the idea of having the cabinet long and tall rather than like a locker. i'm building this after 420. so i'll throw this past you. i grow out the mom, take some clones, throw mom in the mom room and clones in the clone room, take two out and scrog them in the 250hps room? let me know thanks.


. . .i re-read your post and would again like to get a better look at you system because of heating and ventilation. i wanted to see what you had come up with. that 150hps would heatup pretty well for the clones- some on here say it would be too much but if you have the right ventilation and cooling you'd be ok. I know for a fact a led setup for the clones would be perfect, even recommended for a 12x18x30.
 

BlazedUpPanda

Well-Known Member
now thats ingenuity... truly amazing what can be doe in such a small space... personally i operate on a slightly larger scale and only on one level but ill keep this in mind for future grows...
Keep it up..
Panda
 

growjahherb

Well-Known Member
Hey Manny you are a dick. Forgotmeownname i thought your post was very informative. Its a great setup and that is obvious with your yields. Keep up the grow man.:bigjoint:
 

overfiend

HeavyMetalHippie
looks like a good set-up i use a 400 mh for flower & 175 mh for veg but dont have a nice clean package to keep it in i might try something like yours.how big would i need to make it? any suggestions
 

growjahherb

Well-Known Member
looks like a good set-up i use a 400 mh for flower & 175 mh for veg but dont have a nice clean package to keep it in i might try something like yours.how big would i need to make it? any suggestions
how many plants do you want to grow?
 

forgotmeownname

Active Member
sorry guys, been gone for a while. I harvest two plants every two weeks, and take two clones at the same time, and put two clones into flower all in that one day. This allows 2 weeks for rooting before they go into flower. It takes a full flower period to get this going though, obviously.

I have recently upgraded to 2 mothers, one in each chamber, and I just keep the clones in with their respective mothers until flower. I wanted to spice up my variety, seeing as i have about 20 strains it makes me sad seeing unused strains. :joint:

For venting the area, the 150w hps doesnt produce an immense amount of heat actually, and since i cant upload the pic any better I will describe what is in the picture. The black holes on the bottoms of each chamber are intake holes that have a small 1 foot piece of black vent hose running out with a screen on the end. The hose is just to keep any ambient light from entering, just in case you know? The upper vents are exhausts and are where my fans are located. Using computer fans for the smaller rooms and being an engineer, I ripped apart a bigger fan and put it inline in the intake and exhaust of the bigger room for better circulation, its like a calming breeze going through all the rooms and constant temp around 75*F.

Personally, everyone uses bigger grows and this is why I put this up. Most people push huge HPS lights and big rooms. But what about the small time grower just looking for smoke for their own fun/ailments. Personally I still get too much smoke out of this thing and end up freezing a quarter pound or more extra every 6 months.. (we have some very special 4/20's around here) haha. As a minimum per plant I look for an ounce in the hydro setup I have going on. This grow is a small combination between a SCROG and a SOG. The screen allows me to do more than just one big cola per plant, usually 4 instead, and I can still fit 6 plants in the flower area, 8 if I squeeze them in, but I have recently downgraded to 6, and giving them 3 or so weeks of veg time first. Still working on seeing how this is going to turn out, so far it looks more efficient.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I figured someone out there would appreciate being able to do this. Personally I use a wardrobe armoire as my grow box. Heh, people walk right by it and have no clue, even seasoned smokers!! I bought a $50 scenting ionizer from the great WalMart, which does amazing wonders. Following this is a breakdown of expenses for those of you who are interested:

Armoire = $300
Lighting (HPS + fluoros) = $200-$250
Hydro Parts (home deopt/walmart special) = $50-$75
Fans/Vents = $50
Other expenses = $50
Total = ~$750
This compares to grow boxes I have seen that cost upwards of 2-3k, and has multiple rooms!

Any more questions feel free to ask.:twisted:
 

muyoso

Well-Known Member
First of all, a 150w HPS is only sold at Lowes now, and costs 99 dollars. A 400w HPS shipped to your house costs 135 from HTGsupply.com. Just to get things straight. I am a huge fan of the 150w club though.
 

heydo6

Active Member
this is what i am looking for to get started ... thing you can show us more ... pics , layout

you think you could supply us with more info on the $40 home depot mod ???
 

oh really???

Well-Known Member
i have finally figured out the dimensions, venting, and circulation and will be building this from scratch in a couple weeks. i'll post up pictures. does anyone have a good idea for a door to this cabinet? i am not a cabinet maker and i'm having a hard time with the front doors part. hinges? removeable panel? a drape of some sort? there are two doors to the front a 12inch x 5foot tall door for the clone and mother section ( or should i have separate doors for them) then there's the 2foot x 5foot door for the flower section. all help is appreciated. thanx
 
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