Which closet grow set up is better? plus LED question

Loong time smoker, first time grower here. Growing always fascinated me and now I'm set to do it myself... I'm hoping for some guidance along the way.

What I got now are 5 feminized Skunk #1 seeds (should be good for beginners) and a closet 200cm/95cm/55cm (6.2ft/3.1ft/1.8ft).

Location is the basement. I live in a block apparment, so there's a basement for all tenants, I got my own section of course. Luckily I got electricity and my own window there (other sections don't have it). So stealth is priority, no noticable smell and noise.

Here's my dilemma. I went to two different grow shops here and asked for advise for my set up, and got two contradicting answers.

My original plan was to divide about 2/3 horizontally, smaller upper part should be for clones or a motherplant, larger bottom section is for flowering. Thinking it
should have space for 2 - 4 plants for flowering, so when I harvest, I transfer the next batch from the veg section down for flowering.

The guy from Growshop "A" is a laid back hippie who seems to be experienced and old school. He thinks it's not a good idea, as the grow space is relatively small, so the amount I would yield for such a set up won't be worth the effort.
His advice: Don't divide the closet, use a 400 Watt Lumatek Electornic Ballast, Carbonfilter, exhaust vent 200 m3/hr etc... So this should aim to maximize the yield, and I won't have to operate it continously, kind of 3 times a year kind of thing.

--> Question 1: using this kind of set up, what kinda yield can I expect?
Is the exhaust for this set up too loud for it to be stealth? If yes, anything I can do about the noise? Can a smaller more silent exhaust take care of the heat this light generates? Any pros, cons?

Growshop "B" is bigger, seems more modern, a bit cheaper prices than "A". The guy there surprisingly thinks my idea with the divided closet is cool. I told him about the set up suggested from "A" and he says a 400 watt lamp used in grow space like mine would be too hot and insufficient? It would lack depth...
"B" suggests: Get cool neonlights, about four 25 Watts for the veg section, and a 250 Watt CFL green power Agro for flowering section, carbonfilter, exhaust ventilator 180 m3/hr.

---> Question 2: What yield can I expect from this set up? Is the suggested exhaust silent and effective enough? Any pros and cons?

Contemplating these two different set ups I thought of a combined solution. I won't divide the closet, but I would use the 250 Watt CFL for less heat, and the less noisy exhaust. I will have more space for the plants, but will the light have enough depth?

---> Question 3: What yield can I expect? =)

Searching the net for lights I came across LED lights. I asked "A" about this and he thinks LEDs and energy saving lamps are crap. Haven't asked "B's" oppinion bout it though. Reviews on LEDs state that they save more but are just as effective as HIDs.

---> Question 4: Would this 45 Watt LED be effective, and good yield for my closet? http://cgi.ebay.ch/LED-Pflanzenwuchs-Licht-Grow-Lampe-Leuchte-Pflanze-SMD-/380320306871?pt=DE_Haus_Garten_Inneneinrichtung_Leuchtmittel&hash=item588cdb56b7 Sorry its german, but I hope you get the picture. It says the 45 Watt can compare to 300 Watt, has blue and red lights...



I thank you for reading and I appreciate any kind of help so I can get my green ops started!!!

up up up up up up up up up

growshop "A" is your guy, growshop "B" is a liar, a ripoff, wants you to go through too much trouble and keep buying things and shit from him. don't believe the LED hype and don't flower with 250w CFL. actually 250w HPS would give more lumens and LESS heat than a 250w HPS. your space is fine, you can split it but not in height rather make a separating wall. you could even get a 600HPS in there and use it for like 5'x3' or use a 400 in 3'x2.6' and use the rest of area to veg using fluros. you can get a bigger fan with controller and set it on low, use insulated duct this will make it super quiet. don't sweat it, in short you need minimum of 5000lumen/sq.ft to flower, so check your bulb output. you need to exchange the air 2-3x per minute. expected yield from depends on many factors, most importantly, strain, room efficiency, and skills. i would expect a newb who does all the reading needed and goes by the book with good strains to get at least 100grams of dried bud from a 400w. the most i ever got with a 400 was 225grams, some people claim 1g/watt and in vertical setups they claimed to get 2g/watt

anyway, don't take advice or buy from growshop B even if it's a bit cheaper priced, as i said, growshop A is the guy who cares for customer satisfaction. good luck

zem said:

actually 250w HPS would give more lumens and LESS heat than a 250w HPS.

Click to expand...

Do you mean 250w HPS gives more lumens and less heat than 250w CFL? Anyway thanks Zem, taking this into consideration..

I think u should go to the CFL forum and read Garden Knowm's thread Buds for less CFL book. That will give u an idea about the CFL option.
https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-growing/40884-buds-less-cfl-book.html

Ok talking from experience, I've grown in a cab that size and can tell you that a divide would be a waste and lead to heat, humidity and a whole list of other problems.. So stick to a 12/12 perpetual grow, and Harvest 2 or 3 times per month, or a normal 18/6, 12/12 grow and Harvest once every 3 Months

A 400 would produce a lot of heat..So much that a powerful in-line fan would be needed and the 'Stealth' side of things would be lost. At the same time a 250W CFL will produce less heat and will allow you to grow plants 42+ inches tall and although its possible to Harvest large yields sometimes the buds can be airy.

My surgestion is have your cab set up with NO divide, Grow normal plants that reach a max of 36" upon finish, use a Lumatek digital ballast and a 250W MH for Veg, then switch to a 250W HPS using the same ballast.

The newer Lumatek Ballasts offer a BOOST button, This is NOT to be used whilst vegging with the MH. But in late flower WILL maximise the potential of your grow cab and earn you increased weight upon Harvest.

Its best to set the 250W MH/HPS up in a small 4" or 5" short cooltube, and a small v.quiet in-line fan...Once the carbon filter is attached the unit will run practically silently

If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask, Here's a couple of LINKS to my projects I've done in cupboards, there will most likely be a hoard of info that can help you, Here are the LINKS:-


https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/281701-2x-90-watt-ufos-1x.html

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/320402-stelthys-600w-hps-project-new.html


Ps/ Growshop (A) sounds more reliable..But I'd question a 400 in that space, use a 250W MH and a 250W HPS and you'll get the results you want with less than half the stress and hassle. Hope that helps - STELTHY

greenops said:

Do you mean 250w HPS gives more lumens and less heat than 250w CFL? Anyway thanks Zem, taking this into consideration..

Click to expand...

yeah thats what i meant but i just realized that you only have 1.8ft height??? you aint flowering in that height except with some cfl's that will be not very efficient but will get you some bud after all and will be hard to get the pot and plant to fit... try get a better space IMO

no height is 6ft... 1.8 ft is the width

stelthy said:

Ok talking from experience, I've grown in a cab that size and can tell you that a divide would be a waste and lead to heat, humidity and a whole list of other problems.. So stick to a 12/12 perpetual grow, and Harvest 2 or 3 times per month, or a normal 18/6, 12/12 grow and Harvest once every 3 Months

A 400 would produce a lot of heat..So much that a powerful in-line fan would be needed and the 'Stealth' side of things would be lost. At the same time a 250W CFL will produce less heat and will allow you to grow plants 42+ inches tall and although its possible to Harvest large yields sometimes the buds can be airy.

My surgestion is have your cab set up with NO divide, Grow normal plants that reach a max of 36" upon finish, use a Lumatek digital ballast and a 250W MH for Veg, then switch to a 250W HPS using the same ballast.

The newer Lumatek Ballasts offer a BOOST button, This is NOT to be used whilst vegging with the MH. But in late flower WILL maximise the potential of your grow cab and earn you increased weight upon Harvest.

Its best to set the 250W MH/HPS up in a small 4" or 5" short cooltube, and a small v.quiet in-line fan...Once the carbon filter is attached the unit will run practically silently

If you have any questions dont hesitate to ask, Here's a couple of LINKS to my projects I've done in cupboards, there will most likely be a hoard of info that can help you, Here are the LINKS:-


https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/281701-2x-90-watt-ufos-1x.html

https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/320402-stelthys-600w-hps-project-new.html


Ps/ Growshop (A) sounds more reliable..But I'd question a 400 in that space, use a 250W MH and a 250W HPS and you'll get the results you want with less than half the stress and hassle. Hope that helps - STELTHY

Click to expand...

Nice. Then Ill definitely take your advice and forget about dividing the cab, till I get a bigger one.
Now Im also leaning more towards HPS. So 250w will deliver huh? As long as the yield is worth the time and effort, and a silent fan can be used its cool. I still have to check if the digital Ballast is available here.

I browsed thru your thread... very nice. I hope I can get something similar done. I saw you did some kind of a muffler box for the outtake fan, which is placed outside of the cab.
For a 250w HPS, would I need something like that? What size or power or whatever you call it would you suggest for an outtake fan to work properly for my cab? I dont have space outside the cab so its hard to do a muffler like yours.

yeah a 250w is right for that area, you need a 100cfm + in your cab, i suggest you get higher cfm fan with controler and set it on medium or low, it will be very silent

cool tnx... ill be getting the lights, filter and fan this week

My 2p's worth....

250w hps will do you fine, but maybe consider a blue spectrum cfl for vegging as it should help give your plants a bushy start, then switch to your hps when u flower.... obviously other people may suggest otherwise, but that's what I'd suggest on the lighting.

When it comes to seeds, maybe consider some feminised autos? You could stagger their starts and start one every month/few weeks, but then keep the lighting on 18/6 (sack off the cfl in this case), then after a couple of months u should be harvesting every month.

Im wondering if I should get mylar sheets? The inside of my closet is white. Would mylar improve the outcome by a lot? I read that mylar is also a bit risky that it could catch fire...

mylar wrinkles and stains, panda film is a little bit better than FLAT white paint, not significantly better, just a few % points. the closet being white is not enough, glossy white or off white is not good, i like to just paint the walls flat matt white, easy cheap clean effective

As a mylar replacement you could try a bunch of those car sunscreens - I got some from our poundshop. They can obviously cope with some decent heat, but obviously the fire risk is always something to consider.

I tried some in a small growbox and it didn't ever feel too hot and reflected the light a treat. Long as you don't have it too close to your ehat source I reckon you'd be fine (but don't quote me on that!)