Questions from a fellow grower:
I’m getting into growing my own. I just started
growing a couple of plants in the garden, but I’m keen to build a grow
box to manage things (and security) a little easier. I leave in
Queensland Australia and the climate is also quite variable.
So far, I just have and old wooden cabinet (H
105cm, W 78cm, D 50cm), and before I start drilling holes on it, I
wanted to make sure that I had a good plan and know what are the best
specs in term of exhaust fans, lights, etc.
I would like to try and use thermostat managed
the exhaust fans (maybe two sets of them, to be more efficient in
managing temperature, and have some redundancy in case one fails).
What’s the common practice?
In terms of lighting, I read on your Grow bible
that HID lights are the best for veg and flowers stages. Any
recommendations on brands, size, number of lights for the growing area I
have (0.39 m2)? I guess I can fit 3-4 plants in there.
Also, what would be good strains to grow in a box?
Look at our Shopping guide at the bottom of forum. If you want to know about a product; We will gladly find it for you. Lighting recommendations arer already posted.
Trying to fit 3-4 plants in less than half a square meter might be pretty tight, I’m thinking maybe 2-3 plants max, and that might still be a little too tight.
You will probably want about 200 to 250 watts HID in that area, maybe 160 to 180 watts with fluorescent or LED lighting, maybe even 150 watts to as low as 120 watts with a really good LED. The fluorescent and LED would be able to get much closer to the plant. And especially with LEDS, there should be significantly less heat to have to worry about extracting from such a small enclosure, the fluorescent lights maybe less heat as well, however I’ve been surprised at how much heat some CFL and T5 lights put out.
Any strain will do fine, taller strains will just need more training and topping. Shorter indica dominant strains might be a better choice until more experienced in such tight conditions.
Happy growing,
MacG
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