A little guidance please...

[MMJ Today]

Hi all,

I have struck a barter deal with a a couple of men who are electrical contractors, and they are going to outfit my new propagation/cloning/mother plant room any way I like. So I would like to have some ideas as to what facilities, arrangements, lighting or combination thereof would be best for all-round service. The room size is five feet long and three feet wide. with a tall cieling.

Aside from inlet and outlet ventilation holes cut into the brick wall with connecting extractor/exhuast fans, I was thinking about having them install several different flourescent lights (the long tube type), each with a different colour range so that I can mix and match the lights (depending on what is going on in the room at any given time) to create the very best environment for the plants.
But I haven't a clue which kinds are needed to make sue I don't leave anything out. Once these gentlemen leave they won't be coming back, so I must make sure I know exactly what is needed and get them to do it all the day they are here.

Is there anything else besides lighting that could make that room perfect? Please let me know your ideas so I can be sure I don't miss anything. I want this room...which will be permanent...and that everything in that room is the best it can be for the intended purpose.

Thanks in advance for your ideas. I really want this room to be perfect!

All the best!

 

[Don Logan]

Hello MMJ.
Your plan to hire these men to install all of your grow equipment sounds like a bad idea to me. Rule number one: keep your mouth shut! Even though these guy don't know whats going to be growing in there, I wouldn't take the chance of having them install equipment. Have them do the carpentry and electrical work for you, but thats it. Install everything else yourself once they are done.

If you don't know what types of lights to use, I would suggest you do a little more research before you start anything. Not trying to dis you or anything, just trying to save you some wasted time/wasted money/and a big letdown. Peace.

 

[irie-i]

start simple, especially if youve never done this before... look into the different lighting setups people have here at icmag

 

[MMJ Today]

Hello MMJ.
Your plan to hire these men to install all of your grow equipment sounds like a bad idea to me. Rule number one: keep your mouth shut! Even though these guy don't know whats going to be growing in there, I wouldn't take the chance of having them install equipment. Have them do the carpentry and electrical work for you, but thats it. Install everything else yourself once they are done.

If you don't know what types of lights to use, I would suggest you do a little more research before you start anything. Not trying to dis you or anything, just trying to save you some wasted time/wasted money/and a big letdown. Peace.

These gentlemen are very good friends who are already aware of my hobby and its purpose. There are a total of four people outside of my immediate family who are aware that I grow medical Marijuana, and these two fellows are among them. I am trading them a complete flood-and-drain system for working my room over to suit my needs.

I have been growing my own meds for a couple years now and have plenty of experience with that sort of lighting. But I have always wanted a mother/propagation room with the proper lighting configuration, and since I know so little about flourescent lighting I thought I would ask you folks about it before just letting them put any old light tubes in there.

I appreciate your concerns, mate, but there are no worries. I'm very ill, but not quite addled yet.

Peace!

 

[MMJ Today]

start simple, especially if youve never done this before... look into the different lighting setups people have here at icmag

Yep, that's what I have been spending my day doing, looking around in this and other forums to make sure I make the right decision. I can't ask these men to come and change it all around after they have finished, so I really need to get it right the first crack.

Thanks for the sensible advice, mate. I appreciate it!

ATB!

 

[Don Logan]

Originally posted by MMJ:

"I have been growing my own meds for a couple years now and have plenty of experience with that sort of lighting. But I have always wanted a mother/propagation room with the proper lighting configuration, and since I know so little about flourescent lighting I thought I would ask you folks about it before just letting them put any old light tubes in there.
I appreciate your concerns, mate, but there are no worries. I'm very ill, but not quite addled yet.
Peace!"

Haha, you should of said this in the beginning. You just sounded like a noob, sorry. A mother/prop room sounds good with flourescent lights. I would go with all cool white lights, since you are maintaining plants in veg and won't need the extra reds that warm white lights put out. I would use regular ol' flourescent fixtures with cheap as possible (in price, not quality) lights. If you look around, you could get a deal. If you really wanted to and had lots of money, you could get some of these lights: http://tinyurl.com/ron8l
More members with better experience with flourescents will ring in shortly (I hope).
Sorry to hear that you are very Ill; I hope that you feel better soon. Peace.

 

[MMJ Today]

Originally posted by MMJ:
I appreciate your concerns, mate, but there are no worries. I'm very ill, but not quite addled yet.
Peace!"

Haha, you should of said this in the beginning. You just sounded like a noob, sorry. A mother/prop room sounds good with flourescent lights. I would go with all cool white lights, since you are maintaining plants in veg and won't need the extra reds that warm white lights put out. I would use regular ol' flourescent fixtures with cheap as possible (in price, not quality) lights. If you look around, you could get a deal. If you really wanted to and had lots of money, you could get some of these lights: http://tinyurl.com/ron8l
More members with better experience with flourescents will ring in shortly (I hope).
Sorry to hear that you are very Ill; I hope that you feel better soon. Peace.

Well, like I said in my original post I bartered (traded) for the work so there is nothing to pay for. I just needed the information is all.

What I need to know is...what lights do I need in that room so that I will already have them instealled and ready to use whenever I need them, no matter what I am growing or maintaning in that room?
If I have a mother plant in there I can simply flip the switch that contorols the proper lamps for that particular task. If I am propagating or raising seedlings I can select the proper lighting for that as well. But I need to have them all installed (the electricians will figure out the best way to mount everything for me) in one go.

So, if someone can please tell me which of those long tube lights are used to get the very best results (regardless of price) for each situation, i.e. warm or cold, blue or red, etc., I would truly appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I like the 4 ft 2 lamp floros for seedlings and early veg.I have a few 2 inch seedlings under it as we speak,the lamps are 1/2 inch above the tops of the plants.For veg its said a more blue/white spectrum is the best to use,like a 4100K cool white,but I prefer to mix my flourescents with cool white and warm white 3000K.

 

[MMJ Today]

I like the 4 ft 2 lamp floros for seedlings and early veg.I have a few 2 inch seedlings under it as we speak,the lamps are 1/2 inch above the tops of the plants.For veg its said a more blue/white spectrum is the best to use,like a 4100K cool white,but I prefer to mix my flourescents with cool white and warm white 3000K.

So I would be better off having both of those types installed with seperate switches so I can use them individually or together, depending on the situation? That sounds like just the sort of thing I need to know mate. Is the 4100k the best for this application?

Thanks!

 

[Harry Gypsna]

yeah that spectrum is cool for veg, or you could mix up the tubes a little if you wanted to enrich with a little red...totally up to you.
another option would be "2D" compact fluorescant lights, the ones that are shaped like a branding iron and go in flat ceiling lights in round fixtures.... Ill try to get a pic of what i mean but they start at 16 watts and go up to 38 watts, and ill look for the lumen output for them for you...

 

[MMJ Today]

yeah that spectrum is cool for veg, or you could mix up the tubes a little if you wanted to enrich with a little red...totally up to you.
another option would be "2D" compact fluorescant lights, the ones that are shaped like a branding iron and go in flat ceiling lights in round fixtures.... Ill try to get a pic of what i mean but they start at 16 watts and go up to 38 watts, and ill look for the lumen output for them for you...

That's excellent information...thank you! I really need this room to be outfitted with everything I could possibly need so that it is completely reeady for any eventuality.

Thanks agai9n...and I'll look forward to the pic!

ATB!

 

[Harry Gypsna]

OK, let me try...this.....http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=101331&ts=48596&id=14292
you might have a hard time finding the fittings for them seperately so you would probably have to buy a couple of cheap ceiling lights that accept this type of lamp and strip them out for the fittings. Im going to use some of these in the bigger veg box im planning to build once ive flowered my 1st crop in the new spot and am back on my feet, my plan is to use tubes above the plants, with these on the sides of the cab so the mothers are totally surrounded by light sources, this way I should get really good bushy bonsai mums to give a lot of clones from small individual plants--hopefully.