DIY Grow Tent - 600w - First indoor grow

[stealthed-up]

Hey there guys, i have been doing as much research as i can the past few days, the problem is im in quite of a rush so i hope you guys dont mind me asking for some extra help while im at it.

Grow Tent

I will be joining pvc pipes together as a frame & covering it with black and white poly film ( Panda Film ), Zip to be arranged

Could you guys please give me more ideas on what size i should make the tent with a 600w, id probably prefer less plants with more tighter bud production than more plants with less, if that makes sense.


Lighting

Ballast

Accendo Electronic Ballast - B600w-240M Basic ( No dimming )
http://www.accendoelectronics.com/PD...ure-Sodium.pdf

The Electronic ballast is setting me back 400 $ although ive read the comparison in electrical bills arent that different besides the amperage being drawn on startup, either i must go magnetic ballast with cheap mh and cheap hps or i go electronic ballast as above with one of the preferred lamps below, another concern is will the electronic ballast run the prefered lamp ?

Bulbs 4 Options

Sunmaster
600W Sunmaster HPS De luxe
600W Sunmaster HPS Dual Spectrum
( heard they give problems )

Sylvania GroLux

600watt Grolux
600watt Super Grolux

Philips Master Son Range ( Green Power )
http://download.p4c.philips.com/l4bt...16_ffs_aen.pdf
( Not sure which Philips lamp would be the best )

Unknown brand from local horti shop
600W Super NRG HPS 95,000 Lumens

Will be definately using a hps for flowering, i know the advantages of a MH in veg just not sure if its all that worth it to use the mh ?

Ventilation

Exhaust : 340 CFM inline extractor ( depending on what size tent i choose )

Intake : Passive hole, 1 or two oscillating fans inside

Reflector : Will decide once the box is finalised. Birdwing might be my only option from my hydro store, if not suitable for my grow i will extend my search for others.

Hygrometer with LCD

I will be using organic pro mix
Nute Options :
Flora Grow
Flora Bloom

Bio-Bizz Grow
Bio-Bizz Bloom
Bio-Bizz Fish mix ( already have one )

Ph test kit to be bought for now.

Carbon scrubber will be DIY.

Hope to hear from you all, much respect fellow ganja farmers

 

[whatthe215]

I'm using Floranova Bloom all the way through veg and flowering, lucas formula.

Are you gonna be using seeds or clones?

 

[stealthed-up]

Look im quite in a hurry to get a batch growing so i rate im gonna do seed, im getting Kandhi Kush from a local apparently its a breed between afghan kush x bubblegum x og kush. I will check out the lucas formula, sounds good dude. Just got to decide on the grow space & if i must go magnet or electronic ballast, otherwise its all good !

 

[whatthe215]

Look im quite in a hurry to get a batch growing so i rate im gonna do seed, im getting Kandhi Kush from a local apparently its a breed between afghan kush x bubblegum x og kush. I will check out the lucas formula, sounds good dude. Just got to decide on the grow space & if i must go magnet or electronic ballast, otherwise its all good !

If you can, rooted clones may save you some time. I understand being in a hurry..

I was gonna do electronic, but from my research it seems that not only are magnetic ballasts less expensive, but more reliable and easier to fix. I'd say go with a tried, true, and tested technology.

I have a 600 HPS ballast and 3x 1000 watt switchable ballasts, all magnetic. If you keep 'em outside of the room, heat won't make a difference.

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

I will be joining pvc pipes together as a frame & covering it with black and white poly film ( Panda Film ), Zip to be arranged

Could you guys please give me more ideas on what size i should make the tent with a 600w, id probably prefer less plants with more tighter bud production than more plants with less, if that makes sense.

I'd say 4 x 4 or 4 x 5 should be good for a 600 watter. You could always LST or SCROG your plants to keep them uniform and maximize your light output on to your bud sites.

 

[stealthed-up]

Many thanx for the reply guys, whatthe215 sorry dude thats the noob coming out a lil there,i could go cuttings no problem, i was thinking of taking off my friends outdoor because my seeds might take too long to arrive :/ Im renting a place dude so thats my issue but im going to hang in here. Magnetic ballast will be my choice then, what sort of bulb do you use for them though cause im a lil paranoid about getting expensive lamps with the magnetic ballast that doesnt switch the light on in soft mode.

Smoke A Lot i could go lst or scrog but it isnt exactly necessary, would you say i would get better yields though?

 

[stealthed-up]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=4993732#post4993732 better explanation of the grow tent.

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

Smoke A Lot i could go lst or scrog but it isnt exactly necessary, would you say i would get better yields though?

Hey there!

Like i said above with an LST or SCROG you will get better yields as opposed to an untrained plant, with those methods your training your branches to receive more light, more light equals fat colas, as oppose to untrained popcorn bud, where the light distribution is uneven. Both have they're positives and downsides. With LST you'll be tying your plant down, taking your time training it. With SCROG your plants will grow through the screen, and your light will be concentrated on the canopy. Only downside to SCROG is it's a pain to move plants around and work with them because of the screen, not to mention if you have a male that will be a mess. If i were you i'd go with LST, the search bar is your friend so read up. If you want to keep it simple and just see how your plants will grow in a natural state that's fine because your new to growing. I'd also like to mention since you "prefer less plants with tighter bud production", LST or SCROG will be beneficial, you could grow a small number of bigger plants and train them, less hassle, more bud.

 

[Guest 88950]

Sylvania GroLux --- go with this one

4'x4' area for a 600....you decide how much height you will need.

if you can get clones / cuttings.......get them, as many as you feel comfortable growing. if you are in a hurry then veg time is your enemy. 10, 20 or 50 clones vegged 7-10 days after fully rooted then flip to 12/12.......no topping, lst, scrog.......nothing. thats your fastest way to some stash.

if you want to veg 30 days or more you can lst or scrog them to get a better yield.

its up 2 you


EDIT

you can find Activated Carbon in both granular and pellet form from companies that supply or do commercial Air / H2O purification.

this would be cheaper than walmart or pet store.

 

[stealthed-up]

Sounds damn good Smoke a lot, appreciate your reply, i will check out links on lst and get more familiar with it cause it seems this might be the way, ive tied down outdoor plant before & yeah it produced fat fat colas without nutes at all, so yeah this is the way and thank you for giving me that info dude ! at the moment im still finalising the design of the grow tent the pvc parts that is, as for the electronic ballast it seems i can import one but the cost including everything comes to double that of the ballast, so im paying 100% import duties at 400 $ for a lumatek 600w. Otherwise i think im going to go magnetic as i get get a 600w in a box for 105 $, Guess i will eventually buy the 600w lumatek ballast i just think havent this spare magnetic could come in handy you know.. ?

 

[stealthed-up]

Supersilver I was thinking the same, i wanted to check out the philips range but i know grolux have been in there for much longer so ill take your word bro. Wouldnt you suggest a 3.3 foot (100cm x 100cm) instead of 120 as the light spectrum will be almost halved ? I can veg for 3 weeks under a lst on that growlux, this might be just sufficient ?

Here are my choices of reflectors guys

This is the reflector that comes complete with the ballast
Complete grow kit 600w
@ $229

Parabolic Bird Wing Reflector @ $77
Bird wing

Budget Reflector @ $58
Budget

thanx for your help guys

 

[stealthed-up]

another idea with the DIY grow tent, as im using pvc tubes i thought what would happen if i fill the end the tube with say with 2cm of silicone down the pipe, i fill the rest of the pvc pipe up with sand and i seal the other end the exact same way, what do you guys tihnk of this? more sturdier ?

 

[Guest 88950]

im in a 4'x4' tent thats the only reason for the measurement and i was running vert so i needed that much space. im back horizontal because the smaller plants are easier for me to handle by myself.

i dont do scrog but i lst my girls by tieing the top down to the edge of the container and all of the shoots start growing like crazy. some strains work better than others for lst, scrog, sog, vert so decide which way to grow and find a suitable strain.

i grow them however, always changing what i do. i dont sell so yielding enough for me is my only goal and that allows me to be flexible.

if you are down to be as efficient as possible and maxing yield ive seen it posted many times to mono crop and dial the strain.

just check out the stickeys and hot threads and mass knowledge is at you viewing.

good luck

 

[Guest 88950]

another idea with the DIY grow tent, as im using pvc tubes i thought what would happen if i fill the end the tube with say with 2cm of silicone down the pipe, i fill the rest of the pvc pipe up with sand and i seal the other end the exact same way, what do you guys tihnk of this? more studier ?

sounds doeable..........fill with carbon and BAM!!! there's your filter. run wiring through a different piece of pvc frame, keep cords nice and neat.

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

you can find Activated Carbon in both granular and pellet form from companies that supply or do commercial Air / H2O purification.

this would be cheaper than walmart or pet store.

^ This ^

Ebay is great for buying carbon, buy in bulk and you'll be saving a lot of money, depending on the seller you may even be able to get it shipped for free.

 

[Guest 88950]

i just called local suppliers / retailers of the purification co.

i told them i was working on a more efficient commercial purification system and needed the carbon so i could do the testing on the proto-type.

they didnt care but it kept me from having to explain why i only needed carbon and answering ?'s about the size of my system.

anyway, i hope ya pull down some good frosry buds.

 

[wildgrow]

Whew! I was scared there for a minute. $400 is alot for a ballast. $250 should get you a decent ballast w/ bulbs, reflector, mounts and probably a timer too. Not to be an @sshole, but you sound like youre running around and pulling your hair out over getting things up and running. Take a deep breathe man cause this is the only part that you can make go as fast as you want it to. The rest is all patience.

Ilike the idea, of filling the pvc w/ carbon and using it as a can. Except you mite need a 6" tube to actually be able to push/pull air through. I can imagine a fan may overheat trying to move air through 2" tubing. Good luck n cheers

 

[stealthed-up]

Will definitely take a look at those guides , will diy a carbon filter no doubt bro with the activated carbon, only problem i have now is the ballast : // i would like to save on electricity and also spare my bulb but im paranoid the ballast breaks or doesnt run the bulb : / so what do we say stick to magnetic ?

 

[Smoke_A_Lot]

I'd also second the opinion on slowing down a little bit. Patience is key i know your probably excited about starting your first indoor grow. Nothing good comes out of rushing things along, mistakes happen that way, trust me i know that all too well. I'm also building a grow cab, but I'm taking my time planning, gathering needed materials and looking for the best prices on things to keep costs down, studying grow techniques and posts here in order to help me dial in my cab for optimal results, and researching strains that meet my requirements for my cab and suit my needs. Remember KISS (Keep -It - Simple - Stupid). Your just beginning in this hobby, take it slow and learn. I'd also like to suggest checking out HTG Supply and ebay, for lights and such, they have good deals.

 

[wildgrow]

I would go w/ a digi ballast. Im in the market for my 1st big boy ballast, so I can only speak from what Ive noticed helping others w/ their grows. 1 person I helped get set up went w/ a mag ballast and had trouble w/ the light pulsing.(different bulbs were tried to the same effect) 2nd ballast he got was digi and the same bulb did not pulse. This was the only time I ever saw a light pulsing because others I know all have digis. Coincidence?

Check customer reviews and make sure you have a warranty.
cheers