Cultivation: Complete newbie - first grow

[FJX]

Hey guys, I've done a bit of research and read a lot of threads, so I've figured out what I want to do. I'm not even looking to smoke, I just need to make some extra money for food and stuff. I already have a full time job but with this economy it's hard to move up.

Anyway, I have a closet which I've been cleaning out and setting up. I have about 30inx30inx5ft space to work with. It could be taller if I really need it, but that would involve some cutting. I'm going to invest in a 250w high pressure sodium bulb and shroud.

My questions:
1) What should I build my grow box out of? I was trying to do something other than wood, like cardboard, but I want your opinions.
2) What about ventilation? Should I cut a hole in the ceiling and vent it to the outside with a carbon filter?
3) I'm starting from seeds, so I was thinking about letting them sprout and grow in Dixie cups in my back yard for a little while. Would this work alright?

Noise and smell are definitely priorities, this needs to be extremely stealthy. Oh and it'll be a soil grow. Keeping it simple.

[zombo.com]

easiest would be to just paint the closet a highgloss white,.

failing that mylar sheets are your best friend. or visqueen plastic, my personal favorite, which comes at like a like nothing per foot. (visqueen is double sides, white on one side, black on the other. )

i'd just paint if i were you. even if its a rental, you painted a closet, so fucking what.

ventilation shouldn't be too big an issue with a single 250 watt light, crack the door, point a fan inside to move the air, open a window once in awhile so fresh air circulates through the room.

if itas not a rental, sure cut a couple vent holes. if it is, don't go cutting on shit you'll pay for later.

if you get them out soon, before the light hits that magick flowering length, putting them in the back yard is fine once they've got a few nodes, and a good root system.
It'll bulk them up fast, they like real sunlight. Don't wait to long though, they will start to flower at whatever hright they happen to be. (unless they're autoflowers, unlikely.)

i believe dose has a very good seedling guide archived.


if you've got money for a carbon filter, you'd be better off looking for a flood table or a shower pan or something for the floor of the closet, otherwise that shit will be rotten with mold and damp by the time your done.

water does spill, and needs to have someplace to drain when it hits the bottom of the pots. those cheap ass black trays? the break, easy. you will break them, i promise.

at worst, look into some big tupperware and set grow bags or pots into them.

small plants get done faster and you can put more in...given the space you're working with you could put them into bud at 4 or 5 inches tall, and finish with a straight up and down stick at a quarter a piece..not much, but you can fit LOTS of dixie cups into that space, you feel me?

or you could do maybe three bigger plants.

[Dr rocker]

Make a carbon filter / fan. You will need:

Carbon fabric (from a DIY store - its used in extractors that you have above your cooker)

Carbon pellets (from a pet shop / fish shop - people use them in fish tank filters)

Perforated steel or mesh.

4 inch bathroom fan

Elastic bands

To make it, wrap the perforated steel or mesh around the fans intake, so it forms a cylinder - for a small grow makeing it 12-18 inches will be mroe than enough. Fill it around 1/3 full of carbon pellets and wrap the whole lot in the fabric. Couple of elastic bands secures this.

The beuty of puting the filter on the intake is that the filter stays in the grow space. All anyone will ever see if they take a look at the area you are growing in is the exhaust side of the fan.

You have a closet to grow in but I would line the floor and about 2 foot up the walls with plastic. Tape any seams with metal duct tape. I would put an internal screen inside the door as well, use anti detection film and sticky back velcro to secure it.