I am ducting an AC vent for the room its in directly into the box. Heat will not be an issue at all
Pics of my CFL box
- Thread starter GTG
- Start date
Plenty of room for small plants. Going to veg for 15 days then right to 12/12.
crazy-mental
Well-Known Member
you will need 2 to 3 foot.
what strain you planning to grow?.
what strain you planning to grow?.
I am ducting the central air vent for the room this small box is in into the box then using fans to pull it out. In initial testing without any AC the box only reached internal temps of around 83*. I am confident I will not have any heat issues.
You only need 2-3 feet if you are planning to let the plants get that big. Using topping and training I will not need more then 20" at the very max. Plus, as I said the veg cycle will be very short. I am eventually going to do SOG with this but to get the system all tuned in I am going bad seed.
OK, got the box in position with the AC ducted into it. I put my AC system on so that the fan constantly runs regardless of whether or not the AC is running. I have had the box on for around 5 hours with one seedling in it (only one sprouted from the peat pots). I have other seeds germinating in the paper towel method so it should only be a few days before I have 6 in there.
I took some temp readings and it is awesome. The surfaces in the box are only around 90* and the ambient air temp is around 72*. I couldnt be happier with the temperature. As soon as I get some time I will takes some pics with all six seedlings in the box.
Ok, got one sprout planted and growing. Its growing like a weed...lol. I have found that I need to add another out fan because I am getting temps around 90*. I have a pic of the one that I planted 3 days ago. I planted the remander of the sprouts today...I hope they are all ladies. I would have more pics but my phone is a total POS and kept freezing up on me. anyway, here is the one pic. I will take more with my digital camera when the sprouts break soil.
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trscstghst
Active Member
get those lights closer dude
I just added more lights, 4 23w and 4 42w bulbs. The picture is deceiving as the lights are about 1" from the plants.
I was surprised to see that my temps have not gone up with the additional light. I am now using 12 23w bulbs and 12 42w bulbs. I am maintaining a constant temp right around 83*. I am very happy. It is bright as the sun in that box.
I dont even want to hear about how I should have gone with HIDs if I am using that many cfl bulbs...I didnt want to, I have my reasons. I grew with them in the past (HPS) and noticed a good bit of heat no matter what I did. This setup was very well thought out and I couldnt be happier with the results so far. I am looking forward to seeing what comes of it. I may pull 4 of the 23w bulbs as the plants get larger just for spaicial limitations. I will make that determination when the time comes.
I have 6 seedlings going right now from bag seed. I am going to go to 12/12 in 14 days, right now they are at 18/6. I am keeping them small. Probably going to cut back the number of plants in future grows to allow the plants to bush out more.
Ok, been a while since an update. I added an exterior fan and now I have internal temps that reach a max of 83*. I am very happy. I have 6 babies going from seed. One looks like a palm tree and isnt doing well. It is bigger then all the others because I germinated it in a peat pot and planted it about 4 days before the others. I was very unhappy with the results from the peat pot so the rest were germinated in paper towel. The strain is bag seed. I think the peat pot really messed that plant up as its very lanky and the leaves are constantly curled. Anyway, here are some pics. I am now using 8-23w bulbs and 12-42w bulbs. All the 42w bulbs are 2700K and the 23W bulbs are a cool white light.
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joesmiley210
Well-Known Member
nice box and thanks for the inspiration
Wolfman Zen
Well-Known Member
Looking good GT... I'm glad to hear you were able to get temps down, but how is your RH?
To bad about the peat pot.. but at least you gained some knowledge.. I wounder if it messes with the ph. I think I heard of something like that..
Keep us updated man..
.
_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker
To bad about the peat pot.. but at least you gained some knowledge.. I wounder if it messes with the ph. I think I heard of something like that..
Keep us updated man..
.
_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker
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Looking good GT... I'm glad to hear you were able to get temps down, but how is your RH?
To bad about the peat pot.. but at least you gained some knowledge.. I wounder if it messes with the ph. I think I heard of something like that..
Keep us updated man..
.
_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker
I think RH is a tad low. I am going to do something to add some moisture to the mix. I am getting lows of RH around 36% and highs of 52%. A tad dry for my taste. I am going to start simple by placing a water "pail" of sorts in front of the inlet and see if that brings it up. I also need to watch myself on the nutes. I hit them with EJ grow and they doubled in size. I was so excited I hit them with the next watering with more and burned the hell out of them. They will live though it but I have to be more patient with the nutes.
pH is another dilemma. I have a soil pH tester and am seeing pH in the 7.5 range but have been watering with water in the 6.5 range. I am not sure why the difference. I am going to have to spend a few $$$ and get some reliable equipment.
The peat pot thing screwed that one plant but now I know so I wont do it when I get good seeds. Fortunately I started with bag seed so I could get all these problems sorted out.
I will take some pics later of my poor nute burned plants and update this.
Wolfman Zen
Well-Known Member
Ph normally drifts up... simply apply a lower ph to your grow... if you normaly water with ph of 6.5... then water at 6.0 and lit it drift up to 6.5 in the pot.
as for RH goes... it was the biggest problem to fix that I had too.
.
_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker
as for RH goes... it was the biggest problem to fix that I had too.
.
_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker
Ph normally drifts up... simply apply a lower ph to your grow... if you normaly water with ph of 6.5... then water at 6.0 and lit it drift up to 6.5 in the pot.
as for RH goes... it was the biggest problem to fix that I had too.
.
_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker
How did you fix your RH issues? Also, where do you want RH ideally. Some say in the 50% to 60% range.
Wolfman Zen
Well-Known Member
Try to get it as close to 50% as possible..
I used humidity domes (plastic cups)
When they out grew their plastic cups, I added cups of water with paper towels draped out of them to act as a wick in the cab. and I misted. Now I do nothing... they are big enough to make their own humidity.
.
_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker
I used humidity domes (plastic cups)
When they out grew their plastic cups, I added cups of water with paper towels draped out of them to act as a wick in the cab. and I misted. Now I do nothing... they are big enough to make their own humidity.
.
_________________
Micro ebb/flow (NOW DWC), all CFL ScrOG, perpetual Stealth locker
Well it has been a few weeks and here is an update. After 15 days in Veg I went to flower. I have been in flower for 2 weeks and sex has been determined. Out of 6 plants, all bag seed, only 1 is female. I ended up with 5 males and one female. Man that blows. WTF....5 males??
Anyway I am going to put the lone female in a bigger pot and do some LST. Maybe I can salvage this grow a little. I am pissed about that ratio. I need to buy some real seeds that are femz and start from there.
I cant believe 5 males out of 6 plants....my effin luck.
Anyway I am going to put the lone female in a bigger pot and do some LST. Maybe I can salvage this grow a little. I am pissed about that ratio. I need to buy some real seeds that are femz and start from there.
I cant believe 5 males out of 6 plants....my effin luck.