My First Grow!
- Thread starter Foolet
- Start date
Midwest1228
Member
that should work out ok
Foolet
Active Member
Redoing my idea! I'll have it set-up like this from now on. Tell me if this sounds better!
2 plants
On the LEFT of the LEFT plant will be a power strip with FOUR 23 watt 6500k bulbs, to the RIGHT of the RIGHT plant will be a power strip with FOUR 23 watt 6500k bulbs. Hanging from the top of the box in the middle will be FOUR 23 watt 6500k bulbs. So basically ALL spots are covered I think. Any recommendations/comments?
2 plants
On the LEFT of the LEFT plant will be a power strip with FOUR 23 watt 6500k bulbs, to the RIGHT of the RIGHT plant will be a power strip with FOUR 23 watt 6500k bulbs. Hanging from the top of the box in the middle will be FOUR 23 watt 6500k bulbs. So basically ALL spots are covered I think. Any recommendations/comments?
Hupomone
Active Member
If you can control the temperatures of the box, that sounds great. If not, you're asking for heat problems.
Here's a real world example using two ~35g rubbermaid tubs stacked together and properly exhausted using a passive intake.
Ambient/room temperature is ~72 F
2x CFL Bulbs brings the box to ~76 F
6x CFL Bulbs brings the box to ~81 F
So it's pretty safe to say that each CFL bulb raises the temperature in this example approximately 1.5 degrees.
If you were to use in your example, 12 bulbs, you would be looking at temperatures in the box of around 90 degrees. However, this is considering that your ambient temperature never changes.
Throughout the day, and night, your ambient temperature will change especially based on the room your box is in. Let's say you stick your box in the bedroom, eventually your bedroom is going to heat up from the exhaust. When it does, your ambient temperature is now higher, and thus your intake air is warmer so your box temperature is going to rise automatically. Unless you have a means of exhausting the room that the box itself is in as well, or you can cool down the room through means of A/C, you will eventually fry your plants left unattended.
A lot of people never consider ambient temperature when they design their lighting setups in these micro grows. They consistently say the same things and ask the same questions, "Why is my temperature in my box never going down? I added like 50 200mm PC fans to my exhaust and I got like 50 billion box fans blowing air into also but it never goes below 85! What's the deal?"
The deal is your ambient room temperature isn't changing, so it doesn't matter how many fans you add.
Keep this in mind when you pick the room that will house your box, design your box, exhaust, intake, and most importantly when you decide on your lighting.
Hope this helps.
Foolet
Active Member
The box is going to be on a giant loft. There is PLENTY of room and there should be PLENTY of fresh air, I can leave garage doors or windows open to add a better flow. I plan on having the plants sleep during the day as much as they can and lights on during the night. I figure sleep from 12PM - 5PM, on from 5PM - 11AM
Hupomone
Active Member
I agree, you are definitely on the right track. My post was to serve as real temperature data so you have more of an idea of what you can expect from your own grow. Fresh air is always good and in the example I gave above there was plenty of it as well. The lighting schedule is also exactly as you are going to use. You should (in my opinion) always use outdoor temperatures to your advantage by using an off during the day on during the night cycle as much as possible.
Regardless it all comes back to the same point. Your ambient temperature. All the fresh air in the world doesn't matter if it's 107 degrees outside. That's why I'm saying just make sure you take it into consideration because a lot of people don't, and they end up with headaches later.
Good luck man.
Foolet
Active Member
Yeah, if it get's really hot outside I may be fucked. Let's just hope for the best. I plan on germinating my seeds soon, I plan on wetting a paper towel, folding it, putting the seed in the middle, and making a square out of it. Then I'll put it in a ziplock bag and put it under 2 cfls 24/7 until it germinates. Do you think this will work well?
Hupomone
Active Member
Do all of that, but place it on top of a big plate, and then place a smaller plate over the top. Check it every 24 hours and re-wet the towel if necessary. Don't put it in a ziploc bag and/or under any light. Using this I normally see tapping within 24 hours and planting within 48 if the seed is good. In fact, a friend of mine tried to germinate exactly as you said just now and they were asking me about it saying they haven't tapped in almost a week.
freshmoney
Active Member
Im new to the site. im in the same stage of getting thing together. i found Home depot carries this soil called lamberts organic potting soil.... i got a couple of bags on sale for $6 a piece.
The ingredients are, Canadian sphagnum peat moss, perlite, granulated algae, dolomite & limestone. Amended with kelp meal.
Like i said im new to this with no first hand experience but from what i read it seems pretty good for the money.
The ingredients are, Canadian sphagnum peat moss, perlite, granulated algae, dolomite & limestone. Amended with kelp meal.
Like i said im new to this with no first hand experience but from what i read it seems pretty good for the money.
Foolet
Active Member
I don't plan on it.
I'd also like to hear what you guys have to say about this.
I thought I need constant heat?
Hupomone
Active Member
Everyone has their own methods. You don't necessarily need constant heat. It could help the process along, but I have never used anything except what I listed and it has always worked. So feel free to use it if you'd like or whatever you feel comfortable with.
Foolet
Active Member
I'll use your method!
THCHead.25
Active Member
Looking good .. I am still on my first grow starting my second, but haven't gotten shit for views or or comments .. Stop by , I will be updating daily . Keep me motivated RIU ..
I didn't expect this from every1.. Should I post in a diff section?
Happy Growing
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/431534-2nd-grow-grapefruit-krush-seed.html
I didn't expect this from every1.. Should I post in a diff section?
Happy Growing
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/431534-2nd-grow-grapefruit-krush-seed.html
Foolet
Active Member
Please don't advertise your thread in my thread without offering some useful information.
Hupomone
Active Member
Bat Guano, Peat Moss, Worm Castings, and of course Perlite are usually main ingredients found in almost every good soil pre-mix and home-mixed recipes for MJ.
If you want to save yourself a lot of time and can afford to spend a little bit more on quality soil/nutes then you can not really go wrong with Fox Farms. Ocean Forest or a mix of Ocean Forest and their Warrior has been known to produce some amazing results. Their entire line of nutrients is also killer and work great. You will commonly find a lot of people saying that "Fox Farms does most of the work for them." There's a reason. It's good stuff, just a bit pricey.
On the budget side of things I have used $5 bag of soil from Home Depot known as Kellogg's Patio Plus All-Natural Outdoor Potting Soil. It has a lot of good stuff in it and I have had plants completely thrive in the stuff. It has really good water retention without drowning your plant and seems to be good to go on nutrients for the first month or so like most soils. Except with this one you are getting natural nutrients, not time released chemicals that you find in Miracle-Gro or similar budget soils. Just noting also that people have successfully grown with Miracle-Gro, so I'm not knocking it entirely.
Whichever you decide to use, you should be sticking with it throughout the life of your plant. While anything is possible you do not want to switch soils if you can help it because this adds unnecessary stress.
Foolet
Active Member
Alright, I'm a little behind schedule. I had to settle for some like car seat reflectors. They were jumbo size and $8 each.. Hopefully this will cover my box well. I plan on finishing setting up my box tomorrow and germinating tomorrow. One MAJOR problem I ran into was I was going to use 2 power strips to run my lights but you know how the power strips have the 2 plug ins then the one round plugin. My timer doesn't have a slot for the round plugin... Are there any adapters or something I could get to fix this? What'r my options?