New grow room - criticize at your best!

[BustedParaphernalia]

I just transplanted my week and a half old seedlings into 2 gallon pots and put them under a 400w MH bulb (after being under CFLs since seed). My budget is tight, but I'm trying to do everything I can for my babies (I even didn't smoke once today so I'd make sure I didn't make any mistakes transplanting them!).

So now that they're safely set up and secure and watered in, I've noticed (and was expecting) that the temperature is about 20 degrees higher than ideal. My thermometer/humidity meter is showing just under 100 degrees Farenheit, and about 55% humidity. Maybe there's some cheap and efficient way I'm overlooking that could help cool this down some?

Take a look at the pictures below and tell me everything YOU would change about this closet grow room if it was yours.

Thanks!

 

[mrmadcow]

get the light lower- about a 12-18 inches from plant
do you have any ventalation? air coming in and going out of closet?

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

I will not be lowering the light for the time being. I put my first seedlings under the same light and it devastated them - it was way too hot and way too close. 3-4 ft for now, if they do well tomorrow I might lower it, but I don't think I will. I'd rather err on the side of caution than fuck up my last seedlings. It's already a uniform 100 degrees and putting the light any closer to the plants could mean death.

Right now there is no external ventilation. I just keep the closet doors open whenever I can and there's the one fan blowing. There is also a crawlspace right behind the plants, you can see the AC ducting coming out of there. The ducting is for the central AC, not for anything grow-related. I am willing to spend about a hundred or so to cool down this room, if that's possible, but nothing too power-intensive. What kind of AC unit could I install that wouldn't use too much electricity but still get the temps down about 15-20 degrees?

 

[apollo4]

keep the light up until you get the heat under control,but at 90 degrees photosythensis stops

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

I don't think that's true, my room has been at 90+ degrees for the past two weeks and my seedlings are thriving. My question is not whether or not to move the light up or down, it's where it's at for a reason. I need to know how I can cool this down, if you don't mind.

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

Would something like this work?

http://www.amazon.com/Frigidaire-6000-BTU-Compact-Window-Conditioner/dp/B003F4W7PE/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1310005225&sr=1-4

 

[alphawolf.hack]

dont use ac

 

[TechnoMage]

You need to have a designated air intake and a designated exhaust. This will cause all the air in your grow space to cycle through so you will always be exhausting hot air and bringing in cool air. With an open door the air isn't going to recirculate much, even with the fan blowing.

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

dont use ac

Why? I appreciate the advice but it's kind of useless if you don't explain it

You need to have a designated air intake and a designated exhaust. This will cause all the air in your grow space to cycle through so you will always be exhausting hot air and bringing in cool air. With an open door the air isn't going to recirculate much, even with the fan blowing.

So what do you suggest I do? I'm on a limited budget and I've already blew most of my savings on this, and if it doesn't pay off I'm fucked. I can spend a couple hundred at most, and I was looking at a 5000BTU AC window unit I could put in the grow room. Other than that I don't know what to do. My reflector hood doesn't have any ventilation options and I can't afford to buy a completely new system.

 

[Moses.Lyons]

why dont you just open up a vent from the central a/c ducting into your room? if you have a/c ducted through your room already... seems like a no brainer.

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

why dont you just open up a vent from the central a/c ducting into your room? if you have a/c ducted through your room already... seems like a no brainer.

Because the AC is off. My dad only puts the AC on when it's over 100 outside. If the AC was on to begin with there would be no heat problem. I'd turn the AC on if I could but my dad's a stickler with the power bill, and I don't blame him.

 

[mazand1982]

I just transplanted my week and a half old seedlings into 2 gallon pots and put them under a 400w MH bulb (after being under CFLs since seed). My budget is tight, but I'm trying to do everything I can for my babies (I even didn't smoke once today so I'd make sure I didn't make any mistakes transplanting them!).

So now that they're safely set up and secure and watered in, I've noticed (and was expecting) that the temperature is about 20 degrees higher than ideal. My thermometer/humidity meter is showing just under 100 degrees Farenheit, and about 55% humidity. Maybe there's some cheap and efficient way I'm overlooking that could help cool this down some?

Take a look at the pictures below and tell me everything YOU would change about this closet grow room if it was yours.

Thanks!

bottom line , u HAVE to cool down the light, i have the exact same HTG 400 watter and my temps skyrocketed, u need either money, can work with your hands or a little bit of both...i personally purchased a piece of tempered glass thats like 10 x 13 inches (if i remember correctly) from the glass shop, about 15 bucks and takes a day or 2 for them to temper it or it will shatter EVERYTIME!...then it upo home depot and fabricate some kind of brackets to hold the glass in place... i also cut 2- 2 inch holes in the side of the metal and inserted a 2 inch aluminum duct i got from autozone (pre heater hose) and b ought a small blower from orvac electronics and sucked the hot air out of the hood and outside the cabinet, u can read all about it in my grow by clicking on my signature... +rep if i helped would be cool as ice,lol.... ask any questions you like...

 

[RawBudzski]

*if* your unable to obtain and run your own little portable ac unit for that space, you will need a Good Big Fan to keep it constantly cooled with all that heat. may also take more frequent waterings. And the House AC does work,.. .depending on you know.. .if your house AC works.

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

Hey man, we're using the same lamp, nutes, and soil, haha, I just checked out your grow. Pretty snazzy. You've grown some awesome looking stuff.

Can you give me a link showing the piece of glass you purchased and the other materials needed for the ventilation? I'd like to do what you did, I don't mind working with my hands. I just need to know where to get the stuff and how to assemble it. For the fan, ducting, and glass piece, it shouldn't cost upwards of $100, right? How many inline fans did you use?

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

*if* your unable to obtain and run your own little portable ac unit for that space, you will need a Good Big Fan to keep it constantly cooled with all that heat. may also take more frequent waterings. And the House AC does work,.. .depending on you know.. .if your house AC works.

The house AC works, but only when my dad turns it on lol

I'm thinking direct cooling is going to be the only way to do this; an AC unit is too expensive and costs too much to run... plus if it craps out I'm broke and have no heat solution.

 

[RawBudzski]

plants are tough little sh*ts.. .keep it cooled with good ventilation to the best of your ability and it should turnout, worst case.. your plant will die, but assuming you make it! youll be satisfied with whatever you get, and learn from it!

 

[mazand1982]

Hey man, we're using the same lamp, nutes, and soil, haha, I just checked out your grow. Pretty snazzy. You've grown some awesome looking stuff.

Can you give me a link showing the piece of glass you purchased and the other materials needed for the ventilation? I'd like to do what you did, I don't mind working with my hands. I just need to know where to get the stuff and how to assemble it. For the fan, ducting, and glass piece, it shouldn't cost upwards of $100, right? How many inline fans did you use?

ok step by step...only cuz im high,lol...


1) the glass ur need to get will be 10 x 13 inches i think, it has to b tempered so u have to hit up the glass shop, theyll cut it, have it tempered and back in a day, mayyybe 20 bucks..(you cant find this size, u will have to measure the opening of the hood and drive to the glass/window shop).then u have to be ingenuitive and make brackets to hold the glass in place at the bottom of the hood. little L shaped pieces of metal..screw them to the aluminum hood and slide the glass in.(this by itself will sort of cool down the temps)

2) then u have to drill 2 holes in the side of the htg hood. one to pull air out and the other so the first hole has a source of air to pull from. putting the holes on opposite side of the hood is best cause then air travels past the bulb from one end to another.they have to be 2 inch holes.exactly.

3) go to autozone, they have a thing called pre heater hose, its aluminum ducting for older cars heating system i think, its in the back by the wires so u will have to tell the stupid kid up front to take u back there, it will be 2 inches by 28 inches long.

4) insert the ducting in one of the holes u drilled/cut in the hood.

now u have a sealed hood with tempered glass and it cost you around 30 bucks.

there is a place by my house called ORVAC electronics, its a mom and pop place with all types of electrical shit, they had a strong little mini turbine blower fan...i connected it to the hose and it sucks out all the heatits the black thinmg screwed to the wall on the left with the black hose coming out of it. if u dont have access to a fan like this u can attach anything to this hose to suck out the hot air....do this and i guarantee u will have growable temps in there


whats a motherfucker gotta do around here to get some + REP???????lol

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

plants are tough little sh*ts.. .keep it cooled with good ventilation to the best of your ability and it should turnout, worst case.. your plant will die, but assuming you make it! youll be satisfied with whatever you get, and learn from it!

That's what I had to tell myself so I could fall asleep last night lol. But yeah this whole process has been a huge learning experience. I'd probably have killed about 50 more plants than I did if rollitup didn't exist... gotta thank all you guys for being awesome.

ok step by step...only cuz im high,lol...


1) the glass ur need to get will be 10 x 13 inches i think, it has to b tempered so u have to hit up the glass shop, theyll cut it, have it tempered and back in a day, mayyybe 20 bucks..(you cant find this size, u will have to measure the opening of the hood and drive to the glass/window shop).then u have to be ingenuitive and make brackets to hold the glass in place at the bottom of the hood. little L shaped pieces of metal..screw them to the aluminum hood and slide the glass in.(this by itself will sort of cool down the temps)

2) then u have to drill 2 holes in the side of the htg hood. one to pull air out and the other so the first hole has a source of air to pull from. putting the holes on opposite side of the hood is best cause then air travels past the bulb from one end to another.they have to be 2 inch holes.exactly.

3) go to autozone, they have a thing called pre heater hose, its aluminum ducting for older cars heating system i think, its in the back by the wires so u will have to tell the stupid kid up front to take u back there, it will be 2 inches by 28 inches long.

4) insert the ducting in one of the holes u drilled/cut in the hood.

now u have a sealed hood with tempered glass and it cost you around 30 bucks.

there is a place by my house called ORVAC electronics, its a mom and pop place with all types of electrical shit, they had a strong little mini turbine blower fan...i connected it to the hose and it sucks out all the heatView attachment 1679625its the black thinmg screwed to the wall on the left with the black hose coming out of it. if u dont have access to a fan like this u can attach anything to this hose to suck out the hot air....do this and i guarantee u will have growable temps in there


whats a motherfucker gotta do around here to get some + REP???????lol

Haha I already repped you up last night. Thanks for the step by step though, it's really appreciated. I don't have a car so I'll see if I can get that shit online somehow. The "little mini turbine blower fan" is a centrifugal fan, if I'm not mistaken, correct? I think those things get pretty expensive. I can probably figure out the hole drilling, glass buying, mounting, and ducting (maybe), but idk if I can afford a centrifugal fan... inline fans are pretty expensive too.

 

[mazand1982]

That's what I had to tell myself so I could fall asleep last night lol. But yeah this whole process has been a huge learning experience. I'd probably have killed about 50 more plants than I did if rollitup didn't exist... gotta thank all you guys for being awesome.



Haha I already repped you up last night. Thanks for the step by step though, it's really appreciated. I don't have a car so I'll see if I can get that shit online somehow. The "little mini turbine blower fan" is a centrifugal fan, if I'm not mistaken, correct? I think those things get pretty expensive. I can probably figure out the hole drilling, glass buying, mounting, and ducting (maybe), but idk if I can afford a centrifugal fan... inline fans are pretty expensive too.

no, that fan is 20 dollars exactly...its not an inline or centrifugal fan, its some cheap blower, more like a squirrel cage fan than anything else, i had to fashion some cardboard gaskets to seal the air intake. no matter what u do my friend i can almost guarantee you that you will not cool down that room unless you air cool that hood, for real. and the HPS bulb runs even hotter so dont even think about doing that until ur temps drop, good luck...i was jk about the rep, i seen it last night. thanks bro

 

[BustedParaphernalia]

no, that fan is 20 dollars exactly...its not an inline or centrifugal fan, its some cheap blower, more like a squirrel cage fan than anything else, i had to fashion some cardboard gaskets to seal the air intake. no matter what u do my friend i can almost guarantee you that you will not cool down that room unless you air cool that hood, for real. and the HPS bulb runs even hotter so dont even think about doing that until ur temps drop, good luck...i was jk about the rep, i seen it last night. thanks bro

Well I'll see what I can find. I won't be able to fit a glass peice over the hood right now because the MH bulb is too fat, but hopefully I can get the stuff I need and set it up in time for flowering with the HPS.