The start of my 1st box.( critics required) CFL POWERED

[brownEs]

im not getting much help at another forum so ill try here

ive been gathering materials to build this 3x3x3 box for the last few weeks and i finally got building, i got most of it figured out, i snap some quick pics to share with you guys and maybe get some tips and advise. as you can see im missing some light sockets. there will be a total of 12 lights. i will starting 4 plants from clones in here.

for veg stage:
8-23w 1600 lumen 6500k
total=184w 12800 lumens

for flower
8-19w 1200 lumen 2700k
4-23w 1600 lumen 6500k
total= 244w 16000 lumens

some pics to share

im covering the whole inside of the box with a roll of this stuff.

theres are my flower stage lights(dont have any pics of the veg lights)

heres where its at as i type this, im alittle disappointed with the height, looks like from the lights to the soil i will only have around 16" of grow height! is that something i can work with?
plan B: i can raise the section of the roof where the lights are mounted a additional 6". my cab. is a discreet location so im very limited to actual cab. height

 

[pothead18]

you could work with that. remember people grow in pc boxs. just try indica dominate and lst with more lst

 

[brownEs]

yea ive seen some youtube videos where dude's boxes are like a foot tall(im like how the f@^k). its just ive been putting so much work/time/money into this cabinet, id like to get the most out of it. depending on what kinda mood i wake up tomorrow, i might just go ahead in cut the roof out and re build it to get a bit more height out of it and still do some low stress training.

 

[valuablevariable]

Looks interesting, some thoughts:
Dont use that insulation stuff. Insulating the heat in your box is the last thing you want to do. The best thing to do is simply paint the walls white.
That leads us to air/heat. What are your plans with blowing air out of the box?
What kind of bulbs are those? As far as I know the spiral CFLs are the ones you should be using (23w) but give me some details on what you have there.
Those are nice hoods. Might not be worth reworking everything but you could save space by not letting the bulbs hang down but be parallel to the floor.
Your best results would come from a SCROG grow, would manage your height issue and use the space the best. Be sure to build one where you can remove your plants with the screen from the box in order to tend to your plants in the back etc. Here is an example of a removable SCROG.

 

[brownEs]

Thanks for the reply man, I have a 4" inline orcile fan I'm going to for the exhaust, if I remember correct I think it moves 170 cfm. Fresh air will be coming in thru a passive intake.the vent I have is 10x6 and I have a 6" ventilation duct im gnna run to anther vent to pull in fresh air from out the the building the cab is in. There will be a fan with rotating head inside the cab. Blowing at the plants as well. I figured if my ventilation setup can move enough air, the reflective insulation would help keep the room cool. I could just rip it apart( slipt the sides) and use it for its reflectiveness.
When I raise the roof the lighting setup will stay the same. I made the hoods out of a 8 vent pipe.


I have seen scrog grows but honestly I'm not even sure the purpose of the screen is . I'll look into it if its what will give me the most bang for my buck. thanks again for the reply I really appreciate it.

 

[valuablevariable]

The screen is there for the branches to grow along (be tied down to). This will give you an even canopy and limit the height. You can try the reflective material if you like, the white paint is still overall the best reflective surface

 

[brownEs]

white walls it is! im almost sold on a scrog grow, you think i need smaller pots? the ones i have now are about a foot tall. im using vic's super soil recipe btw.
so your saying to build some sort of crate to pull in and out the cab.? with the amount if lighting i currently have, do you think its enough for 4 plants ? also you had asked about the bulbs i have. they are spiral in the inside and have a globe around them as well(not sure why) but i found those at a salvation army thrift store for .50 cents for a pack of two. i bought like 10 packs. (i should go get more).

 

[valuablevariable]

What counts are how may watts they are, I doubt they are close to 23w as the spirals usually are. Yes, I would get different pots. I ended up using the long windowsill pots, what they lack in height they make up for in length. Those could work well for you or just go to the hardware store, see what the have and be inspired. Can also use some other plastic containers and drill drainage holes in the bottom. Either way, make sure you have some tray for draining water (windowsill pots have fitting trays).
Nice to see youre going for the white, it should double in keeping temps a bit lower since it wont insulate as much heat as the foil.
For the SCROG you would need to be able to pull out the plants with the screen since you can not reach all the way in the back for plant maintenance. Theres several ways you could do this, my solution was to have a board on the bottom (a second floor), the plants on top of that, then 4 beams going up attached to a frame containing the screen. When I needed to look at the plants in the back, I could just pull on the board on the bottom and all the plants + screen with it. If youre handy (which you seem to be) you could also think of some other way.

Heres some pictures to better describe the removable scrog


You cant really see that there was a board on the bottom to which it was attached.

 

[brownEs]

How tall and long are your pots? What should the height of the screen be?

 

[valuablevariable]

They come in different sizes, being about 6 inches tall and starting at around 17 inches long.
As for how tall the screen should be, that depends on how much space you have from floor to the lights. You dont need a lot of space between plants and lights, maybe 4 inches, so that should tell you how high it should be. Have you checked what watts those bulbs are?

 

[ginnzy]

good luck. with lights like that, id be surprised to see anything usable come out of it.....

 

[brownEs]

They come in different sizes, being about 6 inches tall and starting at around 17 inches long.
As for how tall the screen should be, that depends on how much space you have from floor to the lights. You dont need a lot of space between plants and lights, maybe 4 inches, so that should tell you how high it should be. Have you checked what watts those bulbs are?

they are 19w 1200 lumens, i think ill up it to 12 going during flowering. is there anything diffrent for a HPS scrog grow and CFL scrog grow? reason i ask , i read this pretty cool "how to scrog" article but they where using HPS lighting.

good luck. with lights like that, id be surprised to see anything usable come out of it.....

how is that? i use them in my bedrooms (1 per room) and they are super bright!

 

[valuablevariable]

No difference in CFL and HPS scrog. You just dont have the height needed for an HPS. If you had the choice, HPS is far better.

 

[brownEs]

this is what i come up with.(i had everything to build it already)

the screen is setup to be a foot above the soil. also the top is removable, to allow my cfl's to hang lower than the screen.
im still going to have to raise the roof on my cabinet. the screen is only 2" away from my lights at their highest point. or maybe rework how their mounted, idk im tired i work full time and work on this after work.

 

[valuablevariable]

Foot from the soil is something you can work with, 2 inches from the light is a little too close since they will still grow away from the screen a bit. The screen itself looks like the right kind. Youll have to decide if its best to raise the roof or lower the screen a few inches. How much work would it be to raise the roof (seems like the option with the most work but would be the right choice if possible)
What kind/how tall are the pots you are going to use?

Edit: I just measured a bit and you could probably go as low as 8 inches from the soil with the screen.

 

[brownEs]

I'm going to take ur advise on the window box planters, they are 6.25" high 19.75" long. 6.75" wide, I have enough width under the screen for 4 of these, do you think it will be to crowded for 4 plants?
Reworking the roof is my cheapest option. I won't have to buy anything to do it, as opposed to re doing the light setup. It shouldn't be as much work as it seems, but I will be raising about 75% of it.

 

[valuablevariable]

You will be making it 75% higher? I think the long pots will be good for you and 4 plants the right amount. Are these fem seeds so that you know they will all be female? Otherwise I would start with 8 or so. Have you done any heat test with all the lights and fan on?

 

[UserNameAlreadyExists]

The insulation that you were going to use... reflectix? Good for blocking IR if that is a concern

 

[brownEs]

No 75% of the roof is going up 6" , I can't raise the whole thing or any higher than 6", because of where the cab is located. I have seeds(non-fem.) But I might end up using clones.to avoid dealing with males

 

[valuablevariable]

Ok, go ahead and raise the roof if youre up for it. Otherwise it would be possible to lower the screen as an option as well. If you have easy access to clones then that would save you some trouble. If you grow from seeds then youd have to cut off a branch of each plant and let it flower to find out what the sex is. Dont want to find out late in the grow after the plants have grown into the screen.