Climate Controlled Grow Box, Suggestions Needed

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Bloodletting666

Member
Hi everybody! I am in the midst of building my first cimate controlled grow box and I need some suggestions for my specific needs. I have built my box with about 2' of depth, 4' wide and almost 6.5' tall, and i plan on building a second identical box after this first one is finished. I plan on growing northern light x white widow seeds, with soil, however i do want the option to switch to hydro later on.

I want this setup to be controlled via a laptop that way I can monitor everything effectivelyand have the capability of remote access as I am out of town for a few days a week

How much lighting would you suggest for a space this size? was thinking of hps or led to save space and allow for that much larger of a plant. I will have lights easily adjustable just like a large bay garage door so they will always be as close to the lights as possible
I will need to have a heater to heat the space as the place this will be in gets pretty cold (50F), will have two intake fans and vent fans (more outside air to cool down box if it gets too warm, like above 75F)
as for humidity i will just use a small humidifier
What controllers would you suggest to use for humidity, temp, lights, fans,, co2 and water pump?
How would you you go about controlling PH values effectivly in a setup like this?
Like I stated, i want to controll all this through a basic program on my laptop

EDIT: would also like to have option for lights to dim to simulate sunrise/set and a light sensor that detects watts and lumins.

I have read the DIY Grow Control: Fans, Lights, Hydro Pumps, Temp and Humidity guide on this site but im not sure if i want to go with the arduino or not, but im open to any suggestions.
Thanks, and stay high folks!
 
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Bloodletting666

Member
it doesn't need to interact with my pc, just need suggestions for controllers, anyone?
as long as co2, temp, lights are controlled i will be good
 
LSDreamer

LSDreamer

Active Member
I personally dont know much, but If you cant find a Weather control station that works via PC, you could use a webcam thats always streaming, looking at your guages, and I believe there are programs out there that you can control the power to outlets in your home. So potentially you could turn on or off fans/humidifier/dehumidifier with a combination of what I mentioned. Just thinking, figured I would reply.
 
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Bloodletting666

Member
thanks for the reply! it doesnt even need to qork with my pc, i just thought for data it would be easier, but those climate stations that work via usb are in excess of a thousand bucks, i could go out and buy 5 1000w lights for that price.

i do want a webcam in there, so thanks for that tip!
 
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ommpCaregiver

Active Member
I use a linux box with motion (a piece of software) for 4 webcams that do motion detection, store the images and video in apache directory that has basic authentication enabled, and a script that uploads all video and a few images to ftp server offsite as soon as they are taken.

I use webcams instead of security cams as a lot of security cameras do Infrared night vision. Although in this months high times there was a mention that IR does not effect photoperiod of the plants, I disagree. Infrared although not processed by photosynthesis, the plant does absorb (rather than reflect) the IR light, and the plant then turns that into heat.. I had a buddy that had plants herm under his security cameras, after he removed them, the same strains don't herm anymore.

as for control of your stuff, I use an arduino and some solid state relays.. use software on linux machine to do the logic of target temps, target humidity... (homebrew). Its not that tricky as long as you have some experience with code and electricity (I do not endorse nor recommend playing with electricity, you could burn your house down or kill yourself if you make one small mistake, Do not take this lightly, if you are unsure of anything, stop and call a professional licensed electrician)

And on the C02 monitoring... NDIR sensors are expensive ($200 just for the sensor, not with other circuitry). I suggest getting a c02 controller that works on its own...
 
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