Custom Grow Cab with 90w LED Tri-Spec UFO

Hello all,

So my long awaited plan to construct a custom semi-stealth grow cab has finally been completed

The box measures (6.5ft tall x 40in wide x 33in deep) It has a false wall in the back that is also a light trap.. allowing fresh air to channel through it and into the bottom of the cab.. and the air is drawn in by a 120mm computer fan that moves roughly 75cfm (mounted on the ceiling) creating a natural vacuum inside the cab.. the side walls are also hollow but only to ensure that the mylar was laid as smooth as possible... the entire cab has been caulked and sealed inside and out and is truly its own environment.. the door was built inside a door jam and has 1/4" foam around the entire sealing lip of the door to ensure complete light and air tightness inside and out... the left and right hollow walls were filled with fire proof foam to increase insulation and decrease any ambient noises.. the door has 1 slide bolt lock in the middle and 2 latch locks on top and bottom with master locks attached to them for added security.. the 2 120mm fans that are mounted on the ceiling are encased within a 6" duct starter that is liquid nails and caulked to the ceiling.. I then placed 6" caps over the duct starters that I had drilled holes into... and i filled the duct with several layers of pre-carbon-filters as well as activated carbon in flow through bags... so when the fan runs.. it draws air through the cap and through all of the carbon filters before it is kicked out of the box.. Ill take some more pics of that so you know what I mean... i just re-read that and was confused a lil myself lol.. there are two of these fan/carbon filter contraptions.. 1 runs 24/7 and the other is on a thermostat plug that is set to 86°F to ensure that the cab never gets too hot

The box can handle no more than 4 (3 gallon pots) at any given time... which i feel is just right for personal use

With the lights on and the fan running... no plants in the cab... the cab reaches 75°F... so I'm hoping with added humidity and maybe dumbing the fan down a lil.. the cab should reach 80°F without much concern



I began the germination of 11 bag seeds (Grapefruit Kush) as well as a 1 Femanized Easy Ryder.

The hope is to get at least 1 female hopefully no more than 3 from the bagseeds... and while the Easy Ryder is vegging/flowering over a 90 day period under a 20-4 light schedule... the hopefully female Grapefruit Kushes will veg for 3 months under the 20-4 schedule... and when I chop the Easy Ryder.. I'll switch the lights to 12-12 and begin to induce flowering. So I'll have a lil something to burn down on while I flower the Kush plants for a good 8-10 weeks =)

The grow medium im using is a recipe mix I've sampled from other growers and reduced down to make a single 3gallon batch:

32c Peat Moss based mix
17c MG Organic Soil
9c Chunky Perlite
1.75 Tbsp Blood Meal
1.75 Tbsp Bone Mean
2.5 Tsp Dolomite Lime


however.. Im starting the seedlings in straight peat-moss based potting soil (i.e. Fox Farm something)

Here lies a small problem for me tho...

I've already begun the germination process... and everything is ready to go and purchased with the exception of the Fox Farm potting soil.. Ive found a local nursery that carries 3 separate styles of FF soil but I'm perplexed as to which to purchase

They carry: Original, Ocean Forrest (too hot for seedlings?), and Happy Frog....

any ideas as to which would best suit this particular recipe and grow??


Updates to come..
Thanks,

Joan Figgens

I'm thinking on buying a 90w ufo.. where did you get urs?? ebay

LOVEHATE13 said:

I'm thinking on buying a 90w ufo.. where did you get urs?? ebay

Click to expand...

prosourceworldwide.com

the best and only LED I would recommend

Joan

**UPDATE**

Planted all 12 seedlings today after @ 29hrs. in the paper towel method.. 2 of the bag-seeds began to shed their shells as did the 1 femanized autoflower...

They were all planted in 16oz cups with a mix of ocean forest and light warrior in a 66:33 ratio... and given a drink of water and a few good mists from the spray bottle with distilled water, and finally covered with plastic wrap.

Temps are 83°F

The light is 14" away from 12 cups arranged into 3 rows of 4... the light schedule for now is set to 24-0 until I see some sprouting? is that legit? then it'll be set back to 20-4 after they sprout...


should I water them again in 24hrs?? or will the first drink be enough for my seedlings to sprout and show me some leaf =)

Joan

Hey,

I like your grow and i'm excited to see you trying the LEDs. I'm waiting on one for myself to try for flowering, coz the heat i'm getting off my 400W HPS is not an option. I'll be watching as you progress.

My lights are on 24-0 for my veg period, with little problems. It is quite productive in my opinion. I think your seeds have enough water to sprout, be careful not to clog the medium and drown them.

Best of luck!

Joan,

Looking good, I am using the Jumbo 180W from PS and try to upgraded to it if you can

I started on the 180 but there is a member called Irishboy who started on the 90 and upgrade to the 180, he has a thread on it so search it out

Glad to see a fellow LED grower around

Viva the LED

T

Snowchild said:

Hey,

I like your grow and i'm excited to see you trying the LEDs. I'm waiting on one for myself to try for flowering, coz the heat i'm getting off my 400W HPS is not an option. I'll be watching as you progress.

My lights are on 24-0 for my veg period, with little problems. It is quite productive in my opinion. I think your seeds have enough water to sprout, be careful not to clog the medium and drown them.

Best of luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks,

I was debating over a 400w cooltube, but then I picked up this UFO... like you said the heat given off would just be tremendous and I'm a worried old man as it is haha.. so I went with the LED

When should the plastic wrap come off? after they sprout?

Thanks,

Joan

TCurtiss said:

Joan,

Looking good, I am using the Jumbo 180W from PS and try to upgraded to it if you can

I started on the 180 but there is a member called Irishboy who started on the 90 and upgrade to the 180, he has a thread on it so search it out

Glad to see a fellow LED grower around

Viva the LED

T

Click to expand...

Thanks TCurtiss,

I really wanted that 180w but I didnt want to wait for another paycheck to order it ahah.. so I ordered the 90w...

I've read Irishboys thread, its what pushed me in the direction of the 90w LED.. Im really pumped to see how this grow goes.

Thanks,

Joan

Joan.figgens said:

Thanks TCurtiss,

I really wanted that 180w but I didnt want to wait for another paycheck to order it ahah.. so I ordered the 90w...

I've read Irishboys thread, its what pushed me in the direction of the 90w LED.. Im really pumped to see how this grow goes.

Thanks,

Joan

Click to expand...

hey buddy nice setup. once you hit flowering i would keep that lights as close as you can to ur plants, just adjust it so you just cover the foot print you need and no more. i think your setup would be perfect for a SCROG grow. use use to use FFOF but always had problems with it being too hot for my clones. i use sunshine mix #4 and will never go back.

thanks for checking out my journal Irishboy... your pretty much the reason I went with the UFO.. well you and your delicious looking results


**small update** no pics

its been the first 24hrs.. Temps are 79 with a high of 83 on the day.. all the cups have condensation.. I gave a small mist to cups 1,2,7, and 11 (all bag-seeds) I also moved the light a chain link closer...

I know I'm just really antsy but how long until I should see some sprouting?

I've spent most of tonight going over every little detail of the grow.. asking myself if this or that was right.. second guessing if the light was close enough or if they have enough water.. doesn't help when your toasted either

could someone possible shed some light on the situation and reassure me so I don't go crazy haha

Thanks again for the replies,

Joan

I also get really impatient at the beginning stage. You should see them sprouting over the next 24-48 hrs. As long as they have all the things they need then they'll grow happily. What is the humidity in your closet? Have you considered getting a humidifier?

Snowchild said:

I also get really impatient at the beginning stage. You should see them sprouting over the next 24-48 hrs. As long as they have all the things they need then they'll grow happily. What is the humidity in your closet? Have you considered getting a humidifier?

Click to expand...

thanks snowchild, havent really given any thought to a humidifier... especially because of the size of them and the room i would sacrifice..

humidity has been 20% but all the cups have plastic wrap over them.. so im thinking once the seedlings sprout and are allowed to breath.. with periodic mistings and the completely sealed cab humidity should be able to maintain a 50-60% level.. dont you think?


**Update no pics**

The autoflower broke the ground this morining.. still waiting on the other 11 bag-seeds.. should i keep them all wrapped until i see multiple spoutings or unwrap them as they begin to sprout?


Thanks again,

Joan

I am pretty new at this, but I can tell you some things I've discovered about LEDs, both "bad" and good-- the bad is, they take almost double the time to make things happen; probably because they are so low in heat output. Though with the temps you're talking, your situation sounds ideal, at least as far as temps. That said, if you see anyone using high-temp lights or even fluoros, and everything's happening for them quicker than you expect, remember that you have LEDs-- so time stretches.

As long as your ambient temp is not too low (yours isn't, from what you posted), you will see change.

But another thing to remember about an LED array is that you actually keep it much further from the plants than you do fluoros, say. So with fluoros, you might be 4" or even more from a seedling (and of course HPS much farther away), 2" from a growing plant. With an LED array you need to keep it about a foot away-- otherwise, every single LED in that array is focusing light below your growing point-- because LEDs in an array (as they always are) have a cumulative effect. So you actually get better action holding it say, 12" away rather than 1-2 inches. That's only the power of a few LEDs, whereas at distance, the cumulative effect takes place. In this sense, LEDs are somewhere between fluoros (keep it as close as possible) and HPS (keep it as far as possible). If you have a spotlight LED, 4-6" is prime. They're not hot, they won't burn your plants. And they put out such concentrated wavelength of light that there's no wastage, as far as spectrum is concerned.

However, in my experience, maybe because they run cold or maybe because they're so totally unnatural, it takes way longer to grow things with LED.

That said: what you do grow with LEDs seems to be very robust in the weakest of soils, with the most minimal of nutrients.

But going back to the time thing, I started to flower my plants after 3 weeks. I needed to keep them small. I was running a 45-watt glow light, and they were green and healthy but after flower I asked people on here after two weeks, where are my flowers. And someone thankfully told me, just wait. It takes longer with LEDs.

So I did, and sure enough, they started. But I admit I did add two more LED arrays, some spotlights from amazon, all red, which is for flower.

And my buds promptly started to crystal. I re-aim them every day. My grow is titled "A New Chapter, 45 watt LED light, Feminized seeds, CFLs". I never used CFLS, but I thought I was going to, when I titled it.

But point is, now I'm a whole month behind schedule, that's how slow LEDs are. I like them, and I'll stick with them-- but they are very slow.

That said, I never thought I could get the kind of buds I'm getting with these LEDs.

So stick with it, and understand that LEDs produce hardly any heat, but the spectrum is saturated. I think anyone growing with LEDs should add two months to their grow schedule, seriously.

But it's so cheap. I'm running 45 watt glow lamp array and two 20-watt red LEDs. I mean, the damn thing runs cheaper than a toaster. And the buds are crystally.

Stick with it.

** UPDATE with PICS***

Day 3

Temps: 88°F
Humid: 49%
Light Dist: 12" from soil


So I went out and bought a warm mist humidifier today with some distilled water... and will be running the humidifier on the same schedule as the lights. so 24-0 to get the cab nice and humid. Temps have been between 86-88°F... the thermostat controlled fan turns on every once and a while to help regulate the temperature which is just beautiful.. although the probe for the thermostat is a bit short and reads a degree or 2 off I feel personally.. but it works... humidity has held at a solid 49%.. even with the fans going.. I feel that once the plants begin to gain some size they should help hold some humidity to help bring it up to around 55% or so... but we will see.

6 bag seeds sprouted! cups 1 and 2 (both began to shed shell in paper towel method) as well as cups 5,6,7, and 10.

So 7 sprouts total with the autoryder!

I determined that cups 3 and 4 were dead seeds and also didn't receive adequate lighting from the beginning tore open the soil and found no root formations or indications what so ever... cups 8,9 and 11 received an additional Tbls. of distilled water and were recovered with plastic wrap for another 24hrs. Think any of the lil guys still have a shot?

The sprouted cups were all heavily misted and uncovered to breath in the cabs new humid atmosphere..

Thanks for the tip about the humidifier snowchild.. I'm in love and so are the plants.

Also, had a small light leak form from some wood swelling.. right between the 2x4 frame of the door... nothing a little bit of caulk won't fix though

Thanks,

Joan

** small UPDATE no Pics***

Day 4

Temps: 88°F
Humid: 70%
Light Dist: 12" from soil


So I checked the cab this morning to find all of the mylar I laid covered in bubbles from the humidity somehow I kinda felt that one coming.. going to have to tear it down and relay it all.

First off, is 88° to hot??? especially with 70% humidity?? I don't wanna drown my babies..

With the thermostat outlet I have, I can set it at 79° or 86°.. there doesn't seem to be a middle ground between those two points. When set to 86° Temps. are 88° with Humid. 70%.... when it's set to 79° Temps. are 83° with Humid. between 30-40% because the thermostat controlled fan kicks out allot of the extra humidity in attempts to lower the Temp.

I've been toying with the set up most of the day trying to find that sweet spot if you will.. looking for like 83°F and 55% humidity... I'm thinking about going and exchanging the "hot mist" humidifier for a "cold mist" one. But the cold mist humidifiers have a baking soda filter in them and I plan on using distilled water... What exactly is that filter filtering out? and is it safe to use inside the cab?

I think if the cold mist humidifier is ok to use.. then with the added humidity.... it should bring the temps. up from 79° (lights on no added humidity) to hopefully right around 82-83°.. while keeping the humidity at a nice 55% or so...

Are there such things as Humidistat controlled outlets like the thermostat controlled one I have?? would anyone recommend looking into those to maintain and adequate humidity range at all times?


Thanks,

Joan

Joan.figgens said:

thanks for checking out my journal Irishboy... your pretty much the reason I went with the UFO.. well you and your delicious looking results


**small update** no pics

its been the first 24hrs.. Temps are 79 with a high of 83 on the day.. all the cups have condensation.. I gave a small mist to cups 1,2,7, and 11 (all bag-seeds) I also moved the light a chain link closer...

I know I'm just really antsy but how long until I should see some sprouting?

I've spent most of tonight going over every little detail of the grow.. asking myself if this or that was right.. second guessing if the light was close enough or if they have enough water.. doesn't help when your toasted either

could someone possible shed some light on the situation and reassure me so I don't go crazy haha

Thanks again for the replies,

Joan

Click to expand...

sorry bro i never grow seeds only clones, but what i do is keep my temps in the 80's. did you germante then first before putting them in the soil? i wish i could help but i don't want to give you the wrong advise since i don't ever do seeds. but i would keep the light close until you see them pop up then i would raise the lights to around 18-20" so you dont stress them out because their so young, then just gradually lower the light as they get bigger. i woundt keep the light real close when their young, i have had bad luck doing that.

how long can i keep the light on a 24-0 schedule.. today was the end of day 4.. and theres 6 sprouted bag-seeds and 1 sprouted autoflower...

Temp: 79°F and holding
Humid: 45-64%
Light Dist: 12"

Joan

Hey,

I should have mentioned that i'm using an ultrasonic humidifier. It uses a small device which has a membrane that vibrates extremely fast while covered with a small layer of water. This causes water vapor to form and it builds into mist that billows out and raises the humidity. This means you don't get the heat. I'm sorry to hear about the mylar bubbling etc. I think it may be the heat and the humidity. But if you can keep the heat like you have it then it should be great.

You can keep the lights 24-0 for as long as you like. My plants have been growing like that without a prob. From seed, as well as clones i'm working with at the mo. You can veg them for as long as you want with the lights 24-0. In the book i have by Jorge Cervantes he says that it is admittedly more productive. The plants I have in hydro (DWC) are thriving!

Watching this grow, very curious how it will go, that is an impressive LED package.

good2bkind said:

Watching this grow, very curious how it will go, that is an impressive LED package.

Click to expand...

Thanks good2bkind,

***UPDATE PICS***

Day 5

Temps: 79 High:79 Low:77
Humidity: 58% High 62% Low 44%
Light: 12" 20-4
Humidifier: (20 Light)every other 30min (4 Dark) first 30min & last 30min


Today I am cycling the light for the first time. The lights will go out for 4 hours... and the humidifier will kick on for the first and last half hours of those 4 hours. Looking for a temp: between 65-75°F and humid: between 25-45% with the lights off.

The seedlings are sprouting rather well.. the autoflower is the furthest along and in the middle of the cluster now. Only 7 cups remaining.

The soil was nice and dry a good fingers deep and the dead seeds I pulled and emptied were rather dry as well.. so I set a tray underneath the cups and slit 5 holes in each of the bottoms of the cup for water drainage... and watered each seedling with 6 Tbls. of distilled water (until a small amount dripped out the bottom)... an hour or two later the excess water on the tray had already evaporated.. so they should be good for the next several days

Now that the cab is holding proper Temp. and Humidity.. is it necessary to mist the foliage of the babies still??

Ive also noticed that the stems of the seedlings are showing some purple color, you can see so from the overhead pic. What is that a sign of??? is the soil too hot??

I need to purchase a ph probe and PH up and down I feel to regulate the ph balance of the plants.. becuase at the moment I'm not sure of the ph


Thanks,

Joan Figgens