First Grow! Rubbermaid Bin (5 Bulb)

.breeze

.breeze

Active Member
I posted a topic before this one but I'm scrapping it so I can keep track of my grow a bit better.

The plants are about 10 days old now, here are some pics of the old grow box and the new one I just finished building out of the rubbermaid bin.

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In the rubbermaid box I put a piece of foil paper down with some papertowl on it to germinate a few seeds, the inside is simply covered in regular computer paper, the parts you can look into on the sides that look like carrying handles are actually for 2 computer fans I will be putting on it, one to suck air in another to suck air out. It looks pretty good considering I just used random items around the house to build it with.

What do you guys think?
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
Yea it looks like your plants are stretching a little bit. CFLs should be 1-3 inches away from the plants. How many watts are they? Looks promising though, subbed. Height(too much of it) of going to be an issue later on in this grow from the looks of it.
 
.breeze

.breeze

Active Member
Thanks for the replies :bigjoint:

I moved the lights much closer, it's much better in there now I have a center bulb that goes down slightly past the height of the cups so the bottom part of the stems are getting good light and the other 4 bulbs are much closer scattered around the bin as well. I also installed a good computer fan which is drawing air out and I have a fan on the outside which blows air in the direction of the other open end, all of that is working well.

The seeds I put in there yesterday on the paper towel have already germinated so I'm going to be planting them today. I may buy a second rubbermaid bin and try to cut the bottom out and use it to extend the height of the one i'm using now as I don't like how short it is, but all in all it's working well :)

Anyone know where I can buy cheap mylar
 
HiloReign

HiloReign

Well-Known Member
I believe the thermal blankets contained in first aid kits would work. I believe they sell them at Wal-Mart.
 
.breeze

.breeze

Active Member
Yea I know what you are talking about, they are about 4$ it didn't cross my mind I could use those, thanks
 
J

jtrimbl3

Active Member
get panda film. it's way better than mylar. Also, those white see-through pots could be a problem. Roots hate light.
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
Good idea about cutting out the bottom of the 2nd rubbermaid. Didn't think of that and I was wondering what I was going to do about the plants getting taller than the tub I use.
 
Lady.J

Lady.J

Well-Known Member
Hey I'm growing in bins too, but rather than cutting out the bottom, I flipped an additional one up side down and placed it on top of the other. I keep them attached with velcro strips and have no problem with the top portion coming off.



I went to Auto Zone and used some car windshield reflectors that have Mylar in them, but I heard you can buy a roll of Mylar from Lowe's or Home Depot (it's sold under the name Reflectix).
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
My only concern with that Lady is what to do if/when the plants start getting too tall though I think your bin is a bit taller than mine. That looks really clean though.
 
Lady.J

Lady.J

Well-Known Member
You can tie them down (LST) or SCROG them and you'll have plenty of room for your buds to grow! I am going to attach a netting over the top of the plants once they get a little taller, then they will be forced to grow horizontal and only the buds vertical through the open spaces. When using any kind of bin / small space like this, you definitely need to find a way to train the plants to get the best yield for your space. Have discovered this from doing hours upon hours of reading. Most people who do the type of grow we are doing have no clue about this and even up never finishing the project or having pathetic yields. The few successful ones I have seen have all trained their plants in some kind of way.
 
.breeze

.breeze

Active Member
Yea I just learned about scrobbing on another thread, thanks @LadyJ :) I will have to read more into it.

I've upgraded the lights on the box, I am now using 4 23w CFL's (5000K / 1600 Lumens), and One 32w (2100 Lumens /
3500K).

I also have extra light sockets and 5 13w CFL's but I don't know if they are worth hooking up​
 
Lady.J

Lady.J

Well-Known Member
If you can, try really really hard to get some 6500k...that's more like natural daylight and your plants will thrive the best off that type of light in veg. 5000k will grow them but it won't be optimal. From what I've read 3500 isn't really great for veg or flowering. Usually you want to go 6500k for veg and 2700k for flower. Can also do a mixture of the two during both stages. What spectrum are the 13 w CFLs?
 
.breeze

.breeze

Active Member
The 13w's are 2700k's, I have 4 of them and one 26 watt but the 26 watt light looks BLUE I mean I can clearly see the color difference in the photo. Also, my biggest bulb in there (the 34w) is 3500k.

Here are some new pics, the plants are growing pretty nicely everyday. The youngest seed in there's stem and soon to be leaves are bright lime green

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The lights are much closer, its just that im lifting the lid in the pics
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
I'm going to say that the 5000k and 3500k would normally work poorly if you had them at a higher wattage like 42w or so but below that you're really just wasting your time. You may get a decent height during veg but I really doubt you're gonna get anything worth your time in the end. I'm running 204w and I doubt that's enough for 3 plants. You really just want to get 26w and up and only 2700k and 6500k bulbs. Basic rule for CFLs are 100w(actual not equivalent) per plant and then 50w per additional plant.

On the other hand I'm interesting in seeing how much you can grow not fol
 
.breeze

.breeze

Active Member
Cloudz2600 said:
I'm going to say that the 5000k and 3500k would normally work poorly if you had them at a higher wattage like 42w or so but below that you're really just wasting your time. You may get a decent height during veg but I really doubt you're gonna get anything worth your time in the end. I'm running 204w and I doubt that's enough for 3 plants. You really just want to get 26w and up and only 2700k and 6500k bulbs. Basic rule for CFLs are 100w(actual not equivalent) per plant and then 50w per additional plant.

On the other hand I'm interesting in seeing how much you can grow not fol
Click to expand...
I've been debating with the lights for a while now. I can't seem to find any 26w around here, I was thinking of getting an HPS -

[h=2]Philips 250-Watt ED18 High Pressure Sodium HID Light Bulb[/h]
  • Brightness: 27,000 lumens
  • Estimated yearly energy cost: $30.11 (Based on 3 hrs/day, 11c/kwh. Costs depend on rates and use.)
  • Life hours: 21.9 years (Based on 3 hrs/day)
  • Light Appearance: 2100K
  • Energy used: 250 watts
  • Lumens per Watt: 108
  • For Outdoor use in commerical and residential applications
  • ED18 shape with a mogul base
  • MFG Brand Name : Philips
  • MFG Model # : 140979
  • MFG Part # : 140979


It cost 23$ without the housing but I don't really need the housing for it if I say.. set it up dead center of the grow box?

Also, how hot do these bulbs run?
 
Cloudz2600

Cloudz2600

Well-Known Member
HPS run pretty hot. I don't think you're gonna be able to do it in the container you have without some serious air movement. Go to amazon, I bought 6 GE 26w 2700k CFLs for like 12-13 bucks. I've never run HIDs before, that would certainly give you enough light for 5 plants, I would just be concerned about the heat that thing is gonna put off.
 
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