First time grower needs help with lights

Hello!

I'm a first time indoor grower. I've chosen a PC grow as a hobby and to grow a little something for me =)

I have a Pc case 17.7x8.1x25.8 with 2-3 large fans and I need to know what light should I use to get the best out of it. I was thinking Envirolite 125w, would that be enough?

I will be growing lowryders at start and then later on try some LST and scrog grow.

Thank you!http://headshop.si/artikli/532/envirolite-125-w-2100k-agro

I dunno about that. I'm not too sure about how big that light is, but I have heard one guy saying he couldn't keep the temperatures down. I suggested him a site where there are ~250 CFM 120mm fans but he never said anything after I said that. He tried putting plexiglass between the lightbulb but said it was still too hot.

Your cabinet is pretty small, giving the bulb about 2 inches diameter then you got the pots. I use 1 gallon DWC in my PC case and normal 23 watt CFLs up at the top. My plant grew into the lights, but it didn't really burn that much. What did survive the heat flourished. If you're worried about it, I've got a site that sells high CFM fans. I don't want to spam it here so PM me if you want info. They're $39-$60 120mm fans that go about 250 CFM give or take. Different decibel ratings too.

I measured my case it's about 18 inches tall. But my plant barely fit, at the end I couldn't even take it out, I couldn't even put the side of the case on. But all in all it's possible if you don't mind the "light leak" when it gets bigger. I estimate if you got it on proper mutrients with no halting screw ups in the process, you could get around 8-14 grams.

Autos are fun, but I don't think they should be grown by people who are new to it. If they do something and can't figure it out, you just wasted a week of growth as the thing recovers. If you haven't bought the seeds I suggest you do a regular fem seed and 12/12 from seed start. I've heard you'll yield about the same as an auto.

If you haven't bought the case, go to a computer store and tell them you need a large server tower for hard drives. They'll probably ask you how many drives, say like 40. They sell other large cases way up top at my store. Try a store that sells computer parts like newegg kinda store.

Youre gonna need a little more room than that or you'll be VERY cramped with only 8" deep to play with. Not impossible but definately not optimal for any decent yield, you may end up with thumb nail sized fluffy buds, nothing to brag about. But I do understand the hobby aspect, and you can start with this until you get your feet under you and want to upgrade abit. For lighting such a small space (and vegetative growing in general) CFL's are a good option. bigger isnt always better though, cfls have the best lumen to watt ratio in the range of 23 to 65 watt bulbs, larger bulbs produce proportionately more heat and wont distribute the light as well as several smaller bulbs. I would recommend 3 or 4 23w 6500k cfl's (GE Daylight bulbs work well 6$ ea ). get light socket to two-prong plug adapters at home depot, you can screw a bulb into it and plug it directly into a power strip, turing a simple power strip into a 3 bulb fixture. keep your bulbs as close to the foliage as possible and this will increase the light intensity percieved by the plants. cfl's drastically lose their strength with every inch away from the leaf (for ex. if at 1ft you have 1000 lumens, 2ft=250, 3ft=63lum, 4ft =16... inverse law) lumens are rated from 1 foot away, but closer than that, they are actually brighter than they are rated, using the same formula (1ft =1000Lm, then 6" =4000lm, 3"= 16k lm as percieved by the plant) (I may be mis-using lumens rather than lux, dont quote me) so put your lights as close as you can but dont let them scorch your leaves. start to flower them when the 6th internode appears, and expect them to double in size during flowering (you'll be cramped in a pc box) I started growing once in a half gallon milk jug thinking that would be its container for the whole grow, I ended up needing a 5 gal water jug. good luck, hope I helped

in that small space you may want 27-30ish watt cfls, they dont seem to get hot enough to make the plant too uncomfortable (even growing into them) with proper air circulation. sometimes less is more in very compact areas.

i think some of the speculation on mixing the light spectrum's is the plant will be able to make use of the other spectrum separately or in addition to the other lights. Some people do, some people don't. i just use the 6500k for veg and 2700k for flower, keeps the bulbs fresh only using them for one part of the cycle.

Ok,will use the bulbs separatly.

Another question..its a bit stupid but I need to know for sure.All of these spiral shaped light saving bulbs are good for growing(with the right spectrum ofc)?

Is this windshield reflective foil good,its a little wrinkly so I'm afraid there will be hotspots.If its not good I will just use white colour or one of those mylar wrapping foil for gifts =).


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I've seen that my post has slided down down so no1 can see it =(

I have another question. Can i wire my 4 23-30W bulbs together so only 1 cord goes out of the computer?

Thanks for the anwsers

You can wire em together with a simple lamp cord, no problem. I just made a fixture w 5 26w cfl's wired together. The twisty/spiral bulbs are what we are all referring to, what were you thinking of using? 6000k to 6500k are fine, watch out though, home depot and other store brand lights may say daylight but are only 5000k. There is a big difference in growth rates between 5000k and 6500k. The krinkly sun shade will work fine, the wrinkles will diffuse the light better and avoid hot spots, I crinkle my mylar to get the same effect. During veg growth, the plants still use alittle of the red spectrum and some blue during the flowering stage which is why some people blend colors, I do 4 6500k to one 2700k all 26w. Its good to blend so you are providing ALL the wavelengths your plants desire, just primarily cool blues for veg and primarily warm reds for flowering.

Hey,thank you for your anwser!

I bought 4x 23W 6500K bulbs for veg, 1350 lumens each and 4x 20W 2700K bulbs, 1152 lumens each + 11W 2700K,900 lumens for flower.
As far as i've read it's best to go with 1 or 2 exaust fans and leave intake passive and makes it best with a DYI filter so all the air that exits goes through the filter so I think I'm gonna try that first. I'm going to test everything first before starting to grow and see wich setup will be better intake+exaust or just exaust.
I used car windsheald bubble foil as it's less wrinkly and works the same,will upgrade to mylar foil if first grow goes well.

Could you please post a picture of your fixture. Stil thinking about bringing the plants up to the bulbs or bringing the bulbs down to the plants. The second option seems better as heat goes up. What do you think?

Those lights will be fine, if you have to choose either exhaust or intake, exhaust first (the very weak vacuum created if your box is sealed will actually help growth... it makes it a little easier to take up water) The bubble foil will work fine, mylar is good for making mirror panels (dont use actual mirrors, they absorb lots of light) mylar is amazing though, or just flat white paint. Here is my grow tent until last night when I finished my seedling/initial veg cabinet... . The fixture on the right, , is two of these, attached around a cheap home depot reflector. Heres another one I made for a 62w 2700k bulb from Home Depot . The fixture on the left in that cabinet is made from a re-used econowing reflector, but you could use flashing or some ducting bent to shape. , add sockets from the hardware store, $2 ea , , and another one I made w 5 bulbs . Then yesterday I finally finished my new cabinet and put in my 2nd fixture and my babies love it (I had some problems w my hydro set up before but they're recovering nicely) . check out my grow log in my signature to follow more Ill update it soon

Wow,those fixtures you made look great + nice grow log,gonna follow! I'm definetly going with something similar to get as much out of these lights as possible. Now I just have to put all of this together(going to take a while as I don't have much free time atm). I'm probably going make it so im going to lower/raise the lights as you have instead of raising the plants, think it's also going to be better because of the heat (the intake is going to be on the lower side and the exaust on the opposite side on top)

A little update. I wired the lights and 92mm exaust fan (intake is passive) together to make a quick temperature test run and after 1 hour the temp was sitting at around 27C(80,6F) with the fan on very low speed. Since I'm getting a 120mm fan I was thinking about adding another bulb.

Picture of the test =)