Alright, and as promised, here are some details about my lighting, all from my first grow.

My main bulb is a 250W Agrosun Bulb. It contains both MH and HPS so it can be used through the entire growth, both vegetative and flowering. I believe I paid approximately $80 for it at my local hydroponics shop.

I also purchased the ballast and socket at the same time. It is the Lumatek Electronic Ballast, for up to 250W bulbs. I honestly do not remember how much I paid for it, I believe around $80, as well.

The socket is the Hydrofarm All Systems Cord set, and I believe I paid about $20 for it. Don't hold me to either of these two numbers.

For my first grow, I had a homemade reflective hood made out of ducting. For this second grow, I decided to fork out $25 for a batwing hood. I'm hoping those dimples do spread the lighting a little more.

All of these were purchased at my local hydroponics shop who's prices are better than online prices (shipping costs is the difference maker).

I also compliment this 250W bulb with 4 additional CFLs. I made some DIY sockets using materials purchased at Home Depot. I have daytime bulbs for the vegetative stage and soft white bulbs for the flowering stage -- all bought from Home Depot.

According to the guy at my local hydroponics shops, he claims that CFLs sold at gardening shops are better for plants since they provide more specific colors from the spectrum that the plants use. I'm sure there's something truth to this, but my first grow termed out pretty damn well using regular CFLs.


Wrap It Up
In this grow box, I plan on growing 1 Masterkush, 1 Super Lemon Haze and 1 White Widow.... all DWC. I will start a journal soon, so keep an eye on my signature. You can check out my first grow as well, link in my signature.

So that basically the set-up for my grow box. Hope it gives some of you some ideas. The most important thing I can suggest... as with building anything... measure twice, cut once. Good luck!

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Second (current) Grow: DWC, Super Lemon Haze, White Widow, Master Kush First Grow: DWC, AK-48 & Master Kush

you actually posted before i finished... but i used "foil tissue" bought at party city. See above.

regarding white tarp, i think that should work well. in all my research, people seem to always recommend mylar (or something similar) and just flat white paint. so i imagine the white tarp would be similar to white paint.

regarding aluminum foil, i mentioned it above, but some people claim it causes hot spots and can burn your plant. but i've also heard many people say that's a load of crap. to be safe, i'd say go with the white tarp.

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Second (current) Grow: DWC, Super Lemon Haze, White Widow, Master Kush First Grow: DWC, AK-48 & Master Kush

so is it dry erase board or not?

What did you spend in the end. Looks alrigt. I was very skeptical about the poster board Idea. I would have used wood on the bottom. Or at least do a tray. It wouldn't take much to scratch the tin foil or tissue paper and let water into your poster board, Good luck, I think I will stick to wood and mylar

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Wonders Medical Grow: Round 2! Wonder Woman, Hash Plant, and Purples: http://www.rollitup.org/grow-journal...round-2-a.html

hahaha, not quite oldschooldj. but that's not a bad idea for the next grow. might come in handy considering i'm usually high when i'm taking care of my plants.

hey wonderblunder,wood is definitely the way to go if budget allows for it. but the posterboard was free to me. i've found prices on the internet where you can get something like 5 large sheets (i used 6) for under $20.

i def agree with you about the bottom... i like the tray idea. i'll take a look around to see what i have available to reinforce the bottom.

if budget wasn't a concern, i'd go with wood and myalr too. just throwing an idea out to the RIU community for those who are like me and need to get creative with money. but for this grow, i'm investing most of my money into nutes, supplements, and also going to buy myself a ec/tds/ppm meter. thanks for the suggestions.

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Second (current) Grow: DWC, Super Lemon Haze, White Widow, Master Kush First Grow: DWC, AK-48 & Master Kush

Great job on the construction.. Thanks for taking great pictures and writing it up. Great work showing what can be done on a budget.

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First Grow 400w HPS White Widow/White Diesel
Prop 215 Compliant

This is the exact design of my "baked potato" setup, I did not use foil or posterboard, but my frame was made out of metal, it had a mesh that covered 3 of the 4 sides, so i attached the mylar to that, and insulated the outside with whatever i could find, my setup is double the width of yours and i'm using a verity of flourcents for now. 11260 lumens is what i got for 10 square feet and 9 plants, I plan on using this tent just for vegging, and using a HID setup in the same design for flowering. Wondering your thoughts on that?

Baked pototo set-up... I like that. It works great for people like us who are on a budget.

As for your lighting, I think you're a bit low with the lumens. With 11260 lumens at 10 sq ft, that turns out to be only 1125 lumens per sq ft, which is extremely low. A lot of people recommend at least 2500-3000 lumens per sq ft. You can never have too much lighting, just keep in mind... the sun emits about 10,000 lumens per sq ft.

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Second (current) Grow: DWC, Super Lemon Haze, White Widow, Master Kush First Grow: DWC, AK-48 & Master Kush

Thanks man, so many ways of making grow boxes, I figured I'd just add to the pool of ideas.

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Second (current) Grow: DWC, Super Lemon Haze, White Widow, Master Kush First Grow: DWC, AK-48 & Master Kush

yeah, im the process of replacing my 3 bar lights with 16 CFL's which should help a great deal, if the price turns out to be over 200 .....i'll get a nice hid setup, im already planning on buying one within the next month or so for my flowering setup. the bar lights will be used on the sides once i get my top lighting figured out. This is what i've spent so far.


$20 for the mylar, They come in 3 dollar packages, I got about 6.
$25 for the main fixture and 2 40'' bulbs.
$20 for the smaller fixture and the 20' bulb.
$15 for the shop light fixtures and reflectors.
$15 for the CFL's for those fixtures (27w)
$10 worth of duct-tape and Nylon rope, Rope being used to hang the fixture and tie the 2 curtains in front closed.