New CFL grow box

Hey guys,

I've just started building a new grow box and have a few questions if you guys wouldn't mind helping me out!

So i've made the main structure of the box, minus the door which im still planning on adding of course.. along with all the other essentials. The dimentions of it are 60cm x 60cm x 90cm, and am planning on having a total of between 200-300W in a few different CFLs, am aiming to hit between 12,000-15,000 lumens total.



One of my questions is how many intake and extraction fan do you think will be sufficient? I've calculated that the box has a total volume of around 11.4 cubic feet, and am planning on using 120mm PC fans to move the air. I've purchased one of these so far http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007Q2HC8I/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00, I was thinking something between 2-4 fans should be enough?

Here's the little bag seed im planning on putting in there to test it in its first grow



Thanks

Okay i took the same route your going and i ended up building a light box for my CFL's to be housed in. (check my sig if you want some pics of what i did) If u put all thoes CFL's in their own enclosed space with a piece of Plexi or clear plastic ( i went and bought a frame for a poster and cut the plastic from that) you will only need an intake and outtake (or just outtake and passive intake thats what i did but temps just a little bit high) My grow space sits a a nice 80-86 F I hope you get what i meant i think its the best option for CFL's in a small space just message me if u want to discuss things further.

Best of luck on your grow I love the small CFL grows so ill keep checking in on your progress

Sounds like a hell of a lot of lumens and heat for such a small area....

Im still trying to decide what bulbs to purchase, but I figred if I have it set up efficiently the plants should be able to take it. Planning on setting up a hydro system using DWC once the main setup is finished.

As for temps, its in quite a cold room, and since its currently winter here shouldnt be too much of a problem if i have enough ventilation.. will have to give it a test with that bag seed to see if the 120mm pc fans can handle it, if not will get myself couple of inline fans.

Im quite tempted to get couple of autoflower seeds and attempt to scrog them, seen some incredible results of people scrogging auto's with hydro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71zxm72pXZE

Spray inside flat ultra white with paint, get porcelain sockets for cfls and splitter...lumens are higher than what they say at close ranges like 2 inches, lumens almost double when close. Try to put high and low lighting for optimal growth.

If your leaving open just one fan, if its gonna be closed intake and exhaust would be ideal for that space...dont have to worry about heat with cfl's

Go with 23 watt cfls put 4 on one side and 2 on the other you'll get 18'000 lumens roughly and 138 watts

bambuddah said:

Hey guys,

I've just started building a new grow box and have a few questions if you guys wouldn't mind helping me out!

So i've made the main structure of the box, minus the door which im still planning on adding of course.. along with all the other essentials. The dimentions of it are 60cm x 60cm x 90cm, and am planning on having a total of between 200-300W in a few different CFLs, am aiming to hit between 12,000-15,000 lumens total.

View attachment 2447308

One of my questions is how many intake and extraction fan do you think will be sufficient? I've calculated that the box has a total volume of around 11.4 cubic feet, and am planning on using 120mm PC fans to move the air. I've purchased one of these so far http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007Q2HC8I/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00, I was thinking something between 2-4 fans should be enough?

Here's the little bag seed im planning on putting in there to test it in its first grow

View attachment 2447311

Thanks

Click to expand...

I have a box a little bit bigger than yours it looks like, and I only have one exhaust fan at the top. I have small 3/4" intake ports on the bottom covered in nylon screen. With 2 225 watt bulbs within 2 1/2-3" from the top, it's only 80F. And I get a small draft from one of the crawlspace doors in my room, and the bottom of the box is next to it. I mean, you might benefit from a small intake fan near the bottom. Then again, you shouldn't need 300 watts per bulb in there. Step it down a bit. 200 watt is good. Still puts out significant amount of lumens, and as you raise the lights (or lower the plants), the bottoms still get plenty of light.
Are you planning on using Scrog or LST to maximize yield? It would help with light distribution as well. Just my opinion.

Well i've just picked myself up a slightly stronger 120mm fan, so may give your method a go and just use one as an extraction for now with some small ducts at the bottom, this will be good as I would also like to try keep sound down.

I've also just got myself a 200w dual spectrum, so hopefully that should be plenty for now, will get myself 2-3 lower wattage ones later on to put around the canopy. I was kinda hoping to go for a similar method to the guy in that vid I mentioned in the previous post, am aiming to get make a DWC hydro setup for a single autoflowering plant for now, and bend it right down with a scrog when it beggins to flower to try get some light to those lower branches. I think if you dont over stress the plant it should respond nicely, especially on hydro.

Almost finished the build, will upload some pics soon when its finished. Then can get on with the real business! By the way, anyone had any luck with the GH Flora series nutes? ive heard quite good things about them http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/nutrients/flora_series/

Thanks for your opinions!

I think its going to be too hot since the box is so small. You should run a heat test checking it every hour just to be safe.

I have no experience with GH. But I am buying their Go Box. It has 2-16 ounce bottles of grow and bloom, and then a bunch of 8 ounce bottles of micro and macro nutes. It's a big assortment. Only $26. The last nutes I used indoors was Earth Juice. That shit is amazing. But I wanted to go a different company, just so I have an experience with a wide array of nutes. Plus, I've heard lots of good stuff about GH.

Well I am thinking of keeping it in the garage which is pretty cold, reaching about temps of maybe between 7-10 degrees celcius at night at the moment, which should be fine in the day because of the heat from the light, but I was wondering should I have some sort of water heater in the pot to keep the water and nutrient solution warm? As i imagine that will get very cold in the times the lights are turned off. Or maybe under the 20/4 light schedule it will be fine.. we will see in due time. Whats the minimum temp the water can get in the pot and not stunt growth?

Just ordered myself an oxy pot by ikon and the GH flora duo A and B. Also ordered Dutch Passion Think Different Auto seed, which came with Positronics Seeds Critical #47 freebie! and freebies are always good.

This is going to be my first hydro setup, so was wondering how would I go about the germination process using clay pebbles? Would i be ok simply using some rockwool propagation cubes? and when the roots start to show just place it in the DWC setup? How often would I have to water the pebbles to ensure the roots grow out of the net pot and into the water?

Thanks.

Ok so sorry it's taken a while but deliveries we're understatably delayed of Christmas.. so i decided to build another box as the last one wasnt really big enough for what I want, although the bagseed I put in there has really taken off nicely considering the cold night time temperatures (been feeing the GH flora series at around 1000ppm and is responding really well), may keep it vegging while my dwc plant grows and hope its a female..



Anyways went to Ikea and got a shelving unit for £26 and, and got some pieces of hardwood and MDF to cover the outside, and to cover a couple of the shelves to make it air tight. Plan on hanging the main light from the second to top shelf, with the extraction fan in the upper compartment pulling the air through the gaps in the shelf, was thinking can probably keep power supplies and extensions in there too.

Still waiting on the ph up and down, and the relective mylar to arrive (hopefully today or tomorrow), but other than that i've put the seed germinating (Dutch Passion Think Different) and should'nt be too long before I can finish the cab place it in the bubbler!



more updates very soon!

Your lookin good bro...did one fan work or did you have to go with 2? As cold as it was i would think one will work

Yeah one fan was enough, even had it on a timer so it would only come on every 20 mins for 20 mins, due the the poor build of that first little cab there were enough gaps even when the door was closed to intake sufficient air.. hence why I decided to start again, but who knows could be a good little veg box for now.

Im expecting this other seed to overtake it quite fast, its been 3 days since i first placed it in a wet paper towel and since this morning it's already sprouted its fist set of leaves.

Damn thats quick and i figured with temperatues the way they are right now it would be fine with one fan...but when it gets a lil hotter you might need two unless you can keep your box in a climate controlled area...would like to see the auto's as soon as they start fattening up

Cab is pretty much complete other than the corner lights i want to get, for now i've just got one 120mm fan pulling air out from the top, and an intake hole at the bottom which i plan on covering with some sort of filter. I'll monitor the temps and if needed ill attach another fan but for now seems to be fine with just one. Reflector isnt pretty from the top but works nicely, made it by creating a metal bracket for the socket, and the reflector itself are from a couple of disposable trays.



Placed the little rockwool cube into a bigger one, so just going to wait for roots to show on that and will put it in the bubbler. Had a little PH up spillage when i was ajusting the reservioir and a little bit splashed in my mouth! wasnt comfortable.. anyways ended up buggering my PH pen so just waiting on my new one to arrive, dont really want to transplant it into the pot until i know the ph is good.



The bag seed is still going nice and strong so going to keep it in this cab for now, until the other little seedling takes it over.

looking good

Looking good man!

Bubbler is in! Should'nt be long before roots show and real results start to show.



Next buy will be the corner bulbs. Am thinking of getting 2 x 30w 2700k'ers per corner of the cab, an extra 16k lumens or so! just gotta work on making an efficient reflector, am in the process of following another guide i found on these forums on recycling beer cans to make them, seems pretty nice!

https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/232568-beercan-cfl-reflectors-cheap-easy.html

I really want at least 5oz from this plant! People have got insane amounts from this strain. Lets see how it goes