Small grow closet

H1ghmartins

New Member
Hi all.

I wanted to get some expert's opinions on my small closet that I made for my girls.
After a troubled first grow during the summer with a couple plants that died on my during flowing I am trying to build a better environment for my new girls.

I bought a small closet and modified it. Applied some aluminium foil to get better light spread, 2 small vents for air intake and outtake and applied a 50w led projector and threw a 22w cfl that I had in there.

Also I am feeding them a nice nut mix.

Any advice?
 

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Nugachino

Well-Known Member
Do you have any other kind of intake or exhaust fan to use? And judging by your lights colors you've got one 4-5000k bulb and one 2700-3000k bulb. It's a good mix of lights. But your cfl would do more mounted horizontally.

Do you know what temperatures and humidities that space reaches?
 

H1ghmartins

New Member
I have a 120mm fan for intake mounted at the lower part and a 80mm fan for exhaust mounted on the higher section. The leds are 6500k and is a single panel rated at 50w 3000~3500 lumen.
I have them on a 18h-6h schedule.
I will try to mount the cfl horizontally and maybe add another at cfl 2700k at flowering stage.
Also I will add temp and humidity monitoring. Right now I don't know the humidity but temps are around 22C.


Thanks for the tips
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
Two fans, one blowing, one sucking is stupid!
A fan can not blow out what it can not suck out.
Make the intake hole bigger than the exhaust and put a fan on the exhaust side.
The slower of the two fans is reducing the performance of the faster fan.
Pressure =VolumexTemperature.
So T=P/V If you increase the pressure inside by blowing more air into the box than you can suck out. P becomes bigger, and if P becomes bigger T becomes more.



Easier would be to deal with the source of the heat.
Radiant heat is put out by all parts of the light housing of the spotlight that receives and reflects light.
For that spotlight, I would cut a window in the roof of the box, that matches the window of the lamp and place the lamp on top of the box.
Now, the only heat from that unit entering the box is from the glass, and the light energy itself. Insulate it a bit below so it does not transfer heat to the lid.
The heat from the CFLs can be reduced with some clever recessed hole and socket to leave only the glass elements in the box.
A more practical solution to them is to buy some 10W LED bulbs, remove the plastic diffuser dome and replace the CFLs.
This will reduce the temperature by several degrees in there. BLowing more air through is not often the solution.
 
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H1ghmartins

New Member
Hi ANC,

Thanks a lot for the tips, I really appreciate it.

Just some doubts still. I recon the fan solution I have is not the best but is it really needed? You suggested install the spotlight on the roof to avoid heat but the heat inside is not an issue. The led produces almost no heat at all and as weak as the ventilation system may be, it is more than enough to dissipate the heat cause by the lights.

Also, the fan blowing inside is bigger than the one blowing out, I dont they are creating negative pressure inside.
Sorry for beeing stubborn :p
 

Nugachino

Well-Known Member
Another little tidbit of info. You want up to 50w (actual output) per square foot of floor space you wish to light. Adding more than that is likely to cook your plants.
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
There should only be one fan. The intake opening should be slightly bigger than the output to make life easier for the fan.
 

BmoreBuds86

New Member
Just a suggestion here dude.... But instead of aluminum foil, just get some mylar emergency blankets instead.... They're cheap and more reflective. And if u go to any local Pet store, u can find a cheap temp/humidity thermometer usually used inside lizard cages... Best of luck on your micro grow!
 

H1ghmartins

New Member
Thankyou for your tips guys.
I have a temp/ humidity sensor already and will add it later today. I'm removing the exhaust fan as well but it took muck work to apply the aluminium foil, would it be that much better to switch to emergency blankets?

Also, the size of the closet is about 60x30x90cm so do you think the lights I have now are enough for a decent grow?

Thanks
 
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