CFL Real Question

My closet :2 feet x 2 feet per 4 feet tall
Made out of compressed wood sheet (4 dollar each!) 16 cubic feet total

My lights: 2x42w on top , 2x23 w on two sides. Total of 11600 Lumens ( Ill switch 6500 bulbs for 2700 bulbs when bloomin')

Ventilation: 2 mufffin fan (CPU fan) on top for exhaust and passive intake with a small hole in the bottom of the closet covered with tissue for lightproofing. and desktop fan for inside air circulation.

My goal: single plant for personnal use!

Ventilation,enough or not?, i looked for bathroom fan but they seem too noisy and powerful am i right? other option was inline boost fan but apparently they are very loud too.

Lights: enough or not, well displayed? i plan on using low stress training do i need relfectors? is there any DIY reflectors?

Mylar or flat white paint?

ANY comment or suggestion, id like to have your opinion on my project!
Ill provide picture soon i want everything plan before construction wich is not so elaborated if well plannned!

should be enough venting if your intakes are big enough.intake should be 2-3 times the exhaust.

the lights im not sure sure i think you might want about double that to flower. or atleast add a few more 23-26 watts around where the lights low

reflectors will be useful theres alot of diy ones on here like pop cans to give you ideas.

for the mylar or paint mylar is suppose to be best but you can use whichever is easier for you to get or do. i use foil everyone talks shit about it but its been fine so far

THanks alot for your reply

U might b a little off on ur lumens. 2x42watt is about 2,800 per, so 5,600 lumens and 2x23 is about 1,425 per, so about 2,850 there. So roughly 8,400 lumens.

With such little lights, ventilation should b extremely easy. Just drilling a fewholes in the bottom of ur box and habit the CPU fans at the top to draw air from the bottom, evenly around the plants, and hot out the top.

If u don't have a box, but more of a barrier, CPU fans at the top, or the top of the sides, on opposite sides, should b fine.

Aluminum foil doesn't have very good reflective purposes. It's not about what people say it's about the fact of the matter.
Im not entirely sure the percentage of ligh that foil reflects, less than 50% tho, all I really does is reflect about 90% of heat. So if u want ur little lights, that barely create heat, to create twice the heat, then go ahead and use foil.

And if ur gonna use foilmake sure u don't use the shiny side facing out

Mylar works very well, with over 90% reflective properties. But is also known to have these "hotspots" that reflect light, as well as heat, stronger in some areas than others.

Flat white is how I roll. Easy, cheap, looks nice and clean, and doesn't create much heat. High reflective properties as well. From 80-90% based on the finish.

I would toss a few more lights in there now even. The morethe better, and heat is not too hard to deal with.

I have a 600watt hps in a 2x4x8 closet with 2 fans blasting on high, with no vent, so I must leave the door open all day, funny thing is, SKERVY, ur signature is very true lol. It is 35 degrees where I lie, and I keep my closet door open to my bedroom with two windows WIDE open for the 12 hours it's on. I can turn the heat off in my room for the whole winter, maybe even another room, and that shit gets hot. One could say tropical.

Good luck on ur grow brotha. But should get more lights.

Flat white paint is 85% reflective, and much easier. The lights are ok for one plant but cfls need to be in close - they lose intensity rapidly with distance. If I were you I would do two plants and make sure they are feminized. One might not make it and you have the space and lights for 2 of modest size. That's another thing, plan ahead for vertical height.

FYI in the top right corner of everyones post are 3 icons. The first is the post # in the thread, the second is a little silver, uh thing lol, which gives reputation to a user (do this if they helped, or even if they just say something funny) and the third is report user, a triangle with an explanation point in it, obviously if someone is annoying or breaking RIU forum rules that would be ur choice.

I saythis cuz I'm guessing u don't know.
And if u decide to +rep me for this explanation, my post, it is more than welcome lol

papasamba said:

THanks alot for your reply

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Flat white here.using 2 bathroom fans.there made to take moister .not so loud if sealed good no vibrating

TO make this clearer, ill have 2x23 W on one side , 2X23 W on the opposite side, and 2X42W on the top, i plan on putting the light 2 or 3 '' from the canopy and i know i will have to chek them everyday to adjust. Ill be using, if they arrive... feminized MASTERKUSH from DrChronic SB.

I got another question, Do you guys think its a good idea, in order to low stress train your plan, to put the lights far from the plant for a lil while and then tie it down more easily cuz the stem will be longer and easy to bend. After that put the light back 2'' away from the plant

papasamba said:

TO make this clearer, ill have 2x23 W on one side , 2X23 W on the opposite side, and 2X42W on the top, i plan on putting the light 2 or 3 '' from the canopy and i know i will have to chek them everyday to adjust. Ill be using, if they arrive... feminized MASTERKUSH from DrChronic SB.

I got another question, Do you guys think its a good idea, in order to low stress train your plan, to put the lights far from the plant for a lil while and then tie it down more easily cuz the stem will be longer and easy to bend. After that put the light back 2'' away from the plant

Click to expand...

Ok then you are pretty good on ur lumen output there lol.
I'm also doing an LST grow with 2 Jack herrer plants in the same pot (not room for two) under a 150watt hps, it's about 20-25 inches above the plants, they r growing in very tight and thick like a good girl should, but I do admit it's a lil bit of a pain to tie em down since they r bushy for their size. Encouraging streching is often frowned upon, but if it's just to start the Lst grow, and u change it back to normal soon, It could prove to b beneficial for u actually

can i get panda film at homedepot?

wait until 5 leafs start appearing to start LST. then tie from the top node and pull down (be gentle)

HEY guys, I would love to have a chart on watering, supposely, how much water should i give my plant during veg and flower for one plant in a 10 liter pot, and at what rate . Just to give me an idea, i know i have to wait till the soil is dry about 1 inch deep but i dont think its precise and what if i wanna leave for 3 days without watering can they survive? and now that i know how to give rep, ill give rep! Thank

Just pour water until it starts to drip out the bottom of the pot, wait about 30 seconds, and then water about the same amount.

In my 5 gallon bucket with 3 gallons of soil I use about half-3/4 of a gallon, only of which 1/4 of a gallon is actually absorbed, the rest just leaks out. That's how u know u have a good amount of water.

U must have a lot of sand in your soil ? i was planning on putting just the right amount so no dripping, i hate when its a mess, anyway nice reply
I got another question, when the plant is gonna flower, will it smell. I Know you will tell me its about the strain and blabla, but really if its just one plant that will stay relatively short will it smell enough for my neighboor to smell it, i live in an appartment
Sorry for my poor english skillls!

yes it ill smell. the strength would depend on strain but it will be noticeable. the soil should be mix preferably with perlite so as to have great aeration.

Can i stick some tissue softener near the exhaust to reduce the smell or do i really have to spend the extrabuck on carbon filter i wanna DIY everything

If ur trying to grow a 20" plant for urself, unless u have a lot of heat on it, or unless it's some ridiculous strain, chances are it won't smell past ur apartment. Any little things u can do will help prevent air flow into ur apartment hallway is key. Get some nice thermal strips for the sides and top of the door, and get a thick door sweep for the bottom.

Or hell just toss a towel there n spray air freshner by the door every now n then lol. Ur not gonna have some crazy odor creepig around the building from one Lil girl.

Sand? No actualy my soil is just nute free potting soil, would have mixed with perlite but home depot was out. N I am too impatient. My soil is quite fluffy tho as is. If ur water is not coming out of the bottom, root rot could b a future problem. U only want the soil to hold as much water as it can on it's own, forcing it to hold more water could lead to drowning (overwatering) or like I previously said root rot.

That's y u should have a nice airated soil like a 40/60 perlite/soil mix. Water flows thru easily n it holds wut it holds. When it's dry to an inch deep, time to water again.

HIFIVE, thank you for helping me out on this journey, i was looking for a soil on home depot site or ROna, u have a brand to recomand by any chance?, i know i shouldnt use Miracle grow, im trying to find a soil with Mycorrhizae and dolomitic lime, they are apparently the best one. Thank for your advice

Turn the lights on for a day in the room and check the temp -

In the winter it may be fine. And oscillating fan will help a lot.

You can get very quiet and inexpensive bathroom fans.

cheers

what does LST stand for?