Starting My Box...Input Wanted !!

Yeah, I hear ya man I figure my temps are ok but then again ,like I said we'll see when I add the higher Watt bulbs in there. Maybe someone with lots of experience will speak up and let us know the perfect temps !

Time to start Operation Mylar !! I'll take some pics and post them in this thread after I get the mylar in the entire box !

-Tdot

Wow, ok so...

*mental note* Attach mylar BEFORE assembling walls of box. What a pain in the ass I had trying to get this all done. I managed to cover 2 of the 4 walls with mylar and the pot is sitting on a rubbermaid container still so I covered the container with reflective tape.

So far since the mylar has been added the temperatures have gone up almost 2 degrees to roughly 82. Still not terrible but I'd prefer it a bit lower.

Here are the pics. Input welcome and wanted !!



^ The "Access" hole

Ohhh So shiny
And one Final shot of the mylar


Looking forward to hearing more input !!!

-Tdot

Been keeping an eye on the box now with the lights out its up to 84. Not happy but we'll see what I can do over the next few days to get the temps down before I go get my seeds. I still have time but I wanna get the box as Dialed in as possible before Germ'n the seeds !!

-Tdot

damn mylar lol, what are you doing for ventilation now

Presently for ventilation I have.. The exhaust Fan on the Top, and a 8" Oscillating fan on the inside. I still have to figure out where I'm going to cut the hole for the lower pc fan.

I was reading a "grow guide" last night from another site and I happened across the Temperature Question. According to the site the ideal range in temperature is between 77 - 82 with 80 being a "sweet spot" thats exactly the range my box is sitting in. so i very well might be in good shape. The only other thing I have to invest in now is going to be a thermometer with Humidity. I have a great digital thermo in there but no humidity and I have no idea where I'm at.

-Tdot

they sale a thermo at walmart that alot of the guys use I think its about 10 bucks

I do believe I"m going to head to Lowes or Home Depot on my lunch break and pick up some CFL's another 1 to 2 splitter and maybe a thermometer/humidity.

I'm going to buy the Veg bulbs now 6500K and probably 4 or 5 26Ws and maybe 1 42W. We'll see what I can afford got other bills to pay !

Anyway I'll update this evening with new pictures of the new bulbs and I'm going to put up the other 2 sides of mylar this evening. More pictures to come later !!!

-Tdot

Alrighty, so heres my little update with pics.

This is the new Thermo/Hygro I got


Its got a magnetic back so I will hang it mid-level in the box.

Next up is the bulbs I grabbed... 6500K ! ! !


And the final thing I grabbed....



The only thing that really remains for this thread will be me adding the new stuff to my box as well as a bit more mylar then my next thread will be my journal. I'd still love input from anyone !!! Thanks to everyone who chimmed in on this thread it was much appreciated !!

-Tdot

So a very interesting Update..

If you've been following along at all you'll know that yesterday I got myself a new Thermo that also read RH% as thats needed. So I already HAD a digital thermo probe in the cab at about 1/2 way up the wall. I've been reading temps from 78 - 82 and was quite happy. Well I added a few new bulbs (2 to be exact) and put the new thermo on the rubbermaid container beside the pots. Well RH% is perfect.. about 50% at mid day in to the afternoon and then its 40% with lights off.

Now the issue... I'm getting 2 far different readings from my 2 thermos.. the probe still says 81 degrees but my new one thats closer to the plants is actually reading about 90 degrees. I know 90 is still ok but I'm defiantly aiming to drop it down about 10 degrees. I still have a intake fan that hasn't been installed but the exhaust and oscillating fan are already there.

Any ideas ?!?!

Thanks in advance,
-Tdot

how big is your intake compared to the exhaust? rule of thumb intake should be 2-3 times that of the exhaust, if all else fails scrap the mylar and go with white paint shold knock the temps down a couple of degrees, its usually some small simple things you can do to get the desired temp also once you get the intake set up try removing the fan from inside the box, I tried having a fan inside my box and it made my temps shoot up 10+ degrees

Hmm, thats some interesting info there bigd I appreciate your help with everything man I really do ! +rep if I haven't already !!.. So, my intake fan is going to be a 120mm PC fan, I'm not sure of the speed per say as I pulled it out of a 500W power supply unit. the exhaust fan however is a 80mm PC fan. So your saying maybe I should get me a 2nd intake fan.. hmm.. and then remove the fan from inside.. I can definatly try that, I was even thinking about getting a smaller fan for the inside. Luckily the wood is nice white already so if I take the mylar down all the "walls" need are a nice scrub to clean a few marks here and there. Thanks again for the info, I'll try some stuff and keep it updated here !!.. The temps as of right now is 90.1...I want that about 10 degrees lower if possible.

-Tdot

based on personal experience, I would say go with the white walls, try running the box with no fan inside just the intake and exhaust....if the temps are still to high try removing the fan from the intakes and allow them to be passive ( i know it sounds crazy) but it works, I started with 2 intake fans and one ehaust had to remove one of the intake fans to get my temps right ...good luck and keep us posted

I added a second exhaust fan last night, a good size one, and my temps went from over 95* to around 82*. I couldnt be happier.

Today I'm going to cut the hole for my intake fan on the side of my box. If that doesn't help then I'll try removing the larger fan inside the box.

I'll report later with some temps and RH%s

-Tdot

Ok, so I've had my first real "duuuh" moment in this process. I guess when your a stoner it changes from measure twice cut once to measure 3 or 4 maybe 5 times then make a cut. Or just don't do stuff high either way I didn't measure the distance correctly at the bottom of my box for the intake. So when i put the fan in and everything there is a pole in my closet that now doesn't allow the box to sit flush. So what I had to do was flip the side of the wall and make the top the bottom which allows the fan to fit however now its at the top of the box. Its far from the end of the world, my new plan will be to grab yet one more PC fan and install it PROPERLY this time where the other was to have gone. Its not like thats going to make my box "too cold"

I'll take some pictures when I get the new fan installed and running, which I'm hoping for either tomorrow or Sunday.

-Tdot

Well, Well, Well, wouldn't ya know even with the intake up too high in the wrong spot the temperature down at the bottom of the box where the plants are has now dropped 5 degrees. Its sitting at around roughly 85.3, I'm still going to get another PC fan for the bottom of the box and then I think I'll be good to go. At that point I'll experiment with the fan inside or not cause if I can take that out I have more room for either plants or lights.

-Tdot

bigd921 said:

based on personal experience, I would say go with the white walls, try running the box with no fan inside just the intake and exhaust....if the temps are still to high try removing the fan from the intakes and allow them to be passive ( i know it sounds crazy) but it works, I started with 2 intake fans and one ehaust had to remove one of the intake fans to get my temps right ...good luck and keep us posted

Click to expand...

I agree with that as well.... Things seem more stable and easer to control with a good exhaust fan and a passive intake.

FarmingToronto said:

Well, Well, Well, wouldn't ya know even with the intake up too high in the wrong spot the temperature down at the bottom of the box where the plants are has now dropped 5 degrees. Its sitting at around roughly 85.3, I'm still going to get another PC fan for the bottom of the box and then I think I'll be good to go. At that point I'll experiment with the fan inside or not cause if I can take that out I have more room for either plants or lights.

-Tdot

Click to expand...

85* sounds great... you should experiment with a passive intake and have both your fans as exhaust... you may not even need the fan inside.

Thanks for the input Wolfman !

I was out this evening grabbed some more 6500 26W bulbs. The temps have remained stable around 85ish, I'm going to pull the fan from the inside tomorrow and see how that goes. More as an experiment, I dunno if I'm going to be able to get my seeds tomorrow as financially I'm in a terrible terrible place and well yeah, thats for another place to bitch about !! I'm sure karma will work out and maybe I'll find that person in Toronto with clones who doesn't want 50 a piece for them !?! or maybe a kind person with some extra seeds will help ?!? lol either way, life has a funny way of working itself out. So for now I have the most "high tech" basil grow box around !

-Tdot

Welcome fellow Canadian grower. Looks good, keep on growing.

FarmingToronto said:

Thanks for the input Wolfman !

I was out this evening grabbed some more 6500 26W bulbs. The temps have remained stable around 85ish, I'm going to pull the fan from the inside tomorrow and see how that goes. More as an experiment, I dunno if I'm going to be able to get my seeds tomorrow as financially I'm in a terrible terrible place and well yeah, thats for another place to bitch about !! I'm sure karma will work out and maybe I'll find that person in Toronto with clones who doesn't want 50 a piece for them !?! or maybe a kind person with some extra seeds will help ?!? lol either way, life has a funny way of working itself out. So for now I have the most "high tech" basil grow box around !

-Tdot

Click to expand...

I'm sure most of us know exactly how you are feeling as far as finances goes =/

Glad that you are keeping a good attitude about it all.... it's all we can do to keep us from going nutz lol.

So how is the basil doing? =]