Worth a try!

MJH54321

MJH54321

Well-Known Member
Right... I am wanting to try something out so thought I'd share with you guys.

Micro Grows = A grow inside a small space, my space for example is 14 Inch high, by 15 Inch wide by 6 inch deep (UK measurements) not very big considering some of them on here. I've attached two small doors and sprayed the inner of the grow box white and sealed corners and edging with sealant.

On Monday (now Sunday morning) i will hopefully have the ballasts for the bulbs I have, the bulbs are 4 pin CFL 42 watt, with 4000K and 3200 lumen output each, its only a small grow so they should do plenty. As for ventilation I wasn't planning on any (big risk with the mould) but I've managed to find an old pc fan only approx 2 inch corner to corner and was thinking i could fix the fan inside for air circulation and I will be checking the lady 2 - 3 times daily, so that should replenish any air needed shouldn't it?

Oh yes its going to be a soil grow with SCROG, thinking maybe Coir fibre with 1 layer of hydroton balls in the base for oxygenation and drainage. Then have the SCROG net at about 6 inch high, only planning on about 3 Inch pots.

Will sort photos out when the grow box it completed.
 
Still no posts :/ well anyway I'm going to germinate my 2 female white widow seeds tonight, just need to get 2 pots out and prepare the soil (its been outside for awhile so I'm going to bake it in the oven for 15 minutes to kill any bugs.) Hopefully i will be getting the ballasts for my lights tomorrow and they can be installed.

I've also wired up an old small pc fan and I'm going to cut a hole in the back and seal the fan in. I also made a standard light block (still going to let some light through but not vast amounts) and have sprayed that white and installing that and the fan once I have installed the lights. I am also making 2 light shades for my bulbs, these will just be 2 soda cans with the top and bottom cut off and a cut up the middle with coat hanger wire securing the aluminium in place so it always has an arch (think the heat may bend the aluminium if its on its own)

I'll upload photos Monday night (UK)
 
you are going to need some exhaust, its going to get very hot with those cfls in there and that small of a space ive done it before trust me. but get a nice 80 mm fans and cut a hole in your box and just mount it. you could connect the fan to a cell phone charger type of plug and good to go.
 
I've got a 50cm pc fan (biggest i could find) and installed it in the rear with a light block (only card) and drilled 4 holes at the bottom for an intake. I haven't managed to install the lights yet, had a few wiring problems. Should be done by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Thanks for the replies.
 
Right had a few set backs but now have everything running. Hopefully it will stay ok with no problems but you know it can never be that easy.

So I have changed a few things with it. I'll start from the beginning, I made the box with no intentions of ventilation but from the comments above I decided to get a small fan and install that. I made 4 smallish holes (2 in each side) quite low to the floor then glued some material over to try and stop bugs, dust, ect and installed basic light covers over the fan opening and vent hole openings (you can see these in the photos)

I then glued the wire and transformer for the fan to the back of the box, this is the lower black box on the photos, the two top boxes are the ballasts for my lights and wired them up to the bulbs and to a plug that is plugged into a timer, the fan is on a wireless switch and will turn it off when the lights go off and turn it back on when they start up again.

I cut down and glued the SCROG net in the box at what i would have thought appropriate for the size the plants will be.

The seeds which are white widow had cracked the shell of the seeds and i placed them in the soil and moistened the soil lightly.

The lights are currently set to turn off at 24:00 and to turn on at 06:00 this will be changed to 24:00 off and 12:00 on, once the plants start to reach the SCROG net.



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I do have a slight problem, my temps are around 110F now I know that is really high but I've just been looking a a site that said temps can be around 95F during veg and can speed up growth but recommends lowering the heat to 75F during flower. so I'm going to try and have a couple of weeks to think how I can eradicate the heat.
 
mount your exhaust fans higher on your box.heat rises so if you mount your fans higher it will be more effective.Also I didnt see any intake holes? you should have a couple intake holes as close to the bottom of the box as you can and preferably on the opposite side of your exhaust.
 
Already mounted in though, I'll have a look at what I've got, maybe if I circulate the air it may get the heat round the middle to get extracted. Got 2 holes on either side of the box low level, inside they are covered by basic light covers on the outside their is a picture of them above.
 
there is a sitecalled allied products i do believe. the sell pc fans and cords to hook them up. wish i had the quick link for ya sorry. The fans are resonably priced and the they have some small ons that pull 110 cfm for around 15 bucks a peice. Might be worth checkin out.
 
Its annoying because I always see exactly what I want and then it turns out to be dollars and it takes like 2 weeks to arrive and costs an extra 20pounds to get it to England.
 
check around at local thrift shops and computer stores(talk to the guy at the counter and see if he has anything that has been salvaged).Or scavenge them from old broken electronics.I got mine from 2 burnt out power supplies from old computers.
 
Still only a few posts and no rep :/ oh well thanks to all the people who are watching the thread.

I've managed to get hold of a 120mm fan, and have installed it in the top of the box, its only connected to 5.8volts so its not using all the power it has but its only to exhaust hot air from the top. seems to be Ok, temps have now dropped to around 105 F so unless I can find another plug that has closer to 12 volts its going to have to do.

Seeds still not sprouted but it is still only day 2.
 
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