air intake in a closet grow-power & timer needed?

[mangochut]

hey hey hey, right I've got my germing kit established and out on my desk. it is:

- 1 x air-lock germinating container (a big plastic kitchen fresh store container that's wide but shallow, with a snaplock lid)
- 1 x water misting trigger spray gun (filled with steam-distilled water)
- 10 x seeds from bagseeds, about 1 year old
- 1 x new roll of napkins
- numerous startup pots 5" high (wish they were 6" but they're fairly broad)
- (no soil as yet)
--

following germination-420 guide by Stylez1877.
sprouts will go outside and be grown up there. but I am hooking up my cab also for some couple indoors as well. it is a fun experiment growing pot.

wish me luck.

btw i wanted to know about vent intake: for my air intake in a closet grow:

1) Should I just use a intake 'hole' or is a circulating intake 'fan' installed better such as the spinning bringing in the air to the cab better?

if i did go for the intake fan (which I already have it's a Sunon) do I need link this up on a timer that's the same timer as the extraction fan or do I need a new timer ie one for each fan, to come on at same instant. Or is no timer needed (for intake) at all ie does the pressure effect of the extractor fan (when it is timed on) force the intake fan blades to spin forcefully?

installing note:
(this is what I am thinking)

Rather than placing the air intake fan right down the bottom of one of the closet sides, funneling the air up past the sides of the buckets and bashing the sides of my pots, I am going to position the intake vent above the top lip of the buckets, about 30-50 cm from floor of closet. I consider this to be still at the bottom of the cab - as I think I need to have the intake "down low on the side and the extracting fan up high in the ceiling" of the closet.

Putting it up a bit higher than very bottom of side panel will make it easier for the incoming air being forced in to flow unobstructed through the space above the pots and plants, and create an airflow right near where the plants stems are as well. this should lead to efficient airflow.

the fan I've got has handy arrow diagrams on one of the sides so that it tells me the direction of the rotation of the blades, and also the direction of airflow. I know from this which way to mount the fan. when I test spin it with my finger according to this it puts a breeze on my hand on one side.

regarding the timer schedule for the fan/s to come on, I am thinking:

- on for 5 minutes, then - off for 15 minutes.

I would like to do a sequential speed thing so that the fan comes on at a slower speed at first, then switches up to two more higher speeds before it is turned off. I think this would be better than having the fan on all the time, as less power and creates a combination of still period and airflow for the plants so more like a natural environment for them. but somebody may be able to tell me otherwise to leave the fans on all the time of for longer than this. In a period of 15 minutes I am sensing that the amount of CO2 buildup would not be enough to trouble the plants for this period of time, and then the fresh air comes in again.

[Num]

personally m8 I would use both fans for extraction & make a few holes lower down for passive intake.
drainage 90 degree elbows are good enough for light proofing, but stick some tights / gauze over the ends to stop flies getting sucked in

Unless u are using a co2 release system, there's no reason to turn the fans off at all.
Assuming ur using a cupboard of some sort, it's a lot quieter to hang the fans from the top with rubber bands, with ducting going out of a hole in the side.
If you screw them to the sides the buzzing will drive u mad!!

[tmass]

you dont need fans to germinate seeds just lift the lid twice a day. happy growing

[Num]

Originally Posted by mangochut

btw i wanted to know about vent intake: for my air intake in a closet grow:

[tmass]

to figure that out I would need to know the dimensions of your room.

[mangochut]

closet internal dimensions:

W 1400mm (4.59 ft) x D 505mm (1.65 ft) x H 1630mm (5.34 ft)

my extraction fan is a typical bathrom type fan, big enough I believe that any extra extracting fans are not required for the space. that was my other question is how to mount the intake fan. so far the extraction fan is being screwed onto the roof of the closet a new piece of ply I bought and the intake is also going to be screwed down on the side and somehow I need to install them each using some kind of buffer material that means it quietens vibration noise on the wood pieces. or, the suspension and ducting method suggested by Num (I'd like to see a diagram of this).

I am concerned about the noise the fans make when people come around my place even though it will be in the spare room, so this is why I was thinking of speed regulating the extraction fan to go slower and not so loudly.

[Num]

er - few points:
ordinary bathroom extractors will move hot air out of your growspace, but aren't generally powerfull enough to push air through a filter - so it will do to start u off, but when ur flowering, u will need to step up to an rvk type fan if u intend to use a carbon filter.

to suspend your fans to make them quieter, (assuming it's a 4" - 100mm dia fan) mark & cut a 4" hole as though u are going to mount ur fan flush onto the cupboard side.
Knot a thick elastic band through each side of the fan housing & hang it from the ceiling of ur growspace.
Stuff the ducting through the hole & duct tape / jubilee clip it to the back of the fan - simple.

Makes a big difference to the noise output - almost stops it completely.

Don't for get u need a bend in the ducting or u will see light thru it

If u don't have any ducting, make some with rolled up wallpaper, then glue a cereal box to the side where the duct exits, leaving the bottom of the box open.

(obviously cut a hole in the front of the box for the vent to poke thru!!!)

[mangochut]

so the vent fan hangs mid air inside the grow space, and the ducting connected to it (on one side) runs a short length then joins on the inside wall of the closet side, and this ducting links through to the outside of closet wall where air sucks from. so the hole in the closet wall just has ducting attached to it.

an important point I suppose is the orientation of the vent fan as it hangs, and it is hung as if it were vertically mounted on the side wall with the inflow coming in horizontally.

thanks for the tip about the RVK fan I didn't know about this and thought I could carbon filter with my current fan setup. I'll do some looking around for a nice carbon filter and fan in one unit.

[Num]

Originally Posted by mangochut

thanks for the tip .

you're welcome Sir