Seus' First CFL Cab + Grow {White Widow + Hashberry}

[bmac07]

This is similar to what I was planning to do. I'll be watching .

[Azureblue]

Is the air outside of your grow box but inside the closet getting pretty warm? If it is then I would guess you aren't getting fresh air into your closet. I haven't been in this situation before but there are some good Grow Journals and other threads out there worth reading from people that have been in a similar situation.

After the research I've done I went with a "pull through" ventillation setup in which I have two exhaust fans up top (though in your case your 1 4" may be enough) and two intake holes (no fans) down low. If the box is reasonably well sealed this creates a vacuum which draws air in from the intake holes, across the plant, and back out again. I have had great luck with it during my grow!

Also, in my opinion with CFL's you need to be able to position them right up close to the plant growth, and not just from the top. A lot of the successful CFL grows I have seen have included CFL's providing light from both the sides and the top. This is why I have been using flexible desk lamps in my grow. I can hit up top, sides, and even looking up from the bottom. Something to keep in mind! The light from the CFL's does not penetrate as well as some of the bigger, more expensive solutions (HPS, MH). Don't get me wrong though, I love CFL's and that is what I am using. They are great for stealth grows and great for keeping your temperatures low.

Looking good and good luck!

[Seus]

Well, here's what I've done:



Even with both of those fans in the room outside of it, the temp inside still sits at about 83 degrees....which I still can't figure out, because to me the inside feels more like 75 or less. In fact it feels much like the room adjacent.



All 3 of those are exhausts out of the cabinet. So currently there's 1 Intake and 3 Outtakes. The only other thing that I can think of doing is doing as you say, and cutting some holes on the side to try and create a sort of vacuum where the fresh is is drawn in no matter what. Thoughts?

BTW, the room adjacent is roughly 75 degrees.

With the money I've dumped into this project, I can't just scrap it and say fuck it. Way too much sweat equity not to mention time and energy....

On a good note, 5 of the seedlings look really good. The 6th one, is well, still maturing, just not popping out yet....it must be the runt of the pack.

[jzchillin]

So you have 3 exhausts and 1 intake? That intake must be working overtime or absolutely useless.
Are all 3 exhausts hooked up to the filter? If not, your going to have some odor issues with that.
Are you venting into an open space with fresh air moving about, or is it pulling in the same air that it is venting? That could cause some problems. If you suck in air from the same area, it is already warm and the co2 levels are lower than normal.
I had the same problem but I was using a 600w hps in a cool-tube. I put a 6" centrifugal fan on it, then added some more vents at the bottom, and a cheap table top fan to move some air around in the cab. The centrifugal fan is strong enough that it creates a vacuum in the cab and the air rushing in is cooled from this movement. I also keep a window cracked too. I never have gotten the temp under 80 though, but that is mainly because i have such a large light in a rather small space. I recently upgraded to a larger fan that is going to whip some air through the cab, so i'm hoping to get it down another 2-3 degrees. Air movement inside the cab and accross the plants are vital to growth and it will help with the temps also. A cheap clip fan will do the trick until you can get something decent.

[Seus]

Well, just know that I can switch around the fans so that they either are an intake or outtake. The fan on the Carbon Filter is 81cfm and as far as I know, can take all of the air out in the cabinet in less than 1m, but I'm pretty sure the heat will build up. I'm thinking I probably need 2 intakes.

I never really thought about the smell with the other outtakes, which I'm not sure why, but that's a pretty valid point. Any suggestions of what I should do to solve that problem?

[jzchillin]

is your filter on 24/7? are all of them on? if the air is sitting still when the lights come on it might be possible that the ambient temp is rising because the air is not moving enough before that fact. but that is sort of reaching. i don't know how you have it setup, but you could have all the fans turn on like an hr before the lights do to get the airflow going so the box doesn't have a chance to heat up.

i don't see in the pictures where they are mounted. are they mounted at the highest possible point? heat rises.

as for you filter problem... somebody might have a solution for you but i don't.
turn the fans off and leave only the filter going = really high temps
use all the fans = low temps and the funk creeping about.

buy another filter fan combo. this time go for the big one, because your going to upgrade soon anyway. growing is an addiction.

[Seus]

To be honest, with all the fans on, first the amount of air that comes inside is a lot, in fact I can't even believe the amount of air movement in there, it's really quite good. Knowing some basic properties of thermodynamics, I placed the intake low in the box (around 6" up) or just above the tops of the grow bags. The fans expelling air are first off at the very very top of the area, (the carbon filter and the 3") and then I have the final 4" fan positioned at the highest point that I can have the lights so that once the plants mature, the heat from the lights are pulled away as quickly as possible.

Regarding the smell, I'm going to get an air cleaner CFL for the box, and probably 1 more for the adjacent room. I'm also going to get an ionizer for the room the box is in as well, positioned right by the extracting fans. I'll just have to adjust things if smell becomes an issue.

I supposed worse comes to worse, I can move the cloning area on top to a different box, and then make it so all the exhaust goes in there, and then only the carbon scrubber takes the air from that point and expels it out. And how cares if it gets to 95 up top there, as long as the hot air is out of the grow chamber is all that matters, and then the carbon scrubber is the only fan putting air out. I'll just cover those old holes with some raw material or something.

Thoughts?

btw, I've gotten it to basically 83-84 now with 6 lights on in the middle of the day. I think that's the best I'm going to get unless I get something like an a/c unit just for that room.

[jzchillin]

83-84 degrees isn't bad. It's not optimal. I had a very good crop and my box stayed at 80 during lights on.

Be careful when you use an ionizer, because they are bad for your health, and they should vent directly outside. They kill the smell very effectively but they also effect your respiratory system. I use one it's placed in another room (like a mixing chamber) before the air goes outside.

Never used one of those uv bulbs. Keep me up to date on how that works. The adverts are pretty convincing but I haven't done enough research to actually know if they are effective.

Man sounds like you have the plan.

[Seus]

when I meant ionizor I meant like one of those air cleaners with ion cleaning technology things, like you'd get from Sharper Image.

Yeah, I figure my best bet to getting temps at 75-78 would be easily attained with a stand alone a/c unit for the room, but A this grow is just for my own benefit, so while a larger yield would be nice, I don't smoke that much to begin with. So I'm confident that whatever I get out of this will def. last me until the next crop is ready.

Other than that, I'll just have to deal with the conditions I have currently. Don't want to spend too much more money on this hobby until the economy improves.

Def. thanks for the insight. I prefer asking others things on here to get their feedback, especially since I'm the only one who knows about this grow, and that's how it'll stay.

[ENVIRO GROWER]

hi m8 nice setup , my only advice and take it or leave it , is to get those cfls as close as you dare to the growing tops of the plants i have my 250w envirolite which is basically a big cfl right on top of my plants , i mean about 5 cm max lol , thats the trick with cfls , get a fan blowing right at the bulb and you shouldnt have any heat issues .

[Seus]

Yah thats what I was pretty much figuring is the case. I currently have the lights literally on top of the plants...just transplanted 3 of the rockwool cubes into the real grow area, just not sure what i'm going to do with the other damn 3 now.....no room in the grow area...wasn't expecting the seeds to all come through....maybe just keep transplanting? i don't know.

Mind you I took the best of the best 3 seedlings.

[MGS20]

can i grow a plant alll the way on 3-42w CFLs and a full spectrum alone?? i have a nice 2x2x4 setup and this is my first indoor grow. i have 2-250 metal LPS bulbs but no fixtures that kan fit them so im not currently using them. ive done 5 outdoor grows before and have had good sucess in the past but currently moved an live in the city so outdoor is a no go for now

[jzchillin]

you can but you buds will be scrawny. you can throw a few more cfl's on them and it won't hurt.

[Seus]

So yesterday I transplanted the cubes of 3 into the FF Ocean Forest Soil which are in grow bags. I added a good mixture of vermiculite to the soil as well to help it be less dense and to allow better drainage. I also switched the plants to 18/6 until I get some covers for the fans for the light leaks, and so that I can get some sleep at night, So anyways, I wake up to this:




One of the three that I planted was wilting quite a bit. I figured it must need water, as the soil was bone dry and the rockcube (shown) felt the same.

I also saw that the other seedlings weren't looking so good:



It's pretty hard to see, but the one in the back is wilting over completely. So I watered those as well, as their cubes were quite dry as well.

I know that the soil has nutes in it, but at what point should I be giving the plants in soil nutes? I haven't given them any. Oh and the water I give them is always pH 6.0

Thoughts?

Edit: Watering did the trick for the one in soil. It's pretty much bounced back now...only took about 5 minutes. The Seedling up top, I'm not so sure about. I may transplant it into a jiffy cup to see how it does.

[maddcatone]

hey bro. I like what I see... I'll be pulling up a chair to this one. As far as your seedling area being warm, that is great. seedlings love 75-85 degree temps, but once that first set of leaves appears (not the round seedling leaves) it should be placed in the grow area. Which you have done it seems.

Anyhow the thing about using rock wool is that you become a slave to making sure it is moist. You should also not need to fertilize for at least the first 2-3 weeks of the plants life, especially when using Fox Farm products. They know this and have this in mind, supplying all of the micro nutrients and microorganisms that the seedling could ever use, wihtin their soil. Any further additions would most likely result in premature nutrient burn. Burn this soon in their lives can be very traumatic.

Anyhow, keep uyp the good work bro. I'll be standing close by