This is my third attempt at posting, I think my attempts yesterday failed... Hey all, This is my first grow and I decided to start a grow journal to get feedback and helpfully get the best possible results with you wonderful folks as my guides. I’ll let you know ahead of time that this is going to be my longest entry but I want you all to know the full setup I have developed. Keep in mind I am growing on the ultra-cheap. I have less than $200 into the entire thing lights, soil, seeds, containers, etc… My grow box itself is shown below. It is going to be a very, very large Rubbermaid-type storage bin. I plan to grow LST so that the entire plant will fit inside of one bin; but should the plant get taller, I have a second bin that I can use to attach to the top of the first (so it will now look like stacked storage boxes) to allow me to grow almost 3’ tall in a contained space. The bottom (main) box also has a 120mm hole cut into the bottom to allow for air flow (A fan will push air in from that point). The lid I have has a hole cut in the top. On top of this hole is a cardboard box I have caulked onto it with two case fans for computers built inside of it. This will act as my carbon scrubber. Inside I will essentially create an activated carbon sandwich using two pieces of thick filter. This will go to the bottom of the container and the fans will suck air through the hole in the top of the bin and it will go through the activated carbon filter and then exit through the fans. The basic air flow is from bottom to top so as to help with the heat rising trick. For lights, I have gone to the great cheap everything store and purchased three adjustable lights with conical light focusing deals. For the veg cycle I will use GE Reveal 60 W lights. I have seen the spectrograph and these lights emit a great deal of blue light which I hear is good for vegging. When it is time to flower, I will switch to 18W CFL’s. I understand I will probably need to buy more but I only intend on growing ONE plant for my first grow and I think the equivalent 150-180W is sufficient for one plant on the first grow. Also, I will be covering the inside of the entire box with aluminum foil. I haven’t fully decided on my grow cycles (I know the basic cycles but I was considering 24/0 or 21/3 or something to that effect to gain a little more time. I have researched nutes a bit but haven't purchased anything yet because I'm still waiting to ensure my seeds get here. I have ordered feminized white widow from Nirvana and hopefully those will arrive very soon. I’m sure I forgot something but if you have any questions or any comments/suggestions I would appreciate the feedback and gladly take it into account. Thanks! Bentham
Alright I have updated my box a little bit to provide better light and ventilation. I have decided to run two plants LST against each other. (Explained in the pic) Let me know if you think it will work. I'm trying to work with the space I have and this is the only way I can think to do it.. First, I was reading another thread and I saw someone using a "Swamp Cooler." From this I sorta took their idea and did the same thing but slightly differently. What I've done is cut a sock open along one side so it lays flat, and I essentially created a sail with a small hole in the front side so that air will billow in it and then pass through. This sock is tied to the fan via pipe-cleaners and then the sock is put in a Tupperware-like device to provide moisture. Also what I have done is install 4 CFL lights in conjunction with my standard light set. I will be running a total of 4-6 CFL's depending on temps. I have bought 3 26W (100W eq.) bulbs and 3 18W (75W eq.) bulbs. Total lumen output CFL only: 7800@6, 6700@5, and 5600@4. Also I will veg the plants with one close up incandescent and 4-5 CFL's. The problem is the incandescent bulbs raise my temp to close to 90+ whereas with CFL's I can achieve mid 80's. I haven't tried with the swamp cooler yet but hopefully low-mid 80's with that thing. The picture shows only one light but I will install one on the other side as well I just haven't gotten around to it yet. My seeds are still in transit. I also bought soil and flowering ferts. The soil is some organic kind I found (crappy miracle gro cause I'm poor) and the flowering stuff is just whatever the store had. The organic soil ferts are ( 0.1-0.05-0.05) and then the flowering is (15-30-15) hopefully not too much nitrogen in the flowering bit... I believe that's all I have to update ya'll on. I still don't know the light cycle I want but it will likely be 18/6 so I can keep an eye on it when it's on. I've done a few "dry runs" with the lights on and I get temps as stated above but otherwise very pleased with airflow. I had to remove the top blue filter from the box because two filters make it difficult to pull air for those fans. I really need another fan but I'm broke so maybe in a month or so. Later guys, Bentham
Update: Was working on the soldering for the fans and during a test I broke a blade on one so now I am stuck for a few days while I order new fans from Newegg. If the seeds come this week though I have enough leeway to go ahead and germ them and get the grow started. Also, I moved the CFL's from being in the center of the box to opposite corners. It should provide better distribution of light and a clear path for the flowers to grow up and not hit the lights. Bentham
Hey all, Another update. I glued the fan back together and it works so far so I'm pleased. (no wobble). I will use the new fans to add excess negative pressure to force more air flow...I think I will install the fan in the top of the existing carbon scrubber box... I removed the incandescent bulbs all together. They are way wayyyy too hot (90's) and now with 6 cfl's (4 23's and 2 18's) I read mid-upper 80's. Does anyone know if my plants will survive that extreme of a temp? I hope to bring it down a few more degrees with another exhaust fan and an inside stirrer fan... Also is this wattage/luminosity sufficient for two plants? Bentham
I just made my own rubbermaid grow box and I'm using 4 26W 6500K CFL's and I'm holding my temp steady at 82*F. I've read that ideal temps range from 75*F to 85*F. I used a 120mm fan on my output drawing air through a cat-box carbon filter and I have two 3" passive intake holes. What are you lining the rubbermaid with? I can't tell if it's tin foil, mylar, or a space blanket.
I used aluminum foil...it's really good at dissipating heat which I figured was good since I have those cfl's mounted to the container itself... Is 4 bulbs doing you well? one or two plants? I'm amazed you're getting 82F...I think I may try to take a temp reading from inside of my carbon scrubber instead of in direct light so that the light isn't giving me false temps. Thanks for responding! Bentham
I just built a cfl rubbermaid and planted my beans today. Go to Walmart, Target, or to a camping/outdoors store. Buy an emergency blanket, which is just a sheet of mylar. Mine was only $1.98 and it was big enough to cover the entire inside of my double 30 gal rubbermaid box (one on top of the other). You could cover an entire closet with 3 of these for less than $10.
hey man im no expert so im not sure...but yeah get mylar or some white visqueen plastic...i dont know what one im going to get....i heard tinfoil is bad news because it creates hot spots and reflects light at bad angles. check into it tho, good luck
I'd scrap out that foil as well. I've read bad things about it also. Go for mylar/space blanket, foil tape or paint it white. I have the 4 bulbs in two clip lights (using Y splitters). I planted a germ'd seed on 9/27 and she sprouted today, so I'd say that so far, the 4 bulbs are doing the job! I'm only doing 1 plant. I have my grow box in the crawlspace in my basement, so the temperature on the outside of the box is probably cooler then the rest of the house. Your exterior tempature has an effect on your inside temp. I didn't want to have this thing in the crawlspace, but it's working out for now. I've added a 5th bulb and held the temp at 86, so if it gets colder, I have a plan to keep the temps consistent. I'm a little concerned how the temps are going to hold when I switch to 12/12 in about a month. I may attempt to insulate the box....we'll see. Any good luck with your're grow. I'll be watching.
Thanks HighMtnSkier I went ahead and got a mylar space blanket deal and am working on putting it in right now. I hope this mylar works better and I think the only way to save my temps for right now is more air exchange. My apartment is really hot though (81F my room sucks) so hopefully as the winter rolls in, the apartment temps drop and the container will regulate itself better... Thanks for all the help. Bentham
Seeds arrived today. Total transit time with cash payment was 10 days. Not bad but next time I will go buy a VISA gift card to use online to ease my transactions. I've put two of my 5 seeds into germination and the other 3 will be going into cold, dark storage to use when I start my next grow or if these seeds fail to germ. I have faith for this attempt though. Again I will be using feminized white widow and I attached a picture of the seeds. I'm excited to get going. Bentham **EDIT** Using paper towel method.
nice man, are you trying low stress training or anything?...i think a lot of people with CFLs do that because they dont have much light penetration...(doesnt mean theyre bad lights for growing, i plan to use them my first grow, ill hopefully start when your floweing Thanks to KillaKush, heres the thread that convinced me to try a CFL box...some pretty good info to learn, and check out the final product. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/429871-pineapple-cfl-indoor-grow.html
nice man, wish i would've thought of that scrubber idea, but my rubbermaid is in my sig, on day 17, now last pics posted 3 days ago, just topped both plants and going to start lst'ing, ill be checking this out i love rubbermaid grows, can never have to many ideas. good luck
Thanks Vic and Jcs! Vic I checked out that KillaKush LST a while back and that's textbook what I think I may end up doing. It looked like a great LST. He sorta did a radial method and I want a more linear approach but we'll see what I end up with. LST is the only way for me to get a better yield in that small container. I want a short bushy lady nothing too tall. Only complaint with the CFL's is I can't find those damned Y-junction fixture things everyone else is using...where do I get those and how much? I have a few of those cone shaped lights but honestly I'd rather set the light inside of the plant and if I can get ahold of those Y-shaped deals I'd love it. Thanks for the comments Bentham
hm...i would think home depot or menards or any place that sells lights would have that... but i dont think im going to do that....id rather have mine all seperate so i can put one pretty much everywhere i possibly can lol...maybe 1 of the Y things right above each plant or something....im also still debating how to hang/mount lights...the ones with clips look perfect for what were doing, but i havent come across any...didnt really look tho seriously tho dont take my advice too much ive never actually grown an entire plant! just my 2 cents
I appreciate the thoughts though. If you look at my lights picture, the ones I have are actually clippy deals too. But they hold on to heat and are a little too bulky for the box. Consider it before you buy into them. They are difficult to hang (I use screws to mount them to the side) and they pose a possibility of ripping the Mylar. I will use them for directional supplements to the corner-mounted CFL's I have now. I bought the fixtures that you screw onto the side of houses (they allow for twisting and angling the CFL's with a minimalistic fixture). This way I can change the CFL light level very easily from a singular spot but I'm still looking for ceiling mountable fixtures that I can adjust with height but I'm sure I'll think of something and that's really only if my corner CFL's and the 2 directional cone lights get into the way of the plants.
Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, Target, Sears all have the lamp socket Y-splitters. The run $2-$3 a piece. Also, if you put some weather stripping tape on the clip of your lights, you won't have to worry as much about tears.
I looked around Wal-Mart but I didn't see any...I'll take a trip down there tomorrow and Home Depot too...I'll just have to ask around I suppose. Thanks though I will get some and mount them via tethers I think sorta the way stoplights are hung across the box.
Im really interested to see how this goes. Im planning on doing something very similar. Best of luck my man Have fun
Hey all, I germed the seeds as soon as I got them and they are successfully germed. I ran into a problem though... As I opened up the Organic Miracle Gro soil I bought, I found hundreds of gnats and said gnat larvae. I read this means there was fungus in the soil. Thankfully I spotted them but unfortunately I have no backup soil. My seeds are still sitting in their germ container...what should I do? They've been showing roots since probably 4 EST today and the earliest I can get them into soil is tomorrow at 9:00 am (total of 17 hours at least extra spent out of soil). Will my seeds survive this? I will be giving them some extra water to keep it moist until the morning but I will be rushing over to buy Fox Farm because I've read they are the best and I'm not going to risk it with Miracle Gro they're full of shit. Bentham