CFL micro upgrading to new cabinet and LED

Ok so I have a micro going right now, girls (hopefully) are at day 16 above soil, and day 19 since germination. I am currently running 103W of 5000K cfl in a Rubbermaid tub ghetto-rigged to hell and had been searching for a decent alternative. I searched my local Craigslist and picked up a pair of matching cabinets, $25 for the set. They measure 30"w x 16"d x 36"h and have double hinged doors. I have a vague outline in my head of what I want to accomplish... one box for vegging (mothers/clones) and one for flowering. I plan on using LED lights for my flower cabinet, and eventually for both. I am very limited on space and my concerns are keeping the cabinet light proof while maintaining sufficient air exchange and proper temps, all while being stealth about it. I know with LEDs the temps wont be too bad, but I just wanna make sure I'm doing things right. I plan on some inline 4" fans by s&p and plan on using midget louvers for passive intakes... a dozen 4 inchers (6 Per cab).
I am looking at the 135W UFO from htgsupply or blackstar. I plan to be buying a pair for my flowering cabinet, and possibly for the veg, but not to sure about the number of bands in the LEDs, the actual power draw of each brand and if I can get away with just one in my veg cab. Plus, the price of htgsupply is $5 more per unit, but also 7 bands instead of 6... so many different things to look at. Even considering the 240w panels, just not too sure. I guess I'll be making my mind up as soon as the moneys here. I still have a little time, and I'm not in a hurry.
Well anyways, here's what I've temporarily scrapped together until funds arrive. Lemme know what you all think... any recommendations for, well anything? My #1 goal is stealth. Any and all comments welcome, but remember this is a W.I.P (Work In Progress)
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Ok, went and picked up some lasagna pans from the dollar store down the street, and wallah! ! Light reflector done, and I can tell a difference in the intensity of the light below it now... the red pot in the pic looks white from the light. One beneficial thing I realized about my light design is the use of a wire basket for the frame. It allows air to pass through the hood and my test temps have been topping out at 86 in the cab. They are only reaching 81 and usually hovering around 79-80 in my Rubbermaid bin, so I hope the increase in temps isn't too much for the plants.
Pics

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...and the Rubbermaid veg box
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Switched some things up today, they each got watered and the blue pot looks a tad droopy. Probably should have waited another day or so to water her. Everything else seems OK... got temps to stay around 79-82 on average in the flowering cab where things are 12/12. I added some light bulbs and replaced a defective Y-splitter. The bulbs total 261W actual rating. I have 11 bulbs with 3 being 5000k and the other 8 are 2700k. You can see the three 5000k bulbs in the center of my fixture. Eventually all will be 2700k

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...and the one left in veg at 18/6, thinking about ditching it, but might just grow em all out in case I have a male or two
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You have me interested (led)

There's a few of us in here who've made the switch to them so there's plenty for you to read and follow if you wish.

I'm pleased to see you've already been reading about leds, it's not as simple as a cfl or hid grow when choosing the hardware lol.

Yep your plants look a little over watered, step back on the feeding a little and you'll be fine.
I won't recommend an led as its your grow just make sure the diodes run the correct nm for a successful end result.

Google is your best bet and forums but you will come across those who against them big time so just ignore them and carry on.

Good luck I'm subbed.

Loving the ghetto reflectors lol

Hey, thanks and welcome. Thanks for reassuring my overwatering, I will back off for sure now. I've seen a bunch of the threads on the leds I'm interested in, and I've seen you in a lot of them so I feel honored to have you in my thread
If I still can't make up my mind by the time I'm going to purchase, I'm going to write down all the pros and cons of each setup I'm considering and weigh things out. Until then, I'm still lurking in the forums soaking up info.

nice grow, much better than mine anways. but good luck to you shredder il be checking up on ur grow every once in a while

Hey, thanks and welcome. Thanks for reassuring my overwatering, I will back off for sure now. I've seen a bunch of the threads on the leds I'm interested in, and I've seen you in a lot of them so I feel honored to have you in my thread
If I still can't make up my mind by the time I'm going to purchase, I'm going to write down all the pros and cons of each setup I'm considering and weigh things out. Until then, I'm still lurking in the forums soaking up info.

Thanks mate I'm all over the place lol it's hard work keeping up.

No need to praise me though I'm no expert I've only got 12 or 13 grows under my belt and this is my 1st led grow I only comment from past experience and will never quote from another post or something I've read...


Your doing the right thing lurking and taking in all that info...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj-qBUWOYfE]INPUT Short Circuit - YouTube[/ame]

Thanks guys, and djsid that made me lol I haven't seen that film in years! Creekside thanks for checking mine out, I'm sure you will get a hang of things soon, this is only my second grow and I've come a long way since a year ago when I tried my first.

So since yesterday I've been dealing with some mites. Picked up some ecosmart organic garden insect killer yesterday and sprayed right after lights out lastnight, and I checked when lights came on and not near as bad as lastnight, but still some pests. I pulled each plant out one by one and took them over my bathtub to spray them making sure I get full leaf coverage. Its been almost 2 hours and no signs of the little buggerz, gonna stay on top of this and eradicate these fuckers before they get too comfortable chewing on my plants. The spray seems to work, its just very strong smelling and doesn't seem to be harming my plants - so we'll see.
On another note, today is day 20 above soil and day 4 of 12/12 for all but the yellow pot which just went in yesterday. Upon further inspection of my babies, the black pot, which has had the most vigorous growth - is showing pistils!! I almost couldn't believe my eyes seeing as this plant is hardly 3 weeks old and has only had 4 days of 12/12!!
I can't get a good picture of the mini bud sites, but they're up top near the newer growth and one pistil already looks brown. Hoping the spray didn't have anything to do with making it show sex early or make that pistil brown, cuz I thought age made the pistils go from white to brown.. anyways, here's a few pics

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Showed that she's a girl today
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So since yesterday I've been dealing with some mites. Picked up some ecosmart organic garden insect killer yesterday and sprayed right after lights out lastnight, and I checked when lights came on and not near as bad as lastnight, but still some pests. I pulled each plant out one by one and took them over my bathtub to spray them making sure I get full leaf coverage. Its been almost 2 hours and no signs of the little buggerz, gonna stay on top of this and eradicate these fuckers before they get too comfortable chewing on my plants. The spray seems to work, its just very strong smelling and doesn't seem to be harming my plants - so we'll see.
On another note, today is day 20 above soil and day 4 of 12/12 for all but the yellow pot which just went in yesterday. Upon further inspection of my babies, the black pot, which has had the most vigorous growth - is showing pistils!! I almost couldn't believe my eyes seeing as this plant is hardly 3 weeks old and has only had 4 days of 12/12!!
I can't get a good picture of the mini bud sites, but they're up top near the newer growth and one pistil already looks brown. Hoping the spray didn't have anything to do with making it show sex early or make that pistil brown, cuz I thought age made the pistils go from white to brown.. anyways, here's a few pics

Showed that she's a girl today

Looking real good man! Your plant looks happy!
If I may ask....
You have such a large grow cabinet why did you chose to flower so early?

Looking real good man! Your plant looks happy!
If I may ask....
You have such a large grow cabinet why did you chose to flower so early?

Thanks for the kind words..
Well, from the beginning I hadn't really planned on going to this cabinet until I bought it. I was originally in a Rubbermaid container and was gonna do some major lst.. but since getting the cabinet I've kinda been following the seemorebuds "buds for less" book I got on PDF for free. In his book he shows a day-by-day of his plant from seed, flowers at day 16 and the plant still reached around 24" or more. I figure with my light fixture and the pot or whatever container will cut down my actual height limit to around 24". The inside height of my cab is about 34". Plus, I am also very noobish and I don't feel like I can handle a large plant in such a small environment without some personal experience first. These are all bagseed and I am still researching grow styles and all other necessary fundamentals that make a decent grow easier.
If they flower and produce buds, then great.. no matter the size - I learned and got free smoke. If they die, turn male or hermie out, then I possibly get some seeds and definitely get some experience. I have a friend who can hook me up with clones for free off his selection of a few mother plants... but that doesn't happen till I'm a medical patient, and since I'm currently not, I haven't told anybody about this cabinet.
Sorry for the rant, I guess the simple answer to your question is "I just lack experience."
I am really interested in making this a cabinet for a one plant scrog, or any other way to get the highest yeild possible in a space like this. Any suggested techniques or recommendations... I highly appreciate, I'm always doin research cuz I love to learn and love to hear what others have to say.
Anyways thx for stopping by! Keep ur thoughts lifted!

Fucking spider mites. Are these things like the worst luck or what? It sounds like once you have them you only control, never eradicate. I have lost one plant already from the harshness of the ecosmart organic insecticide. I bought a hot shots no pest strip and cannot effectively use it because my cab is in the same room I'm in. I'm almost positive the mites came from an infected piece of outdoor gardening material. I feel like giving up on these plants because of how much I've fucked them up already... plus its not like I'm that far, just started flowering and only one looks hopeful. I could also get a jump start on sanitizing things with bleach and pesticide and getting some preventative measures for future grows; I'm thinking azadirachtin (azamax or azatrol) and sns 217. They have both of these and also mighty wash at my local hydro. I'm almost completely sold on a systemic repellent and growth inhibitor like the azamax, but also am considering the mighty wash or sns 217 for spot treatment if I ever see the little fuckheads again.
I am hoping to completely eliminate them by completely sanitizing my grow box, my room, and as much of the house as possible. Should a diluted bleach water mix work for spraying and wiping? Or do I need a miticide for anything? N E body know?

I am just taking my losses and don't want to ever see mites again. Plus there are some upgrades I can make to this current cabinet at the same time I sanitize. I am going to look into getting the inline fan now, I just need to figure out which one I want and need. I am looking at the soler and Palau td-100x or td-125. I want the quietest fan I can get, while maintaining sufficient airflow to regulate proper air exchange rates and temps. Remember I am going to ulitmately end with LEDs so temps shouldn't be that big of an issue. Does anybody have experience between these two fans? I am thinking the 125 could potentially be what I'm looking for, but I only have 9 cubic feet of air inside my cabinet and want to save as much room as possible. Need stealth in size and sound, and enough power to run a carbon scrubber, too.
Ok well I'm done going on about this... here are pics of what's left for now

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So the spider mites i encountered were as tough as shit. I killed three of my damn plants trying to deal with the little fuckers. I decided to keep the flowering plant to see if i could just deal with this bullshit, and whatdya know... mighty wash actually works, with a very very strict regiment of spraying and watching...
anyways, the girl got put into a 2 gallon fabric dirt pot, and just got her first weak feeding of foxfarm big bloom. i also modified the remaining lights for the sake of the last plant.
19 days into flowering and i can't show pics cuz grasscity is cheap shit

Good thing you got rid of those mites. That's why I never bring outside stuff inside. Any decision on LEDs yet? I use black star now. Not top shelf but real good results for there price. I can only imagine what a more powerful led can do. I'll be following this one.

hey thanks... the spider mites were little bastards. since feeding her with the foxfarm big bloom, the oldest remaining fan leaves are showing rust spots and yellowing. I ended up flushing the 2 gal container with 4 gallons distilled water. I think that's my main problem right there. everything i have is organic and i have read that you shouldn't use distilled at all. So.. I now won't use distilled and my tap water sucks too (pH 8+, 700+ PPM) so now i'm thinking i can use the spring or drinking water from wally world instead.

I have also learned that I should have added dolomite lime to stabilize the soil a little better and I feel that would have helped with the deficiencies she's seeing now. Does anybody know if I use the bottled drinking or spring water, will that provide enough of the micro nutrients like calcium, magnesium and iron? I am just wondering cuz this is what she looks like as of now, making me a lil worried
U can see all the trichs that are forming ...one thing that makes me happy

Hey hows that doing? Have you harvested yet? Pics look like you may have been cut short of bud growth due to the leaves dying too soon.. or maybe not ..

hey there, yeah... it's been harvested. I started the plant in a 6" 2.0 qt container originally and transplanted too late to even make a difference to roots or anything. This plant dealt with mites, pH lockouts and deficiencies, and after the pH started getting way outta control I just decided to pull it because the trichomes were starting to degrade from lockouts. After drying and curing it was almost exactly 3.5 G, which isn't bad from a half-gallon container and my lack of experience. Nugs were about 80% cloudy 20% clear or amber. The smoke was really uppity, coming in with a creep few minutes after finishing a bowl. Overall I learned alot and am already on my next grow hoping to bring in a lot more this time! I will update once things start picking up and getting past the boring seedling stages. thx for stopping by and heres what it looked like before I smoked it all. LOL

Hey everybody, so I still haven't gotten the LED lighting I was hoping for, but I have started another grow under HID lighting. currently 150W HPS, Sour Grape clone under scrog in 3 gal. container. All organic soil grow with organic nutrients.
Any questions feel free to ask.

Pics:
First two pics are of the day she came home Oct. 7th, under the screen first day on Oct. 17th. The rest of the pics are today Nov. 3rd almost exactly 4 weeks since I got her.

Could you post pics of the outside of the cabinet ? I see you are scrogging now .

I am going to lst the hell out of my plant. I just bought a small cabinet to grow in .

SO that 150 hps isnt giving you any heat problems ?

Thanks for the kind words. My first post in this thread shows an outside picture of the cabinet in it's original location, along with the dimensions. I've moved the cabinet and replaced the CFL's with the sunburst convertible hood i picked up on craigslist for $60. it's a 250w hood, but the guy who sold it to me gave it to me with 2 bulbs, 150w hps and 250w hps... i've just been running the 150 so far with no problems and my temps have been lower than when I was using cfl's. 72 F lows during the night, and 79 F is the average I see it hit in the daytime, with it rarely hitting 80 or 81 - all depending on my A/C. I might switch for the 250 watter once flowering time comes, but so far the 150 has been plenty. I'm looking for ways to hang the hood higher, might get some chain or wire or something like that, because these brackets and carabiners are a waste of height space. I am also considering just taking the hood apart and mounting everything separately with the ballast outside the cab somewhere. Here are a few pics for the hell of it.