My First Indoor Growbox

Discussion in 'Grow Room Design/Setup' started by rockfisha, Jul 4, 2014.

  1. #1 rockfisha, Jul 4, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 4, 2014
    Hi guys,
    I have just knocked together a small growbox as i came across a few seeds in some great weed and sprouted them so needed a quickly made growbox. Funds were more than limited, and as much as i wanted a growtent, $300 was too much. I looked at various cupboards, wardrobes etc but all were too pricey. When i was thinking about what to use as i door, i had the idea i could make a box from old internal doors !  By the end of the day i had 5 internal doors and frames for $10.50 off Trademe. I ditched all the frames but one, keeping only the frame for the access door. I then screwed 3 doors together to form a 3-sided box, and used the door in frame to finish the box.
    I bought a 600w HPS light/ballast combo and made shade from an old whiteboard i had lying around, lined it with Panda-film, installed a 200mm extractor fan and it sits at approx 27deg C. Will soon get a 4" centrifugal fan and carbon filter as they are starting to smell too damn nice !
     
    The 3 seeds i had all sprouted and seem to be doing really well, i was expecting it to be hard to cool but seems fine so far. 
    Am i likely to have cooling problems as the plants get bigger ?
    Open to any suggestions fellow growers may have to help or any tips...have posted a couple of pics as follows.
     
    Cheers

     

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  2. lol I like the doors. . .
     
    Heat will be about the same throughout....humidity can be a problem though if you don't have good ventilation. If temps are fine with the 4" and filter installed, then you should be good. Alot of people use a 6" fan set up for 600w..but you might be able to get away with a 4", especially if ambient temps are pretty steadily 70 degrees or so. When you get the carbon filter, pay the few bucks more (if you can) and buy the extra long version...it will work better, last longer and restrict less airflow. I remember when I got my last filter the 4" x 16" was only $15 less then the much larger 4" x 24" filter.
     
    Do you have any kind of intake hole/vent? Intake hole should be about 2x the size of your exhaust....so with a 4" exhaust you should have 2x 4" holes for intake (no intake fan is necessary)  ..I'd put them at the bottom on each side, or in the back....so that fresh air can rise from the cool floor.
     
  3. #3 rockfisha, Jul 4, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 4, 2014
    Thanks...the doors were a budget lightbulb moment lol.
     
    I only have a passive intake under the door at the moment (which i have to choke with a rubber mat lol) but it sucks air in quicker than i want and cools down too easily otherwise. For a bathroom extractor it does alright but pumps the smell out just as well !
    Hoping to get a 4-6' fan this weekend, panning to get the best i can and will look at larger filter thanks Bongsauce. I will seal the door and make a couple of port-holes when i fit it.
     
    Can i just keep lowering the light as long as the temps are fine ? Is it a case of "the lower the better"..as long as the girls are cool enough ?
    Its winter here and in my garage its probably about 15deg C/59 F, but summer may cause some new cooling issues.
     
  4. yeh you should be able to lower the light to about a foot away. or like .. 30cm ;)   just go a little each day and watch for any heat stress.
     
    For heat stress: First you would see the leaves folding upwards, or 'canoeing'. You can also get light burns from being too close...which will appear as rust colored patches at first, turning to dried out white/yellow areas. If you get any lightburn it will only be on the top most leaves closest to the light...anything else is another issue such as nutes. Lightburn will also appear non-symmetrical, where any sort of nute deficiency will usually appear in symmetrical patterns on the plant.
     
  5. I see you picked up we are metric here downunder ...however im a mad keen fisherman and we still measure fish in lbs, figure that !
     
    Im running my light about 45cms at the moment so will lower it down a link at a time and see how they react.
     
    Thanks for the info Bong..good to know what to look for !
    They are nice and green and lush for now, and i haven't fed them anything other than a little Superthrive as they are in a slow-release soil ( looking back i wouldn't have bought it) and am a bit worried about "fixing what doesn't appear broke".
     
    Each plant is in approx 15ltrs of soil...will i definately need to feed them ? Or could they get by on whats in the soil til harvest ?
     
  6. nice grow.  i wouldnt trust the nutrients in the soil all together unless u made it or u know what it is in it and how much.  there are many links on feeding.  i think you are doing quit well
     
  7. Thanks.
     
    Yep plenty of info regarding feeding, im just wondering if its best to wait for some sign of hunger or if it's best to pre-emptively feed them ?
    The soil does'nt have an NPK rating on it or online so im in the dark,but is specifically for roses and flowering plants and apparently good quality.
     
    Any opinion welcome
     
  8. as a new grower it's better to wait a bit....the first sign of deficiency will appear towards the bottom of the plant in the form of N or P deficiency. Just keep an eye on those first few leaves poking out of the stem. If you keep a close eye on those leaves, you will have plenty of time to administer nutes before any real damage sets in.
     
  9. Cheers again guys, all looking rosy for now and very vigourous...heres a pic @ 21days from seed leaves opening. Also a pic of the spare overhead space i have for filter and fan.
    Up for any suggestions on how to utilise this the best, cupboard is 800mmD x 800mmW x 2000mmH.
     

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  10. #10 Bongsauce, Jul 5, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2014
    lookin good.
      You could just stick your fan and filter up top...it will help insulate a little of the noise from the fan. There's alot of ways to set it up...depends on if you want to hide the fan/filter inside, or if you care about noise...you'll have to see the noise level when you hook up the fan. Hanging it from bungees can also help dampen sound.  I don't see you needing to raise your light too much higher...instead train and shorten your plants...I'd fill the canopy up nice, training and pruning branches as necessary. Keep it less then 1 foot thick, then flip to 12/12.
     
    When those girls get a little bigger and start putting on stinky, sticky buds...it's gona be a bitch to pull em out and water...see if you can rig up some sort of drain tray. ...maybe jack it up a foot from the ground so you can just put a bucket underneath to catch runoff (if ya know what I mean). At big hardware stores they sell 3x3 foot plastic pans that go under washing machines...maybe one of those would squeeze in there? I'm just saying try to make things as easy as possible now. It's best to leave large plants in place cuz you don't want to risk breaking branches..plus they get heavy and awkward ;)
     
    *maybe just use those styro containers and put em up on cinderblocks, pop holes in the bottom for a small bucket....something like that...I dunno :p
     
  11. Will put fan/filter as high up as i can, i might box it if its noisy.
     
    Im already in the process of making a drainage shelf, and raising it up will give me a little storage room underneath( cheers yet another good idea !)
     
    I have trained plants outside before, but at 20cms tall already and having such thick stems they seem a bit ridgid, should i just try to train the tops over ? 
     
    Sorry for the endless questions !
     
  12. #12 Bongsauce, Jul 5, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2014
    yeh you can just start to pull them to the side...just lasso the top and pull to the side of the pot.
     
     Or you can super crop to get started....supercrop is where you actually crush the inside of the stem between your fingers, then bend it.(I give it a little twist as I bend also) Squishing the insides first will keep the stem from snapping, I've actually used a pair of pliers to crush the stems on larger plants. If you're nervous about doing it, try it on a smaller branch or even a leaf stem to see how it works.(or try it on a random tree/plant outside!)  Do this at your own risk, I don't hesitate to do it to my taller plants, they bounce right back from it. After supercropping it's sometimes a good idea to stabilize the branch for a few days while it heals...otherwise it can kinda flop around when you move it...and it takes longer to heal.
     
    *you don't have to apologize for asking questions..I love to help. Just work hard and follow through.
     
  13. Have just switched to flower and noticed some "flopping" of the lower shade leaves on my girls, also slight yellowing. Have a couple of pics but they dont show it up well.
     
    Any ideas ? Nute deficient maybe ? or does this happen to the big shadies as they redirect energy into bud sites,
     

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  14. yeh it looks like just minor deficiencies.....sometimes the lower leaves can die off a little simply because they're not getting as much light as the rest of the plant and don't get the energy to process the nutes or something like that ;)
     
    The first def. you will probably see will be the yellowing of lowest fanleaves..that's N. also, if you get kinda greyish crusty patches on those lowest leaves I think that's P or K  def.  I can't remember at the moment :p
     
    some dudes continue to use a little veg nutes at the beginning of flower to help with all the nitrogen used in early flowering.
     
    I don't really like to advise on nutes much..especially soil stuff.
     
  15. Well after a week in hospital with Norovirus, the mrs followed my watering/feeding instructions and the girls have responded well, all happy and healthy.
    On my first day back home the smell was overpowering, so i shot out and bought a 4" centrifugal fan and carbon filter, wow what a difference ! no noticeable smell whatsoever now.
     
    Thanks Bongsauce for your help fan/filter fitted nicely above my light, and is surprisingly quiet. 
     

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  16. damn dude, glad your feeling better.   
     
    setups lookin good..  keep at it :)
     
    I know this is months away, but,  later on when the white 'sock' around the filter gets dirty, do not use a vacuum on it..you will suck a bunch of carbon dust backwards out of the filter and make it dirtier. lol...instead remove it and throw it in the washing machine.  :D
     
  17. Glad im still kicking mate, it was touch and go there for a while !
    Ever heard of anyone getting sick after inhaling Bat Guano ? I happened to open a 10yr old bottle of Guano i found, and was dumb enough to have a big sniff....2 days later im half dead in hospital. Hopefully theres no "bat-flu" connections lol.
     
    Good tip about the vaccum, probably would have done that without the warning.
     
  18. Tops tied down now, much more even spread of light. 
    Would you tie down any that pop up above the canopy like those two at the back ? 
     The flash doesnt show how green they are but the leaf pic does.
     

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  19. yeh you want to keep the entire canopy as even as possible.
     
      Any branches that tower over the rest will eat up far more then their fair share of nutes/energy during flowering. I'd train the higher branches into an opening....if there's no open spots (imo>) just snip em off.  When I train or lst my plants I actually do a bit of pruning too. Once you get the hang of how (quickly)the plant will react to pruning, it makes it much easier to lop off an odd branch. I often trim just to make things neater and easier to maintain.
     
  20. Flowering underway now and looking good, hoping they will be ready in 7 wks as i have to move house...grrr !!
     

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