Ok, so I build my first hydroponic, LED lit grow box! Total, I spent about $60. ($30 of that came from giftcards I got from swagbucks.com) So really, I guess I built this for only $30! Free - 4 inch fan and grill salvaged feom an old PC Free - USB charger I had laying around $4 - Speaker box $5 - Paint $3 - Glass Jar $5 - Airpump $10 - Black Air Line, and Circle Air Stone $15 - 4 Nets, Rockwool and 4 pounds of Leca clay pebbles $20 - Light Cone, and light bulb (1600 lumen LED bulb by GE) Comments and suggestions please!
Update: So its been a week into germination, and my t omato plant is going along nicly! I've gone with a bloomer nute, going to see if it will carry the plant from begining to fruitition!
You are going to want to get that light as close as possible to the plant. Also, during vegetation you should have a higher K(kelvin) temperature on your bulbs, like '6500K', not the ~2400K bulb you have in there right now. The brighter blue spectrum will help prevent the stem from stretching too far. What are your temps in there with just the one light? Can you add more? If yes I'd highly suggest it, that or add another fan.
I see a few things wrong. 1 thing is already addressed about the 6500K being used for veg and the other thing is you need 2 fans. 1 up high for exhausting hot air out and 1 down low for intake as well as taking the pump out of the box to keep the heat down in your box. I grow led and make my own lights now. You can add one more light but make sure it's the 6500K and you should be fine trust me. Here's a pics of the lights I made veg View attachment 1660889 View attachment 1660888 and here's bloom View attachment 1679076 View attachment 1679075 View attachment 1671925
Oh yeah here's my Mars II led grow View attachment 1674008 View attachment 1674006 View attachment 1679074 View attachment 1679072 View attachment 1661573
The temp is currently at 78 F, which is perfect. I have one fan up top for hot air exhaust, and have left the intake passive, which seems to be keeping the moisture and temp steady. I will find a way to lower the light.. i was thinking of mounting it on a pole from the top - and maybe adjusting the clamp to adjust the light height as the plant grows? Also, may you please explain how led wavelength are determined? Google was a lottle unclear.. :S The initial goal was to show that an effective micro - grow can be accomplished without a lot of space and without breaking the bank.. so no Mars tech lighting or tents for this one. Currently I'm strugling with getting the nutes right. :/ I checked today and the roots have locked up.. caked in white gunk, probably from too much nutes... luckly I have more sprouts already going, time to tey again!
Holy shit, please do not be feeding(nutrients) those plants yet! They are far too immature for that. I'd wait for a good long while, maybe a few weeks, at least, before you start using nutrients. It will shock them something terrible. If you are using just a bloom nutrient they are not going to get a good spectrum of food. A little bit of 'Superthrive' wouldnt hurt. Keep the passive intake. Its the best way. Having an intake and exhaust fan doesnt allow for a smooth flow, thus decreasing efficiency. When you have a larger setup you may need an intake fan but not for that grow. Also if this is going to be a stealth box, youre gonna want to figure out something to cover up the smell when it gets near and through flower.
Oh I know its to soon, but its part of my scientific process. This plant shall have nutes from the begining, the next shall have no nutes at all and the last plant shall have nutes at about the time the zero nute plant shows signs of struggling! So far the first plant showed signs of struggle for about 3 days - then took off! The pic bellow is abput a week ago, will take a new one soon, but its growing at an astonishing rate!
Ok, current pic! The tomato plant seems to have stalled again.. tbh, I've been lax with the lighting schedule and I think I may have invest in a timer..
Put this shit in the veggie fourm! Wont get many responses here unless it gets you high! Lol stealth box for tomatoes? Are they illegal where you live?
Ah, I didn't realise there was one! Lol well its for mmj when it becomes legal to grow here in 3 months, just practicing hydroponics in the meantime.