First Closet CFL Grow, Old Entertainment Stand

Hey Everyone,

This is my first closet grow, I chose to use CFL lights because of the small area and a concern for heat. I Built the box itself from an old entertainment stand i had no use for. I think its going to work well as it already had holes in the walls of the main compartment for adjusting the height of shelves. there are also three other small compartments im utilizing for my various other needs ( mother/clone room, area for timer and electrical cords)but i know that a picture is worth a 1000 words so ill get to the pics

No Plants in it yet though so let me know all your ideas out there so i can tweak it early on.

yo bd your box looks excellent:D... and its lonely it needs some green leafy stuff in it. have you tested it out to see what temps and humidity r like?

also the only potential prob i see is light leaks from veg chamber. maybe some weatherstripping around edge of flower chamber will help. bcuz when you flower ur plants, during dark period, there needs to be total darkness any light leaks or exposure to light can cause the plant to hermie and slow down. cant wait to see progress.

also b4 u start, save yourself some trouble, and get a ph testkit or meter. and from what i see your ready for liftoff. when do plan on gettin some seeds or clones started. im subbd


edit- yeah bout ur questions in my thread. cfls give off most of their light from sides of bulbs, so mount them horizontal if possible. since you have errting white in box reflectors r optional. and yes my lights r adjustable but i fuckd up and put power strip right in its way. ill change that around this morn. also i need some small chains, that string is kinda flimsy, dont want light to fall on plants. yeah that frame was the simplest thing ive ever built. and you can make it any size u want. hope that helps.

Edited by bgsixxxniner, 05 March 2011 - 12:32 PM.

Well ask and Ye shall receive, brought home a cute baby girl today. hopefully a soon to be strong mother. also switched my lights today but not %100 yet i think i may change them again as the light isnt really going where i want it. the temps are pretty steady at 78 - 80 with lights on and the lowest i have seen is 70 at night, but my thermometer is a $3 jobby from wal-mart so i dont know how much you can trust them. no idea about humidity as i just have the thermometer.

one thing i was a wondering though is, i have read a few posts here on GC saying you should check the ph of your soil. how do you do that? all i have right now for ph testing is the paper strips. so how would i check the ph of the soil with that just the runoff? ill test my water today sometime and see what my plain water is. one other thing i was excited to try today was adding a light filter to my mother area's exhaust fan. from looking at the before and after photos of the exhaust fan i would say it works pretty well for what it took to make it, now i need to make about 3 more bigger ones. anyways now for the pics:hello:

Nice set-up. How are you powering the computer fan?

im not sure exactly where it came from but i think its an old laptop charger im using for the fans. it puts out 13V at 3A, so i could run quite a few fans. the small fan that blows over the lights and the small exhaust fan for the mother area are running at 13V but the 2 120MM main exhaust fans are wired in series(+ of one fan wired to - of other fan) this means the fan should be running at basically 6.5V. the only reason i didnt want them running full is the noise. the box is in my room so trying to sleep with the fans running at 13V is tough.

this actually brings me to a question i was wondering about, would it be ok to have my fans off at night or should they always be bringing in fresh air?

i was only thinking about turning them off at night to try and keep temps as stable as possible between night/day. what would be an ok amount of temp change from night/day?

ok everyone i need help, im not sure if its anything i need to worry about or how to fix it but i noticed that the light colored spots which were almost not noticable when i brought her home are now getting a lot worse and even the newest growth is starting to develop little spots on the tips. i did see a tiny bug i think on one of the leaves but only the one. what would mites look like?

Also i attached a picture of my grow as of now, with new thermometer, new arrangement for the lights, and i just built a carbon filter.

Yo bd that box is awesome...is it in a closet or just sittin in a room? I need somthing like that!
But it looks like your off and growing. What strain is it? About spots it sounds like mites. U need to look on underside of leaves for mites. If you dont see none then just let the plant continue to grow. That seems to be a majolr problem w/ clones from somewhere else, they seem to always have bugs or diseases.
Yo i would after about 2 weeks or when u see new growth, move it closer to light. It should b ok right now. But when it gets roots move closer to light, like 2-3inches.
Thanks for stoppin by my grow man. And good luck..ill be lurkin....holla

yeah the box is in my closet, because it used to be a entertainment stand it has wheels underneath so its nice when i need to move it. i was worried about mites because the guy i got her from has had mites. but i dont see any bugs anywhere so that kinda made me think it had to do with nutes? i have been keeping the plant a little further away because of heat... with the 2 extra lights in the middle now it gets about 80 degrees and the leaves were getting kinda droopy. im working on a temperture controlled fan controller circuit for my 2 main exhaust fans.

i almost forgot... i wanted to post some pics of my carbon filter since i couldnt find a design that met my needs.

since both exhaust fans are blowing into a small section in the box then out the back i couldnt use the standard round filter most ppl build... i wanted one flat and rectangular. so this is what i came up with...

activated carbon goes in the top and when you need to change it you pull the small board out of the bottom and the carbon drains out(i hope).

plants should be 1 to 3'' away from cfl lights. if theyre not the grow all thin and dinky, instead of fat and luscious. most people stack their plants on cd cases or books to adjust the height as they grow.

you should have cut the exhaust hole way at the very top(heat rises). You dont want to create a pocket that lets heat get trapped there.. or else its not as efficient, and fans struggle more to get rid of the hot air.
-also, that fan blowing on your lights might be disrupting the air flow and making it harder to exhaust heat..experiment a bit and see what works.

just thought id give you a few tips.our boxes are kinda the same.

yeah man, i agree about the exhaust fans but i had already cut some other holes without planning and so thats just sorta where it had to go. i have that fan on the lights trying to avoid the heat pocket you speak of, where do you think you would position that fan or eliminate it?

im stoked to hear some input though its my first grow so im gonna need all the help i can get im sure, any comments are welcome... well "constructive" comments are welcome

Hey bd you have a nice setup! Looks like you will have tons of room to do whatever you desire.

In response to your overnight temp question (I'm still a noob so could be wrong) I read that it's safe for the plant to drop ~10 degrees overnight. You will probably have to experiment with the fans to make sure it doesn't get too cold with the lights off. I leave one fan running overnight and temps don't usually dip below 70 (but I also live in the hot ass desert lol). Also those spots on the leaves definitely looks like a sign of spider mites. Someone more experienced can probably help you eradicate the little pests .

If you get a chance check out my first grow and let me know what you think

ok so first off just wanna say thanks to everyone so far for the input i wish more ppl would throw their $0.02 in so i can make the box and plant the best it can be:D

now for the bad news:cry:, def gotta be mites. so now i really need any special tips or tricks everyone has because i was wanting to switch to 12\12 soon. anyways heres a pic and let me know if im wrong or the best ways you know to KILLLLLLLLLLLLLL:devious:

cpl quick ?s, how long hav u had the clone and wen did u begin to notice these spots? wut nutes and at wut strength/ ph, last one wuts ur medium?

Depending on your budget I read both [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Doktor-Doom-Spider-Mite-Knock/dp/B002JU1QEI/ref=pd_sim_k_1"]Doktor Doom[/ame] and [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Green-Light-Neem-II-Spray/dp/B000GXQMQC/ref=sr_1_6?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1299967204&sr=1-6"]Neem Oil[/ame] work pretty well for eliminating spider mites for a low cost option. But some people seem to favor the more expensive [ame="http://www.amazon.com/AzaMax-Spectrum-Pesticide-listed-Organic/dp/B0032JYKGG"]AzaMax[/ame]. Maybe someone that has actually had experience with spider mites can chime in. Just some suggestions from a quick search.

Edited by m3Tekk, 12 March 2011 - 10:07 PM.

yeah i was thinkin ill go with neem oil/soap mix which was the best looking choice for my budget, but same as you it was just a quick search so anyone who has used various methods let me know your experiences.

as for your questions organic, my medium is soil, ive had the clone for 1 week, but the oldest leaves on it always had these spots i speak of. im using GH at the same strength and mix as the guy i got the clone from.as for ph im not 100% but the litmus paper i have i would say it shows 6.6 and the probe meter i have says 7 but i stuck it in vinegar and distilled water and it always said 7, as well as in my soil. so i dont know if it even works at all. but im going to pick up one of the aqaurium test kits with the drops.

thanx for stoppin' in all:D

so i have decided on a fix for friggin mites. it isnt gonna help me right away but for future grows i will be ready for em. im going to order some chinese praying mantis:D

it takes so long to hatch them though so i will have to hope that neem oil works this time. but i think praying mantis will also make a cool pet plus ill put them in my outside garden to keep away all the bad bugs since mantis will eat basically anything. i think its gonna be a badass guard for my plants in future.

so its been a little while since my last post but i think i got rid of the mites, i used a product i found at canadian tire made by schultz. i think its just called insect spray. but it works pretty good, the only effect on my plant is the younger growth is curling a bit. everything is still green and lookin alright though. anyways ill post some pictures later.

hey to anyone watching at home... been pretty busy the last little bit but im back lurkin on gc again. Now that I have killed all my precious little mites the plant has done well i think... i havent been accurately measuring my ph as i dont have a good meter(just litmus paper) but so far i dont think its been a problem. I have done a little LST, AWESOME technique! definitely a good way to maximize your growing area and really quite simple to do. I have also put plexi glass between my plant and lights then sealed it off and vented it seperately... i also put the outdoor sensor for one of my thermometers in there so i know the hi's and lo's of my lights.

with this setup i can run

4X26W 6500K
2X23W 2700K
2X40W 2700K

Total 230W @ 75deg steady all day and 68deg low at night.
i just flipped to 12/12 yesterday so i should start to see the fun stuff now.
anyways here are some pics. oh and beside my plant is some parsley too:cool:

if anyone has a good idea of what the balls circled in red in the last pic are let me know... thats where i topped the plant and i dont see them anywhere else on the plant.

Well i feel like im talkin to myself here, but noticed some bad news last night before she went to sleep MORE MITES... arg so i sprayed the plant one more time with my schultz stuff and hopefully my Praying mantis get here soon so that i dont have to use any more chems. on my plant while in bud. anyways i also took 3 clones off plant before flipping it to 12/12 so hopefully they take alright. ill post some pics soon although there isnt much change