Hey everyone, Just finishes my dresser stealth box and needing a little advice on what type of lights you guys think is best. I'm only going to have one maybe two plants at a time. I was thinkin a nice LED if I could find a decent priced one! Thank you!
How big is the box? That has an impact on lighting choice. HPS is your best bet (given that your box isn't too small). There are good LEDs but they are way too expensive for the average grower. Get a 250 or 400 W HPS with a digital dimmable ballast (so that you can turn down the power level-and the heat- from 400W (100%) to 300W(75%) to 200W(50%)). With an HPS you will have to deal with heat, but an aircooled hood and an inline fan will take care of that.
The box is 3'x 3 1/2' wide and 4 1/2' tall. I found a ipower 400w dimmable kit for around 130$. Any knowledge on that brand or any other suggestions as of brands or Internet sites?
Steady, I've never done LED so i cant say how much it yields. but for a micro grow like that. you want low heat high lumen. most importantly correct spectrum. Do CFLs by my advice. x4 26w 5700k bulbs per plant for veg and x4 2500k bulbs per plant for flower. order them online, bulk, cheaper and getting the correct spectrums important. I've never had success with mixing spectrums as you can confuse it and stress it prior to sexing causing Hermie. this shows the spectrums your looking for in each stage. if you cant see it google chlorophyll chart and select images. then its the 2nd image from the right showing spectrums measured in 'K' Kelvins and what kelvin spectrums produce the highest rating at what color temperature. Hope I Helped
Your help is greatly appricated I was unsure about the cfl's at first but since you suggested them and there a lot cheaper I think I'm going to give them a try. I just need to figure out how to hang the sockets evenly around the plant. My seed of choice for this the dresser grow, a Sliff feminized white widow should be here this weekend. If any other advice I'm all eyes ready to take in the knowledge thanks again!
careful with white widow ive grown it it can be finicky doesnt sound like a good dresser grow strain. simply cause its a lanky sativa that needs its room, i found that out in the backend of a camper trailer.. thats another story tho. I would do something that yields quickly and can take a beating. Low ryders would be something to look at. or skunk #2. good for microgrows like that. and inside your dresser i would do x2 sockets with a fabbed up whatever reflector lined in mylar, on a 45 degree angle on either side of each plant. keep in mind the majority of the lumen output is in the first 1-5 inches from the sides of the actual swirl, not the end piece.do it on strings or cable to a eyehole and your good. im assuming your dresser is about 8-10 inches deep though
oh yeah avoid sativas like the plague they will stretch too much in that box. Indica dominant hybrids are fine thogh. regarding cfls Feliz 250W 6500K Mogul Base CFL Lamp those i have very nice expiriences with they dont give off alot of heat for their size and put out 19k lumens rough estimate is you need 5k lumens for each square feet so this one as a main light and then some sidelighting and you should be in buisniss. then you need a fan and a small carbon filter and your temps should be under control too. i would look into sea of green or Scrog growing since you are working with so limited space LST will work too and if you are feeling really Ambitious LSD will work even better(for you)
The widows a 60% Indica dominant. Genotype: Brazilian Sativa x South Indian x NL Special. Sounded pretty tasty to me hopefully she doesn't bust out of the box I got a little over a foot in depth with the dresser drawers that I hallowed out and about 4 foot tall with 3 foot across middle. I'm glad you guys are giving so much input it makes it a lot easier and way betters the chances that it'll grow bomb. I'm going to the local lowes and menards to see what kinda lights and sockets I can find today. Does any reflective material work to line the inside or should it be that Mylar? Counting down the days til the seeds arrive plan to keep everyone updated and will be posting pictures of the box one the reflective material is all up and the lights are hung! Thanks everyone!
do you mean the temperature of the actual light housing/hood? or the heat that is reaching the plants?
The temperature put out by the actual light. An aircooled hood with an exhaust fan sucks air across the bulb, cooling the bulb and sucking out the heat. An HPS with an AC hood and a good fan will still increase the temp in the box, but not much more than CFLs would.
Steady, it does not have to be mylar. Flat white paint is an excellent option. Panda plastic is also good. (It's plastic that's white on one side and black on the other). I'd go with flat white paint. It's the easiest and cheapest option, and only slightly less reflective than mylar. I don't use mylar, it's expensive and hard to put up. Think about the monster professional grow rooms that you see- most of them use flat white paint, not mylar. Mylar will certainly work but it's not the only option.
My hood light housing is pretty hot, i can hold my hand to it for as long as necessary so its not overly hot, but its not cool. the heat actually reaching my plants is fine. Do i need to put some inline fan in? Will it eventually mess up because that? Im running a 24/0 cycle right now.
What kind of hood to you have? An AC hood? (you're talking about HID right, not CFLs). If the temp is fine in your grow area, you don't have to put a fan in to cool the light (you do still need an exhaust fan for ventilating the area thought). What stage are your plants in? I like to give them some dark time, and do 20/4 for seedlings and then 20/4 or 18/6 for veg. But plenty of people do 24/0 and it works just fine for them.
its a yield master II supreme. the whole house gets the air circulated and its constant 75 or so degrees. they're clones, about 6 inches tall or so.
I keep my ballast outside the closet to help with that. Plus, mine is a digital ballast and it actually has a little fan in it that helps cool it. If you can't keep your ballast outside the grow area, have a little fan blowing on it. I'm not sure what your question is though. If your temperatures are fine, then there's nothing to worry about.
I have to keep the ballast in the grow area, I don't think I can get around that. My ballast is about just as hot as the hood/light housing... is this normal? I plan to get a few fans to put around it now either way. I'm just unsure what is unsafe temperatures. I've only done one grow before and was lucky to grow with LED. The whole grow area is about 80 degrees, but the ballast and hood are very hot to the touch, I can keep my hand on them but it get's very hot and uncomfortable, they're not running cool by any means.
Just got the lights hung.. Ended up going with 2 clamp lights with dual sockets and 4 6500k and 4 3500k all the reflective material is up now I'm just trying to find a decent vent fan an carbon filter all the stores have all their fans put away for winter! Dang it! Guess I'm ordering those online. Any suggestions for a decently priced vent fan and carbon filter?
i can recommend mountain air filters. i swear that think took care of every hint of smell in my place. i cant even smell my toes anymore.
On ebay or amazon you can order a 4" inline fan and carbon filter combo for $60-90, just have to shop around a bit. I was able to get a 6" 440cfm fan and a 24" filter for $130. Was gonna make my own filter, but for $130 for both I bought it instead. With some smart comparison shopping you should be able to get a filter and fan combo for only slightly more than you would pay for the fan itself.