Hello fellow stoners!! So after about a 3 month debate about what I should do for my first grow, I finally came up with doing a grow box. Now Ive probably drawn up like 20 different sketches and plans and after alot of research and some good tips from a couple friends that grow i figure i would go down the CFL route. i decided to do six big buhdda cheese plants under 6 100watt soft white bulbs (2700k). i also decided to keep the box design as simple as possible. the box is essentilly 4 corner 2x2's attached with 1/2 plywood. although i wanted to keep it simple i wanted to be able to keep up wwith the growing plant. so im going to cut one inch intervals in the 2x2's for the shelves to rest on. this will allow me to move my lights as my plants grow. for the exhaust i figured a 120mm cpu wired to an ac adapter would do it. I was thinking about putting a carbon filter on once i start flowering. i did a very crude drawing im no artist anyways any thoughts comments suggestions are all appreciated.
I would say that will probably not be enough light for that many plants once they get some size but your cab has the basics down right. Few suggestions: 1) instead of the notches in the side of the cab to adjust the lights, just hang two eye hooks from the top of the cab and top of your light holder/board and get a set of those adjustable light chains/ropes. Makes it so much easier to adjust and a lot less woodwork for you to worry about and they can be had for like 14 bucks. 2) Put your carbon filter in there from the start. That strain will smell well before flower and it will also give you time during veg to make sure you have it dialed in right. Don't want to learn the hard way in flower. 3) you'll need a stronger fan if you're going to use a carbon filter. that one will not keep up. Good luck.
thats actually not a bad idea wuth the chains idk why i didnt think of that.. oh well guess thats why im in here lol. i also upgraded my bulbs to four bulb 40watt 200watt equivalent 2750 lumens. the bulbs also came in soft white or daylight of course i grabed a couple of both. also i was think of goig wih a 200mm exhaust fan and a 120mm intake? im always lookig for way to make the box better.. and as a baby right now they kind of dank a bit i was a bit surprised. oh i also forgot to mention i will most likely be doing LST and i am using clones.
also i decided to switch from 6 plants to 4 and if my lights arent strong enough ill just get the single to double socket and double up the bulbs from 4 to 6 or maybe even 8 to experiment
What is the actual wattage of the bulbs you mentioned in the first post? Something to mention is that CFL's give off more light from the side. Not sure how the big the difference would be in say a 2x2 structure with proper reflection, but just a note. I've ran 6 bulbs from top like in your sketch, but I did 3 Y splitters so they were slanted a little; not pointing straight down. Worked great.
the bulbs are 40 watt bulbs i was going to try these three out then maybe end up putting more light with the y adapter. maybe i should just do six plants i mean more light wont hurt. thanks for the responses ill post a pic when the box is done
i forgot to mention the lights that i ended up buying are cfl greenhouse lights. i have 3 40watt 2700k and 3 40 watt 6500 watt. The lights are probaby 3x3x5 so they are already pretty big and they look like they throw out some pretty good juice. i cant wait to try!! but unil then, roll another one up
You'll want more light come flower for sure. I promise you won't be disappointed shelling out some extra cash for HPS setup.
I just wanted to do something cheap for my first grow... eventually id like to have a bit of everything and slowly master all styles. i thought about doing hp lights but id rather have my own home to hook the hydro up. my dad is alright with me growing in the closet as long as its a small grow. I wanna see what i can with cfls then eventually just use this setup for my mothers or babies and have a better hp setup.
Well, that sounds like a good plan man. CFL's will produce. Also keep in mind they don't penetrate as far, so keep'm close and you'll be good. Like I said, with an enclosed structure and the white for reflection, they'll do good.
i plan on keeping about 2 1/2 to 3 inches and see how that does at first. there pretty big bulbs so hopefully they dont burn the leaves. Thanks for the positive responses encouragment for a hobby is always really nice. Ive put alot of time into planning this so hopefully ill learn alot of my first.