Hi all, I've been doing a lot of research the past few days and I'm looking to start a small grow. This will be my first time, so parts of this might sound stupid - but I would LOVE some constructive criticism. Alright, I've got a 1.4ft x 1.8ft box. Height is 2.3ft. Now, first thing is first - is this TOO small? Or could it work? I haven't really put much thought into the inside of it - paint? Mylar? Ideas? For lighting I was thinking CFL because of the size - 5 Bulbs @ 1470 lumens/6500k for the Seedling/Veg State 3 Bulbs @ 2750 lumens/2800k for the Flowering A couple other things I need to think about is odor - I was thinking a carbon filter maybe, but I haven't gotten around to researching it that much. Do you need to have some type of cooling system set up w/ CFL? Maybe a couple computer fans... one at the bottom for intake and another at the very top to push air out? Do you want a little more intake or outake? Standard fertilizer for veg and Bloom fertilizer for flowering, yeah? I'm sure there's more I'm missing, hell, don't even know if this is setup correctly Just trying to get a basic plan down and sorry if I missed anything from all the guides, I probably read it and just forgot to write it down.
1. two foot tall is pushing it. You have to consider the height of the pot as well as the clearance for the lights. You might be able to pull it off but it is going to require a LOT of training to keep the plants down low. 1a. Mylar and white paint are almost equally efficient at reflecting light. Mylar wins out by a few points, but (IMO) not worth the added cost. 2. You are on the low end of light needed. You have just over 2,900 lumens per square foot for the veg stage (the minimum recommended amount) and just over 3,200 during flowering. I'm not sure how good this will be for making buds. Look for higher wattage bulbs. Home improvement stores have 27W Bright White bulbs that put out 1850 lumens each. 5 @ 1850 = 3670.63 lumens per sq. ft. I have also found some forty-something watt Daylight bulbs after I had already bought my 27 watters. More is more where light is concerned, even with CFLs. 3. You will need air circulation and a steady breeze inside your box. One good exhaust fan with passive intakes will be fine. I'm using a bathroom vent fan in my box. ($12 at the depot) because I didn't want to screw with a power supply. Everything is running on 110V. It keeps a good neg. pressure in the box so fresh air is constantly rushing in. One improvement I would make on my box is to put in another fan that will run even when the lights are off. Put your exhaust up high, above the lights and your intakes down low to keep the box cool. CFLs make heat, just not as much as an incandescent bulb. 4. You won't need fertilizer for a month or so if you're growing in soil from seed. I use regular potting soil for my cuttings. If you're going from seed, I would run the potting soil over a strainer to make it finer. Makes it easy for those tiny little root-hairs to spread out. Once the seeds sprout put them in opaque party cups with that soil until they have two or more sets of true leaves. You can get a bunch of party cups in a box. Hope this gets you through the first month or so, good luck. <table x:str="" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 48pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="64"><col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"><col> <tbody><tr><td style="height: 12.75pt; width: 48pt;" x:num="3670.6349206349205" align="right" height="17" width="64">3670.635 </td> </tr></tbody><tr style="height: 12.75pt;" height="17"></tr></table>
Passive cooling being just an opening in the box or what? I've got one small fan already wired up to a dc adapter... I'd say it's pushing about 35ish CFM, that's just a guess though. Think that'll be enough for an exhaust fan? Also, for the lumens - should I go w/ more lights? (I don't have a problem doing that) Or is it way better to get higher output lights?
I believe that the pc fan will be sufficient. Your box is a little over 2.79 cubic feet so if the fan moves about 35 cubic feet per minute then you will be exchanging the air in that box 6 times a minute. You are correct, passive intakes are nothing more than holes that let air in. As for more watts or more bulbs, that's a call you're gonna have to make on your own. If you haven't already bought the smaller bulbs, then I'd definitely look for bulbs with a higher output. If you already have those five bulbs you mentioned, and have room to add more lamp holders, then just supplement what you've got.