I am thinking of making a 4 foot wide by 8 foot long by 4 foot tall grow box..... CFL grow in a spare bedroom.. What i am asking what kind of yeild do you think 2 x 3 foot by 3 foot plants would produce? Thinking something like OG Kush and maybe NYCD or White Widow.... Gunna use 6 feet of t for Budding and 2 foot section for Veging new plants will be Divided of course with a barrier wall. I am a first time grower this will be a beginning settup and have MMJ card. I am not looking to pack alot of plants in an area when i can get just as good of a yeild from 1 if properly maintained and groomed/tied for flowering. I am gunna try and settup for a harvest a month. Lighting will be exactly 11200 lumens per plant flowering can produce the same in Veg if needed but from what i read it's not recomended. Soil planted with nutrients .... Any good recomendation on a good nutrient would be greatly appreciated.
cfl are good for vegging. but if your going to be doing 3 plants you may want a hps system for flowering.
I thought about that after maybe my first grow to see how this yeilds I will have over 11k lumens per plant np and more if I need. I have the CFL's and most everything else already just wondering if any1 has tied this and if tier Yield has ben ok. If not I will kep you updated.
Started building my box today .... Damn it's big .... will post pics as soon as 1st phase of construction is complete.
might want some big lighting for that big box, ahah cfl are great but dont really cover much area at all. thy have some pretty serious T5 systems out now u might wanna check out
Right now I am getting 38400 lumens in my budding box and if I need I can always make another light bar for another 19200 lumens if I need. I should hav plenty of light. Now I looked into T5 lighting and unless the light travel is further I don't see the benefiet to it. Takes up more space and produces less lumens over all. And they are also flourescent bulbs. As soon as I can figure out how to post picts I have primary construction done. Waiting for some stuff in the mail and have to get a few more things for the inside.
... werent you gonna use cfl? those are flouro too but hey i only said t5 because i thought i had read you were using cfl. edit: Ive used cfl for alot of uses, i agree with pinkbear that they are great for vegging and supplemental light to any HID, im only saying you should go bigger and upgrade cos ull thankyourself in the yeilds, i did and i only went up to 2 150's and now im lookin to go up to 400, so its kinda a never ending cycle IMO.
yeah I am useing cfl... But quite a few of them to make up for a lot of light. Eventually i would like to go hid, but till I can cover the cost of it I am stuck with cfl gro box.
Here's some photo's of my box still a work in progress Buding room. Vegging Room Both sides before reflective layer installed.
Mind if i add my 2 cents ? A). might be too many lumens. 7-8K is considered ideal. B). CFL's are fine but you need to get REAL close to the plant to get any effect, like 2-3" away. C). Looks like you're using space blankies for reflection. My take is they're good for protection from the cold (original purpose) and certain solar projects but might create hot spots on the plants when used this way. D). My advise: put the lights w/ splitters as shown on cords hanging down from above, maybe even use brooder reflectors. That way you can raise or lower them or reduce or add lights as needed. CFL's are great, i plan to use them as well but as some other growers have noted, they simply do not have penetration in getting the lumens down to the plants where they need it. Get a fan in low from outside & fan exhaust at the top w/ some odor absorbing material or a carbon scrubber. I'd use a high gloss white paint to give reflection. CFL's are 2700 K right ? Start off w/ just a few lights, then increase as they get bigger. Use a separate area for sprouting, 5000 or 6500K. Hey what's with the big open area ? Looks like a diorama in a museum. Are you planning on closing off this ummm... "light leak" maybe use some doors for access. Lotsa luck w/ your grow, I'll be watching ! C J
Ok to answer some of ur questions. Yes there is doors that also are reflective. I can also move my lights up down and side to side as well as in angles if I need. Ventallation and carbon filter is still in transit along with fans soil pots cloning solution and so on. That's why I said there is still work to do. There is a seperate side for veging with 6500k bulbs and yes 2700k flower bulbs. Hope this answers any questions u might be wondering. Also most sites said 10k lumens per plant is more effective. If I have issues with hot spots with the space blankets I am useing then I will probably just paint the inner walls white. But till I see a problem I am sticking them. I appreciate ur input. And I am glad to see another cfl grower.
It's my pleasure to help. Ok, looks like you've got most of the bases covered. If the plants start to get "leggy" that's a good sign the lights are too far away, it's like they're reaching for the light and can never get it. A good source for info (but not perfect in supplying all info) is the Buds for Less book by SeeMoreBuds. The grow I'm designing is based on a set of parameters first, then fill in w/ details made to reach those parameters. 1). I want a perpetual harvest system where I'd get 2 to 3 oz. every week. 2). Plants would be an Autoflower Indica probably a medical variety. 3). Unit would be silent, odor free and easy to conceal. 4). Every component would be all DIY, except the lights & elec. components of course. 5). Cheap to build and cheap to operate. I've gone through several concepts and am fairly close to a final design. When it gets started I'll post it here. CJ
Sounds great man can't wait to se what u came up with. This is a first time build and in no way a final product. Over all I would like to have 8'h x 6'w x 8'l (Basically something as large as a large walk in closet) for flowering. Something I can get a 6 to 7 foot tall nice busty grow. Will more then likely have to switch lighting when I do this though. But depends. As for the lighting on the plants. I have done months and months of research before even attempting to start something up. I understand I will have to have the lights right at the plants not looking for stratching looking to get a nice 3 x 3 square out of each plant.
OK 1st time build also. During your research have you considered red CFL grow lights ? I don't have any feedback. High lumens, could be viable. HydroponicGarden.net
Vegetive state should be one in 5000k+ Bulbs ... They are more of a bright white.... Flowering should be done in 3000k- Bulbs... These are your normal house reddish color bulbs. From what I read on numerous sites is 9 to 10k+ Lumens per plant 3 feet squared is recomended. Otherwise the plant will take longer to devolop due to lack of light. I am running CFL equivellent to that of 19200 lumens in my flowering box. I have extra bulbs though if I feel I need more light. If you look at the picts I posted u can tell differance from the inside shot of the box's to which light is brighter white (the 5k bulbs) and which one is reddish (the 2.7k bulbs) Hope this helps...
Today is a good day getting a lot of stuff in the mail for my box that I am still missing... Can't wait to get back to work on it. I hate waiting for shit in the mail seems like it take forever. Gotta make 1 more run to the hardware store to get the final touh up's hopefully. Will have my box done middle / end of next week. Then it's time for the clones or seeds. Dpending on if I can get what I want.
OMFG they only delivered half my stuff. Ha to call up find out where the rest of it was. Figures didn't mail it out yet. Sheesh .... So no final picts of box yet .... Uggggg...
Sorry to hear that bud. I don't know what didn't come but I'll bet is was some specialty pieces you can't do without. This is another reason why i try & make stuff myself from common materials. Can't always do it but I'll do what i can. I'm sure you'll do pics later. Peace & patience to you.