so i finally got off my lazy ass and started building my grow box. it's 4'square by 5' high, a 600w hps/mh cooltube, 6in 530cfm can-fan. for ventilation i'm going to have to go through the side of the box, and then through a door to a crawl space, and then a carbon filter mounted on the other side of the crawl space door. i'm kind of stumped on how to carry this out because the local hardware stores only have elbows, flexible ducting, or stove pipe. for electric i ran a line from the breaker box and i'm on a 25a dedicated breaker. also looking for ideas on a light trap for intake, i have a rough idea but i would like to see what you guy's take on it is. any questions, ask away. any ideas, don't be afraid to share.
cool make sure you back wire any plug indivigually. socket plugs cant handle 25 amps you will burn them up and start a fire if you over load them and have it wired wrong. make sure you did it right. 5' is kinda low make sure you keep them short or you will grow into your lights and get light burn. you can light proff the intake by puting a box infront of it with a couple of panels in it so the air travels in a s. make sure it is back to absorb light so it cant bounce through
thanks for the response. about the height, i'm going to grow auto's. for regular strains i'm going to lst/scrog the hell out of her. and yes i wired it correctly so it don't burn down. also thanks for the light trap idea. +rep
I have a similiar set up. My box is slightly smaller in width but the same otherwise. Biggest problem I had was heat. I used a 4" fan but I have only 250w hps with glass and a couple blue cfls. I thought passive intake would work but it wasnt enough to keep that small place cool so I added an intake fan which solved that problem. My box is in a cold room and even with the active intake and exhaust blowing Im at 80 degrees as I type. Maybe you will have better control, but have a backup plan and fully test your box before you do anything. Make sure to seal all cracks so YOU control where the air enters and leaves. You want a good cross current of air. Air seeping threw random opening spots is not effective in beating the heat. The longer distance you have to push that air, the less effective it will be and once it hits the filter it will back up even more. You might think of adding a second booster in there somewhere to ensure good air flow and pull the flexible ducting out smooth so the ridges dont restrict air movement. Its all about airflow in smaller grow boxes imo. Gluck with the build.
good deal man! not trying to insult u with the wiring thing but i have fixed so many electrical errors in my 9 years in construction. safety is always priority. the light trap also cuts down on some of the noise from the rushing air. plus u can put a hepa filter over the intake to help keep mold sporse out. just change out the filter every cycle. they get nasty.
thanks for all the help. sorry if i came off strong, been too long since i smoked because i moved into new area and unfortunately most people here are very, very old and don't smoke. for the heat issue, i didn't even get my light yet so we'll cross that bridge when i get there. used liquid nail on every corner, i'm used to building subwoofer boxes so i used same technique on all joints. i'd say the vent. system air won't have to travel more than 8ft so i hope i'll have enough flow to keep it kool. also i got a household air filter that says it filters mold, smog, radiation, pollen, and all kind of bad stuff. sorry if it seems like i'm being condescending, i'm just trying to list my actions in as few words as possible. hope this post finds you happy and high.
so i was out today went to k-mart, home depot, walmart, and ace hardware and none of them had metal endcaps like to make a carbon filter with. that's what i get for living on an island. other than that anyone have any suggestions on a good website to get them off of. do you think plastic would work or would it deform after a while?
i was looking at nutrients and i also read that when using ffof to give it roughly 3 weeks to use all the nutrients in the soil before adding nutes. my question is since growing auto's would i still need to buy the veg. grow nutes? also just wondering which brand you would choose between, fox farms or general hydroponics?
i have no clue about the carbon filter. i bought a premade one and used flex ducting. you should be fine with just the bloom nutes. id go with the floranova bloom by gh. its a one part and cheap. just shake the shit out of it. you could get a quart of the stuff for like 20 or 25 bucks. depending on your budget you could probably afford both. just make sure you have some ph up and down to ajust your water and nutes. and a ph meter or test solution to make sure you give it properly phed water and nutes. and then you can check your run off too.
wow talk about speedy service. i ordered a ph meter today, not 100% sure if i'm going to shell out 40 bucks a bag for ffof i was also going to ask if i got regular soil about when would you start adding nutes? and would you also get get a root stimulator?
i havent done soil for a while. but when i did i used vics super soil. you didnt have to give it anything until flower. some times it would make it a month into flower. i would start adding nutes the first time my plants start to yellow or drop leafs at the bottom.any damage to the lower leafs is a deficiancy. as far as the root stimulator: maybe, any good soil should have bacteria and fungus in it already. i jont really feel it necessary. i would probably add roots excelorator. the product is great. expensive though. it is by no means neccessary.
update i got my light ordered, my fan ready to mount, ducting ready, everything for diy filter except carbon(will order within a week), beans ready to germ, box sealed air tight, painted white inside, ph meter w/ storage, calibration, and cleaning solutions, nutes on their way, electric ready to flip on, locks on door, fan for circulation ready. so i just need to cut holes for ventilation, make a light trap, get carbon, hang light+filter+ducting, get pots+soil, ??? am i forgetting something? i feel like i am