First off, Im new to the site and well this 1st post was a wall of text, so I shortened it down. So ya, Hi ya, I'm new here and actually joined because of reading through this thread. I tried growing before in a walkin closet years back and it ended up a mess, so this this time Im looking to go smaller and more controlled. I picked up a standard military footlocker, and have a few spare computer cases. Also from building computers I also have 6 new computer fans to help with ventilation. Im looking to grow via soil medium unless someone can offer an easier or better alternative. The only issues I can see is lighting, gauges, nutrients possibly the smell and well the reason for the stealthbox to begin with. At first It was planned to be put in my closet, yet Im in the middle of a move and I dont believe my new place has any outlets in the closet and my laundry room is just another walk in style closet with the water heat and fuse box. So too much traffic there. Basicly what im looking for is advice on the following Lighting set up. I believe I can figure out how many bulbs I need. BUT Id honestly love to see similar set ups so I can physically see how they lights are mounted/set up. Like is it a simple light socket with a splitter mounted on a rectangle reflector that floats at the top of the case by chains? or mounted to the side? etc... Wiring. I dont want to catch my new place on fire due to faulted wiring set up. Gauges: Never used them before and well If Im going to do it this time Id like to do it correct. Nutrition: I can worry about later when I actually start to put this together, and seedlings ready to go. Anything I may have forgotten or overlooked! Worst comes to worse, I know if I set this up correctly I could use it for my actual indoor/outdoor garden to help out there in the off seasons...
wow that took a while to read, lol. You're looking at a CFL setup from the looks of things. You can use fixtures that are prewired from home depot or somewhere similar. you're gonna need at least 100W for 1 plant and another 50 or more for each additional plant. You also need to look at your power consumption for that room and make sure you arent exceeding the breakers amperage. It's gonna stink, start thinking about odor control. get a digital thermometer/humidity meter at walmart for 12 bucks. timer is about 10 bucks. pots (I use 16oz, 1 gallon, and 3 gallon containers) how many CFM of air do your fans move?
1 fan = 28.894 cfm and ya, Im def looking at cfls, Im looking to house around 2-4 plants for sexing to get better odds for females (read it was 1/1 odds) and then cut that in half unless all four are females.. Then its like uh oh..
Remember the smell will need to be dealt with, do some searches to make sure you're completely sorted for smell, big growers on this sight have given away by smell. so, smell is what i'll add. Carbon filters and such, do some searches.
ya I know the smell issues already from when I tried to grow years back. I had close to 10 plants in the walk in and this was in a furnished basement I also had to sleep in. Granted half of us smoked and it smelled this way all ready... But I did notice the smell and tend to keep my bedroom door shut at all times.
Also, Since my last post... Due to rain I got to stay in and read/research all day. From what I have been reading... Going with the foot locker would be an easier start than trying to rig a pc case. Plus offer more room to work with. Also after reading Azureblue's Wiring Guide... I looked around and found a power supply that can run 3 of the fans. So that would give me 86.682 CFM total. Plus the fans offer 30k run time. Which breaks down to 3.4 years of constant use if if my numbers are correct.
im curious as to how to hang lights/filters in a tent. Nobody answered that part of the question, and I havent come across much info on it. Im looking for some idea on what to expect when I have to do this. Tools to use? hanging equipment? Thanks
I personally bought a wooden locker from ikea that had shelfs. I only use 1 shelf and raise it as the plant gets bigger. I modified the shelf to have 2 computer fans and 2 light outlets with Y splitters giving me room for 4 CFL lights.
Check out my post: http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/571371-advice-my-lr-2-grow-ww-maybe-moby-dick.html It's a really eays setup. The only money i have in it is the lights seeds and the fan. I say that the cab is the perfect stealth grow spot! Hope i've helped