hello guys i've been reading alot of information lately on forums and net... about growing and started my own project ... i use a old cabinet im going with cfl i have problem about lighting and electrical stuff... i have one single 80 watt cfl equivalent of 400 watt wich i bought today and 2 40 watt equivalent of 120 watt cfl the only problem is the bigger bulb is putting alot of heat i just tested it to see how it works... and after couple of hours it started to smell like plastic or chemicals... and was very hot ... i dont know what to do because im scared to not damage the bulb since is quite expensive in my country or burn down my house... any help is apreciated
When you put grow bulbs in a very confined space, even CFLs are going to create heat. You've got to provide some ventilation and air movement aside from the ventilation for your plants...both to help disperse heat and the air around your plants also sort of acts like an exerciser for them and helps to strengthen the overall. Before you get too deep in this, you need to understand that light is the key to your grow....well, that and a plant with happy roots (as the roots are the control center of your plant). If you can't supply a plant with enough light, you won't get much of a plant. And when you put these into flower mode, they will double or triple in size...so you have to figure future growth into the equation. Do not even attempt to do this unless you know for sure what you have created is SAFE. No buzz is worth the damage caused by a fire. You need to read up on lighting...as far as how much wattage you truly need for one plant. If you can put that amount of light into the cabinet your trying to use and get the temps down to the low 80's or below, you'll be OK. If not, you're going to try to find something else to be your grow box. You need as much height as you can manage so you can actually grow one of some size and that also allows you to adjust your light height to maximize the situation. Understand that CFLs will veg AND flower a plant...using the proper spectrums, but they do not provide strong enough light to produce good dense fat buds unless you put about a thousand in there. It's just not strong enough to make your plant do all that it could. To flower, you get much better results with a hps (high pressure sodium) bulb or an LED setup. Unfortunately, to get an LED of any quality, you're going to have to lay down some bucks. The cheap ones aren't worth spending your money on, so don't mess with LEDs unless you can buy a good one. The hps bulbs are relatively inexpensive in comparison to the LEDs, but they produce a ton of heat and you generally have to have an air-cooled hood and in-line fan with ducting for ventilation to pull the heat out from the lights out of your grow space. But if you can erect a safe setup and can grow a plant under them and get it from seed to harvest, it will serve as invaluable experience for down the road when you can put together a better growing setup. But do take the time to read about HOW to grow these plants. Everybody puts all their time and effort into thinking about the grow setup and usually don't spend very much time at all learning how to grow the plant. You need to know what the plant likes as far as soil, lighting, etc. You need to learn how and most importantly, WHEN to water your plant. Most new growers drown them. You need to research soil if you're planning on using it and understand what kind your plant needs to grow well in. All the basic info you need is in the new grower threads on the forum. There are several "sticky's" there posted just for the new grower and it will greatly benefit you to go read them. You need a way to test and adjust the pH of the water you give them too. Extended watering out of pH range will lock up the plant's roots and they can't take in nutrition. Learn when the plants really need nutes....not when YOU think they should have them. Lots of new growers fry their plants with nutes for some reason. But like I said, go read up on the grow process and be working on your DIY setup. It can be done safely. Thousands of people grow with them every day. But you've just got to be darn sure what you're putting together will work and is safe!! Good luck! TWW
Hey guys thx for the response i think i should start again by explaining in to detail what happened....since i was on very low budget i decided to go with cfl and i thought i wouldnt had to invest in professional vents for my cabinet btw i cant order stuff from net in my country and the options here are limited so i decided to dyi most of the things... I read alot of info on forums most of it pretty descent but also all conflicting... Kinda rumbled lol ayways first i bought some cheep ass chinese lamps from the dollar store lol and put 2 40 watt cfl and they both blew out..after replacing them they blew again so i figured it must be the crappy lamps i read up about wattage and stuff ...anyways i bought a big cfl 80 watt and a cord with socket to plug it in after couple of hours the ballast started heating up and the whole bulb and started smelling so i disconected it and replaced it with the 40 watt figuring it wont bloe since its lower vattage and its not mounted on the chinese crap lamp but i was wrong... It did ... Anyways i have a small hole cut in the bottom for intake and bigger at the top which will be my outtake... I plan on putting a fan like a pc fan which i already bought but its bigger and its 220 volt ... I plan to put small pc fan for intake my only problem is getting small oscilating fans cause i cant find them here and cant order.... So any tips / advise / help will be appreacited btw sry for my bad eng... Thx and blaze up Sent from my A50LT using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Btw i dont actually have plants i just planted seeds in soil 1 cm deep wich is moist and i was trying to use the lights to warm the pots.. And now i must figure out this before the seeds come out cause they were expensive not bagseeds....and im pretty confident they will at least 1 im hoping lol Sent from my A50LT using Grasscity Forum mobile app
The widow white i read about the growing process alot most about hydro cause i wanted to go that route but couldnt sincr i cant order the nutes here... And i cant find them... So i decided to go with soil the same goes about hps... In my country they are not even called that and i cant actually go from store to store asking around cause i live in very small city and its ilegal here ... Thats the other reason i must go dyi ...and btw exhaust vents are not an option and it has to be stealth i cant grow in any other place only the cabinet... So i must make it work pls help a guy out and im newb in electricity till a week ago i could barely screw in a light bulb ))) thats my only concern cause i live in a old house ... So if i can get this light thing going on i can focus on finishing the closet like reflection light proofing dyi scrubber and such but with no lights i cant even start.... Sent from my A50LT using Grasscity Forum mobile app
You don't need intake, you need exhaust. You could get a bathroom exhaust fan and rework it for your purpose but you need airflow out of the box, air will find its way in. Really you could get a regular box fan and cut a hole into your grow cabinet and just tape it in.
Hey kyla like i said i already have intake hole that i feed my cables thru and exhaust hole at the top for my dyi vent/scrubber which i am in process of making i really need advice on the electrical aspect because blowing couple of CFL's a day isnt fun ...thanks Sent from my A50LT using Grasscity Forum mobile app
It's those lamps you bought aren't rated the same as the bulbs. Don't buy cheap hardware or you'll keep having problems.
Ok i made another thread so basicaly i agree its the lamps but i put the same bulbs in my regular house socket/plug/holder and it still heated up ... But my house socketa or plugs are plastic too so maybe thats the problem i will buy a ceramic ones the best ones i can get and high duty wiring and such... And try and see if that will work Sent from my A50LT using Grasscity Forum mobile app
For a start an 80w isn't that strong. The 2 40's will create more heat depending if they are just bare bulbs or using something with a reflector. Heat is always a problem with low budget grows. I find that it's better to just have a fan blowing air out rather than having a fan inside blowing the lights as it will just blow warm air around. If your closet has some openings even small ones you won't need an intake. Anymore wattage than 200w even cfl will create a fair bit of heat and will cause you problems especially in flowering. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
thanks for the comment so are you saying that bare bulbs put out more heat than the ones with the reflector or vice versa ? i have a fan to blow air out i also plan to buy small pc fan for intake and regular oscilating fan for inside is that ok ?
No you get less heat with bare bulbs as it dissipates faster. Unless your temps are high i would not bother with an intake as the exhaust will suck air in anyway. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app