Like the title says, I'm trying to get my first micro grow going. After the last punk kid tried charging me $30 for a g and then tried skimping it at the same time, I decided that I'm not paying them to smoke reefer anymore. I own a successful internet business and have a lawyer on retainer for the company, so I'm not real worried about being busted. I do live in Florida, but I don't have any previous criminal history and do plenty for my community -- if a jury could throw me in jail for 2-4 plants, I've lost hope in this country and am leaving as soon as I make bail. Regardless, I have a mini fridge that is 17" x 17" x 25". I got blazed and gutted everything out of it, foam, electronics, the works. I'm going to pick up the mylar, soil, nutrients, pots, and gauges today, but I wanted to try to get some advice on the lighting and cooling. I'll also be building a carbon filter, and looking into a co2 generator. Does a co2 generator make big enough of a difference to put it in? I'm planning on growing some bagseed to get started, but eventually get into autoflower strains. I want to use two rectangular tupperware tubs as the containers, since they fit perfectly into the bottom of the fridge. I'm still torn between LST and building a PVC screen, but that's a small detail at this point. I've seen numerous grow journals for each type, but still can't decide. Any advice on which is better for this lighting/cooling setup? The fridge has 2 openings in the back for 80mm fans, which I have plenty of. The lighting I have planned is two 125w CFL bulbs. Will (2) 80mm fans, and passive intake holes drilled into the back be sufficient for cooling this thing? I obviously want as much wattage as possible, but don't want to overdo it either. There is zero foam left in it, so I don't think it will hold too much heat the way it sits. Is it possible to go with more lights in here? I feel like I could get 3 of those bulbs in the top. Is that overkill, and greedy? I'm a newb, and just need some advice on getting the best yield possible out of this box.
I'm currently pukeing and not feeling to hot so I'll try and make this quick but if you have any questions just reply to my comment and later today I can help you.So if you went to ace you could get 3 of the huge 125-150 watt cfls 3 of those would be plenty and you could mount them on the top section of the fridge. Vegging only 2 would be needed and you can move the plants how ever close guy need them. The fan will work just fine if the out take holes are towards the bottom then put the fan blowing over the lights on the top. The rubber wear will work as long as it's not clear and if it is find some way to darken them. Any thing els
Oh and about the co2 if you have plenty of air moving in don't worry about it it's not worth the mess or money.
Thanks for the advice. I was mainly concerned about the lighting being overkill, but if you think it will work I'll go for it. Gracias on the co2 generator, saved me some hassle. I'm going to wrap the tubs with duct tape tonight so no light gets in.
[quote name="cflbro" post="19101114" timestamp="1386189120"]Thanks for the advice. I was mainly concerned about the lighting being overkill, but if you think it will work I'll go for it. Gracias on the co2 generator, saved me some hassle. I'm going to wrap the tubs with duct tape tonight so no light gets in.[/quote]No the lighting will be okay. Put the light sockets from the back so that if you screw the lights in they don't hang down there parallel to the roof leave about an inch of space from the light to the roof of the fridge and something to reflect the light. You want the fan blowing over thoes and the out take towards the bottom. Keeps it's all a even temp. Just make sure that you move the seedlings as close to the light as you can with out burning them. Then move them down as they grow.
The minamum that iv ever grown is 70+ watts per plant. But I use much more now that's when I was experimenting so 2 plants at 240 or 300 watts will do good and during flower with all 3 lights you could have 360w or 450w. Just make sure that's what the light actually is not an equivalent the ace lights that are that big are about 15-30 dollars but if you invest in them you could do several nice grows
I think in a 17" x 17" space (2square feet) you'll only need about 200-250w of light of cfl. More then that and you'll get diminishing returns for how much more difficult it will be to cool. I don't know your budget but I'd personally go with a 150w hps in a cooltube with an adjustable digital ballast, or 4-5 42w cfl's. The smaller wattage cfls will allow you to get the buds closer to the light which is very important in such a small space. ..again budget should decide which option is best. It would be easist for you to run with a scrog a few times until you get the hang of it, then after that just drop the screen and LST. A screen is a great training tool but imo it's much easier to prune and shape the plant with a few pieces of string then it is to wrestle with a screen. You need to understand exactly how the plant will grow first though,and that takes a few cycles. I'd probably just buy a small 4" filter too and rig it behind the fridge...you could make your own but in the end you don't save too much unless you can source the carbon for super cheap. It's always hard to say how the cooling will work out until it's all set up. I think though with 2x 80mm fans you could make it work as long as you have direct airflow and a decent sized filter that won't restrict too much airflow. You'll need some sort of light traps too...I prefer the 'scrubninja' style and make them myself. Another popular version is to use some 90degree bends of pvc and make an 'S' curve painted black inside. *also just buy some auto seeds now so you can get rollin on that first harvest...seeing some buds asap really helps to keep you motivated imo. k that's enough typing for now...tell me if you want me to type more stuff.
[quote name="Bongsauce" post="19102284" timestamp="1386202674"]I think in a 17" x 17" space (2square feet) you'll only need about 200-250w of light of cfl. More then that and you'll get diminishing returns for how much more difficult it will be to cool. I don't know your budget but I'd personally go with a 150w hps in a cooltube with an adjustable digital ballast, or 4-5 42w cfl's. The smaller wattage cfls will allow you to get the buds closer to the light which is very important in such a small space. ..again budget should decide which option is best.It would be easist for you to run with a scrog a few times until you get the hang of it, then after that just drop the screen and LST. A screen is a great training tool but imo it's much easier to prune and shape the plant with a few pieces of string then it is to wrestle with a screen. You need to understand exactly how the plant will grow first though,and that takes a few cycles.I'd probably just buy a small 4" filter too and rig it behind the fridge...you could make your own but in the end you don't save too much unless you can source the carbon for super cheap. It's always hard to say how the cooling will work out until it's all set up. I think though with 2x 80mm fans you could make it work as long as you have direct airflow and a decent sized filter that won't restrict too much airflow. You'll need some sort of light traps too...I prefer the 'scrubninja' style and make them myself. Another popular version is to use some 90degree bends of pvc and make an 'S' curve painted black inside.*also just buy some auto seeds now so you can get rollin on that first harvest...seeing some buds asap really helps to keep you motivated imo.k that's enough typing for now...tell me if you want me to type more stuff. [/quote]
Well the quote didn't quiet work lolI tried quoting you post but it wouldn't let me type what I had said is.Iv been out of the small grow for a while currently I grow in a space thats 4x4x6 Guess you can help him more good luck fellow blades