Hey everyone, first time poster and grower here. Basically I've been doing a ton of research over the past week or so here at these forums and over the rest of the wide web and have gained a surprising amount of knowledge. Naturally, I still have many questions which I'm hoping you guys can help answer. So without further ado here's a quick list of things off the top of my head that I need clarified: What I know: I'm going to be using a roughly 3'L x 1.5'W x 2'H drawer-type box. It will need to be a stealth grow with the least amount of noise and odor possible. The plants I plan to acquire are two female clones. What I'm unsure about: Source of light: I plan to use CFL bulbs for this grow. I was thinking of something along the lines of 2x 85w (6500K for veg, 2700K flower). Is this sufficient for two plants? Would it be better to get more lights at lower wattage? Layout recommendations? Air flow: Thinking of passive intake + one or two 120mm case fan exhausts. Enough? Odor/noise control: This is what I'm probably most unsure about. A 120mm fan will provide the least noisy (<20db) ventilation at the cost of (relatively) low cfm. Moreover, since I need to odor proof my box, I was looking at some DIY carbon filters. However, I read that case fans just simply don't provide enough airflow to be used in conjunction with a filter (can anyone here confirm this?) How loud are duct fans? Any other alternatives? And a quick final question (I'm sure I'll have more down the road though), since I built the box myself, I have some imperfections allowing light to leak through. What is the best material I can use to patch up these cracks? FWIW I will be spray painting the inside flat white. Thanks in advance for everyone's responses.
Can't answer your other questions, but you can just use a white painter's caulk for the seams (assuming you used plywood or something similar. Don't use silicone - it doesn't take paint at all. And let all that nasty stuff air out well before you get any plants in there.
When you say 85w do you mean actual or equivalent? When using cfl bulbs to grow you always go by actual. Given your space I would recommend you get 3-4 26Actual watt bulbs. As far as the light leaks go I don't know. Can you put it in a closet? Im not sure about the smell control, but 2 120mm fans should provide ample airflow. Maybe one more in the box just to stir the air and make the plants grow stronger stems. I have a grow in a similar size box(a little bit taller). You can check it out herehttp://forum.grasscity.com/micro-grows/1080022-first-time-grow-cfl-file-cabinet.html Hope I helped.
thanks to everyone who replied. i'm just going to make separate threads for these questions in the micro grow section.