Does anyone know of an inexpensive fabric I can get that will let air pass through but minimal to no light? I'm going to put an exhaust and intake fan in a very small space I've closed off (2'x2' just to start my first grow, only four plants) but I don't want to let any light in for the dark periods. Anyone have any ideas?
I'm not totally following how you are trying to use a fabric to pass air through. You may be better off getting a more airtight fabric, or something like a thick black canvas from a fabric store and then cutting a few intake holes in it and an exhaust hole. If you are going to have an intake fan and exhaust that will create negative pressure which is all you really need. Also, that is too small of a space for 4 plants unless you plan to keep them extremely small and maybe veg no more than a week or so. You will also have to LST them like crazy to keep them low enough for only 2' tall plus you need to account for maybe 8-12" for your lighting above them at least. Tell us more about what you're trying to do.
sorry sorry, can you tell i'm new. the space is 2x2 width and length and about 4' tall. There are 3 walls and the fourth i'm gonna buy one of those 10x10 tents that are black on one side to block light and white on the other to reflect light and cut enough to make the fourth side and cover the other three. the top is is plywood where i'll hang the lights eventually i'll put lights in the corners vertically to give more light when flowering. The exhaust is gonna be up top and the intake i want to put at the bottom. what i want to know is what can i put over the fans from the outside so that light won't get through. i want them to be able to intake air an exhaust it but i dont want light coming through the fans.. is that any better?
Scotch brite pads. done! But no really what you do is use tubing and make an "S" bend. This becomes a light trap.
Ooo that makes sense. Scotch bright pads really work though? They can be used like a filter right? Can a put a fan into that tent material?
Scotch brites work fine. You may need to double em up if your light is really strong. But air will go thru em just fine
LST is Low Stress Training. You're def in better shape with 4' height but you will probably still need to LST to avoid hitting the lights when they stretch in the first few weeks of flower. What it basically amounts to is using wire, string, or pipe cleaners etc to train the plant to grow more horizontally or around the plant pot. The goal is a nice even canopy you can control more and keep the height of your plants way down. Basically every time it stretches up and gets close to the lights, pull it back down again with the wire or string on each stem and you can control the height. The other added benefit can also be increased yield, especially in small spaces with lower power lighting. It's a lot more work but a necessity with a small space. Do some searches on here on LST and you'll find tons of info about it and how to do it. For the light traps as mentioned above - Get yourself some 2" PVC 90 degree fittings and put them together to form an S shape. There will essentially be glued or screwed on to the holes you cut out for your intakes. For white pvc scuff and paint the inside black, for black pvc pipe scuff it heavily to make sure there's no sheen on it that will let the light reflect through. For your space I would do two passive intakes with 2 or 3" pipe.