# grow box



## leastofthese (Feb 15, 2010)

I am getting ready for my second grow, I am going with autos they fit my space and needs just right. to cut costs and isolate my plants for better control9hopefully)I have built a box 43"x26" the size may sound odd but it accomodates my area and containers well. not going for quanity really but quality. hope to get ten plants per grow, taking the advice of a regular and trying white dwarf and the russian rocket fuel caught my eye so will be trying them as well. hopefully 5 of each. (I know it never works out the way one plans but after the first grow I feel like someone is on my side). 

anyway I went around and around for a while about the light and finally decided on a 400 watt hps/mh with a digital remote ballast.(I dont plan on getting bigger but if for some reason I do I can always get another light). I was told that because of my dimensions I may not have enough light for my box. the light spec said 50,000 lumens hps and it was made for a 3x3 area and not much bigger, I believe I am just under that. I will be lowering the light down to accomodate the plants and am thinking about using some small computer exhaust fans for the cooling system.

the fans are real cheap 2$ per pop and I can get a power supply for nothing from a bud. I plan on putting two of the fans on either side of the bulb to force air in and exahust it out then put the other two fans to force air on the plants. if needed I can get more fans but the fans put out 56.8 CFM per fan so I hoped that would do the trick. 


let me know if you see any problems with the design and function any advice will be greatly appericated.

thanks 
least


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## dragracer (Feb 15, 2010)

That should be sufficent light for your space. You should get everything up and running to do a dry run to check temp, humidity etc. then add fans from there. You may have a temp problem, I did not catch the height of your box, but I run a 400 watt also in a 44" by 33" closet with plenty of ventalation with no problem. Good luck on your second grow...I am one week into flower on my first!! I can't wait..


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## leastofthese (Feb 16, 2010)

dragracer said:
			
		

> That should be sufficent light for your space. You should get everything up and running to do a dry run to check temp, humidity etc. then add fans from there. You may have a temp problem, I did not catch the height of your box, but I run a 400 watt also in a 44" by 33" closet with plenty of ventalation with no problem. Good luck on your second grow...I am one week into flower on my first!! I can't wait..


 
I only made it 3' tall I dont expect to use all of that with the autos, but then if it happened it would be great but am planning on only using half at the most. I made the walls and ceiling with weather shield osb sheating 1/2" thick hoping that I could control the temp that way. it was easy to fab because all you need is a box knife am considering silconing the pieces to the frame. having a remote digital ballast I am hoping that the bulb doesnt put off to much heat.  
while the ladies are small and my light is down I could probably lay a box fan over the opening that I am lowering my light through and exhaust the air that way, which thinking about it may be the way to do it but when the ladies get bigger the light will have to come up and may protrude out of the hole in the top.
I believe you are suppose to keep the light 8-15 inches off the tops so I may be able to keep the light in the box through the complete grow. I have lots of options with the osb foam insulation board since I can cut any size hole to accomodate for whatever fan I use and if I change my mind I just plug it back up with what I cut out!

the dry run is a great idea since I havent ordered seed yet!

thanks and I hope your harvest is a success!!

least


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## ozzydiodude (Feb 16, 2010)

IMO 3' tall will not be worth much you will only have a few inches for the plants to grow in. 36"(total height)-12" (for the grow medium - 14"(distance from light to plant tops)-8"(for light hood hood may be taller)= 4 inches for the plants. This is just not enough room for the plants to grow


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## Tokensmoke10 (Feb 16, 2010)

Might be able to squeeze some more height if he gets a Cooltube for his HPS, usually those things aren't more than 6" in height, plus he should be able to get the plants closer.


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## leastofthese (Feb 16, 2010)

ozzydiodude said:
			
		

> IMO 3' tall will not be worth much you will only have a few inches for the plants to grow in. 36"(total height)-12" (for the grow medium - 14"(distance from light to plant tops)-8"(for light hood hood may be taller)= 4 inches for the plants. This is just not enough room for the plants to grow


 

from the bottom of my box to the top is 36", in my containers with them full of grow medium if the plants some how grow 20" that still leaves me 16". if I pull the light to the top of the box until they reach their tallest that will leave 16" between the top of the plant and the light. the bulb by harvest time will be flush with the top of the inside of the box. the light is vertical the reflector is about 20"x14" the reflector at most sits 2" inches lower then the bulb. I really dont see the problem. everything I have read about these autos is that they usually dont get taller then 12"-16".


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## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 16, 2010)

I think that you are going to find that you are going to need more than computer fans to cool your light and exchange the air in your space.  They just do not push that much air.


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## leastofthese (Feb 16, 2010)

Tokensmoke10 said:
			
		

> Might be able to squeeze some more height if he gets a Cooltube for his HPS, usually those things aren't more than 6" in height, plus he should be able to get the plants closer.


 

here is a link to the light I bought I believe I can hug the top of the box if need be and the cooltube is a great idea! I figured with the digital remote ballast I wouldnt have as big of a heat issue as before when my mh was light and ballast all in one and could heat your house!! and I can always extend the height if needed to!

hXXp://www.amazon.com/Watt-Electronic-Ballast-Hydroponic-Light/dp/B002J7PYSU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1266368641&sr=8-1


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## leastofthese (Feb 16, 2010)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> I think that you are going to find that you are going to need more than computer fans to cool your light and exchange the air in your space. They just do not push that much air.


 
I am beginning to think you may be right, I have the stuff here or could get it cheap, but I think I will need more fan!


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## bingermd (Feb 16, 2010)

Your light seems to be quite sufficient, you should consider adding more computer fans to your operation.  I know you can find some for very cheap!


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## leastofthese (Feb 17, 2010)

Thought I would put a couple of pics up to give a better idea of what I have. the light will be raised and lowered as needed it is 28" from the top of the container(25L) to the top of the box. if for some wonderful reason my plants reach 20" I will extend the top if necessary. I believe I can cut the bottom of the front panel a few inches short and mount a fan on the top to pull enough air through it to keep it cool. then all I need is a small fan to put inside the box to cover the plants.  I have decided to scrap the computer fans not knowing if they would move enough air.


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## leastofthese (Feb 19, 2010)

got my light yesterday and did a test run 20hrs on 4 off. got it rigged to lower the light through the middle of the box, put it about 5" down in the box and left the hole for the light open but covered the edges. it got up to 90 deg in the daytime 85 in the evening after dark, with a daytime high of 51 deg. and it got down to 50 deg. in the middle of the night with a low of around 40 deg. 
didnt have a fan wanted to get a baseline without it to see how much fan I needed. I am afraid I will need to wait till the night temps are constant at 55-60 then if I do run a heater it would have to be on long. will probably have my dark period in the daytime that way I wont have an issue with the temp droping to low. being my first seed buy and the amount of money I should probably wait for the temp sure dont want to throw the money out the window there is no sure bet that what comes up will be all females but I sure dont want to so something bonehead like freeze them out because I was to in to big of a hurry!!!

guess I could run 24/7 that would keep the temps up and all I would have to do is put a fan on a timer to keep the temps down during the day!!!


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## ArtVandolay (Feb 19, 2010)

Hey, least!  Welcome to the auto party!  FYI - my tallest rrf is 20 inches.  I agree with everything you're being told.  You're going to need a cool tube and a real extractor fan.  3 feet of vert space is going to be a trick by the time you factor in the pot height and the heat of the hps.  Did you look at those grow tents for $100 or so?  There's a grow tent growers clubthread going - have a look if you haven't:hubba:  Nice to see another auto grower   If you don't like $100 grow tents, how about a $13 cardboard box?  I'm going to get at least 8 autos in there at a time 

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50489


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## leastofthese (Feb 22, 2010)

temp at 5pm


 light 24" from soil


 light 6" down in box so has 6" to be raised


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## leastofthese (Feb 22, 2010)

can anyone tell me why when I try and post some pics it says they are already in the thread ??


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## kalikisu (Feb 22, 2010)

That means you've used pics of the same name in a tread or post already. Simple change the name of the pic and it will upload.


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## leastofthese (Feb 22, 2010)

kalikisu said:
			
		

> That means you've used pics of the same name in a tread or post already. Simple change the name of the pic and it will upload.


 
yeah I tried that it didnt work, besides the pics arent in the post!


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