Help with ventalilation

Ranger1

420 Member
Howdy:

1st this is my 1st attempt at creating a grow closet. It is an expirement in progress to see if I can grow some decent weed just for myself. I am not interested in large quantity just a couple plants every 2-3 months maybe.

You can check out some pics I have online to see what I have accomplished so far. What I would like to know is what I need to ventilate ie: intake and exhaust fans and fairly cheap. I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty lol. What I have is a 2X2X6' storage closet I converted to a grow closet. I'm using CFL's 4 6500k 26watt 100 watt equivelent bulbs and a 75watt plant bulb just for heat control keeping the space between 75 and 85 degrees at 35 to 45 humidity. I have a 6" fan for circulating air, but need to start getting air into the space and exhausting it also.

If you check out the pics of my plants they seem to enjoy the space so far. Can someone give me hints on where and what to do on venting my space?
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6-27-2012_7_.JPG


Thanks: :peace:
 
Plants look good and healthy. A heat lamp might not be needed tho. cannabis loves 70 degree temps after 82-85 they slow growth and can stretch ...ect. poke holes in the bottom of the milk jugs for roots to ventilate and put some tape around them so the roots are protected from lights... u might have to cut a small hole at the top of cabinet to get the stale air our, just remember keep it simple air, lights, water and a lil food and ull be A Ok.... the heat lamp can go trust me ur end up with more problems from using it than not. Take care and smoke good.
 
:420: Thanks Smokingtrees and seattlesown for the compliments and advice. I had already put holes in the bottom of the jugs for drainage and so forth, but was not aware the roots would not like light. Bummer I liked watching the root system grow they look so healthy. But I got some black duct tape and taped them all up so no more light there.

My main concern is I just finised the door and it is now light-proof, but also now pretty air-tight, so I need to get fresh air in and the stale air out don't I? Because it's such a small space I don't think I need a huge intake and exhaust system, but again I'm a nubee lol. And I still need to keep it light-proof for flowering? How light-proof does it need to be? Like a dark room for photography? Can a little light creep in?

Thanks again :peace:
 
Ranger1 said:
:420: Thanks Smokingtrees and seattlesown for the compliments and advice. I had already put holes in the bottom of the jugs for drainage and so forth, but was not aware the roots would not like light. Bummer I liked watching the root system grow they look so healthy. But I got some black duct tape and taped them all up so no more light there.

My main concern is I just finised the door and it is now light-proof, but also now pretty air-tight, so I need to get fresh air in and the stale air out don't I? Because it's such a small space I don't think I need a huge intake and exhaust system, but again I'm a nubee lol. And I still need to keep it light-proof for flowering? How light-proof does it need to be? Like a dark room for photography? Can a little light creep in?

Thanks again :peace:

Grab some PC fans offline, there super cheap and easy to wire up. All you gotta do is hide the light with a l bend and your good.
 
Hey Ranger, looking good, A passive intake will work in a nice small space, put a small fan in a hole up top to exhaust the air and two holes (the same size of the upper hole) down low to let air in, no fan on intake is needed. The small comp fans work good or you can use a small Walmart fan, take the guard off and attach it to the upper exhaust hole. When in flower you don't want any more light than you would get from the moon to get into the box, any more and it can mess with the hormone level needed for flowering. :peace:
 
HIGH,
2 x 2 x 6 = 24 Cubic Feet (CF) of air in your grow. Looking at your situation you want to change out the air 2 x a minute. So you need two fans that are rated to move 50 Cubic Feet Minute (CFM). One fan in and one fan out. Don't go crazy figuring out where to put the holes...I promise you will change the original locations and equipment a few times as you upgrade. Dont forget to cover the openings with the best your researchh and budget allows towards HEPA filtering or we will be chatting again soon about bugs mold dog hair cat moth... OH yeah, if you use one fan, what ever you do don't have it sucking air through all the cracks into the grow like 90 percent of young growers do. At least suck or blow INTO the box through a filter so the crap air inside gets pushed out of the box through the cracks and away from the girls. Good LUck!!
 
Hey :welcome:
I would suggest making a 4" hole at the top and bottom. If your not worried about odor, just mount a axial fan at the top hole blowing out. They are the cheapest Fan, Axial, 55 CFM, 115 V - Axial Fans - Fans - 4WT49 : Grainger Industrial Supply
But if you need a odor filter then you will need a inline or squirrel type. They can get costly, but are worth every penny if stealth is needed. I was wondering if your shelf can be lowered any to allow room for growth?
:thumb:
 
:bravo:

Thanks everyone for your support. Here is what I've done at the moment to solve an issue I caused when I redid the door. After finalizing the door, and closing the closet up, my humidity jumped to almost 80%. I believe this is because it is pretty much air and light tight. I didn't notice before but in the above pic of closet you will see I made a fan out of a PC fan, saw it in a video. I,m not sure it will be strong enough to do the job, but I cut a hole and mounted it as a temperary fix, and drilled a 3" hole near the bottom to bring fresh air in. Don't worry weezie, I plan to get another fan for it, and a couple filters, so it won't just be a hole lol.

I'm testing it now and it seems to be drawing air in pretty well. Going to run it for a couple hours and check the humidity. Hope all goes well and I'll just have to get 1 more fan for intake. Good call Blazin That and Electricthom.The shelf by the way small420 is removeable for more space and the lights are able to be moved up and down so I can get the lights right on top of the plants. As for stealth, I love the smell and not really worried about it to much. There are only 2 houses in my neck of the woods and nobody ever comes up here. I also saw the fan you mentioned from grainger, here is anothe link I was looking at last night that just has fans: Fans - Fans, Motors & Thermal Management from Allied Electronics

Thanks again everyone for your help and will let you know how it all works out. :thumb: :peace:
 
:thumb:
Well it's been about 2 1/2 hrs. Opened up the closet and guess what? The temp is at 74 degrees without the heat lamp and the humidity is at 42%. I believe the small fan will work and now I just need to get a fan for the intake and a couple filters. Just in time to because I hope to flower next Friday. I topped them last week Wednesday I think and the new tops are coming out very well.

Thanks again :peace:
 
Get your transplant pots ready. I'm not sure how long you want to leave them in 1gl. pots. The rest looks good. Enjoy the next few months, It is exciting to work through the changes and any problems are solved on this site. I can't believe the knowlege gained by reading on here.
 
Hey Ranger, glad its working out.
I think leaving the bottom hole as a passive intake is better. Like Electricthom suggested. Also most axial fans are meant to run vertical unless it says otherwise or it will burn out prematurely.
Good Luck! Look forward to watching you grow :peace:
 
:thumb: Time flies when you work to much lol. I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've been in here. Just a little update I started flowering last Thursday and the plants are doing great. No sign yet on sex but boy do they stink. Love the smell. Will put up some recent pics when I get a day off probably Thursday or Friday. Hope to have them sexed by then too.

All the help and this site has made it possible. Thanks to you and the 420 magazine site for the info.

:peace:
 
Looking good Ranger it looks like you have fairly good handle on the grow. If you are looking for anything special and need it fast there's a good hydroponics store in Preston. Nice people and easy to deal with. I use them because it' nice to have one in the neighborhood. Indoor Garden & Lighting Store | Page 1 of 1
 
Just get 2 computer fans. You could find them for 2 bucks each maybe less.

Have one at the bottom blowing air in and one at the top sucking air out.

As for making them not have light leak out. you can use L bends or some type of porous filter. Using the filter would be best imo so that air venting out does not smell.
 
:welcome: Thanks Jimmycricket I'm going with the passive for now.
Gets a lot of air and good circulation for now anyway.
May add later tho.

Here are a few pics of the last couple days:
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Box
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looking good I think
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Please be girls:love:
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They are at day 7 of flowering. 24hrs no light then 12/12.
Looking and smelling fantastic, but no sign of sex that I can see.
Watching close lol. Also need to thin out a bit thinking next
week. As you can see not much room so if they all are girls
I'll be giving 1 away to make room. 1's still a little short so
that will be the one I'm sure. :peace:
 
:420: Well it's been 8 Days I guess since the last update. Some good news, some bad news. I had 3 plants growing from seed and got 2 boys and 1 girl. Naturally the biggist plants and the better looking were the boys and suspected it kinda because of size to the other the girl.

Going to clone off some bottom growth that hasnt been getting a lot of light in hopes of creating a mother plant and another to flower. Think I'll make 3 just in case. It's in darktime so will get some pics up later. So far I'm impressed by what I have done with all the help I got.

:bravo: :peace:
 
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