Spimps 2013 1st Grow - Ghetto Micro

[Spimp]

Oh yea, out of nowhere last night my GF says 'you should build a biger, better box and put it in the garage for the next batch' !!

I cant even get her to look a the girls for the first month and now shes encouraging me?? Ill take it! Lets get on these build plans...

 

[Maxximilian]

If you've got some cash get a tent like I did 267 euro ill upload pics when I get it, it includes shipping from the uk to me. With all the swizzle you need.

 

[Flower Child]

Sounds like you've got a keeper GF! My ex changed his mind and got very uncool about my smoking- hence the word ex.

 

[Maxximilian]

i agree with flower child your girls a keeper, luckily most the girls around here seem fairly cool with grass and a lot love to admire the plants when they come over. someone once came over and thought my pc grow box was an ac or something hahaha.

 

[Scarfinger68]

The younger plant really kicked out some leaves after the defol. And Im gonna be extra cautious this week in watering to let them fully recover. Not gonna touch them until they make me!

 

[dutch dragon]

Hiyah spimp,
Nice journal, the more mistakes you make the more you learn. Think you got the bug for growing now its gonna get bigger and better. Good luck with these girls and in your future exploits.

 

[Spimp]

I definatly have the bug! Especially with the incouragement from the better half! Think I may be making a light run today... See if I cant add some weight to these girls!

 

[Spimp]

Well "The best laid plans of mice and men"....
Went to the local home improvemen stroe to get some lights. I talked to the light guy and he convinced me a "Y" into a "Y" with CFL's is OK. (He must think I have the most ghetto garage lights ever) Came home, setup the 8 cfls. Installed another 5' fan to help circulate. Ran it for 10 mins.... 93 degrees. No bueno.


Moved my PC fans to same height as lights. Made a ghetto grommet type fiting for my exhaust (it had gaps and was not effecient). Checked exhaust fan, blowing very strongly, so i turned te lights back on. 10 mins later, 90 degrees.

So i took 2 lights out, leaving 4-26w 2700k and 2-26w 6500k. 84 degrees. And thats without my ghetto temperature control device so Im in the range.
I guess with a 4.5 cft box, 8 26w cfls is just too hot. Doesnt help that the TOTAL height in the box i roughly 18"... So its settled, new box construction to start ASAP. I prefer to find a dresser to keep it stealthy, random plywood boxes dont hide as well in the garage. Im not looking to create a monster, just 30"+ of grow height to allow better airflow. Any idea and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Maxximilian]

You spimpy get a standing fan or an outside fan blowing at the inlet fan of your box it's what I'm doing helped stabilize the temps to stay below 28.7 which is as high as it gets if I don't have the window open. It's a cheap solution to a simple problem and if it still doesn't work the. I'd suggest cutting another hole to add another fan. Are your pc fans running on a 12v adapter?

 

[Maxximilian]

Oh and as for another stealth grow have you thought of checking for a second hand website for either closets or maybe even a fridge. Take out all the guts to lower the weight seeing as fridges are air tight and have built in ventilation you could even mess around with those, clean the filters etc add lights Mylar the walls etc. I think a fridge be cool as their tall and wouldn't be really suspicious in a garage.

Hahaha run the fridge as a fridge and have massive lights dono if it would work but it be funny as a cooling system

 

[Spimp]

PC fans running off an old cell charger, spliced up. And I dont have an 'inlet fan'. I have a passive intake. Basically a bunch of holes drilled into the opposite bottom. I also dont have very many tools. I had to borrow to get where Im at now. And to be honest, I dont want to put very much more work into this box, Id rather spend that making thenew and improved one. But all your advice is sound, and I will definatley include an inlet fan in new box.

 

[Spimp]

Using a fridge to adjust temperatures down as harvest is winding down... very interesting. Just have to control humidity and mold I guess. This is a very interesting idea sir...

 

[Maxximilian]

Get a pc fan from a store and find a 10 or 12 v adapter to run at full rpm. You should really have an intake and outtake fan they need to breath.

 

[dangerous1]

im lookin forward to your build man! im pumped to see what youll come up with cheers!

 

[alex801]

Its a shame uv had to do away with two of those lights spimp. They coulda added valuable grams. But hey rther a few watts down than temps in the 90°s.
Is there no way for u to lower temps cheaply? Start of my grow I was in the 90° I had a fan just circjlating the warm air... my cupboard is built into a corner of a upstairs bedroom... what I did was cut a 5" holein the plasterboard sealing and shuved some alluminium ducting into the loft space and ran it down to my normal fan and my fan must have eneogh pull to pull some cool air from the loft space and my temps now are always between 78 n 82°.. my fan is just a general 6" desk fan and the ducting is just tie wrapped to the back cage off the fan.

 

[Scarfinger68]

Here is a box construction from 420:

Grow Box Construction

I used a very similar biuld for my box, except mine was smaller.

My box:

This helped keep my temps down by putting up a barrier between the lights, also pulled air out the top:

Also I have a fan from radio shack:
120VAC 4 Fan : Computer Fans | RadioShack.com
Had to buy a cord and wire it but I use it to pull are from a cooler room into my hot attic room where I flower.

 

[alex801]

Does ur vent hole on the to have a fan blowing air in? If not I bet if u made the whole scuare and wedged ur computer fan in it blowing in from outside..... then on the left or right just inline/above ur barrier did the same but a fan blowing out through another hole I reakon ud be able to run ur additional lights

 

[Scarfinger68]

Hey Spimp. I found the article I that I used to make my box:
https://www.----------.com/cannabis/growbox_guide.php **Looks like they don't want me to post the address? You can find it by searching for Cannabis Grow Box. Name of the article is "The Grow Box for Cannabis"

I have a 4 inch round hole that passively pulls are in from a cooler room whem my exhaused is running, then a 4" radio shack fan sits in front of the hole to push it farther into the box. I used to run the 4" fan without the exhaust fan on but the smell became a big problem. Now I only run them at the same time (intake/exhaust) to cut down on the smell.

 

[dutch dragon]

If you've got a passive intake system, check its big enough. I run 2x5"exhausts with carbon filters and I had 2x5" intake, when I cut out another 2x5" intakes (=4x5") it dropped my temperature considerably. You should have 2 times the passive intake as you have exhaust. Have you thought about getting a more powerful exhaust fan? Making a bigger box is also an option of course. Making one is a lot simpler imo than buying a wardrobe cause its easier to modify, and of better quality.
I was running about 400 real watts of cfl in my 2x2x5' box at about 80f with this set up. When it got hot outside however I was forced to invest in a hps with cooltube which runs muuuuuuch cooler than cfl's and produces 100% more buds per watt used.
good luck.

 

[Spimp]

OK. Woke up this morning, kicked on the girls, went and had some coffee. Wen back to check on them..... 101 degress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My exhaust came loose overnight. Cheap duct tape and high heat dont mix I guess. So I needed an emergancy box ASAP!!!

Went and bought this for $18:

Turned it into this:

GHETTO BOX @2.0

I really like my light setup. I can move lights back and forth simply by plugging in. And I feel much safer about the lights not bursting into flames! The exhaust fan is really pulling the heat out. I now have 8-26w cfls running. 76 degrees.

Does it need improvement? Hell yes.
Is it a permanent solution? Hell no. It has a nice height but is shallow. I can work with it to
Ill tinker this week with painting the door, weather sealing etc. But we got more lights in a cooler space in a rush so Im a happy camper for now! Might need to get my old box ready for them auto beans!