First Time Grower, Need Help Making Grow Box.

Hey all,
I just started growing and I am moving my temporary grow setup (a box with white paper and 1 light on the top) to a more permanent setup. I am planning on building a grow box out of an old cabinet. My plan is to have a fan to promote circulation and stem growth. I also plan on having 4 25W CFL soft white bulbs, mylar wrapping on the inside of the box, pH gauge, and thermometer. I have read up a lot about growing and am very excited to see my plant grow and be able to harvest him. He is currently 8 days old and starting to grow plenty of leaves. My roommate and I believe it is either White Widow or AK-47 due to the purple stem.

Just a few questions:
1. Why would I need a 24 hr timer if I am planning to do the 24/0 light cycle?
2. What is the best kind of fan setup for a cabinet? Is there a specific speed to fan should blow at? (Pictures or drawings would be appreciated for how the setup should look
3. What kind of light setup should I purchase? I was looking at getting some of the clip on desk lights and then putting the y-splitter and putting the 25W CFL lights in the socket. Will this work?
4. I am only looking at doing a small 1-3 plant setup. What is the best size "grow box" I should purchase/build??

Thanks all and the pics that are attached are of our plant "Gary" and the grow box setup I drew up. Any and all help is appreciated.

-Dubya

-Dubya

Ok I finished my grow box. Let me know what ya think about my box!!! Plant is looking great, pH is perfect, temp is perfect, everything is just working great. I hope to see it grow into a wonderful and tasty plant. Once again any kind of criticism, advice, etc is more than welcome.

1. Why would I need a 24 hr timer if I am planning to do the 24/0 light cycle?
Unless you have auto flower seeds u are going to need to go 12 hrs light and 12 hrs dark to flower.
2. What is the best kind of fan setup for a cabinet? Is there a specific speed to fan should blow at? (Pictures or drawings would be appreciated for how the setup should look
Suck air out the top through passive intakes in the bottom.
3. What kind of light setup should I purchase? I was looking at getting some of the clip on desk lights and then putting the y-splitter and putting the 25W CFL lights in the socket. Will this work?
OBV the more lights the better and if you can place them 1 - 2" from the plants and move them around throughout the grow then if the light is on it works.
4. I am only looking at doing a small 1-3 plant setup. What is the best size "grow box" I should purchase/build??
This is all about budget. you could do 4 in a 2' x 2' area.

Do a little more home work before you start, you really should know why you need a timer..

Well in the book I read it said that when you begin growing you should either do a 24/0 light period and keep the plant under 24 hours of sunlight to help the plant flourish.

Dubya420 said:

Well in the book I read it said that when you begin growing you should either do a 24/0 light period and keep the plant under 24 hours of sunlight to help the plant flourish.

Click to expand...

that is correct. but at some point you will need a timer.

dude, first thing you gotta do is at least point the lamps AT the plant instead of away from it.... lol

second: why you keep calling your plant a "HE"? Why would you be growing a guy plant anyway? ... lol

third: not to be an A-hole or anything... read up the STICKYs, there's alot of good info there to start you off... GL

Ok so I haven't been on in awhile because we recently moved, but I'll post some pics of "Gary" and the permanent grow box we have along with this post. We called the plant Gary because it kind of stuck when we were stoned and thinking of names even though we aren't sure of the sex just yet. We believe it is a female at this point, but don't know for sure. The lights are pointing right on Gary and it is growing beautifully. The pH is perfect, there is plenty of ventilation, but the only thing I am worried about is that the temperature stays at a constant 70 degrees, and was wondering if anyone had used a warming pad before. I don't know if it is ok to leave it on long term because I don't want to set my house on fire. Anyways here are the pics and continued advice on our grow is appreciated. The plant is 15 days old as of today btw.

Try to get those lights closer. CFL's don't emit that much heat. Get them to within AT MOST 2 inches from the plant, maybe closer if you can without the bulb touching the leaves. Plant looking really healthy.

Ok guys we just got done transferring our baby into a new pot. The transfer was a little rough because the soil didn't seem to want to come out of the old pot and required a little shaking. The plant seems to be doing fine now, but we did have problems getting it to stand up straight for a bit after transfer. It's sitting well now and the pH is on the high side of 6 so we are planning on putting some limestone in it to balance out the pH better. Plant is much closer to the lights and has plenty of room to grow now. Attached are pics of "Gary" in its new home and an up close pic to show how beautifully it has grown.

Pretty healthy looking !

How old is "Gary"?

Well today Gary is officially 16 days old since planting, but if you want to count since Gary was found out and germinated I'd say Gary is about 19-20 days old lol. I appreciate the feedback btw. We are thinking of germinating a few more seeds we got and growing those. It's a bad idea to grow those along with Gary because we still aren't sure of the sex yet right?? I kind of want to keep our setup to one grow box, but if needed we could make another one to grow a few more little beauties.