Dr.Nick
Active Member
Hi Everybody!
While waiting for my seeds to arrive, I've been conducting experiments on my homebuilt grow system. It is a heavy black steel (inside and out) lateral file cabinet measuring 29wx17.5dx36h. As a (extremely) low budget stealth project, I have been forced to make improvisions using scrounged parts and equipment. For organization purposes, I am dividing my report into two sections.
First, the lighting: For lighting I am using four 26w 6500k CFLs on height adjustable mounts with aluminum reflector dishes. For flowering I will be switching to four 42w 2700k CFLs. Using a light meter, I have been able to determine that this setup will allow for 15,000 foot-candles(fc) of light (unobstructed daylight has an intensity of 10,000 fc) in all parts of the box using the 6500k lights and near 45,000fc of light using the 2700k bulbs.
First, my box has been running a little hot. Like 87 deg F with no reflective material at all. Which I guess isn't too bad since the room is like 75ish and it's approaching 95 outside. While investigating reflective materials, I first decided to try aluminum foil despite the warnings of doom and the ensuing apocalypse that will follow if used. To establish a baseline temperature reading I shut down the cooling system (three 120mm pc fans with passive intake) and fired it up. Baseline reading of 90 deg Farenheit with no fans. OK. Fans on, temp drops back to 87 degrees, and holds steady for the next six hours. Exactly the same as before the foil. I haven't gotten my mylar yet, but I expect very similar results. Now for the infamous bright spots that burn plants myth. Using the light meter again, I carefully checked the light density in the unit. The readings indicated about 16,000fc with very little fluctuation; i.e. no bright spots. A little less than 10% increase over the black paint inside the cabinet. If that mylar doesn't get here in a day or two I might try printer paper just for S&Gs.
Anyway, these are my findings. Make of them what you will. Comments are very welcome as are any recomendations on container size/number of plants for the space I have to work with and any tips on odor control as this is my first indoor grow (seed to harvest, outdoor I've done a couple of times) and I don't think I'll have room to attach a carbon filter to the unit; although I have considered putting a filter system/ionizer/ozone generator in the room where the cabinet is located.
Bye Everybody!
Dr.Nick
While waiting for my seeds to arrive, I've been conducting experiments on my homebuilt grow system. It is a heavy black steel (inside and out) lateral file cabinet measuring 29wx17.5dx36h. As a (extremely) low budget stealth project, I have been forced to make improvisions using scrounged parts and equipment. For organization purposes, I am dividing my report into two sections.
First, the lighting: For lighting I am using four 26w 6500k CFLs on height adjustable mounts with aluminum reflector dishes. For flowering I will be switching to four 42w 2700k CFLs. Using a light meter, I have been able to determine that this setup will allow for 15,000 foot-candles(fc) of light (unobstructed daylight has an intensity of 10,000 fc) in all parts of the box using the 6500k lights and near 45,000fc of light using the 2700k bulbs.
First, my box has been running a little hot. Like 87 deg F with no reflective material at all. Which I guess isn't too bad since the room is like 75ish and it's approaching 95 outside. While investigating reflective materials, I first decided to try aluminum foil despite the warnings of doom and the ensuing apocalypse that will follow if used. To establish a baseline temperature reading I shut down the cooling system (three 120mm pc fans with passive intake) and fired it up. Baseline reading of 90 deg Farenheit with no fans. OK. Fans on, temp drops back to 87 degrees, and holds steady for the next six hours. Exactly the same as before the foil. I haven't gotten my mylar yet, but I expect very similar results. Now for the infamous bright spots that burn plants myth. Using the light meter again, I carefully checked the light density in the unit. The readings indicated about 16,000fc with very little fluctuation; i.e. no bright spots. A little less than 10% increase over the black paint inside the cabinet. If that mylar doesn't get here in a day or two I might try printer paper just for S&Gs.
Anyway, these are my findings. Make of them what you will. Comments are very welcome as are any recomendations on container size/number of plants for the space I have to work with and any tips on odor control as this is my first indoor grow (seed to harvest, outdoor I've done a couple of times) and I don't think I'll have room to attach a carbon filter to the unit; although I have considered putting a filter system/ionizer/ozone generator in the room where the cabinet is located.
Bye Everybody!
Dr.Nick
