Roger A. Shrubber
Well-Known Member
I've wanted to grow my own for a long time, but have lived in a much too populated area to grow outside.
i had this shelf sitting in the corner of my workshop for a long time, and a lot of stuff i'd been collecting, so i decided to see what i was short and get things going.
i bought 2 two bulb 24 watt T5 fixtures at lowes, and put them both in the bottom area to get started. i got some generic potting soil, a sheet of house sheathing thats reflective on one side, and a plug in timer.
i closed in the bottom area with the sheathing, hung the lights, put some potting soil in plastic coffee cans with holes drilled in the bottom, and got started. it didnt suck, but it was far from what i had dreamed of. I got stunted plants from overcrowding the roots, and kind of airy buds that didnt fatten up nearly as much as i was hoping. it was good, i got high as hell, but i got a lot less than i was hoping for,
so i started to do some research.
I looked at the limited area i had to work with, and decided to go with 2 gallon Airpots, i know bigger is better, but these will support plants as big or bigger than i have room for already.
I added 2 T5 HO sunblaster fixtures., moved one of them and one of the T5 fixture to the upper shelf, closed the whole thing in with OSB i had on hand, and still felt like i didnt have enough light for the area.
I felt like they were charging ridiculous prices for reflectors, so i decided to make my own, i cut the top and bottom off of metal coffee cans, cut the in half with my dremel tool, sanded the edges down so i wouldnt be cutting myself or any plants that brushed against them, and wired them in place. they may be ugly but they work well, its noticeably brighter with them.
After looking at practically every light online, i decided that with what i already had, i would go with these 24 watt led lights i had actually seen at a friends house. he used one of them to grow coral in a salt water fish tank and it covered a pretty good size area. i got 3 of them, 2 in blue/white, and 1 in blue/red.
So my Veg area is 32" wide, 24" deep, and 32" high. i have a sunblaster in one corner hung vertically so it shines toward the center of the area, and one of the T5s hung the same way in the other corner, with one of the b/w leds and the b/r led hung from the "ceiling". the whole area is well ventilated and i dont feel the need to put any real ventilation in this area, but still plan to get a small wall mounted oscillating fan just to put a breeze on the babies. i can fit 7 plants in this area, as i stagger them out and have everything from seedlings to plants just about to go to the flowering area.
I rotate these around daily so they all get different coverage all the time.I read about supercropping, and low stress training, and have been trying both, fairly successfully.
My flowering area is 24" x 24" x 32", with pretty much the same arrangement of flourescent tubes and the other b/w led hung in the center.
this area is smaller and gets a little warmer so i put a 80 cfm exhaust fan in the ceiling, which does a fine job keeping it under 80F. i haven't put it on a thermostat but i did put it on a timer, it comes on an hour after the lights and goes off an hour after they go off.
i took an old tarp, cut out a piece big enough to double over, put snaps on it, and use it to cover the flowering area when the lights go off so i can be in the rest of the cabinet without light pollution.
i take cuttings about a week after i move the plants to the flowering area, and use the resovoir of an aerogarden (which shorted out a week after i bought it and almost burned my house down) with a fishtank pump (which i hung so it doesn't touch the wall, it made a lot of noise sitting on the shelf) and a 2700 lumen cfl about 5 inches from the cuttings. i'm using Olivia's cloning gel and like it, have a pretty good success rate, i'd say at least 80%.
I'm planting in 2/3 miraclegrow potting soil and 1/3 coco coir, using the vegamatrix nutrient system. making sure my water is 6ph, i use buffaloam compost tea weekly, and SCD bioag for microbes.
I guess thats enough to regurgitate at one time, if you have any comments or suggestions i'd be happy to hear them.
i had this shelf sitting in the corner of my workshop for a long time, and a lot of stuff i'd been collecting, so i decided to see what i was short and get things going.
i bought 2 two bulb 24 watt T5 fixtures at lowes, and put them both in the bottom area to get started. i got some generic potting soil, a sheet of house sheathing thats reflective on one side, and a plug in timer.
i closed in the bottom area with the sheathing, hung the lights, put some potting soil in plastic coffee cans with holes drilled in the bottom, and got started. it didnt suck, but it was far from what i had dreamed of. I got stunted plants from overcrowding the roots, and kind of airy buds that didnt fatten up nearly as much as i was hoping. it was good, i got high as hell, but i got a lot less than i was hoping for,
so i started to do some research.I looked at the limited area i had to work with, and decided to go with 2 gallon Airpots, i know bigger is better, but these will support plants as big or bigger than i have room for already.
I added 2 T5 HO sunblaster fixtures., moved one of them and one of the T5 fixture to the upper shelf, closed the whole thing in with OSB i had on hand, and still felt like i didnt have enough light for the area.
I felt like they were charging ridiculous prices for reflectors, so i decided to make my own, i cut the top and bottom off of metal coffee cans, cut the in half with my dremel tool, sanded the edges down so i wouldnt be cutting myself or any plants that brushed against them, and wired them in place. they may be ugly but they work well, its noticeably brighter with them.
After looking at practically every light online, i decided that with what i already had, i would go with these 24 watt led lights i had actually seen at a friends house. he used one of them to grow coral in a salt water fish tank and it covered a pretty good size area. i got 3 of them, 2 in blue/white, and 1 in blue/red.
So my Veg area is 32" wide, 24" deep, and 32" high. i have a sunblaster in one corner hung vertically so it shines toward the center of the area, and one of the T5s hung the same way in the other corner, with one of the b/w leds and the b/r led hung from the "ceiling". the whole area is well ventilated and i dont feel the need to put any real ventilation in this area, but still plan to get a small wall mounted oscillating fan just to put a breeze on the babies. i can fit 7 plants in this area, as i stagger them out and have everything from seedlings to plants just about to go to the flowering area.
I rotate these around daily so they all get different coverage all the time.I read about supercropping, and low stress training, and have been trying both, fairly successfully.
My flowering area is 24" x 24" x 32", with pretty much the same arrangement of flourescent tubes and the other b/w led hung in the center.
this area is smaller and gets a little warmer so i put a 80 cfm exhaust fan in the ceiling, which does a fine job keeping it under 80F. i haven't put it on a thermostat but i did put it on a timer, it comes on an hour after the lights and goes off an hour after they go off. i took an old tarp, cut out a piece big enough to double over, put snaps on it, and use it to cover the flowering area when the lights go off so i can be in the rest of the cabinet without light pollution.i take cuttings about a week after i move the plants to the flowering area, and use the resovoir of an aerogarden (which shorted out a week after i bought it and almost burned my house down) with a fishtank pump (which i hung so it doesn't touch the wall, it made a lot of noise sitting on the shelf) and a 2700 lumen cfl about 5 inches from the cuttings. i'm using Olivia's cloning gel and like it, have a pretty good success rate, i'd say at least 80%.
I'm planting in 2/3 miraclegrow potting soil and 1/3 coco coir, using the vegamatrix nutrient system. making sure my water is 6ph, i use buffaloam compost tea weekly, and SCD bioag for microbes.
I guess thats enough to regurgitate at one time, if you have any comments or suggestions i'd be happy to hear them.
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