my new box, cfl lighting almost done any tips?

hey, almost done this box. Just have to install the exhaust system.
100% light proof.


I'm using cfls, would this be enough? or double them all up?
How many lumems do I need, and watts?
After there bigger should i add T5s to the back wall, or just hang so more lights?

The box is 4' wide 2 1/2' deep and 5 1/2' tall
biggest question is about the lights.

lilrich11 said:

The box is 4' wide 2 1/2' deep and 5 1/2' tall
biggest question is about the lights.

Click to expand...

What about your lights??

Box looking good.

how many would I need for 3 plants? is 11 enough or should I make it 16?
how many watts do I need for 3 plants and lumens?

Lilrich: have you considered a rack of T-5's four feet long and six to eight tubes wide? You can get them with blue grow tubes to start with and later change the tubes to red for flowering. In a confined space there's less heat, hence less problems to deal with. HSA

100 watts for your first plant MIN, 50 watts per plant after that. More is better! The problem with the CFLs is the light drop off is pretty bad, you lose lumens fast, so you need to figure out a way to keep them close to the plants. Once the plants get tall you should have a way to keep some lights around them and not just up top. I like your hood setup though, not sure what those incandescent are doing there but they wont do you any good.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057UHB6Y/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=jbe04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0057UHB6Y

I purchased those, they work well but don't hold lights "flat" with the Y adapters, meaning they will sag, too much weight. They worked well hanging with the Y adapters straight down from above though. They wont FULLY give out with the Ys and 2 lights but... more frustrating... With 1 they pretty much bend and stay any way you want.

shoot for around 18 26W CFL mixed spectrum 2700k and 6500k this will give you around 30,000 lumnens (roughly)

Just picked up some lightbulbs today, 6700k daylights.
Those incondescents were just in there so i can work. I'm also thinking of droping a couple extra lights between the ones i have already. so they hang lower closer the the sides of the plants. What is good soil, and nutes to use with cfl?Just picked up some lightbulbs today, 6700k daylights.
Ill shoot for 16-18 cfls, not sure how many lumens. Thanks for the advice keep it coming.

Just order 3 of those flex light extensions, good find. Thanks Catchin22.

NP! They have been my favorite find. There were no reviews on amazon so I thought I would guinea pig them. I saw a few others here using the shorter ones but I wanted some real long ones. I can see my cab eventually looking like a mechanical octopus! lol.

Just looking for a cheap carbon filter, Wondering if anyone tried these or owns one. worth getting?
I found these ones on ebay, just wondering if there good enough for my box. 4'wide 5 1/2' tall 2 1/2' deep
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/4-Inch-Inline-Hydroponic-Duct-Fan-Carbon-Filter-Blower-/270863596554?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3f10ba7c0a

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/6-HYDROPONIC-CARBON-FILTER-130-CFM-FAN-REMOVES-ODORS-REFILLABLE-/160676413683?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25690f80f3

Which one should i get or neither? lmk cheap site and good systems

matthebrute said:

shoot for around 18 26W CFL mixed spectrum 2700k and 6500k this will give you around 30,000 lumnens (roughly)

Click to expand...

i thought i read that lumens dont "add up". meaning a 27w cfl puts out like 1600 lumens, and 100 of those same lights together still equal 1600 lumens. i actually think i read that in a sticky somewhere on this site

wow, looking clean! definitely drop some side lighting if you can. and maybe get more Y splitters for the top. dont forget to tape up those wire nuts real good to prevent moisture from getting to the wires. makes my plywood box look like shit!

Getting on the tape Asap, not too sure bout the lumens but as long as i got the wattage and the amount of light there.
Just ordered 3 more "y's" and those light extensions for the sides. Maybe later ill throw some t5's on the walls.
Thanks for the tips and complements. Almost done, just waiting on materials and info on a cheap filter and exhaust. No smell is key
Pics will be up when its done.
Any good nutes or soil suggestions?

HottFuzz said:

i thought i read that lumens dont "add up". meaning a 27w cfl puts out like 1600 lumens, and 100 of those same lights together still equal 1600 lumens. i actually think i read that in a sticky somewhere on this site

Click to expand...

Not true, they add up. The distance of penetration does not extend though. Think of having 1 CFL sitting on a deck near a large back yard with no moon, complete darkness. How far does that one CFL light up? Now add another, how much FURTHER does the light penetrate? Not much further, but the area the light covers increases in brightness. The amount needed to extend the boundaries of penetration is exponential until no amount can achieve further penetration by the same light source without increasing power.

thanks for the correction

Looking good. I use fox farms ocean forest and their nute trio with good results. I'm about one week away from harvesting my second grow. As a rule you need about 3,000 lumens minimum pert sf of grow space.

lilrich11 said:

Just looking for a cheap carbon filter, Wondering if anyone tried these or owns one. worth getting?
I found these ones on ebay, just wondering if there good enough for my box. 4'wide 5 1/2' tall 2 1/2' deep
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/4-Inch-Inline-Hydroponic-Duct-Fan-Carbon-Filter-Blower-/270863596554?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3f10ba7c0a

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/6-HYDROPONIC-CARBON-FILTER-130-CFM-FAN-REMOVES-ODORS-REFILLABLE-/160676413683?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25690f80f3

Which one should i get or neither? lmk cheap site and good systems

Click to expand...

Not sure about those, but I went with the following:

Scrubber: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050HSL4U/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=jbe04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0050HSL4U

Fan: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003YFADW8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=jbe04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003YFADW8

For a total of about $85 shipped which I think is about one of the cheapest ways to do a scrubber! Has not ran during flower yet so I can not comment on how well it will do, but I suspect fairly well.

The quality of the carbon will be better in a scrubber, or should be. They are really the standard for flowering plants, they also probably move a fair bit more air through them than a tiny air filter. If you need security in your grow you NEED the carbon scrubber, if you feel okay risking it with something unproven then go with your small filter. Remember, don't bring a unproven gun to a battle!

Yep, tried it out yesterday, hooked up fan and 2 filters.
Fan works nice, when i took a rip inside the box with door closed my bro said he could smell it outside the box pretty bad.
I think the filters suck, not sure if it was sufficient test maybe to much at once. Maybe fan speed was too high.
If this doesnt work, I think i might run it out a wall to outside, or out the dryer vent any suggestions?
Thanks for the advice on lumens Catchin22 very helpful.