Pics of my CFL box

Hey guys,
I have been planning to build this for a few weeks. It took me a week to build but here it is. I am using 8- 23w bulbs along the sides and 8- 42w bulbs on the top on a adjustable height swing. I plan to grow 6 plants in 6" pots. I am going to veg at 18/6 for 15 days then go to 12/12 for around 10 weeks. I am germ 6 bagseed right now to get this dialed in. One thing absent from the pic is the air conditioning duct from the room its going in, being ducted in the rear right corner. The fan pulls and is located at the top left corner. Without the AC ducted in it didnt get much over 80* so I am sure with the AC going in, it will be nice and cool. Once I perfect this with bag seed I will go to some good strains. I am growing all organic using earth juice products. I am excited. I think for the veg stage I may just run the side lights as they are around 5000K and when I go to 12/12 I will kick on the top lights in conjunction with the side lights as they are 2700K. All total I am running over 500w of lighting surrounding the plants.

Before anyone tells me about HID, save it. I used HPS in the past and I fully know what they can do. I dont need the heat involved with HPS and this is a small grow. I have seen what guys have done with CFLs and I would like to see if I can do that or better.

Here are some pics. I will post pics of my grow as I progress with it. I was just so psyched about the box, mostly because I have a good bit of time and thought into it, I wanted to post pics.

GTG!

dude.. that is awesome...

thanks for the great photos..

questions
1. what material is the box made of?
2. is there any access into the box besides the top?

more photos please!

iloveyou

Garden Knowm, your grows were an inspiration to me building this. The box contains 8-42w and 8-23w lights. It didnt come out in my original post because I used brackets. The dimensions are 36" long, 33" tall, and 16" wide. The frame of the box is constructed of 1x2 studs glued and nailed. The outer sheeting is that smooth panel board that is shiny white on one side and brown on the other, about 1/16" thick. I will take more photos as soon as I have a friend help me lift it to get it into its spot, so I can show the AC duct going in. Oh yeah, the only access is from the top. I may put a small access panel on the side. For watering I am building a thing out of some clear tube and a funnel so I dont make a mess.

Garden Knowm said:

GTG!

dude.. that is awesome...

thanks for the great photos..

questions
1. what material is the box made of?
2. is there any access into the box besides the top?

more photos please!

iloveyou

Click to expand...

Yeah, the watering was my first concern..

It seems to be something I have been short sighted about many times.... and even today it happen

WHen the plants get large and bushy.... it may become necessary to water them with a beer bong type funnel and hose...

iloveyou

Garden Knowm said:

Yeah, the watering was my first concern..

It seems to be something I have been short sighted about many times.... and even today it happen

WHen the plants get large and bushy.... it may become necessary to water them with a beer bong type funnel and hose...

iloveyou

Click to expand...

The access thing I just thought about today. There is no way to get the plants out of there without cutting them down. I think I am going to have to make some kind of access panel. I will have to see, maybe I can use my AC duct hole as an emergency access.

Question for anyone willing to answer. I tried something new germinating and I am not sure if its going to work. I soaked 6 peat pots in warm water to make them expand, then put a seed in each about 1/4" down and covered them up. I then took the peat pots and put them in a clear plastic container and covered it with plastic wrap to keep in the moisture. I have not seen anything break the surface yet and it has been almost 4 days now. Has anyone tried to germ in a peat pot? I figured it would be less harsh on the seed and may give me healthier plants. Just curious. I know all about germinating in a wet paper towel but figured id try something new. Any help would be appreciated.

I don't subscribe to needing COVERED containers when sprouting from seed in wet mediums... such as moss pellets..

cheers

nice sturdy lookin box, best of luck

yea iv found my germ rates go down if i just plant em in the soil so far i like the wet paper towel in a ziploc methed for germin oh and in a warm spot is key

bl33b said:

nice sturdy lookin box, best of luck

Click to expand...

is that your rack?

good box and set up, but where is room for the plants?.
and are you going to flower in the box?.

bl33b said:

nice sturdy lookin box, best of luck

Click to expand...

also nice wrack.
what does it say on the ganja leaf?.

any more pics?.

GTG said:

Garden Knowm, your grows were an inspiration to me building this. The box contains 8-42w and 8-23w lights. It didnt come out in my original post because I used brackets. The dimensions are 36" long, 33" tall, and 16" wide. The frame of the box is constructed of 1x2 studs glued and nailed. The outer sheeting is that smooth panel board that is shiny white on one side and brown on the other, about 1/16" thick. I will take more photos as soon as I have a friend help me lift it to get it into its spot, so I can show the AC duct going in. Oh yeah, the only access is from the top. I may put a small access panel on the side. For watering I am building a thing out of some clear tube and a funnel so I dont make a mess.

Click to expand...

What are the 42w lights? Where did you get them and are they self-ballasted (normal CFL's)?

I've noticed those metal fixtures your using with your cfls conduct alot of heat for some reason.

Subscribed =]

crazy-mental said:

good box and set up, but where is room for the plants?.
and are you going to flower in the box?.

Click to expand...

There is about 20" in height for the plants within a 36"x16" space. I was planning to flower early to keep the height down. I am planning to grow start to finish in that box. It is just for personal use, dont need a ton of bud.

pacman123 said:

What are the 42w lights? Where did you get them and are they self-ballasted (normal CFL's)?

Click to expand...

The 42w bulbs are standard CFLs and I got them at either home depot or lowes.

skatterman420 said:

I've noticed those metal fixtures your using with your cfls conduct alot of heat for some reason.

Click to expand...

I am only using metal fixtures on the 23w bulbs. The 42w bulbs from the top are in plastic fixtures. I put my infrared temp gun on the metal fixtures after running the box for a while and they only showed around 92*. I dont think it will be a problem.

GTG said:

There is about 20" in height for the plants within a 36"x16" space. I was planning to flower early to keep the height down. I am planning to grow start to finish in that box. It is just for personal use, dont need a ton of bud.

Click to expand...

what about space for pots and space between plants and lights.
plus 20" isnt that big, you would have to go 12/12 straight away, unless its a vegg box?.

looks pretty badass but good luck with the heat. From what Ive seen, its going to be hot in that box no matter what.