Project "Grow Box"

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to show off my grow box and get some comments on it.

The dimensions are 2' x 2.5' x 1.5 (5 square feet)

I have 8 27/100 CFL sprial lights in it now. I used aluminum foil for the reflective material in the box.

This box is cut out on the bottom to fit onto a 18gallon bin that is being used as a res for my hydro/aero setup. But, I had these seedlings that I started and then I was told to just put them in dirt and under the lights.

I also have a large box fan that sits on top of the box that is on a timer (lights are on a timer also) that pulls the air out of the box (it shakes the stems).


But, I have had the seedlings in the box for a week now and have not seen any growth. If anything it looks like they are getting worse. I was watering them everyday, but now I'm going to wait until the soil is dry to the touch before I water them again.


Anyone know if it matters if the air is pulled out or if it is pushed in?



The Lights are http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100660381&N=10000003+90401+4566+4294883650 27w/100w and they are 5500k.
Here are some pics

My Seedlings


Transplanted to dirt


Grow Box (lights off)


Grow Box (lights on)


Total watts


Total Amps

You are probably overwatering them, everything else looks good, except I'd think about adding some more height to the box if you can unless you plan on taking them out and going to a flowering room. If you are worried about watering get one of those cheap plant moisture meter, they do a pretty good job, make sure you push down towards the bottom to get a good reading.

Your plants look very unhappy.

I'm trying to keep the heights down. From the bottom of the box to the bottom of the lights (which is also where the grid starts) is about 10" from the bottom of the box. When this box in on top of the res, the total distance from the tops of the net cups to the bottom of the lights was a little shy of 1.5'.

The plants tops are 4" from the lights right now.

I'm worried that I don't have enough lights for them and that something else is going on with them. There is leaves that are dead and also leaves that have tips that are yellowing/white and curling.

And I also flipped the fan so it is blowing into the box rather than sucking air out of the box (like I had it). See if that makes a difference.

i thought you were doing a hydro/aero setup man ..and i no you have reflective stuff but you should make sum can reflecters for those lights and use
evry lumen out of them...peace

spliffbazz

I was doing a hydro/aero setup and it works very well. I just do not have the funds to buy all the nutrients and root protection stuff from the shop and a ppm & ph meter right now.

I had these "Big Bang" seeds and wanted to get them going. I was going to just grow them and then clone and veg/flow the clones, but that didn't work out so well. And I had these seedlings that were getting big and didn't have a home. So, I was told by someone to just plant them in soil and use my grow box. And that these would be my mothers and just keep them in veg. So, that is what I'm trying to do with these four. But, dang; they aren't liking something. I just wish that they would get bigger so that I can drop them down and give them more height to grow towards the netting.

I ended up putting the fan below the box and having it draw the air out from inside the box. I also took aluminum foil and made a make shift hood for the top of the box.

And well, I have actually seen some growth since I switched over to this. It still isn't like what I wanted but, it's an experiment.