So I have been cruising this site for a while, attempting to figure out exactly how I wanted to create my first set up, specifically made for my situation. After much research I have decided on a homemade closet grow-box. I figured I owed it to myself and others to create a little grow log, if not to help other people, but for my own personal reference in future grows. This is my first grow, so please feel free to leave any advice/comments/criticism, all is welcome. Oh and I am on a limited budget, so that will probably be evident as time goes on. The set-up is as follows:

- Grow box made from 2 large packing boxes stacked on top of each other, lined with the non shiny side of tin foil, approx total dimensions = 20"x20"x48"
- Gear: 3 -10" circular pots, approx 2.5 gallons
- Medium: 3 parts potting soil (miracle grow), 1 part vermiculite, 1 part perlite and a smattering of lime to help control the pH
- Lights: 2 - 105W 6500K CFLs (planning on changing out to 2700K for flowering)
- Intake/exhaust: 2 - 5" AC computer fans, one at the top for exhaust and one at the bottom for intake, running at about 78 CFM. My box is less then 16 CF, so I am relatively confident with the exchange available at the moment.

I have the ability to shut the entire operation into the box but after some initial tests with the lights and no fans, I found the box could quickly get to 120F+, which is completely outrageous. So I installed the fans and have decided to leave the doors open until I have to seal the place up for the 12/12 dark time. As of now, ventilation is a big problem of mine so I have been forced to adapt.

For seeds I have Afghan Haze seeds, and so far all 5 I started seem to have germinated to an extent, some better then others. I put then in the paper towels 2 days ago (10/3) and planted them in the soil late last night. It already looks like one is about to break the surface, so I am looking forward to tomorrow.

I'll post some pics of the box either later on tonight or tomorrow at some point.

Peace

Gonna be interesting to see those pictures m8. I love a nice getto setup done with what's around the house + some extras.
Good luck and have fun growing.

Puffzter

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looking forward to those pictures i will keep an eye on this thread

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Thanks for stopping by and checking things out, hopefully this box won't disappoint too badly. Let me know any ideas for improvement.

Here are a few of the pics of the box. You can't see the fans, but I will get some better angles next time so you see where they are placed. Right now I am waiting for these ladies to pop up (I am extremely impatient), even though I am pretty sure I can see one about to pop. Hopefully once they get some little leaves going they can take advantage of all the lumens. I am also thinking of going with some LST or some sort of screen, since I have very limited head room.

Let me know what you think of the box. To date I have spent 225.54USD and that is starting completely from scratch. I'll keep you updated. Oh and I am new to this whole posting thing, so hopefully these pics get up alright.

Peace

good luck, check my log out, i use CFLs in my setup too

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Alright so it's been a few days since I germinated these ladies and i can see the split shells of each one breaking the surface. I have been sprinkling the surface with water to keep the surface damp as the lights seem to have a tendency to dry the surface out first. This morning was the first time I saw the little fellas and it doesn't seem like they have grown much since.

I know I just need to leave them alone and let them grow, but does anyone know how soon I can expect to see things really happening? I have read about people seeing plant growth of 2"-3" a day. I know that it is usually during flowering or heavy vegetative growth, but I guess after going to work for 12 hours I kind of expected to come home and see them shooting towards the light, or at least a noticeable difference. Oh well, I think I have things set up to work well, so I am hoping only time will tell.

Also, the top of the grow box is hovering around 80-81 degrees so I am a little worried about the heat, although I feel like at the surface of the soil it is probably at an ideal temperate. I had a problem with wiring the fans, so they aren't running right now, but they should be up and running soon.

As a final note, I am planning on creating a couple of yeast/sugar/water systems to pump some CO2 on to those babies once they come up. Any suggestions on the set up? My idea is just a soda bottle with the sugar, water and yeast with a balloon on top with a small hole in it. A simple shake of the bottle and it should reactivate a yeast boost each day, even though it should technically be working all the time. The balloon on top should let me know when the yeast isn't producing CO2 anymore and then I can add some more sugar water. I was told the yeast can technically live forever if sustained properly.

I'll post some new pics when you can really see something (can someone tell me how to do the thumbnail post instead of pasting those huge pics in there)

Keep it real people.

Look forward to watching the growth...

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i think you'd be better off on the heat issue by doing some flat white spray-painting on that interior. also, i'd run both fans as exhuasts for heat issues. reason: negative pressure. do a little reading on negative pressure on these type of forums. i'd explain it, but i just got home after my 2nd twelve hour shift (and tomorrow another one followed by a 24 hour shift the next day and then two more twelve hours days) and my stash is calling me... otherwise best of luck man

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Hmm ... interesting thought on the fan. I am sort of limited on my spray painting abilities since this is sort of a secret grow and living in an apartment complex doesn't give me a lot of options for outdoor painting. I am familiar with negative pressure thanks to the days of dorm room smoking, so let me just make sure I have this right. Run both fans as exhaust (out the top area I assume) and just have a hole at the bottom for intake via negative pressure? I'm under the assumption I would need some sort of hole for intake for when I close the box up. What do you think that will do for heat dissipation? I have never done this before, and I don't know a whole lot of fan size vs heat dissipation, so I am just curious as to what I can expect. I assume it also depends on the temperature of the intake air.

Any mathemagicians out there with a CFM vs indoor temp vs outdoor temp = the resulting temperature formula? Ha! I'd like to see that ... no really, I would.

Thanks for the help Golden.

yes, you have the right idea. i'm well smoked now and will go into further depth. the easiest way it was explained to me was to imagine the air being removed at a certain pressure is being replaced by air entering at the same pressure. this is particularly applicable to you since you have two of the exact same fans (if i read your post correctly) pushing and pulling at same pressure and kinda canceling eachother out in a way. as far as that formula goes, i'm too good-looking to do math. but you're right the air temp going in should be cooler than air temp coming out. you could do the old a/c thing, but if you switched both fans to exhaust, i'm 99.9% sure your temps will drop. never thank me for help. hopefully everyone here would help anyone who doesn't have a super stupid or forum-redundant question. keep us posted and best of luck.

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GG84 you are right, I do have two of the same fans, one running in and one running out. I guess my idea was that one could pump in cool while the other pumped out warm, but I suppose that is an inefficient use of the energy. With the use of negative air flow I can move twice the air with the same amount of energy.

I am going to try that tonight and I will update you on the temp change next time. Lets pray for some cute little sproutlings for the AM.

Golden, I won't make the mistake of thanking you for the help again.

Keep the peace everyone.

right on. i did some searching for an article i'd seen here before. long post but you could read over the "How much fan do I need?" section. he states that its personal opinion and experience but he has some solid equations and even a little guide to getting temps under control with your fan.
p.s. i also didn't look in that article for it, but i know i remember hearing/reading that your intake should be twice as large as your exhaust (4" exhaust = 8" intake). here's the link to that article.
http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-gro...g-hot-air.html

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"America; first we fight for our freedom, then we make laws to take it away." -Alfred E. Newman

Alright, so 2 days ago I see the seed start to pop out and I get all excited. Except now its been almost 2 days and it doesn't look like anything is happening. There are little roots coming out of each seed and into the soil but it doesn't look like it is trying to move upwards. It is kind of just sitting there. I have been misting the soil every 12 hours or so and the temp is at about 80-85 F.

Do you think I am over watering? Or it is too hot? What would make the "plant" very limp and weak like that? I feel like it isn't trying to create a root system or anything.

I am hoping I haven't doomed my babies already.

I'll try to snap some pics and post them but any help would be appreciated.

Ok, after researching for a few hours, I think I ended up over watering my little seeds. Basically everytime the top soil looked dry, I would spray some water on it. Turns out that underneath was still fully saturated, so I am assuming I ended up just rotting the seeds.

I've started a couple more seeds, 2 out of the 3 I have left, so hopefully this time I won't mess it up. I am going to use dixie cups this time instead of going into the big pot right away. I have to leave for the weekend so I am hoping to just throw them in there and leave them and come back to some beauties haha.

If anyone can see anything I am blatantly screwing up, please let me know, otherwise, I will update on Monday!

Oh here are some pics of the box with the new intake hole and the exhaust fan. Also there are a couple of pics of the one seedling that may be alive? it could also just be rotting in place, but the green made me think it was possibly surviving a bit? Let me know what you think. Oh and sorry about the big pics, apparently I can't attached thumbnails until I post 50 times.

Peace

Alright, I just got back from a little vacation and my babies are alive! Not bad considering that I attempted to germinate for about 36 hrs, didn't see much happening and so threw them in the soil and left for 3 days. Turns out just letting them be works a lot better then checking on them every hour.

I've got to take care of a few things right now, but I will be posting the new pictures in a couple hours.

Peace

hey there, just stopping by to see if i can help.

actually, GoldenGraham has given you some good advice, especially
regarding the fans. you will see a big difference with both fans blowing
out the top and pulling from a passive intake at the bottom.

here's a thread i think you'll get some ideas from, and come by my
imaginary garden, you might find some inspiration there as well
Zeb's Pure CFL grow log

anyway, good luck

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Hey bozo, thanks for stopping by and checking things out. After you posted I spent the evening carefully reading about your imaginary garden. It sounded like an amazing set-up and I am a true believer in "ghetto grows" since I too am on a limited budget. You have also inspired me to try a hydro system next grow ... for whatever reason a lot of other posts about creating a homemade hydro system have seemed much too complicated and intricate for me to produce (understanding that I know nothing about hydroponics). Anyways, it seems like with a bit more research (I have around 3 months) and some strategic purchases, I think I should be able to make a beautiful new system for my babies. I am a large advocate of lists and notes, so my new notebook has begun!

Anyways, thanks for the suggestions on the threads, they all contain good information. I get so excited about my ladies that all I can do to keep my mind occupied is sit on here and read all this amazing information.

I'm about to post my new pictures of one of the ladies that came up, so I hope everyone enjoys. I know making that find this afternoon really made my day!

Keep it real.

Alright, finally, pics of my new lady. The other one just broke the surface, so assuming I don't kill it somehow in the next 12-24 hrs, it should be up and fighting for a place in the lights with the other one.

I only have one light (105w) running right now because it didn't seem to me that they really needed all the lumens (and the heat that goes with them) at the moment. I guess when both get a little bigger I will turn on the other light.

Oh and just a comment on the exhaust situation: I still only have one fan installed at the top but I have cut a large intake hole towards the bottom (prob 2.5x to 3x the size of the fan exhaust). So far, this is working amazingly well. The temp in the box is staying at a consistent 80F, depending on the outside (outside the box) temperature.

Anyways, I know that this thing is tiny, but I think all growers can understand the first time something comes up and how exciting that moment is.

So let me know what you think.

Peace

Hooray! i know the feeling! 80 degrees isn't bad. not optimal, but definitely do-able. i'm super glad for you and when you get into hydro, i can give a bit of advice there. no expert, but mildly experienced.

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" -Benjamin Franklin

"If you don't like my fire, then don't come around. 'Cause I'm gonna burn one down." - Ben Harper

"America; first we fight for our freedom, then we make laws to take it away." -Alfred E. Newman

hey gg84, thanks for sharing in my joy, good to see you again.

Things are going well in general. I have two ladies up now and they seem to growing a decent pace. I guess what I am wondering is a couple of things if anyone out there can help:

1) Watering: They are each in a plastic dixie cup with slots cut in the bottom. I watered them fully before I put them in the soil on Friday, left for 3 days and saw they were up so I gave them a bit more water (a light spraying basically). The next day the leaves started drooping a bit more then when I first saw them so I thought possibly overwatering. I didn't water for two days (now being 48 hrs) and it continued to droop a bit. SO I thought perhaps they didn't have enough water? I stuck my finger in the soil near the edge up to about half way to my second knuckle and it was relatively dry. I gave them a good drink like 15 minutes ago, so I guess I am wondering if I did the right thing? I have been doing all this reading on watering and I can't figure out a good amount or time period for watering. Any help would be hugely appreciated. Any idea on how long until I will be able to tell if the water makes a difference?

2) Re-potting: I've read 5-7 days of growth before re-potting a seedling to a larger container. Assuming the first one (which happens to be the drooping one) came up on Sunday, that makes today 4 days. I was thinking I'd just wait until Friday to re-pot but I don't want to cause any damage be re-potting too early or too late. I assume if I see roots coming out the slots in the bottom then that is a pretty clear sign of being root-bound. Anyways, any suggestion on transplants would be cool.

I'm snapping some pictures right now of the current growth so you can see what I mean by drooping and such.

Keep it real everyone.

Well, since no one seems to really respond to any of my questions (other the GG84), I have just started figuring out things on my own. Maybe I post too much, maybe I have lame posts, but whatever, it's working well as a sounding board for me.

I thought about the watering and realized the plants were probably thirsty. The cups were light and they hadn't had a real good drink in almost 5 days. So after giving them a good soaking, they have appearing much better and stronger today. I guess that problem is solved. I think this situation also helped me realize the weight difference of a well watered pot and a dry pot. Should prove useful.

Something else weird happened ... after I drowned 3 of the seeds (or so I thought) in the big pots, I re-germinated and left for the weekend, the new ones sprouted, etc etc. Anyways, this morning I looked in and one of the "drowned" seeds had popped up! It's probably been almost 10 days in the soil. It looks ok so far, it's shooting straight up and still has the shell on. I gave it some water yesterday (realizing it was alive) and it seems to be going well. When the seed casing comes off I will know more.

Alright, I am really going to post pics tonight. Last night I took them and uploaded them then passed out and since they have grown so much more since last night, it's time for some new ones.

Oh, and does anyone know what the veg to flower ratio should be? I mean like height wise. i.e. - if I have a 12" plant and I put it into flowering, is it going to be 36" ? 24" ? I understand there are different factors for each grow, but a general guideline ratio would help me figure out what the hell to do about my lack of head room.

Cool, peace.

I just noticed this thread for the first time. I like the pictures of the cardstock and foil. I use cardboard too. I'm going to catch more of your grow log later. I'm watching the ball game and got a fine buzz going too. To answer your question on vertical growth from veg to flowering. Well knowing something about how afghani type plants grow for me I top them in veg and usually run 6- 8 weeks and the height is about 20-24". After eight weeks or so of flowering the are about 36" tall. This is under a 400 watt HPS plus 300+ watts of flourescent tubes lighting a one square meter of area. Your results may be different.

Shovelhandle

hey shovelhandle, thanks for the info. I was thinking about topping mine also, so that will be useful. I am using CFLs which may make a difference, but we will see. Sox or TB fan?

These are the pics I promised. I installed a second fan on top of the box tonight but it makes a terrible vibrating type noise, and I can't figure out why. It seems like the frequency is reacting to the other fan, maybe I should move it to the opposite corner? Either way, I took it out because it was really fucking annoying. Hopefully I can get it up and running again. It is cooling off here these days so hopefully keeping my room cool will help keep the box cool.

Keep it real.

Ok, so I just re-potted the two beauties and I learned a few things.

1) Make sure the soil is at least a little damp. It had been 2 days since the last watering and the first cup I cut off sort of fell apart in my hand. Unfortunately a bit of the root stayed in the bottom of the cup. I imagine this is going to stress that plant (it was biggest anyways) but hopefully it will re-cooperate quickly and continue growing well. The second one went MUCH better. Came out in one piece and went in real easy.

2) It is difficult to really judge what "watered" and "dry" are. Actually, to figure out those two, is not hard, but that in between phase is difficult. I thought at least 3 days for the seedlings, but after attempting to transplant the first one, I realized it was quite dry and in fact the leaves were already starting to droop. It's true that the plant will really tell you what it wants, you just have to know how to speak its language.

3) Finally, that main root (tap root?) grows really quickly. In 5 days in the cup it was already coiled around the bottom looking for a new place to go.


I suppose for the next couple of days I will be seeing a limited upward growth and assume more underground action. Especially for the one that lost a bit of root, I imagine she will be a little shocked.

Oh ya, I got my new lights today for flowering. Four (4) 55W 2700K CFLs and 2 splitters to go with it. I checked them out and that "warm" color is so much different then the "cool" veg color. Either way, I'm excited.

Hopefully the transplant went well and both plants will grow into strong ladies. Wish me luck!


Peace

BoSox fan.
Sounds like a good plan, Secreto