help with a few things

[Crazed]

i have been reading the forums for a while and decided to join..
I have to decided to grow for my first time i have read just about every how to guide so i am familiar with the basics but i still have a few questions about my grow box....
First of all i am making a very small grow box(only for one plant) 12"wide x 18" tall x 8" deep... i am placing 2 small fans in opposite sides of the box..one at the top ...one at the bottom...for issues with heat and fresh air....they will be on thermostatic timers.. i am going to use 3 CFL bulbs (20 w....1150 lumens each...and they are daylight 6500K) ....and i would like to use a carbon air scrubber but the one that i found the plans on how to make is too large i need a smaller scale one...and im not sure if i need a fan for the carbon filter or what......i know the carbon takes the smell out of the air but do i need to force the air in it or will it do it without forced induction...but this is what i have so far ....if anyone sees any problems with it please let me know them and how to fix them...i want everything to be perfect before i start to grow...and another question how safe is it to order from a seed bank?? Please help i dont want to start until i have everything set up correctly..thanks for your time

CRAZED

[Tokudai]

You can scale the scrubber down to any size you need, but if there is not air movement through it then it is not going to do anything but take up room. If you are looking for a passive type odor reducer, there is a gel called ona gel that is supposed to work well.

Most of the seedbanks you read reviews of here are legit, other than a few customs confiscations and bad communication at times, they are still in biz. Stick with one of the better reviewed ones (seedbay, gypsy, cannaseur, et. al.) and it'll be all good. If you have an alternate address (friend, sibling, etc) you can send the seeds to, all the better. Use a company name and C/O on the address to distance yourself as much as possible, but it is not illegal to recieve anything in the mail. You have no control over what someone sends you. Just make sure they can't trace a credit card payment to you and its all good.

[Crazed]

getting air to move through the scrubber is not a problem i work with air flow design ..so that is not a prob...but how to scale it down and what materials to use is where i am getting lost and does the filter need to be where i let the air out at??? and did you see any other problems with my setup so far?

[Crazed]

and i have no where else to have the seeds delivered to...so i guess i am screwed on that idea

[Tokudai]

P.O. Box or Mailboxes Etc. or something? You have no friends? ;) Again , its not illegal to recieve anything in the mail - if it was, then what happens if I send kiddie porn to dubya at the White House? if you used a cash method and a company name/ C/O (ABC solutions, C/O tim) then it should distance you enough to beat any legal issues.. (wtf is this?)

Scaling it down is simple - just use smaller diameter pvc or conduit or something. Of course, you likely will have to do a little more fabwork to make it work, and if you don't have a decent thickness layer of carbon/litter to "scrub" through then it won't be very efficient.

I tend to set up scrubbers like this

Scrubber -> Fan (sucking through the scrubber)-> Light (blowing de-stinkified air across it) - > Exit the only thing that leaves the cabinet is warm non smelly air. Use a passive intake system to cut down on hardware needed. this lets you use one fan for odor, cooling and airflow if set up correctly.

You can use the scrubber on the other end (blow everything through it), but most fans tend to work better with a little restriction on the suction side as opposed to blocking the flow. The rest of your setup looks like it'll work fine, as long as temps are under control. Using CFL's this will be much less of an issue than if using HID's

[Crazed]

i have already read a lot about lighting but are the lights that i plan to use going to be ok??? or do i need to change the lights during the 12/12 cycle??
i am shooting for a short thick plant instead of a tall lanky plant....any other suggestions you might have on anything will be of great help....

[Crazed]

ohhh....and what type of strand would you reccomend for a first time grower...i know sativa plants are stronger in smell so i wont go with those ...but an indica should be nice i think...but dont know which kind...if you have a reccomendation i would greatly appreciate it

[Tokudai]

Those lights/spectrum will work well for veg. I think they'd work fine for bloom too, but I am a proponent of Dual Spectrum. During bloom, if using CFLs, I'd change half of them to a warm (3000K-ish) spectrum. Most people would change them all for warmer bulbs, but to each their own.

Strains - I disagree with sativas being stronger smelling - in fact, I'd say the opposite, my indicas stink bigtime. That being said, I'd stick with an Indica. Much easier to manage sizewise and generally a better yield. Seem to be less picky about micronutes and heat. There are literally hundreds of strains out there, do some research and find one that seems to do what you want it to do. First timer, I'd stick with something less expensive (under $50/10), so if its a disaster you aren't out a lot of cash

[Crazed]

thanks for all your help with this...i really appreciate it...i am new to this site and dont know how eveything works...but i am going to try and keep in touch with you...ohhh and is there a way we can communicate other than these forums??? and as far as the first grow goes...what (from your experience) would be the best to start off with...i am still going to have doubts among myself but hopefully you will be there to help me with it...and for one plant what do you reccomend about odor...filter or other stuff??? a link would be great if you had one for that stuff you mentioned....well keep posting ....it is helping me a lot

[Tendril.traY]

i would put one or two more cfls in there if u can fit it. another thing to keep in mind is the bigger ur container (pot) most likley the bigger the plant um jus an idea if u keep it in a smaller pot like 8" while vegging and a week before flower trans. plant in to like a 1-2 gal pot finish flower in that that should keep it squat and chunky for ur space limit keep the lights as close as possable i.e. raise the pot to the lights if their fastend or dorp the lights if free hangin that will help keep the nodes tight. one plant shouldnt put out too much odor but lighting insense or frbreez lol should help un less its kinda a new thing around ur peers. oh and toku i think u contradicted ur self with the plants or u were prob baked lol it cool though srry for the check dude!
good luck:thumbsup:

TraY
DREAM BIG!

[Tokudai]

Well, 12"x18"x8" does not leave a lot of room for much - figure the pot will be 6" or so tall, and the lights will cut off 4+" off the ceiling - you got an 8 inch tall plant. Definitely need to LST or something to get the most out of it - and even that won't be much with ~ 60W of CFL. The plus side is that heat won't be much of an issue, and smell won't be much of a factor til flower time, and then only if stealth is an issue, as one small plant like that won't smell like 50 flowering ladies..

If you have some bagseeds, then I'd start with those, see how everything works together, make sure theres not much of a heat issue. Maybe even grow a test pepper plant or something first - if you get "caught" then imagine the look on their face when you open it up to show 'em some habaneros.

And I dunno what tendril means - I re-read what I wrote and stick by it. Sativas in my experience, smell less than indicas. With such a small space as you are using, an indica is the proper choice for you. They flower faster and grow bushier naturally, and although they smell more IMHO, you'll have much better results.

[Tendril.traY]

hey crazed srry to rip ur thread. but toku he had sad he wants a low odor strain and u said "quote"

"I disagree with sativas being stronger smelling - in fact, I'd say the opposite, my indicas stink bigtime. That being said, I'd stick with an Indica."

"Sativas in my experience, smell less than indicas. With such a small space as you are using, an indica is the proper choice for you."

that sounds mixed up i dunno maybe im the baked one lol. let me knw wht u think toku??

oh and crazed dnt doubt urself dude, if u do then your ladies will dout u also. jus a thought.

TraY

DREAM BIG!

[Crazed]

thanks so much for the help...but do you have any links to the stuff you were talking about...because stealth is going to be an issue...since i have people over all the time...and is there a way to completely cut out the smell...i dont know if a carbon filter will do it or not....just let me know...i have some bag seeds but they are very old and dont know if they will germ or not...but i will try when everything is in order...any suggestions, input, op[inion ....anything welcome...every little detail helps....and as far as my lights...the space i gave you was minus the room for lights...but thanks for the tip....once again any information is greatly appreciated...