not your ordinary first grow

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update: one of the four new germinated seeds that have been planted, the second of the first three. man i gotta get those lights!

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what's up everybody? i've been busy for the past week or so and haven't had time to post. i've added a digital thermometer/hydrometer, two new light fixtures, new bulbs (3 6500K daylight and 1 2700K soft white), 2 120MM fans, and one 80MM fan. the 2 120MM fans are pc case fans and are rated at 72CFM. i'm not sure about the 80MM fan, it is for your car.

i currently have them arranged with the two 120MM fans on the sides (where the handles are) and the 80MM on top (blow-hole style). i have the two 120MM fans blowing out and the top one blowing in. i've tried them in the reverse as well.

i can't seem to keep the box cool. it stays in the high 80's. some of the plants look saggy, some don't. maybe it's just me. it's obviously my first grow. i've also tried adding a cup of ice to lower the temp. could it be the styrofoam in the bottom that the plants are sitting on? i'll post some pics after while. just trying to get some advice cooling this damn thing. any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[headshake]

okay guys, here are some pics.

pic 1 - digital therm/hydrom.

pic 2 - timer

pic 3 - first fans used, still used one for a blow-hole

pic 4 - 12V AC to DC converter for fans

pic 5 - side fans, 120MM pc fans

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[headshake]

pic 1 - bulbs x3. 6500K.

pic 2 - bulb x1. 2700K.

pic 3 - original side fans w/o blow-hole.

pic 4 - box as of right now.

pic 5 - top of box.

a few more to come.


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pic 1 - inside box as of right now.

pic 2 - same.

pic 3 - with occupants.

pic 4 - occupants.

pic 5 - my forrest!


a few more to come.


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pic 1 - welcome to the jungle baby!

pic 2 - another shot, see the droopy plants? too much heat?

pic 3 - it's a funny angle! any snatch fans?

pic 4 - and yet another one.

pic 5 - one more group pic.

ok, i lied. i've got a few more pics to follow. sorry, i've been busy and have been wanted to get this posted and possibly some help. thanks.

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maybe these will help with a diagnosis. thanks again for all the help!

all pics will be individual plant pics.

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sorry about some blurriness. my camera sucks.

[daihashi]

EEEEKKKK.......headshake, this box is a fire hazard.

also, any enclosed growspace needs fresh air. cool fresh air in, hot stale air out.
Please find something other than a box to grow in......i would hate see on the news how a small apartment fire led to a 'grow op' as the news would probably call it. It also looks horrible for the rest of the growers that are growing the safe way.

While I'll agree it is not good 'practice' to grow in a cardboard box.. it is hardly a fire hazard when involving flourescents in actual use. I had 300 actual watts in CFL's setup in an array in a 2'x2'x3.5' box.

As long as you have adequate cooing I don't see a problem. While it's true that the ballast in a CFL bulb does get warm.. typically it does not get hot enough to start a fire and often times the the two filaments will burn out before the ballast get's hot enough to cause a fire. When this happens the ballast stops operating; ending heat production for that 1 bulb.

What is more likely to happen and something that should be carefully monitored is CFL glass breakage. Mercury is contained with CFL' and mercury will evaporate into the air. It is not good for either the plants nor is it good for you.

In regards to CFL's, cardboard boxes and fires... well you're just as likely to start a fire in one of these things below than you would in a cardboard box:

Arc Paper Lantern Floor Lamp : Target

IKEA | Lighting | Floor lamps | DUDERÃ?â?? | Floor lamp

IKEA | Lighting | Floor lamps | HÃ?â??RUP | Floor lamp

Now that's not to say that I don't agree that it would be better for you to grow in a non flamable environment for your plants it is actually the contrary, I do believe and recommend this; but it is to say it's not nearly as hazardous as people claim it is.

[SwishaSweetz4Me]

Just looking over your grow. Nice! I say when i first started my plants looked droppy Just like that. They where in 90+ degree hot stale air. And they looked just like yours. I say open that box as much as you can to keep circulation going. I have adequately put fans in my grow room seems to be helping alot. I would wait till the soil is bonedry to water. Also i laughed when i seen your CAR Fan. Because i bought the same one from Wal-greens for 10$ . Hope u wired it to a 12vDC charger and not a 120 Regular wall plug. Anyways good luck and keep it up. I have been growing CFL . You can check out my log. Its on my Signature
-Swisha

k i just seen your 12v dc chargers =D
gL

[daihashi]

what's up everybody? i've been busy for the past week or so and haven't had time to post. i've added a digital thermometer/hydrometer, two new light fixtures, new bulbs (3 6500K daylight and 1 2700K soft white), 2 120MM fans, and one 80MM fan. the 2 120MM fans are pc case fans and are rated at 72CFM. i'm not sure about the 80MM fan, it is for your car.

To determine how much cooling you need.. take the cubic footage of your area and divide by 5 minutes.

so if you're growing in a 3x3x3 area that would be 27cu.ft.. to evacuate that in 5 minutes you would need a fan the blew about 5.5CFM. However I've never been a fan of the 5 minute rule. I like to use 1 minute for reference or faster if I can help it.

So in this case you would need 27CFM of unrestricted air flow. Computer fans do not have high velocity such as inline fans or squirrel cage fans, therefore I would recommend more powerful fans which it appears you have covered.

Unless you're running CO2, you cannot have too much exhaust.

i currently have them arranged with the two 120MM fans on the sides (where the handles are) and the 80MM on top (blow-hole style). i have the two 120MM fans blowing out and the top one blowing in. i've tried them in the reverse as well.

You want them all set to exhaust. You want to create several passive intakes very low in the box. Your passive intakes must be, at minimum, equal in size and number to the number of exhausts/exhaust holes you have. Furthermore you want to try, TRY, to have all your exhausts setup to the top of the grow area in a blow hole fashion.

This will draw cool air in from the bottom of your grow box.. allow it to travel upward with the rising hot air and back out the box.

The reason you want passive intake is that because unless the intake and exhaust are running equal amount of pressure (flowing the same rate of CFM) then all you're doing by putting an active system in is creating a restriction and turbulent air flow.. basically hot air that just swirls around, inside your grow environment.

So in summary set all your fans to exhaust, put them at the top of your grow box, create as many passive intakes low in the box as you have exhausts...

I have more advice I can give, but give that a go first.