Budget/Refrigerator grow

[headshake]

right, i understand that. i guess it's because you have an earth ground and the negative in house wiring as opposed to just a positive and negative in aircraft?

safer that way i suppose.


-shake

[Smurph]

This is a budget grow, so lets do a tally of costs so far

2x 2pack 23w 1600lumen CFLs: $8.12 *2 = $16.24

Light socket 4x $2.66 = $10.64
Socket Splitter 4x $2.06 = $8.24
15' extension chord = $2.92
4 23w 1600 lumen CFLs = $11.98
+tax: 3.12

So far, I've spent $53.14
Not too bad.

[Smurph]

Got a cheapo thermometer and ... Uh oh. Its mostly the new lights, 8x23w cfls get it pretty hot. We're lookin at like 90 degrees, this will be fixed ASAP, but it might not be a refrigerator grow anymore, we'll see. I'm on my phone right now so uploading pics is different, I'll try to get em on here.

[Smurph]

got the pics. Turned the fan on and it's looking better. I need to address that asap.
:stoned:

[Smurph]

Gah. I'm in a weird spot right now. This isn't taking place at my house, so I'm confined by other people's rules. The fan is too loud, so I have to redo that completely so it can run and nobody will ask questions. (They leave the house with only the wife's sister [30s] at home babysitting, and we don't need her snooping around wondering what that sound is). I put the timer in there, but the other guy is convinced that they are too young for anything less than 24hrs of light per day (I had it on 20). I'm trying to tell him that it will help with the temperatures (Which was 86 when I asked him about an hour ago!).

With the fan, the issue is that its a metal fan blade spinning pretty fast, and personally, I don't wanna lose a finger, so I'm keeping it looking like the heater it once was mostly because that's a screen to guard me or anyone else from touching the metal fan. I think I'm going to keep it at bottom, but point it outwards, using ducting if I can... Either that, or put it up on the shelf with the plants and use ducting to shoot it down and out.

I still have some more dank seeds, and the 4 that I've planted haven't poked out yet. The ones you've seen have been from regular mids....

[headshake]

the plants will be fine on 18/6. some people prefer this schedule as it saves money on electricity and it gives the plants some dark time to focus on making roots.

you can adjust your lighting schedule accordingly and not run the lights during the hottest part of the day.

is that two plants in the same pot?


-shake

[jakezking]

I got sidetracked with all of that electrical talk - not sure I followed much of it, but who knows what me brain retained. I agree with shake on the 18/6, and I'd concur with the fact it should help eliminate some of the heat problem as well as provide some dark period to focus energy on root development - here I am simply parroting what I've read on this board.

I have not read anything about it, but I wonder if dry ice may provide you some relief from the heat while adding some CO2 to the enclosed fridge? Since dry ice sublimates relatively slowly, I wonder how long a small block may last to lower your temps?

The easiest way to lower your temps may be to add additional passive air intakes with additional upper level exhaust?

Continued good luck, Smurph!

[Smurph]

Yeah, I know that 18/6 will be fine from what I've read, but I'm the only one doing research. The other guy doesn't even have a computer... let alone internet. I had to convince him, but I got it. it's on 18/6 now, and in fact, the light should've just now turned back on.

They got one more watering with nutes. I didn't tell him not to in time. I think I'm going to flush them now, they've been watered three times now with nutes.

Got another fan from wal mart. It was marked $7.00, its a small 4" metal fan that's pretty quiet. Check out the new setup...

The fan is hanging from the chord that the lights are on, I have it pointed downward to blow air down to where I have the current exhaust fan. I'll try to move it elsewhere one of these days.

[syde00]

Just took an exam and sold my books back to the school. That funded 4 new really awesome [see below] light sockets, 4 splitters, and 4 more bulbs to compliment the 4 total that I have right now, bringing me to 8 lights @ 1600lumen each for a grand total of *drumroll* 12,800 lumen for what is right now 3ft^2 space, I'm gonna enclose it a little more.

The sockets I got are really cool. They have a hook on the bottom, then they have this part that twists so you can easily install them at any point on a wire...in parallel. No solder, no electrical tape, and even better, I can change their location no problem. Something I see helping out when I have a 3ft plant.

omg, where did you get those sockets? they look pretty awesome... i love how adjustable they are!

I have begun planning the changes i;m going to need to do to my cab for my next transplant, and figuring out how i want to arrange the lights to maximize their effeniency has been a little tricky... i haven;t quite figured out what i want to do yet, but i could see myself using something like those... its like track lighting, but without the track!

[Smurph]

omg, where did you get those sockets? they look pretty awesome... i love how adjustable they are!

I have begun planning the changes i;m going to need to do to my cab for my next transplant, and figuring out how i want to arrange the lights to maximize their effeniency has been a little tricky... i haven;t quite figured out what i want to do yet, but i could see myself using something like those... its like track lighting, but without the track!

I got them at Lowe's. Around here, they are the only ones that have them between wal mart, Home Depot, and Lowe's. They are about $2 each. This is my first grow, and I already know that these sockets are basically the best I could've gotten (going for low price). I don't particularly have to keep my plants short now that I can place and dangle lights at any point, every 4-6 inches down the plant, too.

I've found that wal mart is the cheapest place for pretty much anything else, though. I saw the same exact battery or 12vdc (plug-in) powered fan at Lowe's advertised with "Every day low price" of $9 compared to the same at wal mart for $6

Right now my babies are more near the top of the refrigerator. Mostly because of how much more convenient hanging the light is with the screws in the top of the fridge for hanging the other end of the cable off of. Heat, of course, rises, and is the biggest problem with the whole op right now. I might put them down farther and see if I can help temps at all.

I cut the cups that have sprouts in them. Now, the soil is pretty much at the top. That's how Engineers roll... The cup is neither half empty nor half full, it's simply just too big.