CFL Grow

ngtybear

Well-Known Member
I too am thinking about adding AC to my box, which also is in the garage and I too live in the south.... hmn... sounds like my grow. ;_)

I am already starting to run into some heat challenges with the HPS. The challenge I face is I can not vent the garage.
 

60STOKER

Active Member
First, I hope you have solved your problem with your plants. I have one plant that I had to bring back from being over nuted. It is about ready but it will not be as good as the first 2.

My space is 84 cubic feet. I am venting with a 110 CFM fan and intaking fresh air with a 90 CFM fan.

My fresh air comes from the garage as I said and it will soon start to heat up. Even now, I am having "daytime growing " temps reach 80-83 degrees in my space when the outside temps reach 70 or above. Soon, 70 will be the low temp, not the high so I have got to solve the heat problem. In the past I have not grown during this time of the year for this very reason.

I may just put an AC unit in my space and try to vent its' heat out into the garage. I have been studying the situation and this might be my best choice. I have a small "entry room" that is off of the main grow area. When you crawl into it, it is angled from the floor up to about 4 feet in height and might have just enough room for me to set an AC unit in, box off the back of the AC and vent it into the garage.

I think I can hide an exhaust fan hole easier than I can a big box with an AC in it. Once again I have a lot of teenagers in and out of my house so I need to be very careful.

Good luck with your plants.

:peace: Peace to all
 

60STOKER

Active Member
Thanks for the Co2 info. I've bookmarked the page and will check it out. I think putting the CFLs around the lower parts of the plants was the key. My previous crops did not yield as much per plant. The info I have gotten from this site has really improved my growing skills. Kids just left for a night on the town, so I think I will go have a toke in appreciation for everyone's help!
 

entropic

Well-Known Member
My fresh air comes from the garage as I said and it will soon start to heat up. Even now, I am having "daytime growing " temps reach 80-83 degrees in my space when the outside temps reach 70 or above. Soon, 70 will be the low temp, not the high so I have got to solve the heat problem. In the past I have not grown during this time of the year for this very reason.

:peace: Peace to all
I read a post by another member of the board (can't remember who), but he put frozen two liter bottles of water in his box and has a mini-fan blowing on them, said it reduced temp a few degrees, it's something to think about.

Also, for other people thinking about hooking together multiple surge protectors, make sure you don't exceed 15 amps on them in total or you'll end up tripping the breaker.

Excellent work on the grow btw, looks beautiful.
 

Nizzan

Well-Known Member
Also, for other people thinking about hooking together multiple surge protectors, make sure you don't exceed 15 amps on them in total or you'll end up tripping the breaker.
Pretty good advice. But some people are running larger breakers/fuses. Sometimes surge protectors can handle more... or more likely less power. So even though 15 amps is a good limit for 95% of the growers, if someone wants to pull out a calcualator and check what each part of their electrical system can handle they can get a closer true reading:roll:. Or, just try not to exceed the 15amps:hump:

Peace
 

60STOKER

Active Member
Quick Update:

My dried and cured ( for three weeks ) yield was 2.6 ounces from three 24 to 28 inch plants. My last plant did not do as well as I think I gave it too much nutes.

I am not sure of the strain as I grew from bag seed, but it is pretty good.

I have added an AC to my space as temps were reaching 90 degrees inside the room ( 73 outside temps ). Temps inside room now down to 70 to 78 degrees.

I am running my lights on two different breakers with the AC on a third. Hopefully this will eliminate any electrical concerns, but thanks for the heads up.

I have regenerated my two good plants and will try to get some clones as the quality was pretty good. They have started to veg again and look good. Hopefully I will not catch the dreaded "Hermies".

With the AC I am also looking at an HPS light. Still not sure about the height issue ( only four feet of head room ). If I can get some good clones will practice LST on some of them. Maybe this will help.

Peace to all
 

ngtybear

Well-Known Member
4' is pretty tight, IMHO. In that space I would stick with CFL. The heat from HPS is significant, and you need more distance from the HPS regardless of temp. They produce a lot of radiant heat.

I use both CFL and HPS. My space is a little larger though (6' high). I have decided to hold off on the AC. I hope to move to a better location before it gets too hot and will be able to move the grow boxes inside. With the boxes in the AC the heat issues will be gone.

Stoker, I just recovered on from burn and over watering. It is now budding like crazy!! CO2 made a big difference. Not a huge pain once i got everything I needed. Here is what I have...

* 2x grounded digital timers. $15 each
* "Paintball" adaptable regulator. Lets me buy my CO2 from Wal-Mart ($7 per tank). $60
* Solenoid $50
* Pin control valve. This was designed for aquarium but does the trick. (included with the regulator).
* 25' of aquarium tubing. $3

I have the timer setup to have the CO2 come on once an hour for 8 minutes. The fans go off at the same time but stay off for 15 minutes. I do this for the first 10 of the 12 hours in the lights on cycle. For the last two hours I do not add CO2.

The first day it made a huge difference. The leaves have become very dark green and growth has increased as have new bud locations. I am not sure what CO2 is supposed to do, but in my case it has made for some very happy plants.
 
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