Micro Grow! I'd love your advice!

Hey guys first time posting anything as well as first time growing. I've been doing my research for a few years now and helped a few buddies with their small grows and finally got around to making a very small box of my own, lined with foil (12 inches tall, 8 inches wide and 7 inches deep). Here's the thing, I'm using a desk lamp and one single 23w CFL. I have two bulbs, one that provides cool blue light for the veg stage(1600Lumens), as well as a "red" light for flowering(1550Lumens). I've got a 70mm fan hooked up, was a pc cooling unit that I hooked up to a old phone charger. I've got a few seeds germinating now but nothing in soil as of yet. I was planning on only one plant and letting her veg for about 3-5 days depending on size, then I'll switch to red lights and a 12/12 schedule. I'm really not expecting anything but the experience as I have weed to smoke, so please nothing but positive advice and stuff. Just trying to have some fun
I'm using some organic fertilizer and planting in soil about 3 inches deep.
Questions are, I put a thermometer in the box and tested with the light on for numerous hours and the temp barely moved off 70F (without the fan on), is the fan necessary in something this small?
I have a simple pipe with bounce sheets as a ghost and an out vent.
The seeds that I have are feminized S.A.G.E seeds. I've got some Bazooka too because it was cheap if anyone knows anything about that, I haven't touched it yet.
I may start to post pictures if the grow goes well

ventilation is a big part of youre grow, you must supply fresh air to the plant, you should exhaust your hot stale air 3x per minute per cubic foot. if its a small cab, you only need so much but, i use a passive intake system the exhaust fan pulls air through 5 chambers before it leaves the box. but even a small grow needs fresh air vents and exhaust. computer fans are ok but i use bathroom vent fans a lot because even though they have low cfm (50cfm) the have a strong suction and last almost forever.

Cool I appreciate the advice! I will pick up another fan today! Another question though I was considering making a DIY carbon filter but I not too sure if its worth the effort.

Any solid filter whether DIY or professionally built is essential for the saftey of your home and crop. If you're growing weed you really do need to control the odor properly. With the warm weather on the horizon for most of us those odor are gonna get more intense and carry further.

ArnieSwarzenegger said:

Cool I appreciate the advice! I will pick up another fan today! Another question though I was considering making a DIY carbon filter but I not too sure if its worth the effort.

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the thing with the carbon filter is it WILL get clogged up with stank at some point, i look at it from a standpoint of evacuating the air to somewhere that it wont be detected. ie/ attic/ rooftop/ sealed room,and even just outside a window if its on a 2nd floor or in a spot where you could just blame it on skunks in the woods or something lol and theres something called ona gel that is supposed to be the $hit! i havent tried it but they say it works..

kush does have a very valid point with the filter getting clogged. The carbon is after all used to hold the odor particles and it can only hold so much. The skunk blame does work but can only go so far. My neighbor asked me about seeing a skunk late last year when I first started growing. I had this massive stinky skunk plant. That one plant during the mild start to this shitty winter took over my garage, the back half of my home and the space between my garage and neighbors home. This dude was out checking his vents when we ran into each other. I laughed off the skunk comment. We live in farm country and we do have a nice skunk population but out here they are few and far between. It would be very peculiar if a skunk was living under my home and I didn't bother to address the matter. I'm not trying to sell you on the filter idea. I'm just giving you some insight into my experience so far.

Thanks again guys. I've currently got two seeds in between paper towel in between plates in a bag and on a heating pad. I also had them in a cup of water for about 20 hours and they both sank before I put them in between the paper, they've been there about 10 hours. How long does It usually take for them to sprout? As I heard its important to plant soon after they crack and I don't want to look yet haha. Yeah I don't think it will smell quite as strong as a full grown plant, so I'm not thinking too large scale for smell. That's why I was thinking bounce sheets, which I can replace every now and then probably easier than I can a carbon filter?

ArnieSwarzenegger said:

Thanks again guys. I've currently got two seeds in between paper towel in between plates in a bag and on a heating pad. I also had them in a cup of water for about 20 hours and they both sank before I put them in between the paper, they've been there about 10 hours. How long does It usually take for them to sprout? As I heard its important to plant soon after they crack and I don't want to look yet haha. Yeah I don't think it will smell quite as strong as a full grown plant, so I'm not thinking too large scale for smell. That's why I was thinking bounce sheets, which I can replace every now and then probably easier than I can a carbon filter?

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Make sure your towel doesn't dry out. You are a long way from having to deal with the smell issue, but it is an important issue. Depending on your stealth needs, if you need it to save your ass, invest a little money. Don't try to cheap out, do your research and decide what you can handle. Make sure you have a plan and substitute accordingly.

It's not the size that gets you. It's that distinct weed odor that builds. Even small plants will stink when flowered. That skunk I spoke of was 18" tall and stank ass. That is a small plant. think ahead unless you are not concerned with attention. House guest will notice the unipue odor of these plants once they flower. Some plants are not as bad as others but it is your life you are gambling with. Best of luck on whatever you decide.

Alright I'll figure something out but I know I have a little bit of time before I need to worry about it. Thanks for all the advice and I'll do my best to keep updating for those that are interested.

Got a carbon filter on my fan and got it sprouted today!! I have the 6500k bulb in and on 24h. Still plan on switching it over to a 2700k bulb and 12/12 once its about 3 or 4" inches tall. I mixed a cup of chamomile tea into distilled water and have been using it every second day, the other day I just use distilled water. The temp stays at about 79-81F which I think is ok without the fan, so I only run the fan about 3-4 times a day for an hour, unless I'm unable to.

Hey so I'm on day 10 of 12/12 now I flipped it when the seedling was about 3 days old. She's working on her fourth set of leaves now and is only about 1.5" tall. I replaced the tin foil walls with printing paper as it is much more reflective and wont cause lazer beams. Its still under the 26w cfl which seems to keep the box at about 80F. I put in a 42W cfl to see how the temperature changed and it shot up to a consistent 93F with the fan on. So I will stay with the 26W unless I rig up another fan.

As for pictures I'm really sorry but they will probably be few and far between unless I can find the cord for my phone to the comp

Yeah so if anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

If you need to replace your filter, I have a cheap alternative for you with supplies that are easy to find and easy to make.

Check this out: https://www.rollitup.org/do-yourself/101248-best-diy-ez-walmart-carbon.html

Really cheap and very effective. Also word is that ONA gel will fuck with the taste of your bud, don't know if this is paranoia or fact, but I wouldn't risk it really...

Looking forward to some pics of your girl! good luck starting out, once your lady gets a decent footing down she'll bounce back from pretty much anything you can throw at her(doesn't mean you should )
Take good care of her the first 2 weeks or so, water very carefully, overwatering is way more dangerous then underwatering just wait until your soil is nice 'n dry before watering again. watering with rain water is also a thing I can recommend because it's naturally balanced Ph, which is nice because you don't need to check it

Try up amp up your ventilation, 26W isn't gonna deliver much bud, try to go for a negative pressure system, which means that you only install exhaust fans and maybe 1 small one to circulate the air around inside the box, I've been using this system now and my temps have never done anything dangerous, even though I have bout 90W in there.

Subbed to your thread, good luck and don't forget to have fun doing it! When something goes wrong, don't worry, it's all a learning experience.

peace

Thanks man. Yeah I know I'm not looking for yield obviously as I would be an idiot to use a single lamp and expect 2 OZ. lol Im just expecting a fun ride and hopefully a j by the end of it
As for my venting, that is the current set up. Only exhaust vents with a small carbon filter cover and two elbows towards the bottom as passive intakes. However as I mentioned it fails to keep the 42w bulb cool enough. So the 26w seems to keep it at the right temp.
Cool Il do my best to provide pics, if not il provide descriptive detail to allow your imaginations to work haha

haha okay also, multiply small bulbs tend to be easier to cool then 1 big one, might wanna keep that in mind I was (untill one week ago :/) running 4 lamps, each around 23W, they seem to produce much less heat then one big 90W one.
Also with multiple bulbs you can toy around with spectrums and such more then with one bulb. It is however more expensive and takes up more room. Up to you to decide

Cool yeah man thanks for the advice. Im having a hard time finding any y adapters though. Ive been to two separate stores and they've both been out. If I can find one then il be putting another bulb and probably mix the spectrum a bit.

ArnieSwarzenegger said:

Cool yeah man thanks for the advice. Im having a hard time finding any y adapters though. Ive been to two separate stores and they've both been out. If I can find one then il be putting another bulb and probably mix the spectrum a bit.

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I had the same problem, I can't find those things anywhere, so I just mounted a power brick inside my case works well! bit of a bitch to mount everything but once it's in it looks very clean.

Yeah Ive seen a few people do that and you're right it looks clean once its all hooked up. Unfortunately I don't think the power bar will fit in my box.. :S that's what she said...
But shes looking great today with a lot of under foliage coming in as I created a 4 sided refector around the plant angled at a 45 so its reflecting on the under side of the plant. She's still about 2" tall max but is green and working on her 4th and 5th sets of leaves which is exciting I have so many pictures on my phone.. it sucks that only I can see them -.-
Oh also her first original round leaves are beginning to yellow!