Week 5 of my first grow in Closet (photos)

I thought i would share some photos from how my first grow is coming along and see if anyone has any advice. I'm growing 2 plants in a closet that is 500mm x 1200. Im growing 2 strains, durban poison and the other is a green crack. About a week ago i put them into 27 litre (7gal) fabric pots with the first half filled with a super soil mix i made up using a super soil kit from Dr greenthumbs and the second half coco-perlite mix. I used premium organic worm castings, compost and soil with with perlite and vermiculite. I also bought the biocanna range from my local hyrdro store and Ive been feeding them the bio veg about once a week at full strength and so far only used RO'd chemical free water. Im using 4 danson 65 watt cfl globes at 6500k. I made 2 reflectors using Dibond board and Im using 2 noctura 120mm (exhaust) computer fans with 5-12v step ups so they run at 12v through a usb power supply. I also bought a little cli - mate humidifier which has a remote and control panel which keeps the humidity in check. I set it to 70% when they were seedling and each week dropped in back 5 Percent and now its set at 50%. Im circulating the air with a couple of little usb fans and my temperatures usually float around the mid 20's (celsius). The green crack seems to be doing much better than the Durban poison which i may have topped a little too early and possibly stunted its growth? they both look super healthy though and ive just been using gardening wire to train them down and spread the bottom branches out so they all get plenty of light. Im going to top them one more time before i but them into flower in a couple of weeks time? Ive heard if you top them just before you switch the lights to 12/12 it stops them from stretching? I still don't have a light to flower them yet but all my research is pointing to building my own from a COB kit. Im thinking ill get the 8 COB Mau5 kit from cutter electronics. Ive heard you need about 30-50 watts per square foot and i think my space is about 6.5 . I figured running 8 COBS at 50watt should be enough for 8 square feet so it would be more than i need but better to have more light than not enough? Im a little unsure about the temperature of the CREE's at this point. I had it in my mind that 6at 3500k would be good and then maybe 2 at 2700? Is it true that the more red you have the faster it will flower? anyway heres some photos

You do a very good job of building things. And your plants look quite happy.

I'm both impressed and jealous of your skill.

Keep up the excellent work.

Nugachino said:

You do a very good job of building things. And your plants look quite happy.

I'm both impressed and jealous of your skill.

Keep up the excellent work.

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Thanks man it was all pretty simple really. Spent heaps of time in bunnings and i got plenty of tools at work which helps. Saw your running COBs. What are the specs and where did you get them? im gonna get a kit this week and still undecided on what temperatures to get.

Another Aussie. Cool.

I've been in and out of bunnings a bit myself. I'm pretty sure they know I'm a grower from what I've been getting.

I've got a 90w expensive blurple COB. Which I could only recommend if you don't want much. And can't be bothered managing much heat. And / or are too lazy to build a light.

Then I've got two Vero Gen 7 29C's (3500k, 90CRI). The driver is made by Erao. And outputs 200w at 1.4A. Actual output seems to only be 182W. I'm not sure if I would recommend that driver. Mine seems to either be slightly faulty. Or just has very limited voltage range.

I get flickers on the two 69.4v chips at 126Vdc and it only goes away at 129.5Vdc. There's only a third of the dimmer that actually does anything with the brightness. The rest is flicker. Or no change.

Everyone seems to recommend Meanwell drivers. But the place I got mine from doesn't seem to have many of them.

I bought everything for my new light at www.cutter.com.au. They've got preselected kits there. Everything from single cob and driver kits. Up to something like 48 cob kits.

They primarily sell Cree and Bridgelux (Vero).

Thanks man yeah Ive been looking at the cree kits from there... How many do you think I'd need for a 500 x 1200 space? i was thinking like 6 and then maybe a couple to supplement in like the 2700k? I see they have these 3000k BD min 90CRI cxb3590's. Whats the CRI all about? The higher the better ?? Yeah everyone rates those meanwell drivers. I wonder if the ones at cutter are as good. Thanks for your help man!

CRI as far as I'm aware is basically irrelevant to plants. But the higher the number. The better the light looks to us.

Is that space in cm foot or meters?

General rule of thumb is 30-50w per square foot. Plants care more about Photosynthetically Active Radiation than watts. Watts are kind of a general idea on the lights capacity. But, won't tell you anything about how well they'll grow a plant. That's down to the efficacy and efficiency of the parts it's made from.

My new cabinet is 49cm deep. And 59cm wide. But also about 1.14m tall inside. I've only opted for 200w. But probably could have gone for half that, given the space.

I figured it's better to have a bit more than needed. Than wish you had more to later on.

As for going the Crees. They're outdated tech. The Vero 29s and Citizen CLU048 cobs would probably be a better option.

I can't really give you too much advice. As I'm only on my third grow. I'm still technically running my main plant from last round. Doing ROLS and going to try small companion plants at some stage too.

You can do a mix of lights from 2700k to 5600k. The higher the number the more vegetation centric itll be. The other end suits flowering more.

I only chose 3500k due to not having any 4000k as an option. 4000k is very balanced light. But, some people insist there's too much blue in them. Bluer light inhibits a growth hormone called Auxin. Making plants far less leggy.

That's not to say 3500k has anything wrong with it. Just that its more red than neutral. But, I've been told I'll appreciate that more when flowering kicks in.

ok great to know. I might try 6 cobs at 3500k and then a couple of of cooler ones to stop them from stretching. How far from the plants do you keep your cobs? are you using a dimmer? Its sounds like it would be cool to maybe try add some red to the spectrum with some smaller LED's maybe? Im definitely liking the idea of being able to configure the light for the best results. So you haven't flowered with the cobs yet? How long until you switch the lights?? Im interested to see how it goes!

So far all my runs have either been done in tiny pots out doors. Or in my mini cab with the 90w (blue + red) blurple cob.

I'm still trying to get help building the frame on my Vero lights. But, I do know they're good lights. Largely because there's so many posts with them in it.

You may not need the higher Kelvin though. The difference between a 4000k and 3500k isn't all that much. 4000k has almost a perfectly even red to blue ratio. Where as the 3500k has maybe 15% less blue.

You could get away with the 3500k's for a full cycle. And not have to switch anything over. Due to their still relatively high blue to red ratio.

As for heights of light. My mini cab has a fixed light. And all I need to do is turn up or down the output to stop a plant reaching too much for it. The other alternative is to raise the plant height and leave the light where it is.

I'm still undecided on this new one. Whether I'll put it on yoyo clips or even a chain.

The general rule is you hang intense lights a foot to a foot and a half away from the top of your canopy. Or however close you can get your hand to the light before noticing the heat from it.

Basically. If it feels like it might burn the back of your hand. It's too close. Because if its uncomfortable for you. It's definitely uncomfortable for your plants.

If they do get too close and you can't raise the lights. Or turn them down. You'll risk bleaching the tops and or crisping them right up. Ruining the potency of the affected area.

Forgot to mention. We've got a thread here called the Far Red thread. Give that a read. I don't bother with it myself. But, it's supposed to speed up the wake and sleep cycles of the plant. Making harvest day come sooner.

Ok thanks heaps man, i really appreciate it. Ill be building this light in the next couple of weeks so ill keep you posted. It looks like its going to get expensive if Im going to fill all the gaps in this space. Ive been watching some par tests and the drop off rate around each cob seems pretty high. Ill check that thread out. Im in no rush to harvest so it may not be worth it in the end.

As much as it would be ideal to have as even a light coverage as possible. It can get expensive.


There is however. Another option for decent light spread. They're called Quantum Boards. It's kind of like a cob except that the chips aren't one solid cluster. But spread out over a board close together.

seed2lung said:

Thanks man it was all pretty simple really. Spent heaps of time in bunnings and i got plenty of tools at work which helps. Saw your running COBs. What are the specs and where did you get them? im gonna get a kit this week and still undecided on what temperatures to get.

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thats a pimped out setup damn!