grow room setup review and odor reducing CFLs

[donburi]

Hey, Just wondering if anyone has any experience growing with air purifying CFLs? They are available over at 1000bulbs.com, listed under CFLs, then screw ins, then air purifying.
I am curious whether, in a small space such as a grow box that is filled with CFLs, these might eliminate the need for other odor control? I doubt it, but it's in interesting thought.

Also, I want to run a setup by everyone at the forums.
The idea here is to have a two chamber box, totaling just over 1.5m high, 70cm wide, and 1m deep. The top chamber is about 1m high, the bottom chamber about 50cm high. In the top chamber which is used for flowering, 4 high wattage (maybe 42w or so) CFLs with reflectors are suspended from the top corners of the box, pointed towards the center of the chamber. In addition to this, 9 low wattage (23 or 27w) CFLs are suspended down into the canopy of the plants. They are hung in such a way that their height can be adjusted as the plants grow.
The bottom chamber is for cloning. Just two or three low wattage (23w) CFLs are used in this area. One to support the mother plant, and then another two to keep approx. 2 clones alive at a time.
The 2 clones, which are rooted in rockwool cubes and sitting in a flood table type tray, are moved to the top chamber 2 weeks after being cut (or as early as their rooting allows), and replaced by two more clones. The lights are height adjusted so that plants are in order from one end of the chamber to the other by height.
Once moved to the top chamber, plants are transplanted into 1 gallon bags filled with a mixture of coco coir and perlite (60-40) with drainage holes at the bottom. These bags also sit in a flood table type tray. From here they are flowered for as long as they need to be (about 50 days, slightly more), fed with Canna coco a+b and pk13-14.

How does this setup sound to you? The box is located in a temperate region, so outdor temps will range from ~16 C to a little over 30 C . The temp in the actual immediate surrounding of the box should range from about 20 C to 26 or 27 C max. This fan looks as though it may work, and I've read good things about it: Air King Lasko 655702, Stanley® Blower Fan,
unfortunately there's no flow rating listed. Will that blow air through a carbon filter? Anyone have any experience with these/ducting them? It would ideally be placed inside the box, venting outwards, but I'm not sure there's going to be enough space. If you have one, how loud are they? Could you live with one in your closet?

THANKS guys. This forum is great! Such a wealth of information here.

 

[umbra]

TiO2 cfls work. They are used as a chemical catalyst and react with terpins in the air. I doubt you will have enough room in your box for them, as you will need as much light as possible to flower. Most plants stink the most when they flower. Make the box bigger and use a 150w hps instead. just my 2 cents.

 

[blancolighter]

Is your vertical space limited? You're not leaving very much room for the flowering strech it seems... and keeping a mother plant in a space only 50 cm tall is seems unrealistic to me. I would go with umbras suggestion and try to add some vertical space and get a HPS.

That blower is supposed to be pretty quiet, but you're gonna need to do alot of jerry-rigging to get ducting hooked up to it. I looked at one for my grow room and it was just a nightmare to get it set up for growrooms needs. In my opinion it would be much easier on you and probably more cost effective over all just to get an inline fan to do the job its made to do.

 

[donburi]

Ok, awesome. This plan has been in the works for a while, it's nice to get some feedback finally. To start: this is the first box I've planned, so I'm open to any input. To answer the questions: yes, space is limited. Not just vertically, but in all directions, the box is already at it's maximum dimensions, so changing the box size isn't really an option. If the grow method has to be changed, then so be it.

I've never really more than vaguely understood the terms SOG and SCROG, but I think what the grower is looking for here is a SOG perpetual harvest type grow. So the plan was to take the plants after their 2 week period in the clone chamber, transplant them to the 1G bags, and then flower them immediately. There would be 12 plants at a time in the flower chamber, 3 groups of 4 plants at the same stage of flowering. Are the 1G bags going to be able to support the plants in this method of grow? In addition I would like to supercrop them to keep plant heights down. Is it okay to supercrop plants that are in flower?

This idea with the CFLs hanging down seemed like it would work well for that type of grow, since the CFLs could be hanging down into the canopy, (cause they're not hot). It would also maximize the space available for the plants to grow, since they're providing light from the sides of the colas, not taking up vertical space in which the plants could be growing.

Two things make me nervous about using HID lighting for this application: that the light will cut off some of the vertical space I could be using to flower the plants, and that a light that will give the desired yields (hopefully something like an oz per plant?) will also overheat the box. I definitely trust you guys though. Keeping in mind that the size of the box can't change, would it be better to go with the inline fan and an HPS?

A couple more questions:
@Blanco: 50cm does seem a little small to keep a mother plant. However, given the size of the box which can't be changed, does the division of .5m for the clone chamber and 1m for the flower chamber seem appropriate? Is that the best use of space or should the flower chamber be smaller and clone chamber bigger? What about if the mother is LSTd?
@Everyone: Would I be better off going with this CFL setup? or HID? This is taking into consideration both cost and yields. I would still be using fluoros for the clone chamber. Just a 150W or 250W HPS for the flower chamber. Would 250W be too much? Am I going to run into overheating issues? What kind of fan (I'm talking CFM here) would I need to handle the ventilation demands of either a 150W or 250W HPS in the flower chamber?

Thanks guys. Never knew I was gonna be getting humbled by humboldt, but this forum has definitely shown me I have a lot to learn.

 

[umbra]

for the space, lowryder type plants, all the way. grow from seed, 1 gal bag maybe 2 gal will do well. no need for separate veg and flower. do it all in one space. from seed to bud is about 8 to 9 weeks. lights on 20/4. it solves alot of issues to do it this way.

 

[donburi]

That would be awesome. However someone I know has really got it in for DP's Strawberry Cough and Nirvana Bubblicious. I mean I wouldn't mind either. Two strains we've wanted forever (or at least for as long as my short memory span can allow). Plus the seeds are already available. Is there any way that this space can work with those two strains?

There is the possibility of building a separate box for the clones/mother. What's available in terms of space is divided up, that's why I said the box dimensions can't be changed, because that's the largest box I can build in the largest space available. The other space that's available is much smaller. Probably about 70cm high by 30cm wide by 1m deep.

What's sounding to me like the best option right now (because of the availability of these seeds) is this:

Mount a 150W or 250W HPS in the large box and use it as a flower chamber. Build the smaller box (is that really gonna be big enough for the mother/clones?). Mount some CFLs in that ***** and use it for cloning/mother. Given this solution, I'm gonna need to find a light and fan. I can't link to em, but sunleaves makes "micro" and "mini-micro" (250 and 150w respectively) HPS combined ballast/reflectors. Would these work?
The 150 and 250 are the same in terms of price at the site I'd like to order from, so which one will the space be able to handle? Obviously the more light the better. I'm gonna need suggestions when it comes to fans. I've found a blower fan available at 70 USD which is rated to move 180cfm. I guess I would probably need to get some kind of speed control if I want to keep it hush hush, but will that work? Would an inline fan be a lot quieter?

How is this plan sounding now? It's a good feeling when you start to get the details worked out and things begin shaping up!

 

[blancolighter]

Hmm, You've got a demanding little build going with those size restraints! Well a few things could happen. First off, if you plant to clones, make a small mother and clone section side by side with the flowering section, not underneath, just not enough room this way. The space doesnt have to bee too wide, even just 10 inches would do. You could also do like umbra suggested and get autoflower plants and just do grows from seed with one chanber. Just make sure when you get whatever strain you get that its a strain that will stay small through flowering. Like the Sensi Stars I grow stay squat and dont grow any higher during flowering.

About the lighting, I don't think 250 watts would be too much if you have a little ventilation. You could get a small 125 cfm fan that would keep you box perfectly cool, you could even hook up a filter to the fan and still vent that box perfectly. Just when you get the light, look for a reflector that is space conscious. You should be able to get a setup that doesn't take up any more than 8 inches of vertical space. WEll gotta cut this short, I have another thought though I wanna put down, I'll stop by later, good luck!

 

[donburi]

He took my toy! She hit my bear! I want a potty! I want a cookie! I want to stay up! I want, I want, I want, me, me, me, me, mine, mine, mine, mine, now, now, now!

hahaha I love that quote, I have a friend who does the best hook impression, it's golden. But YES! I definitely understand this grow is demanding, and I'm very grateful for the help this forum is providing me! I would never have figured all this out on my own. Actually that's not true, but you guys are saving me a LOT of headache and money! From what I have read the hardest grows to make work are the little ones where you've got limited space, limited money, limited time, etc. etc.

Anyways, THANKS man. That post I feel like cleared up a lot of questions for me. I really like your suggestion of doing the chambers side by side. I had thought about it before, but I figured I would need more floor area for the mamacita. However if not, that's awesome! In fact there were actually no plans to flower so many plants at once, but when I looked at my plan, the amount of floor space showed that there was enough for 12, so hey. But this way will work better! If I cut 10-12 inches off for a clone chamber, there's just enough space. Jammin. Also the light I've got my eye on says 20"x13"x8". This is including the ballast and reflector.

Now in terms of ventilation I'm still a little lost. 125cfm...even at the original size of the full box, I was looking at about 60 cubic ft. From what I understand, in a small box it's best to exhange air once every 3 minutes to be safe. At 125cfm....I'm looking at exchanging the air once every 30 seconds, and that's at the full size of the original plan. Also, 125cfm seems to be in the range of many so called "muffin" fans. Can I use one if it will get me to that cfm rating? That won't be able to push air through a filter, will it? Even so...given your advice (which I will follow until I hear otherwise), I found some great deals. I just checked this website, American Science and Surplus (sciplus.com). They have some maaaaaaad cheap fans. Since I can't link, I'll give you the specs real quick on a couple:
option 1: 2.6A, 12VDC, 235cfm, 3400rpm, 29.50 USD
option 2: 8A, 12VDC, no cfm rating, 2000rpm, 12.50 USD
option 3: 740mA, 120VAC, 240cfm, 3100rpm, 32.95 USD
option 4 (this looks the best, but who knows?): 6A, 24VDC, no cfm rating, 2700rpm, 14.50 USD, 10 inch fan.

These sound super cheap. They don't come with AC/DC converters, so I'll have to pick one up somewhere. Is that real hard or are they available all over? Also, with the DC ones, is the fan speed adjustable by adjusting the voltage? If you have any other recommendations, then holllaaaaaaaaa

 

[donburi]

Hey everyone, I think the plans are pretty close to being finalized at this point, but I gotta ask this: how safe is ordering from online hydro supply shops? Even if items are ordered to an address different than where the box will eventually be located, is that safe? Is it a good idea to order using a prepaid debit card, and probably to put someone else's name on the card? I would assume that's a must. I have heard rumors of UPS and USPS handing over delivery inventory lists, and have also heard that hydro shops in my area are under surveillance or employ snitches. Yikes :uhoh:

Does anyone have any other suggestions or rules that they use to avoid detection? This is very important, and I need to make sure I know what's up before I start in on the project. Thanks again guys, this will probably be the MOST important advice I get.

 

[umbra]

I'm lucky I guess. I have 4 hydro store in 3 states within 30 miles. Then there the 3 nursry supply stores. The 4 home centers. I use cash, and drive to different ones, for different things. I always have peppers or eggplant questions I ask. Never had a problem.