BrainBoy Cabinet Microgrow

[BrainBoy]

I started these in a Rubbermaid tub setup then decided it wasn't going to work out went out and bought a cabinet, heres how I'm rolling now.




day 12

day 12, I had an issue where the heat got too high and basicly the plant shrivled up and I thought was probably dead, but I read and saw that sometimes these plants are resilient and can come back and low and behold there was new growth this morning

One problem that has nagged me both in the Rubbermaids and with this cabinet is the temperatures seem to get WAY too high, any tips on how to bring them down?

6 26 watt CFL's for lighting in the cab, 6 1inch holes with pvc light traps for intake, 63cfm fan exhast, no carbon scrubbing yet.

 

[tngreen]

need details on the cab to help ya solve that. lighting, ventilation, carbon filter?

 

[Guest]

you might end up having to enlarge your passive intakes whiles still maintaining negative pressure in your cab.

 

[BrainBoy]

Yeah I thought that might happen, the temp's cooled down some I'll just wait and see whether they get rediculous again. In my rubbermaid the thermometer said over 110 at one point...
What I'm more concerned about is light leaks right now, anyone got tips on sealing up the door specificly? I have weather stripping in there right now and its not doing the job too perfectly.

 

[floroscroger]

A small fan inside the cabnet, blowing across the lights will help.

 

[Guest]

Wow 110 degrees!!! That's way too hot for our plants.

Your little plants can grow nicely for a while with just 2 bulbs. They just have to be moved up nice and close.

I've got a solid ventilation design worked out, just check out my threads.

RG

 

[BrainBoy]

Hmm the first set of leaves (coytalins? sp?) have fallen off the plant that didn't get over heated, does that mean its time for nutes to start? I was planning on using Schultz Plant Food 10-15-10 and Alaskian Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1, does that sound ok? I don't really have the time to commit to going and getting bat poop or something labor intensive right now but is there was something better that I could pick up at my local gardening store? The heat seems to have gotten under control, I decided that I'd try raising the cabinet on the sides so that its sitting about a 1/2" of the ground so that more airflow could come through the passive intakes and that seemed to basicly take care of the heat issues for now. Lights are off right now but when they come back on I'll make sure to get these plants right under the lights. Seems like the light leak is the only major thing I need to fix still.

 

[Guest]

Fish ferts are great for seedlings and it won't burn them. Introduce the Shultz later on at 1/2 strength.

If you're at the gardening store, try to get Dolomite Lime. MJ needs calcium and magnesium that isn't in most fertilizers. Add 1 tbsp to every gallon of soil. It will stabilize the soil pH.

You gotta cut more holes to get the airflow up. With a 4" duct, you need a 5" x 5" intake to get maximum flow from your fan.

 

[tngreen]

you definately need some circulation in that box! a small pc will do great. for lightproofing, get some wood dowels and make a frame attached to the inside of the box and weatherstip it.

 

[BrainBoy]

I think I understand what your talking about making tngreen but I don't see how that would help with lightproofing :\ It seems like the nodes are really really close together is this ok?

 

[tngreen]

what? it creates a light tight seal between the door and the frame meaning no light gets through. it will work. lightproofing is all about creating a trap for the light. there are other ways too, just sit there and stare at your cab and you will figure out a way to keep the light in.

 

[floroscroger]

The closer the nodes the better, but they will get farther apart as the plants get more leaves.

 

[BrainBoy]

I went to the grow shop today for the first time which was wicked sweet, it was cool to talk with the owners. Picked up a bag of Fox Farms Ocean Forest for when I transplant up to 5 inch pots at the end of this week. I also picked up some Tiger Bloom, rooting gel, and a couple of net pots for a suga bear style scrubber. I started LST a few days ago and things are looking good. I have to go away for 4 days. I was just thinking watering them right before I leave and only leaving 2 lights on them. Hopefully nothing bad happens

I just wanna say that the whole ICMag community is awesome, starting to get more and more stoked about this now. When can I take a few clones?

 

[Guest]

you should wait to you have a strong plant, with several nodes at very least, before thinking about cloning

 

[Guest]

get yourself some maddog 120mm pc fans.. i have two of the 80mm in a pc case, one sucking in one sucking out and a 120 inside circulating air through a small carbon filter.. running 6 26cfls in a 20 inch by 14 inch by 8 inch pc, no heat issues at all.. their pretty silent to. mount them with a hot glue gun so that it absorbs vibrations. best of luck on your grow. you should do just fine with some pc fans.

 

[BrainBoy]

More photos I think I may have a slight PH problem




thats the little guy who got burned earlier and is moving slowly.



you can see what looks to me like a PH problem right here in this picture of my better plant.

 

[Guest]

in soil if the ph is off for a small plant like that you will see twisted leaves and the beginning of some rust colored spots...but before its diagnosed as that, have you given them any nutes since they were slightly burned??

 

[BrainBoy]

A bunch has happend since i last posted, the plants had some stress as they were knocked out of their cups but are still going along. My grow box is evolving, there is now 130ish CFM coming out of the box with still the 6 1inch diameter circles as a passive intake. all of the lights now have reflectors made from foil bent into cone shapes and then cut in half. i'm going to pop 4 more seeds tommarow and once they germmed i will plant them and then transfer the current plants into their containers for flowering. this way i will get to have a better chance of getting a few females and get to play with the 12-12 from seed method. i got some new products: fox farms ocean forest, fox farms tiger bloom, some rooting hormone, and mesh pots to make suga bears carbon filters for the 3 fans. i should throw some new pictures up soon too.

i cant wait to burn down a fat one after i get this done and can feel the satifaction of smoking my own bud.

 

[tngreen]

sounds like a plan! and smokin your own is the best feeling! good luck to ya and you better keep us updated!

 

[BrainBoy]

temps are now at 77 with lights on 68 with lights off, much better then 110