Ninjakicks
New member
Hello people!
(Please read full post before replying - Thank you very much)
I've been planning on starting up a microgrow and was hoping for some advice.
Actually I'm hoping for a ton of advice since I do not have much experience growing.
I will attempt to include a link to the drawings i've come up with and hopefully it will work
and the image will be viewable.
I apologize in advance for my lousy english as I am not a native speaker.
The plan:
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]The box will be located in the bedroom so preferably the contruction should be as silent
and non hazardous as possible.
I have gotten a hold of a drawer measuring approx (38"x45"x16.5") / (97x115x42 cm)
My plan is to split up the space into two chambers. A flowering and a vegging chamber.
The veg chamber would hold the same size containers as in the flowering chamber to
avoid replanting and stressing the plants (I am intending to top them so the least stress
the better i suppose),
and also allowing the plants to develop large rootsystems as soon as possible promoting
more growth.
I was planning on using a 125W agro CFL bulb for the veg chamber but since the veg
chamber is a... Veg chamber, perhaps that is a less better option than a CFL with
dedicated veg color spectrum?
Btw, I have decided to avoid LED's due to limitation in growing height as light intensity
could probably damage the plants if i have understood correctly.
The CFL will be mounted in a cheap basic reflector which i will open up small openings
for passive heat extraction. Except for the ceiling of the veg chamber, the chambers
top will act as a light trap with overlapping holes.
The warm air will be pulled through the light trap with a 120mm (5") 150m3/h PC fan,
providing fresh air to the veg chamber while pulling the warm air towards the carbon
scrubber.
Due to space limitations, I'm planning on using cloth Smart pots (7.5L / 2 gallon).
I was planning on using Airpots but they are not that flexible and their sizes would
limit me to 3L pots as those are the largest that would fit with this space.
Another reason for choosing the smartpots instead of traditional plastic pots is
air pruning.
Hopefully you can see from my drawing that The carbon filter will be directly connected
to the inline extractor fan and the air moved by the fan will cool a 250W dualspectrum
HPS in a 125mm/5" cooltube. I've planned the flowering chamber in this way to get the
most light coverage as possible and increasing chances for a higher yield than a light
setup providing light from above only.
The air will the be pushed out through an opening in the floor of the drawer to which the
cooltube is connected.
All ductings and connections EXCEPT for the cooltube will be 100mm/4" so in order
to connect the tube to the other ducting i'll be using PVC duct reducers.
In the ceiling of the flowering chamber, i was planning on installing 4 x 40W flowering
spectrum CFL bulbs to provide an extra boost.
Mounted at the ceiling, 4 x 120mm/5" PC fans will provide air circulation.
Next to the carbon filter the ballast for the HPS will be placed to assist in cooling it.
I guess a 250W electronic ballast won't go all crazy hot but better safe than sorry.
The inline fan will consume roughly 35W/h and i will be putting 1 small emergency
CFL bulb in each chamber and connect both fan and emergency lights to a 700W
1400VA UPS unit. At 70W load it should manage to keep lights and fan running
for approx. 1h 45m.
Power shortages here rarely last longer than 2 hours so that should be enough.
The plan is to grow Norther Lights as these are low in odour and does not stretch
too much plus gives a relatively high yield for it's size.
Here are some of my bigger worries which i'd be very happy if you could help me out with:
1. Should I use a 125W dualspec. CFL for the Veg chamber? Would 6400K exclusively be
a better choise? Will 125W be enough or too much?
2. Would the PC fan helping with airflow in the veg chamber be enough or overpowered?
is it a better idea to keep the airflow in the veg chamber completely passive meaning it's
handled by the main inline fan through the carbon filter?
3. Because of the distance to the plants from the cooltube, i'd assume I won't be needing
more than a 250W HPS for a decent yield?
I was planning on using a dualspectrum HPS to promote growth width wise, would a
dedicated flowering bulb be a better choise?
4. The plants will be vegged for 6 weeks from seed or until they can be topped by the
4th or 5th node (which would you recommend? feminized sensi NL's).
They'd then be given 2 weeks (8 week prep for bloom in total) to recover from topping.
Should i top them at all? It'd be suitable for this setup and massively increase yield, right?
5. After that kind of treatment and veg period, how tall can i expect them to be at the end of
the veg period and how tall could they stretch after being topped and recovered?
I realize this could probably be adjusted depending on what spectrum and strength CFL's
i put in the ceiling of the flowering chamber, i just don't know how.
6. Yield... How much can i expect to get out of each grow cycle? I was hoping for a minimum
of 2.75oz (80g) in total every 8 weeks. Is this a realistic assessment?
7. Do you find any issues with this set up?
What are your recommendations?
What improvements could be made?
Thank you very much in advance!
