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New Grow Chamber

CN

BANNED
Well as some of you May Know i have been wanting to build a new grow chamber for the winter . i finally got some extra money an went to the Depot spent $45.87 for the matierals . so here we go .
Oh an i do believe it was Rattler who said that "it is not as much room as you think" Well he was right .
my plan was to make it 4ft x 4ft x 4ft but i found an old pallet that we were gonna throw away so i used it as a base , so now the chamber is 4ft x 40"inches x 4ft.
Lets take a look shall we.

Day 1)
not much to it

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day 2)
now we are a little bit sturdier with the top on

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fitting the full pull out door

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the door an chamber ready for covering.

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Day 3)
Morning Temp in side is the bottom number .i didnt have time to finish the top covering until today so that is the low temp for now the day temp will be in the low 80º mark .

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Thanks for looking
Daren
 
Very very nice grow grow chamber, great job building it too. :) Very cool, I bet all the plants in there will be very happy/are very happy.
 
Wow, 45$ for the materials? Very nice job CN!
 
well that is Not including the lights . i had the lights from before
 
wow nice CN!
 
Nice work there. They sure fill up fast though. Itr almost seems that as fast as we can get some extra growing space, it full.
 
Very nice! Hopefully the move won't affect the plants too badly.
 
Very nice considering the $$

How are you dealing with plant watering and drainage?

I can't quite make out the lighting... 1 2tube fixture? I think you are going to have some lighting issues based on the distance to most of the plants.
 
Very nice considering the $$

How are you dealing with plant watering and drainage?

I can't quite make out the lighting... 1 2tube fixture? I think you are going to have some lighting issues based on the distance to most of the plants.

Hi Tony
It is 0ne t5 strip light an a 2 bulb strip light . these lights are only temperary ,
an as for the water drainage it is ½" lower in on corner an drains back in to a bucket to throw away
 
  • #10
I think you are going to have some lighting issues based on the distance to most of the plants.
Many people only consider the light fixture & the lamps. In actuality, the distance from the lights is extremely important in determining the intensity the plant actually gets. The intensity of light drops by the square of the distance. :0o:

Light intensity = K / D*D
where K is a constant for a given light source & D is the distance to the source.
 
  • #11
Ah I like that plan Daren, for the water drainage. Hope you have multiple layers of heavy duty plastic though.. it's amazing how little holes manage to find their way in!

So what are your plans then for lighting?

Tony
 
  • #13
Difficult decision but both are very nice.

First off. Don't go with HPS if it's your primarly light source. MH would provide the plants with much better spectrum. They will look more natural also.

So the plusses and minusses of HO T5 vs MH
4 tube 4' HO T5
Pluses, very bright (approx 20,000 lumens), heat generation is low, power consumption is very efficient, unlikely to burn plants if too close.
Minuses, 4 bulbs to change which adds extra cost.

MH 250w
Pluses, very bright and light intesity is very strong even at a significant distance from the bulb (approx 23,000 lumens). Single bulb to replace.
Minuses, VERY HOT, potential to burn plants easily that venture too close. More power wasted as heat.

I think the heat generated by a 250w MH is a serious negative consideration. Enough to warrant going with HO T5 or perhaps....

Just to add to the confusion there is also another alternative. CFL
Couple of these 200w CFL babies in there would give you about 26,000 lumens.
http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10052&storeId=10001&productId=65564&langId=-1&division=FarmTek&pageId=ItemDetail&isDoc=N
 
  • #14
An one would or should do the trick .
Sweet thanks Tony You DA MAN
 
  • #15
Nice big area but almost already full - that's how it is! :D

Evilbay sells those gigantic twisty compact fluorescents for a lot cheaper in the hydro listings.

Whatever you get just be prepared for a big colorful box that says:
HYDROPONIC GROW LIGHT

to show up on your doorstep. For some reason none of these companies have a need to use discrete packaging.
 
  • #16
While I do not have direct experience with any of the fixtures mentioned above, I suspect that the heat generated by any of them will require some modifications to the enclosure. Av has a thread somewhere that describes what he had to do to control the heat and add humidity to an enclosure with T-5's.

On the CFL fixture I'd be concerned that a significant amount of the lumens generated would be lost due to restrike & not end up with the plants. 2-3 years ago I purchased a large CFL fixture based on recommendations here on TF. It generated so much heat that the plastic enclosure constantly smelled like it was burning. I disconnected it due to fear of fire. (I may still have it in the basement - PM me if you're interested).
 
  • #17
OK i have made a few Changes as i figured i would need too
I bought another 40w Shop light T12 an will be getting another next week .
i have lowered the Lights 6 inches so the lights are about 2½ ft away now I have lined the inside with foil for now until i can get the Mylar. Was very surprised to see the humidity at 80% the temp was at 73 just with the one light but it was also 83º today so the garage was a bit warm to .
I will keep yall updated

Daren
 
  • #18
Not to add to much confusion! I have used all three lighting system. Tony is very correct in all aspects, but the 200w CFL's do put out a bit of heat. not as much as a MH but more then T8. I have not used T5's but I would figure they would less but close to the same in heat output as the CFL.

Just to add to the confusion there is also another alternative. CFL
Couple of these 200w CFL babies in there would give you about 26,000 lumens.
http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10052&storeId=10001&productId=65564&langId=-1&division=FarmTek&pageId=ItemDetail&isDoc=N
 
  • #19
here are a few updated pic's . sorry they were taken with my blackberry phone

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Daren

---------- Post added 09-20-2009 at 08:44 AM ---------- Previous post was 09-17-2009 at 06:21 PM ----------

OK today marks the one week an i thought i would throw a few pics up from the last week .
In some of the pic's you will notice that there is Foil on the back then you will see that i used a Survival Blanket (cost $.99)as a reflector (same as Mylar) . I also added two lil shelves for those pesky lil cutting's an so forth. I added a fan/heater combo, an you will see a container filled with water that has a fish tank heater(a spare i had) in the water on high to help with humidity . An i added two new lights ,so now there are 3 two bulb strip lights inside .
I don't need the heat on because the light (ballast) adds the right amount of heat i need , the fan helps move that heat so its not all hanging up top .
So far this thing has made me purdy happy an it seems so far the plants like it too.

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To Be Continued.......................
 
  • #20
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These pic's are from this morning

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Until Next time

Thanks for looking

Daren
 
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