300 watt semi-stealth night stand

[Cannastan]

Hello to the cannalovers out there gobblin' up all the info on this site(much like me ), or the wise, posting knowledge of your own. I consider myself learned on the subject of MJ cultivation, although I have never started a garden of my own, mostly due to the confines of my American homeland. Thanks to the kick-ass micro grow section of ICM, I've been inspired to construct a nightstand/grow box. It stands 2 ft. tall, and is 2 ft. x 1 ft., so the dimensions of this grow will be modest, however I hope it serves as a testament to one of the many amazing things that marijuana can achieve, amount of yield to space available.

LIGHTING
A friend and I took apart a lamp, at the base was a green circle and then 6 ft. of green pipe up to the top, where a 300 watt light bulb sat(already on a sweet reflector and everything!). Anyway, now i have this beautiful 300 watt light with about 10 ft. of wire coming off it that plugs right into the wall. It doesn't say whether MH, HPS, or what. Anyone know of a way to tell them apart by sight? Not sure if that's a valid question, but just throwing it out there. I'm a bit worried about the heat this lamp creates, considering it gets rather hot. Furthermore, I cannot afford any form of mini-ventilation or AC for my microgrow box.. Huff. Any suggestions?

Growing bag-seed, BTW. I planted 3 popped seeds tonight, and have 3 more that're popped(waiting for their birth-rite), I just need to re-up on some organic soil. Will be adding clones from friends, if we can make that happen, which would be ideal. Right into 12/12 for these seed suckas, I'm hoping a good-old ScroG'll let me achieve full potential here. If there's not enough room for a ScroG, I figure I can train them to stay low, away from the light, yet produce BUDS. Out of 6 plants, I'd be happy with at least 2 females(perhaps pull some clones ?), a ScroG will go a long way with 2 well-fed female plants.

My computer is currently under attack from viruses(won't run any game installers or games, won't pick up the webcam plugged in the USB, I can't access my control panel for fucks sake), and I'm helpless against them without $50 what-have-you-ware, so I'll be reformatting in the next week or two, and will show pictures for those interested, and make updates when they're worth making. Cheers, happy growing, be safe gents and ladies

Canna.

 

[dude06version]

is it a cfl light bulb if not than i would ditch it. i doubt its a mh or hps from the description (no ballast?). just go to walmart and buy a couple 42watt cfls. also i think you should do a bit more reading around here first. light source is important
not all lightbulbs can be used to grow. another thing might want to look up the 3 rules to not getting busted, you've already broken 1.

 

[ScrubNinja]

300w sounds a bit odd. It's not a halogen is it? Sorta like this. Because I don't think that's gonna work too well if it is. Look for some numbers imprinted in the metal or on a sticker and run them through google and see if anything comes up?

If it is a light suitable for growing, I don't think you could cool 300w without a ventilation system. Old computers can usually be had for free and fans can be found in them. Broken X-boxes, microwaves, all sorts of junk has fans in it.

My computer n00b buddy's computer was full of spyware and he ended up googling his email address and there was a page with his address AND his password, and thousands of other people's, right there in plain text. So don't guy buying seeds or internet banking until you clean it out.

 

[-StashBastard-]

I am worried about your light as well. Sounds like one of those living room lamps. Not a good choice to grow with.

It will produce long skinny stretched out seedlings that will most likely fall over and die.

You will be much better off with a couple cfl bulbs.

An as long as were talking semi stealth you can get away with a few cheap household fans from walmart but you will need some kind of ventilation.

 

[cork144]

ive seen 300watt cfl grow lights, theyre HUGEEEEEE.

 

[Cannastan]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies and great info. Scrubninja: It's definitely not a halogen light, but I'm currently looking into the micro fans etc., thanks! Yes stashbastard, it is a living room lamp I took apart in hopes I'd find a way to cool the temps enough to grow with it. I suppose I might ditch it and hook up a few cfls, depending how things go.

Be safe, cheers!
Canna.

 

[Cannastan]

I procured a pic of the light I have..


It has a dimness control, but at full power it's 300 watts, and gets very hot.
Can someone tell me how to make pictures larger?
CAnna

 

[ScrubNinja]

I see a sticker. Have you typed the model number into a web search? That is your definite answer there. To me it looks like the halogen lamps I see.

 

[Cannastan]

I have typed the number, and couldn't find any real results. I decided not to use that light, and bought 6 cfls, each 100 watt. This just turned into the 600 watt cfl nightstand grow.. Here's a pic.


Thanks for all the help guys, I'm hoping to make this a succesful mini-grow, would be happy with a meager, idk, 5 oz...
Peace, Canna.

 

[Quazi]

6 x 100W CFLs? Are you sure they aren't 100W equivalent, 27W CFLs? They look rather small to be 100W.

In any case: you said that you don't have money for any ventilation... you're definitely going to need ventilation for that. Start thinking of inexpensive options such as PC fans now. I think you may be getting a bit ahead of yourself if you've got a box, and lights, but no plans for ventilation. In a grow this small, ventilation is going to be a key factor.

-Q

 

[darookie2000]

Looks halogen to me. Don't use it, too inefficient for growing plants. Also, go by the real wattage on CFL bulbs, not equivalent. My "100W" CFLs use 23W, so 6 of them are 138W (looking at the picture, those are almost certainly 23W bulbs). Quazi is correct, they throw a decent amount of heat, so you'll need cooling. You also need air circulation (fans for intake and exhaust, plus an oscillating fan if you can figure out where to put it). I'd go with some T5s, probably, for light, though they are going to be tough to flower with, IMO. See if you can find a hydro shop nearby, and ask them about lighting for a small enclosure.

 

[-StashBastard-]

I have one of those living room lights, its a quartz halogen just like scrub says.

Good job getting rid of it.

Your cfl's look great!

But they are the equivalent of 100 watts to you, not the plants.You cant go by that measurement for the plant.As was all ready said,they are not 600 watts, probably 26 each or so but they are still plenty for a micro gro. I would paint it white behind the bulbs.

Now you just need some ventilation.

I use old laptop power supplys to run my pc fans.

Looking good. Almost there.

 

[Cannastan]

Hey guys, thanks for all the help/constructive crit. I'm quite sure I wouldn't be able to run this grow succesfully without the help of you guys and ICM..
This is my first grow, as most of you can probably tell, that's why I'm unfamiliar with the wattage measurements among other things, but I'm getting the hang of it, I hope. So 6 x 23 = 138, that's my wattage..
I'm looking into the small vent fans, thanks again guys, for helpin a noob like me

CAnna.

 

[ScrubNinja]

You know, my real advice would be to chillax for a week or two and keep asking questions. Get a firm idea of what you need and what you're trying to achieve. For example before you buy the fan, will you be using a carbon filter? I'd say it's a neccesity if there is ever anyone else around, or you have neighbours. So that would effect the choice of fan. Get it planned first, then move on the plans when they are cohesive. Otherwise you can be stuck with a newbie mistake for the life of your cab.

Best of luck dude.

 

[Cannastan]

Hey scrub, thanks for all the invaluable information. I have an old computer lying around, and am currently trying to get the 2 fans out of it. I'm confused with the wiring though, I'm not sure if I need an adaptor or if I could just wire them to an extension chord..
Any info on this topic would help a LOT, thanks..

Canna.

Oh, and I've checked out all yours links for PC fans and such, very helpful! Once I get these fans out of the computer and running, my cab will be that much closer to completion, thanks, peace..

 

[ScrubNinja]

No worries man. You will most likely need a 12v power adapter, like a phone charger type of thing. Most pc fans are 12v. Once you have the fans unbolted, look at the stickers on them and they should have a number with A or Amps after it. It might be mA too - one Amp equals one thousand mA (milliamps).

Add them up and say if it comes to .8 Amps, get at least a 1.0 Amp 12 volt DC adapter. If it comes to 0.4 amps, get at least a 0.5 Amp 12v DC adapter. The adapter should have 20% more than what the fans total. You can also use one that's less than 12v if that's all you have lying around. Let me know if you get stuck on anything.

 

[-StashBastard-]

If you read Srubninjas post The ultimate beginners guide to pc fans how can you not understand? Everything you need is right there.

Dig around your house and find some kind of power cord from some electronic device like a laptop, cordless phone or whatever you can find that has one of those transformers inline with all the power ratings on it.

Let us know what you come up with and if you need more help but its all in Srubs awesome guide.




Typed this before seeing your post scrub. You da man.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Yeah I am pretty much repeating Cheers sb and good luck canna.

 

[Cannastan]

Hello IC! And hello Scrubninja, without whom's patience my growbox wouldn't be nearly as nice. I installed 2 pc fans, one for intake and one blowing out-- up by the lights. BTW I'm not running 300 watts(that was a newbie mistake on my part), with all 6 CFLs installed in my box, which there are small pictures of in this thread i think, a cumulitive 138 watts. I also have an Optimus 6 inch fan with a 'high' and a 'low' setting which i may use during flowering if i have high temps..
A while ago a friend of mine sold me an eighth of what he called "diesel with seeds", which i called him on right away. But he smoked some with me, and it was good smoke so i bought it for 45$. i got 15 seeds out of the buds, right now i have a 1week-old seedling that's very stalky and is demonstrating great leaf formations. I'm going to work on posting pictures of all of this tomorrow, although they will be from my phone so they'll be shitty anywhooo. Thanks if you've given this your time and I appreciate any questions or criticisms.
Easy does it, Canna.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Really great to hear, man Hoping it goes great.