LEDs, CFLs and heat...

[TTB2]

Hey guys, long time lurker here! Lurking since days of overgrow! As luck would have it i finally have the possibility of a grow, thanks to no longer living with others(first parents, then room mates, then ex girlfriend).

However, i have a situation. I live in a tropical climate. My average temperature for the "winter" months is 80-85 degrees. To top it off, my grow area has no ventilation whatsoever, as it's a small dorm style room in the bowels of a building. That means, ambient temps when i'm not there, cold air conditioning when i am. So my question is, would the heat from a cfl set up be unbearable for the plants in such a warm climate? That's why i'm considering LEDs coupled with a warming pad for when i am in the room(a/c on), but the price just seems so high for a 63w HGL light!

I think i'll end up biting the bullet and buying an LED set up and emulating Verdant Green's smaller 63w grow, but i've read some worrisome stuff about the proprietor of HGL on other sites so if you guys could clear that up or suggest another vendor with a light of that size. Any input from VerdantGreen on this matter would be much appreciated, as i live in an all felony jurisdiction for any type of marijuana related offense. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated, so feel free to chime in

 

[geopolitical]

First post, "official" welcome to the forums TTB2. A few questions and some observations for you.

First off how big is the room and how big will your grow space be?
How long are you going to be gone?
How long are your visits there going to be on average?
Is there a drain in the room?
Is there a water source in the room?
What would you LIKE your budget to be?
Do you need a box/tent or can it just be sitting out?
Concrete floor? What are your floor temps?

If you're doing a VERY small grow (125w or less) you should be just fine with CFL's or small wattage hid. I personally would go for the CFL's. One of the boxes in our house had zero ventilation and was situated over a heat vent for 3 grows before someone not to be named decided to mention she'd built one. It's now barely ventilated and operates in a room with ambient temps just a few degrees below what you describe. It's the 100w link in the sig. So it's very doable. A few other things.

Pick a heat tolerant plant. If you can avoid a cabinet and don't have to worry about heat/smell then skip it. If you can physically remove your ballast from your immediate grow environment do so. Smart cabinet design goes a long way towards isolating the plant from any heat produced. Separating lights/ballast/etc from the main cabinet will also help keep heat from becoming an issue. Insulation can go a long way towards keeping heat where you want it as well.

 

[yesum]

I have 2 of the lights you want. They are fine and all, but if I had it to do over, I would just get some pll's for less money and a bit more heat. I have a 55 watt pll hanging vertically between the two LED's for lower bud growth. You can put the ballast for the pll's outside the box and save heat. Lighting section has a long thread on pll and 'anti' has a cab design using vertical pll over at grow diaries, I think.

The owner of hgl was nice to me and no probs with lights, but I have read about others probs so?

Check out blynx and his cfl grows, also a LED one with the 63 watt. I think you can get away with flouros and a fan if the LED is too costly.

 

[TTB2]

Well, it's not a purpose built room, it's my "studio" apt, if you can call a room this small that.

My needs are very basic, as i smoke only about a gram every two to three days. I use it mostly medicinally for anxiety and depression, so I don't enjoy being stoned off my ass as much as i did in my younger years. So given a from seed or long vegging for lst'ing a clone, 1.5-3 oz would be my ideal dry harvest weight. Though i'd probably still buy(or trade, finally, haha) with friends for variety's sake, until i can get a second grow space going.

Now that i have your input on temps, i feel more confident to try one of the more common designs and lightings. I've always been nerdy and am known in my building for fixing junked computers, so i'm thinking a pc grow, have a couple for various trains and mothers, and maybe once i'm more adept, a dresser or ngb style setup(yes, i've been lurking enough to remember when it was the featured article onthe front page of OG, hehe).

So, considering my temps, what are some good heat resistant strains you can recommend for a first timer? i'm partial to a sativa high, but i want to start growing with an indica, as i have SOME experience taking care of both in friend's setups, and indica seems to just need less wrangling when it comes to training.

I'm going to start a grow diary so i can garner the collective knowledge that is the ICMAG community


PS Gipsy, if you read this, i was shocked at some of the comments some people made on other forums when the unmentionable incident with the vendor happened, as i've always seen you as one of the most upright and honest people in the business(then again, considering the competition, it's not hard, eh), glad to see you stepped up and cleared the air with jeb55!!! Looking forward to ordering from your fine company, as i've always instructed my friends to do

enough with the dick riding, no homo, haha

 

[superpedro]

If you run a "hot" setup, having an optimal RH becomes more important. It effects the plants ability to transpire, and thereby keep cool and maintain a fast metabolism rate.

If you have no ventilation, you will need an alternative CO2 source.

Most of your plants dry mass is carbon they get only from the air.
In of one cubic meter of fresh air, only 350ppm(0,35%) is CO2= 0,69g, and CO2 only contains about 27% Carbon = 0,19g. Add to that, uptake of CO2 stops if the level drops much further than 200ppm.. Lot of people lose yield from poor ventilation.

And welcome to IC mate

 

[smokeymacpot]

you shouldnt grow unvented, too much humidity and you get mould.

i dont like pc grows, not enough area to grow a reasonable plant imo. a cube or double width server case with 1sq ft or more would go very well with a cooltubed 70-150w hps and a scrogged plant.

 

[TTB2]

Well, what would be a good relative humidity? I've thought about putting desiccant on the intake, kinda like a reverse scrubber. I've heard this will also aid crystalline formations, as the less humid, the more crystallization.

I'm not sure where i could procure a cooltube other than a grow shop, and there are noooooooooone in my area. I'm stuck using what i can find at home depot and walmart and the likes.

I've been reading up on different threads and i was into knna's home assembled led panel tutorial(found reference here, looked for it on another site). I was wondering... would having a grow cab with the walls completely covered in led's lead to higher yield per plant, kinda like what krusty used to do, or is it useless in a small space? I was hoping that as long as i keep the plant fed well, and the buds are getting sufficient light, it shouldn't matter how many bud sites there are per plant and whether they are on the canopy or not, right?

i'm just REALLY worried about heat and humidity, it's been a problem before with shrooms, but fortunately, shrooms love the humidity involved, our lovely lady does not!

 

[VerdantGreen]

hi TTB2, certainly for the high temp problem then LED's would be best. not sure what to say about when you have the a/c on. perhaps you can turn it down ib that room.

as for HGL, i heard all the sh1tstorm too, and its up to you to draw your own conclusions from that. all i will say is that i havent heard of anyone buying a light from HGL and not receiving it (i wouldnt advise trying to rip them off though ), all the ones i have used have worked just fine, being particularly good for high temp situations.

VG

 

[yesum]

For the heat, you can time the lights to be on when you are there. You can go 18 hours on and 6 off for veg. Flowering is 12 on and 12 off so easier to be there.

I would avoid the pc if possible, likely to yield 1 oz. at most, but likely less. About putting LED's on the sides of cab, yeah if the plants are over 1 foot tall. These lights have around 1 foot of good penetration roughly, so if your plants are 2 feet tall, as are mine, then you get lower bud growth from the extra lower light.

 

[hazemaker]

Id run between 8pm and 8am, to take advantage of cooler part of the day, in my closet, 250w my temps run 7-8degrees warmer then the air temp so if its 72 in here its usualy 79 in grow area. LED's are supposed to run much cooler then even CFL, Id look toward LOWLAND land races that mirror your environment as they have evolved equipment to better handle your already hot temps!! Id stay 12/12 since you want to keep heat down, you loose yield but they are ready faster and in long run u may not loose in yield. Pananama red or Lowlabd Thai etc.