Light setup for micro grow??

[Sour Deez]

So i was looking in starting up a micro grow after seeing all these pc case grows, although the yield is next to nothing, its just bunches of fun growing MJ

I was gonna attempt a pc grow, but got to thinkin i could use the little cabinet thats part of my tv stand, and i mean little. Its a square, 17.5" all the way around.

Since height is obviously an issue, i was thinking about somehow doing a mini vert? Maybe mount the lights on both sides of the box instead top?

Any suggestions before i start cutting holes in my tv cabinet?

 

[Moots]

I have a short box too. I have a ghetto semi vert set up. I trained my plant to have a ring of branches, with none in the middle. On each side I have a Y splitter with two cfls. So the Y splitters bracket the plant. Like this <o> the o is the plant. Each branch stays very close to the light as the light angles around the plant.

I also have my sockets on a swivel mount so I can angle the Y splitter up, down, or horizontally. So you just rotate them up as the plant grows.

I think side mount is the best way to go in general. Especially if you train your plant to maximize light. That way you can utilize the full height of the box.

The way I see it if you shine a light down at the top of a plant, you get obstructing layers of leaves immediately. If you shine it on the side, all of those fan leaves along the side get clear unobstructed light, and will rotate to get more of it.

 

[mostnonymouse]

Get a mini fridge and build a 150w hps grow box! you'll be glad you did when your 2-3+ months of patience amounts to more than just a few grams!

 

[Sour Deez]

I have a short box too. I have a ghetto semi vert set up. I trained my plant to have a ring of branches, with none in the middle. On each side I have a Y splitter with two cfls. So the Y splitters bracket the plant. Like this <o> the o is the plant. Each branch stays very close to the light as the light angles around the plant.

I also have my sockets on a swivel mount so I can angle the Y splitter up, down, or horizontally. So you just rotate them up as the plant grows.

I think side mount is the best way to go in general. Especially if you train your plant to maximize light. That way you can utilize the full height of the box.

The way I see it if you shine a light down at the top of a plant, you get obstructing layers of leaves immediately. If you shine it on the side, all of those fan leaves along the side get clear unobstructed light, and will rotate to get more of it.

Interesting set-up, is there anyway you can post a pic of your setup or someones similar? So you just have 4 lights, 2 on each side? Im really curious to see how you trained your plant.

Get a mini fridge and build a 150w hps grow box! you'll be glad you did when your 2-3+ months of patience amounts to more than just a few grams!

Trust me, I would love to, but stealthyness is key at the moment and a mini fridge people might wanna see the inside.

 

[Moots]

Yeah man, lemme see what I can do. It's actually only 3 lights since 2 days ago cause I am moving everything over to a nice cabinet someone threw out across the street. Still short though. Same concept, except 1 side has a Y splitter and the other just 1 CFL (All 40 watt bulbs)

Heres a link if you wanna see the pant. New pics today actually.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=209242&page=3

I'll go take a shot of the box, its pretty ghetto, but working well.

 

[Moots]

Ok so man is it tough to get good pics inside a box. I did the best I could. It could easily be done(the setup) with more polish, but I'm in transition mode.

Heres an over all shot, 3 branches on the left, 2 on the right.

A close up of the right side, these 2 share this bulb. Although the closer branch is getting heavy and sagging a bit. I keep these guys super close to the bulb, leaves almost touching.

And the left side, these three share this Y the way the other side did prior to transition. Sorry for the awkward under shot, the only way I could really show it. Usually it is rotated just a bit more, so that all three branches are nearly touching the bulb. Just needed to rotate a bit to fit the camera in there.

Since the middle is hollow light passes through so they all share filtered light all around. Hopefully the combination of shots gives you an idea of what Im doing. This could easily be more refined for a nicer set up though.

 

[Nvidia.]

vey nice and worked

 

[Sour Deez]

Thanks for the pics man, really appreciate it. And damn thats some good looking colas for 3 cfls!!

 

[Moots]

Yeah man, I like the CFLs, as I am just growing for kicks, and to help reduce the total spending on herb a bit, the CFLs are a good value. Didn't even notice the change in my hydro bill.

And, since they produce very little heat, you can really get the plant close, nearly touching, which is nice for small spaces.

 

[Sour Deez]

Yeah man, I like the CFLs, as I am just growing for kicks, and to help reduce the total spending on herb a bit, the CFLs are a good value. Didn't even notice the change in my hydro bill.

And, since they produce very little heat, you can really get the plant close, nearly touching, which is nice for small spaces.

hell yea, i would be pumped to get half oz from this cabinet just to lower my spending on the herb a tad.

Since i only got as much headroom as a pc case, but double the width, im pretty sure im just gonna mount the bulbs on the side of the box so the plant has all the headroom to grow.

The box is about 2.12 sqft, (2) 42 watts on each side and (2) 23 watts on each side would give me 260 watts. Thats more then 100watts per sqft, would that be ok or overkill?