10,000 lumens per ft CFL Fast & Vast VS Think Different 2 sqft cab [Grow Journal]

franksacul · Mar 8, 2014

Hi, there. Medical guy from WA State reporting in.

Ok, Guys. This is my first grow and my first grow journal, so I'll be needing lots of help along the way. My setup is a 2sq ft (at the widest point) cab made from 2 rubbermaid bins. I've spray painted the inside flat white and for lighting I've got 12X 23w daylight CFLs for vegging and 12X 23w soft white CFLs for flowering. I've got them all rigged up with y adapters in two power strips, and everything is within safe parameters. This should get me to the 10,000 lumens per sqft "golden spot" I've been reading about.

For ventilation I've wired up a high powered 4" inch fan and 4X 1" passives for intake and a 6" 240 CM duct fan for exhaust. Temps are very stable at 75 degrees F (fan on 30%), with a nice gentle breeze.

I'm growing in soil with Fox Farms Ocean Forest. I didn't add perlite, light warrior, or any of that stuff. It looked like it already had plenty of perlite or vermiculite mixed in already.

I bought a bunch of seeds, but for this grow, I'm using one seed of Heavyweight Fast & Vast and one seed of Dutch Passion Think Different autoflowers. I put 1 of each in a cup of water for 24 hours and they both cracked with just a hint of taproot. I then planted them 1/2" deep in pre-moistened soil, and put them in my closet which is 79 degrees F.

It's been 36 hours since then so they should be popping out soon. I will start day one in the journal when they do.

One thing that would really help me out is a good lighting schedule. Do any of you guys know what the best schedule is for autos? Opinions really seem to vary. Also, at some point I plan to do LST or SCROG because of the low height of my cab.

Any help would be very much appreciated!

dontstepongrass · Mar 8, 2014

alrighty then. well, the tubs aren't very lightproof and there is no carbon scrubber.

those 2 things pop out at me right away...

franksacul · Mar 8, 2014

Oh and I plan on using not using any nutes for veg, just 2 gallons of soil per pot. I figure Fox Farms should have enough for auto vegging. I have a jug of Dyna-Gro Bloom for flowering.

franksacul · Mar 8, 2014

alrighty then. well, the tubs aren't very lightproof and there is no carbon scrubber.

those 2 things pop out at me right away...

Smell is not a problem, or stealth. The light leak looks worse on camera than in person, but I figure it does lose at least 10% of the lamps lumens. I will probably line it with felt and mylar at some point, but I'll need another 40 bucks for that haha.

franksacul · Mar 8, 2014

And ALSO (sorry if I'm needy with all these questions as a new user) does anybody know what kind of yeilds I can expect? I'm really hoping to get 3/4oz+ per plant.

Jnugg · Mar 8, 2014

No way to guess on yield,it's all genetics,environment,and growers skill...too many variables.

franksacul · Mar 9, 2014

[Day 1]

Nothing exciting here, folks, just marking this as day one. The babbys have just sprouted!

franksacul · Mar 16, 2014

[Day 7]

Hey folks, just leaving a quick update. Both seedlings look healthy to me, but I don't really know, so any advice would be great.

The Fast and vast seems to be outpacing the think different by quite a bit and I noticed one set of emerging leaves on the TD is much smaller. I've heard this is a sign of a Hermie, if anybody can tell me from the pics it would be a huge help. I'm curious as to when I should move the babies to 3 gallon pots as well.

Also, added in another 4 23w bulbs for a total of 16. Should be around 12,800 lumens per sqft, with light leakage from the box and my funky DIY paper reflector, I figure that's maybe around 10,000 actual lumens. I keep the lights about 4 inches above the plants, temps are stable around 75F.

Any advice would be a huge, huge help!

franksacul · Mar 16, 2014

Also, is it bad if s bunch of cfl blulbs are touching each other? I kind of just have a bunch of y adapter monstrosities draped together in the box in a big clump. I can't feel any real heat with the fans and I can touch the CFLs without being burned, but I don't know about cfl glass touching other cfl glass.

franksacul · Mar 22, 2014

I've been working on another cab, almost done should be running in 24 hours. I'll start a seperate journal (just germinated a strawberry blue seed) but here's the specs:

12"x12"x37" box made out of plywood, lined with Mylar.

X8 46w cfls = 25,600 lumens per sq ft

4 inch 120cfm intake fan, 200cfm 4 inch exhaust. both will have vent covers when I get another 20 dollars or so, to preserve light.

Co2 feed via a diy slow emitter that blows right on the plants. It uses about a paintball tank a day. I have free refills from a local business.

It should be the perfect one foot box, hope you guys enjoy.

franksacul · Mar 22, 2014

Oh and a DIY tin can activated charcoal filter for $.5.99.

5th · Mar 22, 2014

Ditch the intake fan. :tiphat:

blynx · Mar 22, 2014

franksacul said:
I've been working on another cab, almost done should be running in 24 hours. I'll start a seperate journal (just germinated a strawberry blue seed) but here's the specs:

12"x12"x37" box made out of plywood, lined with Mylar.

X8 46w cfls = 25,600 lumens per sq ft

4 inch 120cfm intake fan, 200cfm 4 inch exhaust. both will have vent covers when I get another 20 dollars or so, to preserve light.

Co2 feed via a diy slow emitter that blows right on the plants. It uses about a paintball tank a day. I have free refills from a local business.

It should be the perfect one foot box, hope you guys enjoy.

If you posted your measurements right, meaning you are talking about a box that has 1sq ft of floor space (1' x 1') and 37" tall, I think 368w is overkill.

CO2 is really only going to be a benefit if you have an airtight cab. That means no exhaust running, so the heat is going to get trapped in the cab at that point.

I wouldn't worry about whether your two seedlings are hermies because of leaf size/shape. Let them keep vegging and they will eventually show you their sex via preflowers.

franksacul · Mar 22, 2014

blynx said:
If you posted your measurements right, meaning you are talking about a box that has 1sq ft of floor space (1' x 1') and 37" tall, I think 368w is overkill.

CO2 is really only going to be a benefit if you have an airtight cab. That means no exhaust running, so the heat is going to get trapped in the cab at that point.

I wouldn't worry about whether your two seedlings are hermies because of leaf size/shape. Let them keep vegging and they will eventually show you their sex via preflowers.

Ah, I didn't realize the Co2 didn't work if the environment wasn't airtight. I'm now sure that the lighting is overkill. Ah well, time to sneakily put the 46w bulbs back in their boxes and return them to wal-mart.

ditch the intake fan

On my currrent grow, or the new one I posted the specs for.

Toxsik 8 · Mar 23, 2014

try to work on cab to be stealth and light prof ?

MrCopyZ · Mar 23, 2014

I think you have a serious fire hazard...

If those fans go out and the lights don't that whole thing is gonna melt to the ground and burn...

SmokinErb22 · Mar 23, 2014

Want to point this out, not that it really matters much? But anyway, lumens don't multiply with each bulb.

Say a CFL is 2700 lumens, two identical CFL's is STILL 2700 lumens, and not 5400. You're just adding more additional points of light. The only way to increase lumens (which are a piss poor way to measure light, anyway) is by introducing a larger, brighter bulb.

Take a cheap light meter under one light at a set distance, then measure it at the same distance from two identical bulbs. The reading won't change.

Another thing, the light proofing isn't even about stealth. It's about making sure your plants don't throw pollen and you end up with a seeded crop. Even if you don't want a filter, cool - you wanna get that cab 100% light tight, though.

Jnugg · Mar 23, 2014

^ lol

SmokinErb22 · Mar 23, 2014

Glad I amuse you. Care to offer some insight as to what's so funny? My meter certainly did not read higher when I tested 400w bulbs. The cab certainly got brighter - but it was the same amount of brightness as the first bulb, spread out into the darker corners as the 2nd and 3rd bulbs were ignited. Granted they weren't crammed together, but spaced how I'd have normally spaced them in a grow.

I certainly can't imagine an instance where I could put enough white mini Christmas lights in a 4x4 cab and have it of equal brightness to a 1000w hps in another 4x4.

5th · Mar 23, 2014

franksacul said:
On my currrent grow, or the new one I posted the specs for.

On the new one.

10,000 lumens per ft CFL Fast & Vast VS Think Different 2 sqft cab [Grow Journal]

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