T-8 shop light(only) grow - Growroom Designs & Equipment - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

magiccannabus · 12-18-2008, 09:30 AM

What I have done is take 8x 2-bulb T8 shop lights. Mostly "Lights of America" brand. On paper at least these have one of the best lumens-per-watt ratings compared to most other types of lamp. Yes they don't have the bulb efficacy of HPS, but the ballasts are enormously low-power and the heat dispersion is amazing. Since they are cheap I decided to stuff a bunch of them into a cabinet, sort of like a tanning bed turned on it's end.

So the cabinet right now is 22"Wx28"Dx56"H So that gives me roughly 3.5 square feet of floor space for growing. This is plenty for what I want. I have a shop light at each compass point, 8 total(512W), surrounding the plants completely. This gives me about 145W per square foot, or about 45,000 lumens in a 15 cubic foot space(about 4sqft floor and 4.2 feet tall). This seems insane to me, but maybe because they are tubes it will make up for lack of intensity? Their vertical arrangement means the light fills the cabinet amazingly well, but there's no light at the top, and may never be.

My big question is if anyone has done this, what their results were, and what should I do with this cabinet? There's a lot of growing styles out there and I want to do what yields best results with my lights. Should I mount a CFL or two in the middle top to give the plants a point source to aim at? I was also thinking about putting them on motorized turntables. I don't know where to buy them though so I will have to build them probably. Maybe if I have a timer kick on and rotate the plants now and then for a few minutes, I could get nice even results? Has anyone tried that? I have definitely seen vertical tubes arranged around the plants, but I can't seem to track down any examples of it as the only lighting source.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

12-18-2008, 02:03 PM

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=92259

this guy grew with pl-l tubes verticly.

Storm Crow · 12-18-2008, 02:23 PM

I started out with a 2 x 5 closet and 2 shop lights. The hubby made a frame to hang the lights from and one is on the back wall to "feed" the popcorn buds. I added another 2 every payday (Granny is LOW income- but I love my job!). I now have 5 shop lights in the closet (all that would fit), plus 6 more side lighting CFL bulbs that fit between the tubs. The tubs are 19 gallons and full of organic soil with earthworms. "Ghetto" as heck but it works!

I get between 1 and 2 ounces off each plant- usually closer to one. I keep them small deliberately. Our local sheriff says he'll bust even legit MMJ patients, with even just one plant if the plant even LOOKS like it could produce 8 ounces! I haver a perpetual grow, harvesting about every 2-3 weeks. I grow just enough to keep me and the hubby in pot. I do not trust our sheriff!

Granny

magiccannabus · 12-18-2008, 06:44 PM

Nice to know! I think I'm going to do better with this grow than any of my previous ones. I've just never grown without a point source light before. I really don't know what to expect, how they will need to be trained, etc.. This should be fun though. With so much side lighting, I can make a plant that is solid top to bottom. If I can somehow get them on some sort of turntables, they'll be nice and evenly lit at all times.

I wouldn't trust the sheriff either! cops period for that matter....

magiccannabus · 12-18-2008, 08:30 PM

Running a test of the ventilation and lighting systems right now. The ventilation system seems to really be sucking in the air at the bottom and blowing it out of the closet completely at the top. Working perfectly. I put a thermometer in the cab with the lights and screwed it shut(false wall, I have to take it apart every time, for now anyway). I am going to see how well it does over an hour or two temp-wise.

magiccannabus · 12-18-2008, 09:42 PM

Definitely going to have to fix the airflow path soon here. My 1 hour test reached temps of 120 degrees. Once the top part of the wall is put on, it should make the air flow along the path it is supposed to. Right now the main fan in the closet sucks the air through the open top part of the divider wall and not through the cab. I suppose that's my next job to tackle.

DonChron · 12-18-2008, 10:14 PM

15,000 lumens seems adequate for the space, Im using a 'portable closet' of those almost exact dimensions for my veg cab with 4 - 2X4 T20s that providing exactly half that wattage @ 250 watts.I have been using this setup for a few years now and can keep the 2.5 cubic feet of ground space packed with -up to- 30 cups,or 8 1 gallon square pots.Plants have no problem vegging with minimal stretch and even distribution through the entire cab.. Keep in mind mine are setup vertically as well,with no light on top.
Im also wondering if you're the same TMC that wrote the DIY bubbler thread up on HG years ago...shit taught me the way of the bubb cloner bro. Keep us posted ,ima tag it up

magiccannabus · 12-19-2008, 03:17 PM

Yeah I am the same TMC. Glad to hear your cloner has worked well for you. I just rebuilt mine actually. I took the gravel out of the bottom and just siliconed the airstones in place.

I think I will rig up the lights so that at least every pair has a switch turning them off. There's definitely no sense in running 145W per square foot with tiny plants. I now plan to have five in the flowering cab instead of four, but that extreme light output in there should help compensate for it quite a bit.

I have a Stanley blower in there that is set on low venting the whole closet. The entire closet is about 120 cubic feet, maybe a smidge bigger. On high the blower draws so much air there's a steady wind coming from the bottom of the door(the top is sealed). As soon as I close off the divider wall and figure out how to get some airflow it should all be pretty good.

How does your vertical setup work? Do you have a couple shelves? Are the plants trained up fencing? What sort of yields do your 250 watts give you? I'm hoping to make this semi-perpetual. Basically with 5 plants, one of each strain, some will finish at different times, and be replaced by a clone grown in the veg side for a while. Hopefully this should give me fairly regular harvests.

It's pretty sweet. Basically my buddy who I taught growing to is now going to hook me up with clones of some clone-only stuff. All five kinds are local and you can't buy seeds for them anywhere. I'm pretty excited! I was just toying with the idea of starting again and bam, ready to go plants. WOo hoO!

magiccannabus · 12-21-2008, 08:55 AM

Here are some updated photos so you guys can really see what I am doing. The cabinet behind the false wall allows air to enter at the bottom and exit out a vent duct at the top on the right. I am using a Stanley blower in there and it is amazing really(plus it's 4 years old)

magiccannabus · 12-22-2008, 10:54 PM

Is this too much light for this space? I really could use some feedback on how to most efficiently utilize this space.

12-18-2008, 09:30 AM	#1
magiccannabus Next Stop: Outer Space! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Between the Mississippi and the Missouri Posts: 1,990	T-8 shop light(only) grow What I have done is take 8x 2-bulb T8 shop lights. Mostly "Lights of America" brand. On paper at least these have one of the best lumens-per-watt ratings compared to most other types of lamp. Yes they don't have the bulb efficacy of HPS, but the ballasts are enormously low-power and the heat dispersion is amazing. Since they are cheap I decided to stuff a bunch of them into a cabinet, sort of like a tanning bed turned on it's end. So the cabinet right now is 22"Wx28"Dx56"H So that gives me roughly 3.5 square feet of floor space for growing. This is plenty for what I want. I have a shop light at each compass point, 8 total(512W), surrounding the plants completely. This gives me about 145W per square foot, or about 45,000 lumens in a 15 cubic foot space(about 4sqft floor and 4.2 feet tall). This seems insane to me, but maybe because they are tubes it will make up for lack of intensity? Their vertical arrangement means the light fills the cabinet amazingly well, but there's no light at the top, and may never be. My big question is if anyone has done this, what their results were, and what should I do with this cabinet? There's a lot of growing styles out there and I want to do what yields best results with my lights. Should I mount a CFL or two in the middle top to give the plants a point source to aim at? I was also thinking about putting them on motorized turntables. I don't know where to buy them though so I will have to build them probably. Maybe if I have a timer kick on and rotate the plants now and then for a few minutes, I could get nice even results? Has anyone tried that? I have definitely seen vertical tubes arranged around the plants, but I can't seem to track down any examples of it as the only lighting source. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
	Quote

12-18-2008, 02:03 PM	#2
cork144 Guest Posts: n/a	https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=92259 this guy grew with pl-l tubes verticly.
	Quote

12-18-2008, 02:23 PM	#3
Storm Crow Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,081	I started out with a 2 x 5 closet and 2 shop lights. The hubby made a frame to hang the lights from and one is on the back wall to "feed" the popcorn buds. I added another 2 every payday (Granny is LOW income- but I love my job!). I now have 5 shop lights in the closet (all that would fit), plus 6 more side lighting CFL bulbs that fit between the tubs. The tubs are 19 gallons and full of organic soil with earthworms. "Ghetto" as heck but it works! I get between 1 and 2 ounces off each plant- usually closer to one. I keep them small deliberately. Our local sheriff says he'll bust even legit MMJ patients, with even just one plant if the plant even LOOKS like it could produce 8 ounces! I haver a perpetual grow, harvesting about every 2-3 weeks. I grow just enough to keep me and the hubby in pot. I do not trust our sheriff! Granny __________________ *"If the truth won't do, then something is wrong!"* Granny's Grandpa- Rev. John Conrad Schwabenland Need MMJ medical studies? Look here- https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.p...=1#post2556045 Granny's list- Now on facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Granny...0974909?ref=nf
	Quote 1 members found this post helpful.

12-18-2008, 06:44 PM	#4
magiccannabus Next Stop: Outer Space! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Between the Mississippi and the Missouri Posts: 1,990	Nice to know! I think I'm going to do better with this grow than any of my previous ones. I've just never grown without a point source light before. I really don't know what to expect, how they will need to be trained, etc.. This should be fun though. With so much side lighting, I can make a plant that is solid top to bottom. If I can somehow get them on some sort of turntables, they'll be nice and evenly lit at all times. I wouldn't trust the sheriff either! cops period for that matter....
	Quote

12-18-2008, 08:30 PM	#5
magiccannabus Next Stop: Outer Space! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Between the Mississippi and the Missouri Posts: 1,990	Running a test of the ventilation and lighting systems right now. The ventilation system seems to really be sucking in the air at the bottom and blowing it out of the closet completely at the top. Working perfectly. I put a thermometer in the cab with the lights and screwed it shut(false wall, I have to take it apart every time, for now anyway). I am going to see how well it does over an hour or two temp-wise.
	Quote

12-18-2008, 09:42 PM	#6
magiccannabus Next Stop: Outer Space! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Between the Mississippi and the Missouri Posts: 1,990	Definitely going to have to fix the airflow path soon here. My 1 hour test reached temps of 120 degrees. Once the top part of the wall is put on, it should make the air flow along the path it is supposed to. Right now the main fan in the closet sucks the air through the open top part of the divider wall and not through the cab. I suppose that's my next job to tackle.
	Quote

12-18-2008, 10:14 PM	#7
DonChron herbal essence Join Date: May 2008 Location: 3rd world Posts: 342	15,000 lumens seems adequate for the space, Im using a 'portable closet' of those almost exact dimensions for my veg cab with 4 - 2X4 T20s that providing exactly half that wattage @ 250 watts.I have been using this setup for a few years now and can keep the 2.5 cubic feet of ground space packed with -up to- 30 cups,or 8 1 gallon square pots.Plants have no problem vegging with minimal stretch and even distribution through the entire cab.. Keep in mind mine are setup vertically as well,with no light on top. Im also wondering if you're the same TMC that wrote the DIY bubbler thread up on HG years ago...shit taught me the way of the bubb cloner bro. Keep us posted ,ima tag it up __________________ breath freely,overgrow Nirvana MK BMR f2 Lemon Dust Kush Heri X Knights Templar
	Quote

12-19-2008, 03:17 PM	#8
magiccannabus Next Stop: Outer Space! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Between the Mississippi and the Missouri Posts: 1,990	Yeah I am the same TMC. Glad to hear your cloner has worked well for you. I just rebuilt mine actually. I took the gravel out of the bottom and just siliconed the airstones in place. I think I will rig up the lights so that at least every pair has a switch turning them off. There's definitely no sense in running 145W per square foot with tiny plants. I now plan to have five in the flowering cab instead of four, but that extreme light output in there should help compensate for it quite a bit. I have a Stanley blower in there that is set on low venting the whole closet. The entire closet is about 120 cubic feet, maybe a smidge bigger. On high the blower draws so much air there's a steady wind coming from the bottom of the door(the top is sealed). As soon as I close off the divider wall and figure out how to get some airflow it should all be pretty good. How does your vertical setup work? Do you have a couple shelves? Are the plants trained up fencing? What sort of yields do your 250 watts give you? I'm hoping to make this semi-perpetual. Basically with 5 plants, one of each strain, some will finish at different times, and be replaced by a clone grown in the veg side for a while. Hopefully this should give me fairly regular harvests. It's pretty sweet. Basically my buddy who I taught growing to is now going to hook me up with clones of some clone-only stuff. All five kinds are local and you can't buy seeds for them anywhere. I'm pretty excited! I was just toying with the idea of starting again and bam, ready to go plants. WOo hoO!
	Quote

12-21-2008, 08:55 AM	#9
magiccannabus Next Stop: Outer Space! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Between the Mississippi and the Missouri Posts: 1,990	Here are some updated photos so you guys can really see what I am doing. The cabinet behind the false wall allows air to enter at the bottom and exit out a vent duct at the top on the right. I am using a Stanley blower in there and it is amazing really(plus it's 4 years old)
	Quote

12-22-2008, 10:54 PM	#10
magiccannabus Next Stop: Outer Space! Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Between the Mississippi and the Missouri Posts: 1,990	Is this too much light for this space? I really could use some feedback on how to most efficiently utilize this space.
	Quote