26"x26" 220w HPS Vertical micro grow

JustDoIt · Oct 17, 2011

I wasn't sure whether or not to post this in the Micro section or not, but I guess compared to my previous PC grows and smaller CFL cabinets this is taking a step up :jump:

Thanks to the suggestions and encouragement from a few members from my other thread (Thanks especially to Diesel_N_Blood for the constant help, encouragement, and for offering the idea of a stacked vertical grow in the first place! :thank you:

), I've finished putting together a cabinet I've been working on for a while.
The 70w HPS I originally had planned on using seemed too small for the space (26" x 26") so I bought a 150w HPS and now have them set up with the 150 on top and the 70 on the bottom.

For ventilation I've got a Stanley blower fan ducted to a DIY carbon filter, and a 9" desk fan beneath the lights for air circulation. Right now temps outside are mid-high 60's and inside with the lights on between high 70's up to 83* which is warmer than I'd like, but will have to do for now until I can figure out how to get them a little lower.

This will be a work in progress and a learning experience for me, but I'm excited to be growing with HPS and even more excited to give this vertical growing a try! I've seen some pretty cool grows in this forum, can't wait till I've got some plants filling it up!

Diesel_N_Blood · Oct 17, 2011

Alright my seat is upright and locked in position. Got my snacks and essentials. On with the show JDI.

+K
DnB

Warped1 · Oct 17, 2011

Count me in JDI

Bueno Time · Oct 17, 2011

Cool should be interesting to watch. :lurk:

5th · Oct 18, 2011

As Charlie would say, cabs+HPS+vert= WINNING. Gonna be fun ta watch.

JustDoIt · Oct 18, 2011

Hey Warped, glad to have you here from the other thread as well!
BT and 5th, I'm just as excited to watch this project unfold as you, I've only grown with CFL's in small spaces in the past, growing small plants is fun but this is gonna be a big step up for me

The four plants from the previous thread are in the cab now and looking much better than before. 2 Nirvana White Widow's, 1 Seedsman Purple Bud, and 1 Barneys Farm Blue Cheese

Tonight I'm going to put together screens for each of the plant so I can start training them for the vertical setup. I'm gonna see about transplanting them one more time to slightly bigger containers, they're in 5x5" pots right now and now with more space I think they could use a little more room.

New pics coming soon! (Tonight!)

thinkin · Oct 18, 2011

nice GL!

How are the temps?

JustDoIt · Oct 19, 2011

Thanks, thinkin! Temps are slowly getting higher which may be because the outdoor temps are higher than when I was getting high 70's, the past 24 hour range is 80-84. I have the thermometer attached to the protective screen I have around the bulbs, above the 70 and below the 150. The plants aren't at that level yet and are slightly further away so it might not be quite that warm at this point.

Any ideas on how I could improve the ventilation setup to get lower temps? Fortunately it's getting colder outside so I imagine the temps will drop because of that, but I still wanna figure something out.

Diesel_N_Blood · Oct 19, 2011

I'm not completely positive on this but I think you want your themo. out of direct light to get a correct reading. try to put it on the wall op the vent and level with the 150w or hang it between the wall and screen just to check temps. close it up and read the temp after a couple of hours. If some one else can chime in on the placement of the thermo.

Glad to see them in the cab. I can't wait to see that setup full of buds. Goodluck.

DnB

Bennyweed1 · Oct 19, 2011

Diesel_N_Blood said:
I'm not completely positive on this but I think you want your themo. out of direct light to get a correct reading. try to put it on the wall op the vent and level with the 150w or hang it between the wall and screen just to check temps. close it up and read the temp after a couple of hours. If some one else can chime in on the placement of the thermo.

Glad to see them in the cab. I can't wait to see that setup full of buds. Goodluck.

DnB

I agree, out of the direct light will give you the most accurate air temp.

Warped1 · Oct 19, 2011

What do you have for your exhaust, is that 6" ducting? And what is your intake? I see the holes in the bottom, but how many and what size?

JustDoIt · Oct 19, 2011

Thanks for the advice on the thermometer! I'll change that when I get a chance, we'll see what the temps are then!

Yeah it's a 6" duct, I've got 1" holes drilled in the floor, I forget if it was 31 or 62, I calculated the surface area of a 6" circle and a 1" circle and at first I goofed and only had the same surface area, but the temps were way high and I realized that I forgot that the intake should be 2x the exhaust, so I drilled another set of holes.

Warped1 · Oct 19, 2011

Ok I remember you doing that now, just trying to figure out how to cool that cab.Maybe the way you have your ducting is part of the problem.

Hundred Gram Oz · Oct 19, 2011

Nice looking setup, what temps are you at now? You could move your ducting directly over your bulbs so it's sucking vertically in line with your bulbs and you then will have, Floor Fan>Bare Bulb>Extraction, it might cut a few degree off your temps, heat will rise naturally and since you got a floor fan your adding more rise so your extraction would be best placed directly over the bulbs, so more heat can be extracted. You could also run lights on at night-early morning if your not already doing this?

Bush Dr · Oct 19, 2011

^^^^^ What he said ..... you really need to get that extraction over the lamp

Your using acoustic ducting so you could cut back the insulation to reveal the core and get that positioned over the lamp .... that'll knock 5C+ off the temps

I'd paint the walls white whilst you have the chance

No oscillating fan(s) .... asking for mold or budrot there .... it'll help with your temps, put them close to the plants, better a bit of wind burn than heat

JustDoIt · Oct 20, 2011

I'll have to rig something up to get the duct directly over the lamps, that makes sense. Right now the lights are on 24 hrs but when I make the switch the lights will be on overnight.
The duct isn't insulated it's just the regular 6" dryer duct nothing fancy, and the walls are painted white, I think the picture it's hard to tell because of the color of the lights haha.
Glad to see some more interest in this, I'm real excited to start posting more pictures. The plants are getting better and better, I was a little worried last week after returning from a trip (no, not THAT kind of trip... I wish...) but it looks like flushing and feeding has brought them back to life and looking good!

Temps are lower now, I've got the thermometer hanging in the middle between the wall and the screen in the center, temps are down to the high 70's after a couple hours, I'll check again tomorrow and see what the range is.... Thanks for the help!!!

Sir_Stickybuds · Oct 20, 2011

all that extra 6" vent is causing drag, if there is any way to shorten it you should as it will increase the airflow

JustDoIt · Oct 21, 2011

Good call, Sir_Stickybuds! I'm thinking that if I hang the fan it'll reduce the amount of ducting I need because the duct comes through the wall up top, the fan is sitting on the floor, and then the inlet for the carbon filter is back up at the top as well.... That'll be my weekend project!

Temps with the thermometer hanging in the middle between the wall and the bulbs says a range of 78-80 for the past 24 hours, so a little bit better, hopefully shortening the ducts and rigging something to catch the air directly above the bulbs will knock a few more degrees off!

JustDoIt · Oct 26, 2011

Just a quick update, I ended up buying some 8" plant pots and transplanting them from the 5" ones, they've still got plenty of room to grow before filling up the new cabinet and I can't quite figure out why they're not doing as good as they used to, they're yellow-er and older leaves are drying up. I guess we'll see if this helps at all!

I'm also working on a ghetto "hood" to place above the bulbs and catch/direct the warm air out through the exhaust vent, no pictures of that yet, but here are some of the plants /cab taken over the weekend. I've still gotta rig up the screens for them to grow across...

HushemFlupskluk · Oct 26, 2011

Hopefully they recover soon!

I was wondering how much water is in the pots there. The dirt looks very wet-ish.

Also temps/rh/airflow should be on acceptable values for a quick recovery.

GL!

26"x26" 220w HPS Vertical micro grow

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