Grow Armoire lighting Help????

[Guest]

Ok, I'm in the middle of building an Armoire. The weather is just shitty, snow, ice, you name it. My problem is this, My Armoire is going to be 7'Tx4W'x2D'. I was thinking of running two 400HPS, because i will have two 2x2 Ebb&Flo running each by them selves so i have a harvest every month from one of the tables. Should i just run my 600HPS centered in the Armoire or will i need the two 400HPS? I think a 600HPS covers 3.5', not for sure. Any help would be super. I have a vortex 6" 449CFM fan on the way and a OdorVent 12 to cover the odor. It's rated for a 12'x12' room, so it should work awsome. I just got to get this light pattern all taking care of. I'll be sure to post some picture, this Armoire is looking like a normal old Armoire one would buy at a store. Made it so it matched other dressers i have to look normal.
Thanks

 

[omega7]

Hey BG what's up. Sounds good. Have any pictures? I would like to see what it looks like. I ended up just going to home depot and throwing down $90 for my wardrobe 4'wX6'hX21deep, because of the same reason, when I got this it was winter and way too cold to build one. Anyway, If you are not using MH and HPS then I would just use one 400watt for veg and then the double 400 or just the 600 for flowering. Or if you arent trying to keep electrical costs down then I peronally would go with one 400 and the 600 (if they will fit in there together) for veg and flower...you'll have monsters. The biggest problem you are going to encounter with this type of show is heat, so keep it cool with a small mounted fan or a few 80-120mm computer fans. Extra circulation cant hurt either. Best of luck to you man. Keep us updated.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, No i don't have any picture at this time. Everything is at the storage unit and haven't had time to take any pictures. Really can't get in the unit, with the 6 foot snow driff's in front of it. I'll get some as soon as it warms up. This is going to be a flower "only" unit. I don't veg my clones any, i like to get them going into flower as soon as they root. This helps me keep them low. I got a big 6" Vortex fan on the way with carbon scrubber and it's rated for 449CFM. I think this is more then enough, if i was to go with two 400HPS, but i think i'm going to try the 600HPS first and see what the yield is, and maybe do a run with two 400HPS and see the differents. My problem now is "Do i hang the Blubs, verticle or horitzonal?" Which will help with the yield better?
Thanks

 

[Captain Canibus]

I just went thru the task of cooling a 1000 watt lite. The hood is cool, but heat off the lite is still intense. I'd test it with each lite and consider installing a thermostat to turn off the lite for safety and stress reasons. Line it with mylar and hang the bulb, see what happens.

 

[Guest]

I'm going to line the whole inside with mylar, top and sides. I think the 600HPS should work out pretty well.

 

[Hippo]

Hi Billygoat.
If u want to harvest every 4 weeks, 2 trays is ideal, and so is 2 lamps (2x600 or 400), as the plants are gonna be at differant stages of bloom and so will be differant heights. If u use just one lamp, the smaller ones will suffer as u wont be able to lower it incase u burn the tops of the ones further on in the cycle.
Ofcourse 1 600 will be better for temps but thats all.
Hope that helps
Goodluck
Hippo

 

[Guest]

You make a good point. I'll have to see what the temp is like with the 600HPS, once i get her running. If the temp isn't that bad or even good with the 600. I'll replace the 600 with the two 400's, since you are most likely right. I will need two lights in there, if i want to max out my yield ever 4 weeks with the two tables. Thanks, I can't believe i didn't even think about the height stages. I was looking beyond the basic, and focusing on the end.
Thanks

 

[Guest]

Ok, I think i got it all worked out. I'm going with the two 400HPS light for a total of 100 Lum's PSI. I will be using a Kool tube, to keep the heat down. This should keep my yield good and the buds dense. I'll be running the Vortex fan to pull off the heat. I'm going to add a speed control and adjust the speed of the fan till i get the 75-78 degree range i'm looking for. This will also let me put the lights almost on top of the plants with out burning them. Once the weather warms up, i can pull my Armorire outside and finsih building it. I will be lining the sides and top with 2mil mylar and some small fans to move around the fresh air to help fight off mold and to help stiffen up the plants. I'll post more info as the project get's back under way.
Thanks

PS Here is a picture of the Kool Tube i will be using.

http://www.icmag.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=544

 

[mpd]

Have you considered running a ceramic metal halide bulb instead of the usual? IF you go with the cmh, you need to run it on a hps ballast, as it needs an ignitor.

Twin 400 watt units would be great in your cabinet, as combined they put out less heat than a standard mh or hps bulb. They run chilly! Bend your own air cooled hood and you are in binez. I just got done bending a pair of hoods that will take anything up to a 1500 watt bulb for less than $100 and I built them out of stainless steel. I have no metal working experience whatsoever, so you can do it if you are so inclined...

The cmh has the most balanced spectrum output you are going to find, a very high CRI (up to 96!), a corrected color temperature model (4,500 K) is available, so you don't have to change bulbs between veg. and bloom. The cmh gives you both ends of the spectrum. The bulbs cost about $50 for the 400 watt units.

Definitely a two cents worth post...

 

[Guest]

I'm going to use 400HPS GroLux bulbs, since they are designed for plants, not like the other bulbs. Never heard of the bulbs your talking about, where could i find them on the net, so i can read up on them? I'm open to any and all help to make this Armoire the best. This is going to be good for people that are in school or live in a apartment and need to pull down some weight and keep it hush, hush. Let me know, would love to read up on them.
Thanks

 

[ken]

[edit]read dimensions wrong heh.

i dont think one bulb would cover that rectangular space evenly, depends on the reflector, i think 2 lights would be better, esp as you're having two trays.

2x 600w would be great, if you want to get the max from the space & dont care too much about a few extra watts. you already have 1x 600w, so just need another you would get some good growth with that amount of light

2x 400 would also be good for that space

2x 250 would be fine, for a scrog, but they lack the light penetration of more powerful bulbs & arent much cheaper, if you live in a warmer climate & heat is a prob, then 2x 250w might be your best option

heat should be no problem at all, as long as you live in a cool climate & have decent ventilation, sounds like the fan you've got should be more than adequate, make sure you have some kind of air intake (a passive intake should be fine)

 

[Guest]

I think i'm going with the 2 400HPS, Got the killer fan and a carbon scrubber to go with it. How does the passive intake work? Does the intake holes have to be smaller or bigger? The exhaust hole will be 6". It's nice to have all these great people putting in their input on my project. Thank you everyone, this is going to be a very nice Armoire when it done.
Thanks again

 

[ken]

passive intake is just holes to allow air to be sucked in, if you dodnt have any airflow will be badly restricted.

they should be a bit bigger than the out-take, or more of them, use ducting (with at least 2x 90deg bends) to stop light shining through them.

the ducting from the fan (and carbon filter? ) should be above the lights & the intake holes should be somewhere near the bottom.

 

[Guest]

The fan will be about the lights in a chamber that is closed off from the flower camber. I was going to cut some holes towards the bottom and use the ducting with 90 degrees, just didn't know how large the holes should be. I'll space out four 2" holes evenlly in the boxs. That should give it 8" of intake hole space over the 6" exhaust fan out take hole. I'll make sure the are space even, so the follow is even in the box.
Thanks

 

[Guest]

Got my new toy in today. I ordered a Vortex Fan and carbon scrubber and it got here today. The only thing i should have done was order a speed control for this unit. This thing is awsome, it has some major sucking power. This unit will be used for the Armoire once it is build and will be housed above the flower chamber. Here's a picture of the unit, 466 bucks total for everything shipped to a safe address.
Later

 

[Guest]

Ok, people i need some help.. As you can see i got a new toy just above this post. My problem is this, I have the OdorVent 12 carbon scrubber with the 6" Vortex PowerFan. The direction say the fan is to suck through the filter. Can i flip the fan and blow through the filter? I was wondering if the filter will still work well, and will it hurt the fan? If i have to suck through the filter and can't blow through the filter i'm going to lose half my grow space on this Armoire. I read over at OG, that inline fans were made to go both ways, but i want to be sure before i put everything together. Thanks everyone and i'll be sure to post pictures as soon as the weather get's to were i can start working on it.
thanks

PS, I plan to house the filter and fan above the Flower area in a chamber above and suck all the hot air out of flowering chamber through filter into stoage space above, then another fan will suck all the air out of storage space then out of the box. I hope this helps.