Help designing NGB-style cabinet w/LEDs

[Socrates]

@medmaker: The temps aren't bad; the light is just a little bit warm to the touch. The temp in the flowering area hovers around 84-86 F. That is acceptable in my book, especially given that I only have one PC fan exhausting the whole cab right now (trying to keep things quiet). Temperature may drop a tiny bit more once I add a circulating fan to the flower chamber.

I'm actually more concerned about the heat in the veg/clone cab from 2 32w CFLs. Do people think that temps in the low-to-mid-80s will be too high for clones? I hear conflicting things about this; some claim that around 75 is the sweet spot, while others seem to think that higher temps cause faster rooting (but perhaps with a greater possibility of the dreaded slime?). Do I need to work on cooling off the veg/clone side, or do ya'll think I'm good to go?

 

[StoopheadFred]

My tent has been between 79-87 closer to the high side and I had no problems. Are you in hydro? If not why are you worried about slime?

 

[Socrates]

Hey StoopheadFred,

I have never taken clones before (never had time to do more than one run back to back), so I didn't know that slime was a hydro-only phenomenon. I'm just going to be trying out that simple walmart ice tray cloner with vermiculite (seen in the pic). So I guess I won't worry about it. Thanks!

 

[qscftffboy]

Any updates? looking forward to hearing from ya!

 

[Socrates]

Hey qscftffboy, thanks for checking in! Sorry for the lack of updates; been crazy busy in my non-internet life recently, and there's not much exciting going on here. Cab's basically built except for ScrOG screen (not sure how I'm going to approach that yet, never done it before). For the first run though, I think I'm going to just go SOG so that I can find a few mother plants. I'd be interested in hearing people's feedback on this though, as I've never had the opportunity for a perpetual space before and don't really know what I'm doing.

Current plan: Veg from seeds (Female Seeds Grapefruit, Bubblegummer, and White Widow) for about 3 weeks, then flip to 12/12 and take 2 clones from each as soon as plants are big enough. Flower them out in 2 liter soda bottles, sample smoke, then decide which 2 or 3 plants are keepers. At that point, begin running ScrOG of 2-4 plants, depending on how many good mothers I find.

Is this a reasonable plan? How soon are plants usually ready to have clones taken, and from where should I take them? Is it okay to take clones after switching to 12/12, as long as they are taken before pre-flowers start to show? Is a ScrOG impractical with a plurality of strains? If so, I could conceivably stick with the SOG strategy after finding my mother plants as well.

Would really love to hear what ya'll would do to make the most of the space (pictured on the previous page).

 

[Socrates]

So, after reading some more of the DIY LED threads, it seems like having a little white to supplement spectrum is generally a good idea. So, I threw in two 15W 5000k LEDs (1100 lumens each), bringing the total wattage to somewhere between 150-170W of LED light. Pic doesn't really do it justice, but it definitely makes a difference in the lighting of the cab. Let me know what you think.

 

[Socrates]

So the white lights seems to have helped with the baby pepper plants, but they also unfortunately added to the heat - temps were pushing up to 89F at some points yesterday, though it was warm out so it'll improve as it gets colder. Do you all think I need more ventilation? I'm thinking of adding a booster fan to bring temps back down while keeping it quiet. I only want to do this if necessary, though, because it will also mean moving up a size for the filter, probably to the Can 2600. This one was only like $30 (Can 705), so no huge loss if that has to happen, but I'd like to hear what ya'll think.

 

[Socrates]

So, I went ahead and subbed in a Phresh 4X12 (200cfm max) for the Can 705, which allowed me to add a 100cfm inline fan, as you can see in the pic. In addition to heat issues, even the single fan was overwhelming the little filter on full power before, it seems. Now my little two-fan setup seems to be moving plenty of air and is very quiet (except for the rush of the air coming out the back). We will see what happens with temps when lights come back on tomorrow. Comments and suggestions are welcomed as always. Thanks all!