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Hundreds of watts of CFL SOG in cardboard boxes in an attic (Alaskan Ice).
- Thread starter Δ-9
- Start date
L
L-Thirt33n
Yea. You'll end up with heat problems in that attic. Big time. I'll almost gaurentee it.
Richard Gozinya
Member
Well, i just finished an attic grow and it works fine, but the temps are all over the place. The other day outside temps were 80 and the attic got upto 103. I think you can find much better ways of doing this vs using the cardboard. My own experience with this is that the thought of fire makes me need a bong hit to relax. If you don't do this right the thought of fire will make you lose sleep. I did it right electrically and probably not a day has gone by that I didn't think about fire. Seriously, I hope you take these guys advice and plan this out so all eventualities are covered. Think about buying a cheap battery operated fire alarm, get a fire extinguisher, look at the home will people be trapped if a fire did start. We love MJ or we wouldn't be here but if someone burned to death because you were careless in your plan, you will have many years of soul searching to do while you are in prison.
And to the CFL vs. HPS, my first grow was with cfl in rubbermaids, and the weed come out nice and all were happy. When I switched to HPS i noticed a few things. Better growth for clones, and the plants really seemed to grow quicker. I'm no expert and i don't sell MJ but I think using one 400 or 600 watt with a cool tube is much better than the cfl's. Also when you have alot of cfl's the heat increases. On a safety note if you use a hood with glass if the bulb fails you don't have the hot glass falling on the floor or in your case cardboard.
And to the CFL vs. HPS, my first grow was with cfl in rubbermaids, and the weed come out nice and all were happy. When I switched to HPS i noticed a few things. Better growth for clones, and the plants really seemed to grow quicker. I'm no expert and i don't sell MJ but I think using one 400 or 600 watt with a cool tube is much better than the cfl's. Also when you have alot of cfl's the heat increases. On a safety note if you use a hood with glass if the bulb fails you don't have the hot glass falling on the floor or in your case cardboard.
L
L-Thirt33n
Δ-9;2219207 said:
I know. I live in Michigan. Roughly the exact same weather.
The problem is you're adding to that heat with your lighting. So 75-85 turns into 95-105 fast! I know people that have grown in attics and it was successful only to the point that the plants survived... Other then that it was horrible. Attic grows rarely go well during the summer. I wish you the best of luck if you do decide to stick with the attic however...
Any closet spaces available?
L
L-Thirt33n
Δ-9;2220275 said:
Because of a couple reasons. Mainly the sun.
Think about it. Most roof tops are made of BLACK shingle. The sun beating down on the roof top all day will create ABSORBED HEAT and lots of it. Then you have the fact that heat rises. All the heat in the structure will rise into the attic. If someone cooks a big meal or bakes something, all the heat from the oven/stove will rise and has to go somewhere. If you take a hot shower, the heat goes somewhere it doesn't just vanish...lol.
An attic would be best utilized in the winter IMO...
M
moses224
attic would ONLY be used in winter IMO unless you properly run venting....Your going to have to make a minor investment or dont even bother......just my 2 cents
BagseedBoy
Member
Yo alls i had to do is read the title, yo nice work but that's a fire hazard.. I did it when I was 14 trying to do the same thing but with a hell of a lot less resources . Yo I just built a box and the fan and light cost alot but the wood is cheap../ THrow away the cardboard and get wood. I probably spent $75.00 on wood, then nails paint, plexy glass, sheet metal for the hood, I spent some money but its worth it not to burn your house down and poroduce.. I didn't read all the threads so you might have fixed already, but the cardbaord is a fire hazard and if I were parents I'd be worried
L
L-Thirt33n
You can maintain a temp that is equal to the ouitside air in your attic by sucking massive air through your grow box thingy . I v done this succesfully for years in cali in tents in my attic with good results even in summer . GOOD LUCK
This is very true.
If you MUST grow in the attic it IS possible...However as stated before it will most definitly require a small investment in air movement and/or air cooling...
If you want to use outside air you will have to invest in some fairly decent ducting materials (drier ducting for example..). Then in order to take full advantage of the cooler air you'll have to have a sealed cabinent to contain it as much as possible before it is ventilated out...This may require more than one moderatly powerful ducting blowers or small inline fans...
You could try to maximize this by placing your intake inlet in an area that always gets shade and is as close to the ground as possible. A small but sure attempt at ensuring that you get the coolest outside air as possible...
But if your budget allows it, I would get creative with a cooling system and try to be as efficient as possible because the benefits would be WELL worth the hassles saved...Although it may add to more electricity being used.
You could make a much better attempt at controlling the environment if you could control the temperature more effectively. I suggest you get yourself the smallest cheapest window A/C unit you can find. You can operate the unit indoors if there are no windows in the attic. It may have a small condensation collection drip hole/outlet on it that may require a tube or small container to catch the water... Make some sort of secure mount for it in the attic and vuola, some cool air that you can control! Get even more creative and create a ducting inlet that ports the A/C cooled air directly into your grow space/cabinent. With this system you would also want your A/C unit in circuit with the lighting and timer.
The A/C unit will also create it's own heat from the freon boiling. If it becomes an issue you can get some flex duct from a home improvement store big enough to fit over the back, or a good portion of it and some duct tape to seal it. Get a Y peice and connect the exaust from the cabinent/grow space to the duct for the back of the A/C and finally out the window or vent for the attic and tape it sealed...
Avoid all the issues of the above...
Something like this might work: https://www.gogofan.com/gogofannew/masscool-sytrin-portable-conditioner-acpac400-p-168.html
Get like 3 or 4 of them and fix them to your grow box. Wire them all together and let 'er rip!
Just some ideas.
Again...Don't use card board.
This is very true.
If you MUST grow in the attic it IS possible...However as stated before it will most definitly require a small investment in air movement and/or air cooling...
If you want to use outside air you will have to invest in some fairly decent ducting materials (drier ducting for example..). Then in order to take full advantage of the cooler air you'll have to have a sealed cabinent to contain it as much as possible before it is ventilated out...This may require more than one moderatly powerful ducting blowers or small inline fans...
You could try to maximize this by placing your intake inlet in an area that always gets shade and is as close to the ground as possible. A small but sure attempt at ensuring that you get the coolest outside air as possible...
But if your budget allows it, I would get creative with a cooling system and try to be as efficient as possible because the benefits would be WELL worth the hassles saved...Although it may add to more electricity being used.
You could make a much better attempt at controlling the environment if you could control the temperature more effectively. I suggest you get yourself the smallest cheapest window A/C unit you can find. You can operate the unit indoors if there are no windows in the attic. It may have a small condensation collection drip hole/outlet on it that may require a tube or small container to catch the water... Make some sort of secure mount for it in the attic and vuola, some cool air that you can control! Get even more creative and create a ducting inlet that ports the A/C cooled air directly into your grow space/cabinent. With this system you would also want your A/C unit in circuit with the lighting and timer.
The A/C unit will also create it's own heat from the freon boiling. If it becomes an issue you can get some flex duct from a home improvement store big enough to fit over the back, or a good portion of it and some duct tape to seal it. Get a Y peice and connect the exaust from the cabinent/grow space to the duct for the back of the A/C and finally out the window or vent for the attic and tape it sealed...
Avoid all the issues of the above...
Something like this might work: https://www.gogofan.com/gogofannew/masscool-sytrin-portable-conditioner-acpac400-p-168.html
Get like 3 or 4 of them and fix them to your grow box. Wire them all together and let 'er rip!
Just some ideas.
Again...Don't use card board.
I was in fact thinking of using a portable air conditioner, although it seems the one in your link works only with a computer. Unless there's some sort of adapter?
Mr. Stinky
Member
looks like they need a little epsom salts, unless the ph is too high... which is probably why they are twisting
i never seen a "SOG" with a single plant... interesting approach
i never seen a "SOG" with a single plant... interesting approach
These are mother plants.
Pics posted earlier were taken by him, I went and took my own today. The tips are bright green, the insides of the lower leaves are dark green, and some of the leaves are twisted or malformed. I thought it might have had something to do with the light hitting the roots, so I taped thick paper around the bottle to block out light.
So right now, I'm trying to figure out what the problem is. If anyone thinks they know what the problem is, please don't hesitate to post.
Long time since the last update. They're still in the cardboard box, but not for long. Going to clone them soon. A few of the lights stopped working for a few days, but they're back up. I'm a bit concerned with the lower leaves, they look like shit.
Could I plant them outside and let them veg there? Would taking clones from an outdoor and flowering them indoors have any downsides?
Could I plant them outside and let them veg there? Would taking clones from an outdoor and flowering them indoors have any downsides?
