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Matt's New Growbox

Matt50680

Matt50680

Well I knew I would need more room for peppers and I had filled what I had avalible, so I decided to build a new home for the peppers tonight, yes, beer was involved, but not too much, I didnt want to end up with something that only stood straight during the solar solstice. LOL

I went to Lowes and got some decent boards, they are straight, except 1, but I did the best I could, I am no carpenter. I still need to add the reflective material tomorrow and get some larger lights and 1 more light for the 3rd level, but here it is...

What I started with...
Jan291.jpg


Basic structure...
Jan292.jpg


Shelves and back in place...
Jan293.jpg


Peppers in their new home...
Jan295.jpg


I am thinking after I get the reflective backings in place, I will upgrade to twin bulb, 36" florescents. I have enough reflective material to do the backs, sides and make a full front drop screen so they get maximum light. The new box is 48"x12" inside. I now have room for 15 trays each with 6 4" pots. I know that I have the peppers alot farther away from the lights than most here say they should be, but they arent getting leggy so I will leave well nuf alone for now.
 
Matt,

It looks like a great job, quite sturdy, but... there is a reason "most here say" the lights need to be close, especially fluros - because in our experience, if they are not, your plants will get leggy. This can be negated if the area stays cool (
 
The reflective material I bought has an insulating center section in it. It was quite spendy for the roll, but nothing is too expensive for my little monsters, I want maximum pods this year. Normally the soil temp is 73ish degrees, but I will try one level at an elevated height and see how it goes. I am a difficult person, I know. LOL BTW, I traded some Bhut Jolokia seeds to one of the local green houses today for 36 peat pots, they said they had been looking for them but couldnt find any, glad I could help spread the heat in my area.

I get taxes back next week, wooohoooo, and was thinking about buying some more heat mats. Would heat mats help the seedlings grow more? I have room for the long mats now.
 
heat mats help in germination but good light just off the plants that are adjustable are more important after germination. IMO
 
I have the backs and sides covered now with the reflective material and it brightened up each level. I still need the new lamps though. I will post pics maybe tomorrow, going to go look for some 36" twin bulb fixtures today.

On a side note. Can leggyness be repaired by adding more dirt/mix to the pot to cover some of the stem? Just a thought, then I will elevate them closer to the lights to prevent it in the future.
 
Matt50680 said:
On a side note. Can leggyness be repaired by adding more dirt/mix to the pot to cover some of the stem? Just a thought, then I will elevate them closer to the lights to prevent it in the future.
Click to expand...

Bury them when you repot!
 
I got the new lights today, well 2 of them. I needed 3, but they didnt have that many, said more would be in next friday, so I guess I can wait til then. Here is a pic with the new lights installed, they are 36" single bulb fixtures with 30w/4100 lights in them. The old lights were 18w/24" bulbs. It was annoying me, so I put up a reflective sheet over the whole front and peeked inside, man was it bright in there, every nook and cranny was filled with brightness. I am only going to use the front sheet on work nights, so I can go to sleep at 9:30ish. The timer goes out from 10pm-5am. I had to shut the lights off to get a picture of the new setup, the camera would only show a bright blur. LOL
Jan30NewLights.jpg
 
It's your grow and your call, but IME+O, if you don't get those seedlings closer to the bulbs, you will have a nice amount of stem to go with the leaves. Only about 15 percent of the light you are seeing will be used by the plants.

Mike
 
It actually seems reasonable for 30W lights, especially with the reflective surface. closer would be better, but still...
Brilliant design, mate!
 
Thanks Omri, I just needed something that would fit my needs and I couldnt find something prebuilt that would work. I learned that I cannot have the top level covered in the front if I leave the heat pads on, after 3 hours it was almost 100 degrees on the top but the second level without heat pads was only 83 degrees. I do need to find something today to move the plants up towards the lights though.

On a sidenote, my plants seem to have really grown in the last couple days, they are starting to get their next sets of leaves. I changed fertilizer, maybe thats what did it, dont know. I also found out that if I leave the front uncovered at night, when the ligts turn on at 5am, it wakes me up, too bad it's sunday and I dont work today. LOL
 
JMO, but once the seeds germinate, you no longer need the heat mats. If you still have seeds in there, you could germinate them outside of the box and move them in there after they sprout. What is the temp in there without the heat mats on? The lights might keep it pretty warm without any other heat source.

jacob
 
I am truely addicted to this pepper growing deal this year. The grow box/germination area is in my bedroom. LOL Room temp is 70 degrees. With just the lights on it stays about 73 degrees in the grow box. With the heating mats on the germination cells are right at 86 degrees. The only reason the heating mats are on on the upper level is because I have seeds germinating there, once they are sprouted I planned on putting the heating mats away. I ddi move the seedlings on the lower level up 3 inches closer to the lights, kinda did it ghetto style, but it works. I found a couple unused nail trims in the back room, cut them to length and placed them ontop of a set uf old tires from one of my R/C trucks. LOL I got a Nitromethane powered green thumb I guess.
 
Please tell me that aint a Keystone beer can in that picture. Rough stuff that. You would never guess what kind of beer I drink
 
Mjdtexan said:
Please tell me that aint a Keystone beer can in that picture. Rough stuff that. You would never guess what kind of beer I drink
Click to expand...


Nope...that's an Icehouse. Believe me...I KNOW Keystone! (and I like it)

Learn your cheap beers, young padiwan!!
 
Mjdtexan said:
Please tell me that aint a Keystone beer can in that picture. Rough stuff that. You would never guess what kind of beer I drink
Click to expand...
Hell no!!! Ummm you drink Old Milwaukee? LOL God I hope not.

paulky_2000 said:
Nope...that's an Icehouse. Believe me...I KNOW Keystone! (and I like it)

Learn your cheap beers, young padiwan!!
Click to expand...

LOL Yep its Icehouse. I didnt want to buy a whole 12/18 pack (6 pack is a rip off) so I just grabbed a couple 24 ounce cans of Icehouse. Its ok, I would love it if they had Michelob Ultra in 24 ounce cans though. I am a cheap beer whore, I will drink most of them, but definately NOT Old Mil. I will die of thirst before drinking that stuff, I wouldnt even give it to my dog! LOL
 
paulky_2000 said:
For me, beer kryptonite is Milwaukee's Best.

Yuck.
Click to expand...

I can drink the Milwaukees Best. I cant drink the Keystone of the Olympia. Or the Stroghs. I dont even know if the Stroghs is still around.

LONE STAR is the best beer.
 
Never heard of Lone Star, must be a Texas brand. LOL Here is a video of me being stupid with a pepper, could have used a beer after this, but noon on a sunday isnt a good time for me to drink beer, unless there is a NASCAR race on, of course.
 
Matt50680 said:
Never heard of Lone Star, must be a Texas brand. LOL Here is a video of me being stupid with a pepper, could have used a beer after this, but noon on a sunday isnt a good time for me to drink beer, unless there is a NASCAR race on, of course.
Click to expand...

Can you say "NASCAR next MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, I am a NASCAR freak. #14 Office Depot/Old Spice/Burger King Chevrolet driven by Tony Stewart.

Ok, off to see your video now.
 
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