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lighting Operation: Hot Pepper University (Lighting problem finally solved!)

sreinhard88

sreinhard88

So here's the deal, I move back to college at the end of August, and I'm thinking of not only taking my plants with me but also starting some seeds while I'm there.  This is only my first season, but I feel like I've gained enough experience with outdoor growing to give indoor growing a shot.  I work at Lowe's so getting materials isn't really much of an issue, I just need to know what I would need for my setup.  As of right now I'm trying to make it a very basic/minimalist setup, of the four plants I have going now I'd like to keep my Serrano and Habanero plants which are in 4 gal containers, sadly I doubt I'd have much room for seeds if I bring the other 2 along (although maybe I could try to OW them at my parents house).  
 
What I already have at my disposal:
A large rubbermaid table (2'x4')
5gal bucket
Habanero and Serrano plants each in 3.8 gal container
Small fan
power strip
Jobe's Organic 2-5-3 fertilizer 
Alaska fish emulsion 5-1-1
Miracle Gro shake n feed tomato plus calcium 9-4-12
 
 
 
YET ANOTHER EDIT: Finally made a decision on what lights I will be using this winter!  I found a pretty nice fixture on Amazon (Hydrofarm SBC250 250-Watt Sunburst MH) and some hardware to hang it from for about $125, so that will be my main light source.  Since I'd still be short by about 2,000 lumens I bought 4 65W spot gro bulbs from sylvania, might buy 2 more if I really need them but four should suffice.  Next step is building a stand for my fixtures, saw a nice design involving pvc in one of the other posts I plan on replicating, I just hope it can hold up the main fixture (it's close to 30lbs!) the spot gro fixtures are extremely light so I'm not worried about those.  I'll probably post pics once I get everything in and start putting it all together.
 
i have a hard time seeing any living plant thriving inside a dorm room. Dont plants require a loving mother earth natural sustainable "woo woo" atmosphere full of positive attitude and notes of subtle tweeting song birds and busy bees?  This is incompatible with a doom hall 
 
you must understand, and im sure you do, that  doom life is about as close as one can get to the classic caricature of ancient rome... fits of sexual decadence and absurd and vulgar improprieties are everyday occurrences .
 
just one such incident...in my hall, someone thought it would be a cute harmless prank to place an inflatable sex doll inside a bathroom stall... surly upon opening said stall one would be in for an innocent laugh at her turgid outstretched arms and surprised facial expression . however.. the following morning it was discovered that the previously virtuous inflatable doll was infact, deflowered by some unscrupulous individual; the physical evidence of said action was plain for all too see. 
 
queequeg152 said:
i have a hard time seeing any living plant thriving inside a dorm room. Dont plants require a loving mother earth natural sustainable "woo woo" atmosphere full of positive attitude and notes of subtle tweeting song birds and busy bees?  This is incompatible with a doom hall 
 
you must understand, and im sure you do, that  doom life is about as close as one can get to the classic caricature of ancient rome... fits of sexual decadence and absurd and vulgar improprieties are everyday occurrences .
 
just one such incident...in my hall, someone thought it would be a cute harmless prank to place an inflatable sex doll inside a bathroom stall... surly upon opening said stall one would be in for an innocent laugh at her turgid outstretched arms and surprised facial expression . however.. the following morning it was discovered that the previously virtuous inflatable doll was infact, deflowered by some unscrupulous individual; the physical evidence of said action was plain for all too see. 
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Ha that's quite a tale!  My conditions are much different fortunately.  I have my own room in an on campus apartment, which I tend to keep at an almost laboratory-like level of cleanliness/sterilization, so everything will be in a nice, clean, orderly, and carefully controlled growing environment free from outside interference. 
 
Major in Pepperology.
Get a whole lab full of equipment and high dollar lights and techno-goodies.
 
But seriously---peppers take a long time to grow, so I wouldn't be planning to start a bunch and be moving them back and forth, or leaving them for someone else to care for.
 
Take the ones you have potted, some firts, and invest in some T5HO lights.
 
And be prepared to come back to your room one day and find someone tried to smoke them all.
 
TOAW said:
Taking any botany classes or know someone who is? Maybe you can get some room there.
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I'm pretty sure we don't have any botany-related classes, we do have a small greenhouse area but I couldn't begin to think of how I would gt permission to access it.
 
Gotrox said:
Major in Pepperology.
Get a whole lab full of equipment and high dollar lights and techno-goodies.
 
But seriously---peppers take a long time to grow, so I wouldn't be planning to start a bunch and be moving them back and forth, or leaving them for someone else to care for.
 
Take the ones you have potted, some firts, and invest in some T5HO lights.
 
And be prepared to come back to your room one day and find someone tried to smoke them all.
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Ha, I wish, I'd change my major in a heartbeat lol, and if they wanna smoke the kind of peppers I have in mind (90% of the possible choices being superhots) then more power to them! :high: :fireball: .  Wouldn't be going for  that many plants to begin with (maybe like 8-12 max), they would barely be moved at all; once back home for winter break, once more when I return, and after I take them home for spring break I'd probably just leave them home.  This is my last year of college, figure if I really had to I could wait and start from seeds 2 seasons from now instead of doing it next season, and just stick with my original 4 for now.  But if it is possible for me to get a small setup going I think I at least want to give it a shot and see how things turn out .
 
Nightshade said:
8-12 full grown plants is going to require a ton of light
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Yeah that's what I ended up realizing, see edit for details.

Also found a T8 setup I could use, it's a bit more expensive than the T12, but the end result is an extra 245 lumens/sq.ft. (2,925 l/sq.ft.)   Two T8 fixtures would hold four 4'  32W bulbs at 2700 lumens each, so 8 tubes would give me 21,600 lumens.  Add in the 6 Spot grow bulbs/fixtures from the T12 setup for an additional 1800 to make 23,400 lumens or 2,925 sq.ft. if I were to expand my grow area to 8 sq.ft, meaning I'd be able to keep an extra plant maybe!  A thought just occured to me: should I be going by the area of the growing space or the area of each plant itself?  If it's the latter I have to go through and redo all of my math  :banghead:
 
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