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Shorerider

Shorerider

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Hey all,

It's the middle of winter down here, but I have made an early start on my grow. I have been experimenting with grow lights to give my seedlings a boost. I tried two 1400lm/24w CFL globes in desk lamps pointed at my seedlings in a mylar lined box. Big improvement! So I added two more CFL's in desk lamps. More improvement. I have been gathering materials for a big grow box which will have two levels and two of these:

http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/251523760549?nav=SEARCH

I'll also be adding two powered cabinet fans possibly connected to a temperature controller.

Two of my Cayenne: https://db.tt/MJM4tj72

Let me know what y'all think.



Cheers.......
 
First link to eBay not working.  The plants look good.   You only need a little bit of airflow, depending on what the fans are like they might be overkill.  For example one standard 12V rated 12cm x 2.5cm computer fan at <800RPM pointed off to the side instead of directly at the plants is usually enough for an enclosed area lit by 4 x 24W CFL.  I power one with an old 5V cell phone charger wall-wart style PSU to reduce the RPM.
 
 
I just put a thermometer in the area to monitor temperature initially before the fan is used, and once the fan is running it stays running the whole time the lights are on (both shut off at night via timer controlled outlet).
 
Now that the eBay link works I see that you're referring not to 2 x 24W lights as I had assumed, but rather 2 x fixtures with 4 x 24W bulbs each.  I was wrong about the fans, you will need one per level and a fairly good flow rate to remove the heat if using panels to keep light reflected inside.  I still don't think you really need a temperature control for the fans, instead wanting them on the whole time the lights are on.
 
fans are not only good for air flow...fans serve another purpose of exercising the stems...I run a fan on my seedlings just as hard as they can stand it several times a day....
 
imagine if you were standing on one leg on a cliff overlooking the sea and the wind was blowing...that leg would get mighty strong...
 
stretching the cell walls of the stem has a "thickening" effect on the cell wall thus making the stems stronger
 
Ah, just like every good growing forum teaches. The odd plant slap does not hurt either.

Morning AJ, may your day be blazed into history.


:flamethrower:
 
Thanks guys. I already have the two 4x24w T5HO lights in the link. For $90 each I think they were worth it. Those 2x28 T5's work out a little cheaper but have no reflector and would suit a shelf grow as you mentioned Juanitos. One of the main reasons I chose the 4x24w T5HO's was because they fit into the box I am using for my grow box perfectly.

I will be using the two fans. They are mains powered PC fans so plug straight into the wall socket. The main reason I wanted to hook them up to a temperature controller is to maintain the temp inside the box at around 25deg c. Our daytime temps at the moment are anything from 12-20deg c. Overnight temps drop to 2deg c sometimes!!

I mostly wanted the fans for ventilation, and to strengthen the stems of my young'ins as Jack has mentioned. But if I can have them turn off when temp drops to say 20deg c, then even better.

Will hopefully get the box completed by this weekend. I'll post the results.



Cheers......
 
Is this grow box going to be inside a heated building?
 
I would have to see the box to make a better guess, but my guess is that if you have the box mostly enclosed in a heated building, there will never be a point where the fans would stay turned off except a few minutes while the temperature climbed back up.   If that is what ends up happening it would be interesting to see how the plants respond to a constant rapid change in temperature.
 
The grow box will be in my garage which remains quite cold. Like I said, daily average temps here at the moment are about 15deg c(60deg f) and the idea of the temp controller is to only allow the box to get to a minimum temp of 25deg c (77deg f).

Not sure which is more important grow temps or sturdier stems, but with or without the controller the seedlings will still be subjected to some breeze.



Cheers.......
 
It's more important to keep them above 15C/60F, but they should be okay up to at least 30C.  Sturdier stems will happen even with intermittent breeze so long as the plants are jiggled around a bit on a regular basis.
 
Dave2000 said:
It's more important to keep them above 15C/60F, but they should be okay up to at least 30C.  Sturdier stems will happen even with intermittent breeze so long as the plants are jiggled around a bit on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly! I'm sure that they will get a blast of the fans now and then and the temperature controller does away with having to monitor ambient temps and adjust on/off timers accordingly. Controllers can be bought for as little as US$15 so why not. It's cheap insurance so that the grow environment is optimal.

Now that I think about it, this all seems to be getting rather complicated only to grow a few chilli plants.


It's for the love of the burn!!!
 
Initial setup does take some thought, but then you're good to go for several years or at least until you want to expand # of plants.  Hopefully the temperature control module will allow positioning the sensor in an area typical of the temperature the upper leaves reach since you want the plants as close to the light as reasonably possible without cooking leaves.
 
Only grow a few?  If you had, say solo cup sized starting pots then a setup like that should be able to get a month growth on about 4 dozen plants before they start crowding each other, given reflective panels around it to keep all the light in.  Obviously far fewer starting now and using it until last spring frost when they go outside.
 
Well to be honest a "few" was a figure of speech. I currently have 50 cups in various stages of growth, and more on the way.

You're right though, once set up it'll be a set and forget system......well at least until I outgrow it.
 
Looking good..your gonna love those cayenne...mine have grown so fast and vigorously...take care of them and they will take care of you...:)
 
I agree, Cayenne are one of my favorites because you can just eat so many of them. I have quite a few seedlings so its gonna be a cracker of a grow season!!!
 
Just potted another 10 taking the grand total up to 60. I also just bagged quite a few Rocoto which have swollen ridiculously overnight, so germ rates should be good.

Grow box construction has started but is far from done.

On another note, I was considering topping some seedlings. But looking at my plants most, if not all, have growth at their lower nodes (see pics^). Given this, would there be any point in topping them?


Cheers......
 
Your plants look healthy.
I like cayenne..my cayenne plant has been one of the best to handle our winter so far..I just picked about 10 pods off it on the weekend, and another 10 more should be ripe in a couple of days. Its a scraggly looking thing but man its tough..its been growing pods all winter.
 
I threaded them onto a string and hung it in the kitchen..the girlfriend has always wanted a "string of chilis" like you see on the cooking shows :)
 
Ha, thought about stringing the last lot I dried but there's no way my misses would let me hang them anywhere except out of sight. So I smoked them, ground into powder and added to my last batch of sauce. Wow!!!
 
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