little grow box

it's an igloo cooler with a 630 red led light mounted atop. the water drains out the water spigot and I put two pots of perlite in it. I've just been putting the water in the top and letting it drain down. The sealed cooler keeps it humid and I put a shirt over the cooler in the day so it's real dark (and incognito).
What do you think? If you came into a room looking like this would you be suspicious? I keep it closed in the day and at night put the light on. It's pretty simple, the leds don't get hot so there's not venting, I've got a prozone air purifier coming and the box seals up pretty good when closed up.

 

What about air circulation and light to plant distance adjustment?

 

definantly an incognito setup. how old are the plants in it? I'm guessing they're flowering from the red light. tell us more.

 

Hmmm im with T.H. on this one........definately need air circulation. Warm, humid, stale air is no good for MJ. If you can figure out even the slightest breeze to get the air moving it might turn out for a ok harvest Also, what dash said, "tell us more." This way we can get a better idea and might be able to give you a few pointers to help this go to the end

- 42o -

 

Ok, I bought this led light and it fit on my cooler so I just went with it, I thought the no circulation might be a problem.

It's just not set up for circulation, I could put a co2 making setup in it easily, would that make up for anything? at least the co2 would stay in there.

I am taking a pail and putting it under the 2 pots so it'll bring them right up to the light and as they grow I'll remove it.

I've got some generic major 3 nutes fertilizer now what can I use for those micronutrients w/o buying something online? I've put some eggshells in the water and some ash from cashed bowls.

 

Hey there alpha,

co2 will help, but there MAY still be problems. I was thinking maybe just open the top for a few minutes during the day to help bring alittle more fresh air in. This plus the co2 should, and i say SHOULD, take you to a harvest. It wouldn't be a huge harvest, but you would be able to get alittle somethin somethin. Even if it fails, i've heard LED's cost virtually nothing to run, plus this is an experiment. If it doesn't work out build yourself a little cab that you can run some ventilation through. Anyways good luck. Ill be watching to see what comes of this.

- 42o -

 

OK, i need to read posts more thoroughly.....first of all, what do you mean by, "generic major 3 nutes fertilizer"??? What is the NPK of this stuff....the 3 numbers on the front......and is there a couple products for vegging and flowering....or is it an all-in-one type deal??? What kind of soil are you growing in?? Chances are the soil your growing in already has micronutrients.

Now about the eggshells, and cashed bowl ashes.......yea, there are much better things to use than these. Im assuming your trying to alter your water pH?? What is the pH of the water you are using??? Once you establish these details we'll be able to help ya out alot better. But i'd stray away from the eggshells, and ashes.....just get us up to date on some of these questions.


- 42o -

 

I'm wondering about those eggshells and cashed bowl ashes too. Why are you putting those in? Just wondering, never heard of those specific things put in. And as for the micronutrients, depending on your soil, ya might not need them. I'd say unless you start seeing some sickly leaves don't mess with them, the reason I say this is that the number one problem with a first grow is over doing things and some strains are fine with whatever and others are very finiky. And if a problem arises, it won't kill them overnight, it will take a long long while with lots of warning signs before serious damage ensues.

 

oh, forgot about the co2 thing, sorry <-stoned. I wouldn't advise putting a co2 setup in there without a fan to move the air around. Reason being that theco2 is heavier than o2 and can form a fog over your soil suffocating the roots.

 

the fertilizer is 24 8 16 w' some copper iron molybdenum & zinc.

I've heard that the ashes of a plant has many of the ingredients that the plant had.
The eggshells were for ph balance, and I thought maybe there might be something else in there. I'm growing in perlite so there's really no nutes in it 'cept the fertilizer.
I pour the water in the top and let it drain out the spigot once when I turn it on and again when I close it up. I will start opening it up in the afternoon for an hour with the ceiling fan on high.
I put the pail under the pots last night so they are right up close to the light, this is a big improvement already.
My prozone air filter came yesterday and works great! No more going outside to smoke.

 

I think the best thing you could do is cut a hole in the top and side of the tub and fit in 2 12volt computer fans, one to get air into the box and one to get it out of the top (the most important!). Without air movement after 5 minutes the plants will have used up all the CO2 for an inch around each leaf leading to slow suffocation and inpairment of photosynthesis and your plants will stunt and your crop will be weak and a waste of time and effort. You REALLY need a fan to move the air around inside the box, I can't stress how important it is! You can get black tubes to fit over the fans and bend them so that no light escapes, or gets in during flower. CO2 enrichment will certainly help your plants, but it is useless if the air is not constantly moving.

 

the cooler is 12x18 so that's like 200 x 5 = 1000 = like 20 hours (if my stoned math is right) and I leave the light on for 18 hours so that should be all right. I'm leaving the lid off for the 6 hours the light is off with the ceiling fan on. I've got a good flood and drain with that 2nd pot holding the other one closer to the light; then later on I can use it to clone females when they are both down on the bottom; this gives me around 10" of height and 12" width, I think something on hydro could produce in there, maybe.

 

I don't think that makes sense, the plants will suffocate in the 18 hours of light no matter what space they are in unless there is a fan going in and out of the grow box, you can't get around it by leaving the lid off for 6 hours a day. Your plants will be weak and small, and the yeild will reflect the plant's state. If you want to get stoned with the weed you grow you must provide proper ventalation. A computer fan shouldn't set you back any more than few couple of dollars, and you can run them off bateries or samsung phone chargers which run around 12v/2amps or a cheap motorbike battery, all in all you shouldn't need to spend any more than $30 to get it right, even cheaper if you scavenge from old computers and chargers.

Not that I'm slating this forum, but have a good look on grasscity.com to compare information of how to grow properly - go to the newbies board and read all the stickies, there is much useful info there. Good luck with your grow.

 

Ok, thanks.

 

I tilted the light a little so theres an air flow from the ceiling fan while the light is on. I can also take a peek easier this way.

 

and actually you dont have to spend $30US.....if you live in the US and have a WalMart or HomeDepot or Lowes.....look for a small fan and cut a hole out of the side of your "grow area" fix the fan to fit the hole and woila.....$8US later you have an intake fan, fan to blow the plants around to strengthen them up. there you have it, just be creative with your area and see what you can come up with. Although i would advise atleast 2gal. containers and a taller area for flowering.

- 42o -

 

Ok. I have been needing to go to those places to get my cool white flourescent and stuff. I think I know what to get now:

fan
lite

What kind of fertilizers and soils can I get at walmart or home depot? I've been using perlite and some miracle grow type fertilizer but I think they need something else.

 

DON'T use miracle grow, it's the newbie growers nemesis! You are way to early in the grow to fert anyway. When you do fert shortly before flower use a 10-10-10 NPK ratio plant feed with chelated elements. You need two fans, not just one and the correct lighting. Goodluck!

 

chelated, got it.

So should I just give it water for now? because the expanded clay doesn't have ANY nutrients at all.

I'll get a little pump too, like an aquarium pump (I could probably use the pump from my coffee maker, though.)

 

Ah, your using rockwool, I didn't realise. I haven't the faintest idea about how it works, I like my soil. Some people use aquarium pumps to feed air into the plantpot for the roots, I guess it would work but won't deliver much air.