/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.605114]

I always wanted to grow some plants myself and since Spring is around the corner I started to look at what I'd need.

However, I got a cool idea to try growing a few plants separately indoors. I'll take an empty computer case and install a florescent at the top with the plants at the bottom.

I've never done any growing, especially indoors so I have no idea what kind of lightbulbs I'm looking for and how close they have to be to the plants. I'm thinking of growing something simple at the start: peas, herbs, maybe tomatos.

Any advice? Thanks!

[Anonymous No.605122]

http://www.wikihow.com/Plant-Cannabis-Seeds-Indoors
http://howtogrowweed.us/

or use natural light, like the sun.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-care-for-house-plants1.htm

I did it before and indoor tomatos taste like shit. Peas grow for the whole Year and leave you with a fistfull of other peas. It is so much more rewarding to grow Herbs.
http://bonnieplants.com/library/how-to-grow-herbs-indoors/

[Anonymous No.605133]

>>605122

Thanks, though I am not planning to grow weed at the time. Probably herbs like you have suggested.

Your links didn't really show any information about indoor lighting though. I want to try growing with lamps as it seems like a cool DIY project. Furthermore, I've tried growing basil in my house but it needs lots of direct sunlight which I don't get, especially not for another month or two.

If anyone's following this thread, I've found out that 100W florescent bulbs are great for a start, though I'm not sure if a warm lamp is needed. Some people say it's required to have cool and warm light, but some people get good results with only cool light.

[Anonymous No.605149]

>>605133
Indoor plants tend to grow slowly, so you will either need a large volume available to harvest or you will only be able to pick a few leaves a week.

The cost of indoor lighting is going to be more than the cost of buying herbs from the supermarket.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but you need to think strategically about this project or be content to stare at a few leaves longingly.

Speaking from experience, btw

[Anonymous No.605180]

>>605114
You should check /out/.
There's always a gardening thread going on.

[Anonymous No.605184]

>>605122
>http://howtogrowweed.us/

>Without light you can’t grow crops. Basically, you need to provide 24/7 light as long as your plants are growing (vegetative growth) and then switch to 12/12 light and darkness to induce flowering. Almost any old light source will do, as long as it is not incandescent (those give off far too much heat and too little light). As a beginner, CFLs or fluorescent grow lights are probably your best bet. Of course, if you grow your marijuana outdoors you won’t need lamps at all. The sun is and will always be the best light, as long as you’re getting any where you live. A relatively new phenomenon is the use of LEDs for growing weed. Traditionally, metal halide lamps are used during vegetative growth and CFLs or high pressure sodium lamps for flowering. There are also (more spendy) switchable ballast MH/HPS lamps available.

[Anonymous No.605187]

In a small space like a computer case, you do not want to run a fluorescent tube, not without a lot of cooling. The heat from the tungsten electrodes inside will slowly fry your plants.

Also, at typical computer case size, fluorescent tubes have horrible efficiency. You'd be better off with one or two MK-R LEDs mounted to the top of the case, with a large heat spreader installed on the other side (after you remove the paint and put a thin layer of thermal compound down directly over where the LEDs are mounted.)

Then all you'll need is a tiny computer fan for simple air exchange for CO2/O2 requirements, plus you'll likely have much better results given the much higher efficiency of LED.

[Anonymous No.605190]

>>605184
>Without light you can’t grow crops.

Wrong. Grow fodder grass and lettuces and herbs all day long.

>Basically, you need to provide 24/7 light as long as your plants are growing (vegetative growth)

Wrong, this is bad for plants. Plants need a dark period as the majority of water and nutrient transport happens then.

> Almost any old light source will do, as long as it is not incandescent (those give off far too much heat and too little light)

Wrong again, Tungsten filament lamps can work just fine, as plant efficiency is pretty horrible to begin with. I've seen 250w incandescents successfully used to grow some great buds. That green and IR is what does it.

>As a beginner, CFLs or fluorescent grow lights are probably your best bet.

Wrong again. CFLs have horrible efficiency. T8s are only now getting to where T5 were 7 years ago. T5 can't even compared to LED. MH and HPS for beginners, LEDs for pros.

>The sun is and will always be the best light

The sun is garbage at roughly ~93 lumens per watt (roughly T8 fluorescent,) and then layer plant inefficiencies on top of that.

>A relatively new phenomenon is the use of LEDs for growing weed

How old is this outdated and incorrect site?

It's pretty much filled with the same BS you find being spouted by high school dropouts in weed forums.

[Anonymous No.605198]

>>605190
>I've seen 250w incandescents successfully used to grow some great buds. That green and IR is what does it.

Don't habeeb it

[Anonymous No.605216]

>>605198

http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/4/684.full

HABEEB IT.

[Anonymous No.605222]

>>605190
>>605187

Op here.

Thanks for the reply, but MH and HPS are expensive. I'm doing this as a small side project and I want to spend as little as I can.

Could I get some suggestions for CHEAP bulbs?

[Anonymous No.605227]

>>605222
Any brand of cfl.

[Anonymous No.605237]

>>605216
Looks like an interesting read, however, show me the bud.

[Anonymous No.605249]

>>605222

You can do a sample request from Cree. Bam, two free MK-R LEDs. I'm sure there are other companies that make star boards to mount MK-Rs, but I use SinkPAD because I can drive about 45 minutes directly to their offices and pick up. Those boards are like $0.50 each.

You can run them from say a 12V @ .5A - 2.5A wall wart, just run in parallel with a 1ohm resistor in series on each LED.

[Anonymous No.605254]

>>605180
This, is the current thread over there: >>>/out/278288

[Anonymous No.605259]

Don't waste your friggin money, and just get a goddamn CFL if you're growing stuff indoors. I grow Mimosas (the DMT tree) and they loooooove CFLs, and do way better under them than under natural sunlight.

[Anonymous No.605294]

>>605259

LEDs are more efficient and use the same remote phosphor that fluorescents use, if not better.

[Ananamoose™ No.605302]

>>605114
>I'll take an empty computer case and install a florescent at the top with the plants at the bottom.

Unless you're going for a 'stealth' grow this is a waste of time. and even if you are trying to grow weed in your bedroom, it's a waste of time.

>>605222
If you really are trying to grow herbs indoors, get a cheap T5/T8 lamp and hang it over your plants. You can get a complete lamp with bulbs for like $20.

>>605294
LEDs are too expensive and you run into problems with getting the right 'color'.

[Anonymous No.605304]

>>605302

I don't really have any place in my apartment to hang a lamp over my plants. Furthermore, I don't know how I'd hang the lamp from anything. Unless I can get some help with this, I'm going with the computer case because it's easy to hang the lightbulbs from the top

[Ananamoose™ No.605310]

>>605304
>I'm going with the computer case because it's easy to hang the lightbulbs from the top

A computer case is tiny, and you're introducing all kinds of problems with heat, airflow, and moisture.

Pic related is the standard solution.

[Anonymous No.605452]

>>605302
>LEDs are too expensive and you run into problems with getting the right 'color'.

http://bmb.lcd.lu/science/compared_spectra.jpg

Far superior to CFL in almost any instance. Free as mentioned above.
Totally wrong regarding color output.

[Anonymous No.605922]

>>605190
They are potheads. Let them be wrong. It's best for mankind

[Ananamoose™ No.605943]

>>605452
You're out of your fucking element Donny.

LEDs are very expensive, and only make sense in areas where electricity is expensive.

If you try and diy your own LED panels, you've got to be very careful about the spectrum you use, or you'll be wasting most of the light you produce. This is because LEDs produce a vary narrow spike across the spectrum, and plants photosynthesize over a wide area of the spectrum. In order to get optimal growth you have to use multiple colors of leds. Most plants use the color of light to trigger flowering/fruiting [there is more red light in winter]. LED light can interfere with these signals.

Florescent lights are cheap and easy to use. That's what OP was asking for.

[Anonymous No.607370]

If anyone's wondering what I've been up to, I decided to ditch the case because 1 CFL isn't as strong as I expected, and I don't have money to buy more.

I'll just go with outdoor growing, but until the sun starts shining properly which could take another month I'll use the light I have to try and grow a few plants.

Fortunately since my plants are just starting out and I only have a few the 1 CFL I have should be enough.

I just need to get a box for it and some proper reflective material - ideas?

[Anonymous No.607390]

>>607370
>don't have money to buy more

It's a lightbulb son, how poor are you if you can't buy a lightbulb.

[Anonymous No.607401]

>>605190
Are you really high right now?

[Anonymous No.607417]

if you're just seed starting and going to move them out in three months, coir is a nice medium

[Anonymous No.607418]

a shop light and two florescents from walmart is like $12.
I've been using that setup for 7 years now

[Anonymous No.607454]

>>607390

The CFL I bought which is the cheapest I could find cost me $8. Minimum wage is $2.50/hr. Doesn't sound that cheap to me.

[Ananamoose™ No.607551]

>>607418
This is what I've been suggesting all along.

>>607454
1cfl will keep your plants alive for about a month. then they'll get too big for the light it provides and die.

[Anonymous No.607607]

>>607551
150 heirloom tomato plants and I use four bulbs. I start them now and in three months, after frost date, move them outside. The plants are still doing great after 3 months. just one month? No way

[Anonymous No.607678]

>>605187
yeah, get RGB LEDs if you're growing it in a box. no need for white light unless you dont want that telltale purple glow that tells everyone you have weed.

[Anonymous No.607679]

>>605249
ahaha, resistors and high powered LEDs.

[Anonymous No.608969]

So is talking weed ok now because of the relaxation in the states?

I don't have much an interest I just found it kind of odd this thread has stayed up so long.

[Anonymous No.609373]

>>608969

Well maybe it's because the OP isn't interested in growing weed so the problem are the posters which should (if the rule still applies) get their posts removed.

[Anonymous No.609374]

>>607607
You start your tomato plants 3 months in advance? Those suckers must get huge inside.

[Anonymous No.610382]

You might want to check the homegrown thread on /out/.

>>>/out/278288