Advice For Erecting My New Box?

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
Hi all, Ive been here for a pretty short while now. Navigated forums isnt my strong suit but here I am making the attemp.
Im building a flower tent to serve me in my miniature perpetual. The girls are vegging under T8’s (Ive got a thread somewhere else about that, i don't know who may have seen it.) Ive used 1x3’s and some black poly. The new grow box size is 36” x 24” x 48”. I want to flower (2) girls at a time.
Il be using (2) 300w Galaxy Hydro LED lights, I have been told the true wattage is around 130w. For the carbon filter I have no yet purchased, but I am thinking of running the cheap vivosun fans ($17 on Amazon without a controller) and a vivosun Carbon Filter ($75). Does anyone have any insight as to if these fans and filter are worth a damn? Itd be greatly appreciated.
Il drop a picture from inside the empty box below. For any reptile enthusiast you will know what I mean when I say I will be using rat rubs for a drainage tray under the pots. Both girls will be in 3 gallon pots. (No Hydroponics Here sorry guys :) )
Im thinking this box will work best if I use a SCROG. Il appreciate if the experienced growers will chime in even if the feedback is negative.
Thanks Guys :) Happy Tokes!53DCBA96-C6E3-463D-B0F0-42B3982E5B46.jpegimage.jpgimage.jpg
 

fragileassassin

Well-Known Member
A carbon filter is more or less a carbon filter. Id get the 6" kit, but you should be fine with it.

My 8" vivosun just started making an awful noise after only a year of moderate use. I was happy with it up until then.
If you order from amazon, buy the 4 year protection plan, it will fail probably several times in that time.
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
regardless of how powerful or not the fan is, the duct design will optimize the whole ventilation systems flow. Take into consideration how far away from the fan where you can 90, and remember long sweeps are better than short sweeps. Fans are always best mounted level, pointing up or down.
Horizontal fans can be imbalanced and give more of that ranging humming sound.''

Heat travels up. Have the intake low and the exhaust high

Also, if adding an intake filter, consider the passive intake being 3x the size of the exhaust fan, then the pre filter on that ideally 2-3 times the size of that passive intake area.

An intake filter has many advantages. When using your carbon filter you want to make sure if you don't have a prefilter, and if the "sock" is only on the outside of your filter, you want to suck through it, then out the tent.

the sock will prefilter the air that goes through the active carbon but it is better to use an intake filter IMO and put the carbon filter on the exhaust side of the fan external of the tent IMO, to give me more room.

Hope this helps!

some people also build a "silencer" box too for the fans to help quiet things down. Running flexible plastic duct is also much quieter than rigid but doesn't have good airflow.

If your fan may be undersized, and heat load is high, you may want to consider round snap duct because it has less friction to move the heat out. There are a lot of things to consider but you can make most things work
 
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CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
regardless of how powerful or not the fan is, the duct design will optimize the whole ventilation systems flow. Take into consideration how far away from the fan where you can 90, and remember long sweeps are better than short sweeps. Fans are always best mounted level, pointing up or down.
Horizontal fans can be imbalanced and give more of that ranging humming sound.''

Heat travels up. Have the intake low and the exhaust high

Also, if adding an intake filter, consider the passive intake being 3x the size of the exhaust fan, then the pre filter on that ideally 2-3 times the size of that passive intake area.

An intake filter has many advantages. When using your carbon filter you want to make sure if you don't have a prefilter, and if the "sock" is only on the outside of your filter, you want to suck through it, then out the tent.

the sock will prefilter the air that goes through the active carbon but it is better to use an intake filter IMO and put the carbon filter on the exhaust side of the fan external of the tent IMO, to give me more room.

Hope this helps!

some people also build a "silencer" box too for the fans to help quiet things down. Running flexible plastic duct is also much quieter than rigid but doesn't have good airflow.

If your fan may be undersized, and heat load is high, you may want to consider round snap duct because it has less friction to move the heat out. There are a lot of things to consider but you can make most things work
Okay, You've got a few pretty good tips. I have a woodworking background and im a bit mechanically inclined, so not everything your saying is foreign to me.
Im not sure how the heat load will be. Both lights are LED’s so with the little bit of heat the plants create I should be able to control the temps with proper fan placement. Im hoping 4” is enough, its a rather small box.
Ive not thought of the intake filter, although thats an awesome idea to keep hair out of my buds. Ive got a dog and 3 heads. So are you saying if I run an intake filter Il need like 6” on bottom and 4” up top fan wise, or am I confused? Also side note, Are you saying I can build a small box to put the fans in and then run a short amount of duct to the poly in the designated fan locations? If I where to do that could I filter the “Silencer Box” instead of placing an intake filter? If both fans are in the same box, do you recon I’d be circulating enough of the same air in and air stream type motion to get away with running Co2 in the box?

This is what I am doing in my attic but the project has been slow moving. Looks good so far.
Thanks. I started in my attic but due to location couldn’t easily tap into power and ended up taking it down after i left and acurite up there for a few days. Poor ventilation led to temps in high 80’s and its only January.
I believe minus the lights and the basic supplies. I put $15 into the reflective, $11 into the poly, and $7 into the boards. Most of my expenses will come with filter and ventilation. An estimated $109 more.


A carbon filter is more or less a carbon filter. Id get the 6" kit, but you should be fine with it.

My 8" vivosun just started making an awful noise after only a year of moderate use. I was happy with it up until then.
If you order from amazon, buy the 4 year protection plan, it will fail probably several times in that time.
Note Taken; Warranty will be purchased.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Thanks to everyone for the advice and input!
 

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
Update on my flower box: the front is not yet secured, so that it still allows for me to flip it up to open it. I used duct tape (haha) to tape over all the areas I stapled the poly into the wood to decrease any chance of the box being permeable since after all it is a flowering tent.
I plan to secure the front and to use a vivosun dust barrier zipper door for my way of entry. Has anyone ever used any of those zip up dust barriers? I should work for a door right??
E6382686-27FA-4FDF-B840-FDF445C2D7FD.jpeg6A069296-C275-40B0-9393-71CECE76B13D.jpeg
 

fragileassassin

Well-Known Member
Actually pretty curious about those zippers myself. Looked at them a few times for various projects but ended up going different directions.

You could always just leave it a flap if the light control in the room it is in is good. I have a big U shaped zipper on the front of my tent and I leave the bottom of it open for passive intake. I just dont turn any lights on down there after 10pm. Which, really you have to work about light with a passive intake anyway.
 

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
Actually pretty curious about those zippers myself. Looked at them a few times for various projects but ended up going different directions.

You could always just leave it a flap if the light control in the room it is in is good. I have a big U shaped zipper on the front of my tent and I leave the bottom of it open for passive intake. I just dont turn any lights on down there after 10pm. Which, really you have to work about light with a passive intake anyway.
I wont be able to leave it a flap, reason being I need to try to conceal everything to smell just the room the box is in and not have my whole house smelling like a pound haha. In the past I have always left a flap, it is most convenient for me.
The Dust Zipper is going to have to cut to size, I guess I’ll try to make a makeshift zipper stop with some hot glue or an excess amount of super glue. For only $8 on amazon, its gotta be worth a shot. Thatd bring me up to barely under $40 on the box before acquiring the higher priced equipment.
 

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
A little dab of epoxy would probably work a little better. a tube of 1 or 5 minute quickset is only a few dollars. Plus you can use it to glue the zipper back on if it falls off.
Ive got some epoxy base calk in the garage, I might give that a whirl. I figure using the zipper in a straight line would work best since its a tape on type deal, but really it will limit mobility when working in the tent unless i have at least 2 of those straight line zippers. Which would leave a tiny spot open all the time where the zippers connect. Ive seen the velcro patch solution to this but i have no idea how i would replicate that. Kinda stoned right now 8)
 

fragileassassin

Well-Known Member
Were you looking to do more of a single L with a curve at the corner? If you make relief cuts in the mounting tape, you may be able to curve them more than you think.
But I think doing 1 down the left side and 1 across the bottom would work fine. Maybe just make a little flap that covers where they meet.
 

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
Were you looking to do more of a single L with a curve at the corner? If you make relief cuts in the mounting tape, you may be able to curve them more than you think.
But I think doing 1 down the left side and 1 across the bottom would work fine. Maybe just make a little flap that covers where they meet.
Im not against the curved single L, I didnt think about relief cuts! I dont have to lean far into the tent (3x2x4), but I need to be able to have room for set ups and take downs, rearranging and all the other necessities. I’ll definitely update when I get the Zipper Door, I just topped the girls I plan on running about three days ago, they're already showing really positive growth so thats going as planned. Probably will run to lowes and get some 1x1’s to make my SCROG frame out of. Do you habe experience using a SCROG? You suppose using 10” tall 3 gallon pots in a 48” tall grow tent I should set the net height at 20” or 24”?
 
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CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
If anyone is following this thread, Ive encountered more problems. The box I built is gone, I’ll use it to sprout tomatoes and peppers in the garage.
Here’s my last resort. If something goes wrong with this, I guess I’ll stick to outdoor.
This new location is only 2’x2’ :( I really wanted a larger space, but beggers cant be choosers. Better safe than sorry.
The two smaller plants will be given away, I do not have space for them :(
This is a very simple design. 2’x2’ top piece and a 4’x2’ front piece. Il make the door with some cabinet hinges EZ PZ.
Update coming tonight, Im finishing this fucker today!
985A2EB7-283E-4316-A234-AAF98ED94FC6.jpeg
 

CountryFriedPotHead

Well-Known Member
Howdy, I Lied, Its not “Complete” My house is asleep and I can’t drill a hole in the ceiling of the box to run my light and fan cord through. Il take a spade bit to it in the morning and get that all squared away. For tonight the cords are running through the door so it wont shut perfectly for a few hours. No biggie. In addition to that il be installing a lil duct work in about 2 weeks. Plan is to put a “fan silencer” on top of the box with both of my fans inside. Il use duct to route the air in and out.
Here are the pictures of the 90% complete box. The girls have been in the dark for about 12 hours, After tonight it will have been 24 hours and they will receive light, on a 12/12 schedule to begin the flowering cycle.
Il be making a grow journal for this particular box, starting with Day 1 of flowering light cycle for my current run. It will keep all my ramblings about this 2x2 to a specific thread.
So without further blabbing and shit, heres the pictures of the box I got built today. OSB yes I know, get over it.
05955191-B355-4E4F-9F54-33625C053607.jpegF4A2E44E-90C3-450E-A4EE-EB624671C886.jpeg5FAC5874-819D-4D7D-86DD-A6AFDB930CD3.jpeg16C01504-2904-4DC8-A83C-5587E4EFC88E.jpeg
 
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