Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

[425jesse]

Howdy All! I needed a small area that is light and heat controlled to work with clones, seedlings and other small plant type issues, and realized I might as well use one of the shelves in my shop, and just box it in. Once I boxed it in, I put a mars 300 in there and a Thermostat. What I found is that the box stays at about 97 degrees with no ventilation...So Grow Boxers and Closet Cloners - What do you do for small scale heat management? I know what to do on my large space, but don't really want to replicate it due to cost of sensors and such. Any ideas?

 

[425jesse]

re: Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

Here is its spot on the shelf...

This is door open...

And lights and temperature test...

Thanks for looking!!

 

[Blew Hiller]

re: Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

What is the high/low temps of the shop? Does the box need to sealed to keep the light in (stealth)? How long do plan to run the lights?

 

[425jesse]

re: Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

What is the high/low temps of the shop? Does the box need to sealed to keep the light in (stealth)? How long do plan to run the lights?

The shop is same as outside temp, so high 30s at night this time of year, and 45-55 during the day.

Lights don't should be stealth, but a little pink glow in the back yard isn't totally out of the question

Lights run 24/7

Haven't even considered humidity yet...or diverting the exhaust out of my primary space. Just don't want to make a mold chamber lol.

 

[TheFertilizer]

re: Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

I would knock two holes in that styrofoam, and put into two lengths of duct, run them to another room or outside. Put two booster fans inline on each line, and control each fan with a humidistat and a thermostat with the sensors inside of the box. This will exhaust your air, and passively intake air from the room, but the humidistat and thermostat will shut the fans down so that your soil and your lights can build up the RH and heat to levels that are good for your clones, and then only vent out the air ( intaking cooler, more arrid air ) when it reaches a set level. Willhi makes both a thermostat and a humidistat ( not a two-in-one unfortunately ) that you can get on amazon for about $30-$40 a piece. Having the two fans will ensure that both variables control the exhaust, so if humidity gets too high, the humidity fan kicks; if the temperature gets too high, the teperature fan kicks, if both are too high they'll both kick, and then once the passively intaked air brings things back down to your optimal, the fans will turn off.

Doing that you can set both a constant RH and temperature to maintain it at, and since generally speaking your ambient air conditions will be lower than what clones want, just passively intaking the outside air should be all you need to cool and dry it out. The light and the water in your pots will warm it up and bring the RH back up. You might need to keep like a tiny desktop humidifier in there if your ambient air is too cold and then heated up because that will make the intake air super arid.

Lemme know if this all makes sense and I'll try to explain it better.

 

[Blew Hiller]

re: Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

I would knock two holes in that styrofoam, and put into two lengths of duct, run them to another room or outside. Put two booster fans inline on each line, and control each fan with a humidistat and a thermostat with the sensors inside of the box. This will exhaust your air, and passively intake air from the room, but the humidistat and thermostat will shut the fans down so that your soil and your lights can build up the RH and heat to levels that are good for your clones, and then only vent out the air ( intaking cooler, more arrid air ) when it reaches a set level. Willhi makes both a thermostat and a humidistat ( not a two-in-one unfortunately ) that you can get on amazon for about $30-$40 a piece. Having the two fans will ensure that both variables control the exhaust, so if humidity gets too high, the humidity fan kicks; if the temperature gets too high, the teperature fan kicks, if both are too high they'll both kick, and then once the passively intaked air brings things back down to your optimal, the fans will turn off.

Doing that you can set both a constant RH and temperature to maintain it at, and since generally speaking your ambient air conditions will be lower than what clones want, just passively intaking the outside air should be all you need to cool and dry it out. The light and the water in your pots will warm it up and bring the RH back up. You might need to keep like a tiny desktop humidifier in there if your ambient air is too cold and then heated up because that will make the intake air super arid.

Lemme know if this all makes sense and I'll try to explain it better.

You could even try a simplified version of this and passively duct it and see what your temps and RH are after 24-48 hours of running your lights. Not sure what ambient RH is where you are (I am on the coast so I get high rh) or what rh you ultimately desire. Punching a 4" duct in one (or both) sides might do the trick. I use a small, oscillating fan 24/7 inside my insulated box helps keep the air moving in conjunction with a single 4" duct on the side of my box to help keep the temps and rh from rising too high. If these don't work to your satisfaction then you can keep going with all the extra do-dads (and no backtracking).

Note: If you use a 12" length of duct, it does a good job of muffling the light as well...

 

[TheFertilizer]

re: Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

You could even try a simplified version of this and passively duct it and see what your temps and RH are after 24-48 hours of running your lights. Not sure what actual RH is where you are (I am on the coast so I get high rh) or what rh you desire. Punching a 4" duct in one (or both) sides might do the trick. I use a small, oscillating fan 24/7 inside my insulated box helps keep the air moving in conjunction with a single 4" duct on the side of my box to help keep the temps and rh from rising too high. If these don't work to your satisfaction then you can keep going with all the extra do-dads (and no backtracking).

Note: If you use a 12" length of duct, it does a good job of muffling the light as well...

TRUE I guess that still counts as climate control. I'm always over-complicating things haha

A little $15 speed controller might give you some more adjustability too without going full ham on the thermostat/humidistat combo. Plus I don't know if that constant on/off would wear the fans out prematurely since they're generally designed to run continuously, so just running on a lower speed may be better for longevity.

 

[Blew Hiller]

re: Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

TRUE I guess that still counts as climate control. I'm always over-complicating things haha

A little $15 speed controller might give you some more adjustability too without going full ham on the thermostat/humidistat combo. Plus I don't know if that constant on/off would wear the fans out prematurely since they're generally designed to run continuously, so just running on a lower speed may be better for longevity.

The fluctuation of the speed kills electric motors and actually uses more electricity overall. My Box is 2x4x6" and is vented by a 4" duct with a 8" oscillating fan. This small box may not even need air actively moved. Stick your 24hr temp/rh thermometer in there for 36-48 hours with a pot of watered soil and lights on .... It will need tweaking but you got to start there.

 

[425jesse]

re: Homemade Clone & Seedlings Box Climate Control - Got Suggestions?

Thank you Fert, thank you Blew, I'll take notes and start working for it.

 

[TurboBucket]

Mount the light to the top of the box(inside) and flip the internal fan over, let it run as the exhaust for the box. Start with small passive intake holes and increase/ enlarge till it hits the sweet spot. Terra Cotta pots do a good job as small space humidifier's.