Help with getting a cab going!

[bamboomer]

I need to soon start growing some herb for my daughter who is a registered patient. I'm just waiting to recieve the response from the state to the "change form" so i can legally get some seeds or clones and hopefully w/n a few months start supplying her meds.

I want to build a grow cab out of one of those white melamine type chests from Dania. The size is about 4ft wide, 3ft tall and 1.5 ft deep. I'm trying to decide what's the best approach but leaning toward a hydro set up and probably a ebb and flow system although the aeroponics looks very interesting. Also need to decide how much and what type of lighting to use. I'm thinking either tubes or compact florescents for the veg/clone room and HPS for the flowering room. Since it's a relatively small cab i'm hoping i can get by with maybe 2 x 150W HPS but heck.. i don't know!

I want to try to keep the cost down as i can't afford to spend too much money, but at the same time i want to have a very efficient set up in terms of cycle time and output.

So... i have too many questions! I think one of the first decisions I need to make is on the lighting. I tried reading through many forums but there's so much information out there that i started getting dizzy! If i go with HPS ... what is the cheapest easiest method? I've seen mention of buying a home security light and tearing it appart to use. Is this cheaper than buying the bulb, socket etc separately? Can someone tell me how to go about buying the parts and piecing it together if that's the way to go? I don't know much about electrical wiring and don't want to risk screwing up and burning my house down!

I'm very resourceful, have tools and smarts but would love to just find a good detailed instructions that would work for my size setup so i don't have to spend so much time trying to insure i don't screw up. I really want to learn from those who have blazed the path already.

 

[herbie5000]

if u r just starting out then don't even think of aeroponics! it would prob be better to grow in soil for a couple of rounds to get the hang of the plant.

a couple of 150hps will be adequate for that space. get them from ebay if you are comfortable with that.

you will need exhaust fan (bathroom extractor although that might struggle with the heat, depending where you are, what time of year it is etc) and an oscillating fan.

if you have grown other plants before you will be in a good place to start. plenty of reading to be done, and trial and error. don't expect too much too soon but with a lot of research you can do it. maybe think about getting a book such as 'closet cultivator' by ed rosenthal.

good luck!

 

[bamboomer]

Hey Herbie5000 thanks for the quick reply! Just for my education, why do you say don't think of aeroponics? Also, why not an ebb/flow system? I'm not against using soil but just don't see much in the way of instructions on all the forums yet, there's a lot of great stuff on building hydro systems. Also, i like the ease of setting up a timer so i don't have to spend too much time maintaining.
I haven't thought about checking eBay and will do that. In the interest of energy savings, cost and less heat do you know if it's possible to use an array of compact fluorescent bulbs for the flowering chamber?

 

[purpbythepound]

If you don't feel comfortable with ebay..then you could check craiglist.com and search your locl area for lighting and such..they usually have great deals there..good luck with your cab bro

 

[purpbythepound]

just saw your question about the cfls...it is most definately possible to flower with these!!!people are pulling awesome results as we speak using these...for flowering try using warm white cfls which are rated around 2700k..i don't know your situation here but i know that i was a little confused on my recent purchase of cfls from home depot and i thought that i should let you know that home depots soft white cfls are the same kelvin as other manufacturers warm white bulbs so thats that..

 

[herbie5000]

no worries mate. aero's a bit complicated and has very little room for user error. all sorts of probs could arise on a 1st run!

if u r determined to go hydro on your first run then ebb and flow is pretty simple. soil is usually more forgiving for noobie mistakes (and we all make em!)

There's a good section for soil grows in the grower's forums.

certainly is possible to use cfls. have a look at micro-grows here, or search for cfl. but with a decent amount of headroom in your cab you will get a higher yield with hps.

good luck!

 

[bamboomer]

Thanks guys. I'll check out the section on soil grows...haven't seen it yet (such a newb!)

The cfls are very attractive to me because it seems they're a lot easier to set up. No special sockets, cheaper, energy efficient. However, I'm thinking my flowering chamber will be about 12 cu ft and maybe this will require to many cfls when a couple of HPS would do the trick. I'll see if i can research this a little more in this forum but if anyone want's to comment on this then ...great!

 

[thehammer85]

check ebay for lights, their is one company on their that sells a complete ballast, light, hood, and bulb deal that is pretty cheap. now depends on what your going for.

if u wanna a cheap, economical and easy to manufacture growbox this is what i use.

go to home depot or lowes (whatever hardware store) and make a frame out of 1x2s and use white and black poly to cover it. for the door use black velcro and for a grand total of about 30 bucks u have a box that is custom designed for what u want it to be.

what kind of space do u have to work with, what are ur security concerns, what about electricity and the cost of that, what is ur budget, how much do u wanna yield per harvest, and how many plants can u have. we need these answers to help u out.

for your situation i would run a 400 watt hps, with a mother/cloner/veg chamber using CFL's or tube cfls.

this is what i have in my setup, a 3x3x2 box with the 400 watt hps, and a 18x18x18 box for veg/mothers using three 42 watt CFls. and i use the frame and poly method (its also extremely light and makes moving it easier). and u can pull between a qp to a hp every harvest. and i use soil and find it much easier and better than hydro

 

[zappa66]

got my 150 HPS from HTG Supply (on ebay) for around $90.00 shipped, High qual. and stealth shipping!

 

[FreezerBoy]

Aero for a beginner is asking for trouble. You don't start riding motorcycles with a 1500cc superbike. You start with a 35cc moped because you WILL fall down. "They" say soil is easier for newbies but, I can't help but note the infirmary section seems heavy on the soil grows. E&F is a good, easy place to start.

Check out the CMH thread before buying lights. Bluer than MH, redder than HPS, one lamp, one ballast, no swithching. Cooler than MH or HPS too.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=72215

Check out the Mills Pride Club for cab ideas
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=21879&highlight=mills+pride

Read up on SOG, LST and ScROG. (Sea of Green, Low Stress Training, Screen of Green) These are methods used to maximise yields in small grows.

Study various methods of cloning now. There are many ways and what works for some is death to others. There's more than a bit of voodoo involved. The important thing is DON'T GIVE UP! Keep experimenting till you find a working method for you. Took me several tries to get a single survivor and now I'm rooting with 100% success.

 

[obZen]

There isn't much information on Soil Growing because you don't need much.

Plants have been growing in soil for how many thousands of years ?

You might check out the "Moonshine Mix" - pretty simple to recreate and works really well.

Much easier for a first time grower.

No worries about mixing complicated fertilizer and nutrient recipes hoping you don't burn the shit out of your babies!

Good luck, you're definitely in the right place to learn!


EDIT: Also, Check out Dr. Bud's Perpetual Sea of Green if you haven't already. CFLs + Soil. Cheap, Easy, Efficient.

 

[FreezerBoy]

There's far more information on soil grows because, as you say, plants have been growing in it for thousands of years. However, indoor grows rarely if ever use soil. They use mixes and that's where the trouble starts.

There's no way an indoor soil grow matches the ease, let alone the production, of a simple DWC. No mixes to haul, or clean up, or dispose of. No transplanting. No bugs. One, maybe two batches of nutes for the entire grow. I was happy with E&F for years. It's how I made the switch to indoors. But, then I saw root porn ...

 

[bamboomer]

hey guys.... thanks for all the advice. I've been on vacation for the last 8 days and was off line. Now i'm home again and getting ready to start this project. In response to TheHammer85 questions... the amount of space is given in my orig post. Security is not a huge concern since i will be a legal grower for my daughter's medical marijuana. I don't know how much the electricity bill will be impacted but would like to keep it to a minimum increase. I don't know what yield is reasonable in this small space but would like to get at least an ounce every couple of months. The number of plants that the law will allow me to have is "up to 6 mature plants and 18 seedlings or starts".

From everything i've read so far, i think i'll prob go with an E&F or a DWC as opposed to soil....just need to decide which is easier and go forit. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about lighting. I'll most likely use compact fluorescent bulbs for the veg room but need to decide on my flower room. I'm intrigued by the info on the CMH (thanks FreezerBoy!) and hadn't heard of those. Whatever i choose, i really hope to find someone's tutorial showing exactly how to wire up the ballist. I have no idea how to do this.

thanks for any other help you folks can offer!!

 

[Connoisseur300]

I need to soon start growing some herb for my daughter who is a registered patient. I'm just waiting to recieve the response from the state to the "change form" so i can legally get some seeds or clones and hopefully w/n a few months start supplying her meds.
Lets get to it then.

I want to build a grow cab out of one of those white melamine type chests from Dania. The size is about 4ft wide, 3ft tall and 1.5 ft deep. I'm trying to decide what's the best approach but leaning toward a hydro set up and probably a ebb and flow system although the aeroponics looks very interesting. Also need to decide how much and what type of lighting to use. I'm thinking either tubes or compact florescents for the veg/clone room and HPS for the flowering room. Since it's a relatively small cab i'm hoping i can get by with maybe 2 x 150W HPS but heck.. i don't know!
If you want to go hydro I recomend an ebb and flow setup because you dont have to worry about topping off everyday like you would a dwc setup. Two 150 watt hps is just about perfect for your setup and you might be able to get away with three with the right fan. You seem to know enough to get your self started and thats a very good thing.

I want to try to keep the cost down as i can't afford to spend too much money, but at the same time i want to have a very efficient set up in terms of cycle time and output.
Ebb and Flow all the way. You can make the entire system from parts at the hardware store and it's very reliable.

So... i have too many questions! I think one of the first decisions I need to make is on the lighting. I tried reading through many forums but there's so much information out there that i started getting dizzy! If i go with HPS ... what is the cheapest easiest method? I've seen mention of buying a home security light and tearing it appart to use. Is this cheaper than buying the bulb, socket etc separately? Can someone tell me how to go about buying the parts and piecing it together if that's the way to go? I don't know much about electrical wiring and don't want to risk screwing up and burning my house down!
Keep the Qs comming. I say stick with your original plan with the 150 hps. They're more of a stationary light so it's less you have to worry about. You can also pic up 150 watt hid light bulbs at home depot without having to order any online. I would order my ballasts online though. Your going to spend almost a 100 bucks or more on the 150w security lights and then having to break them down and retrofit them is a big expensive problem. If you go online to 1000bulbs.com you will find them for about 30 bucks each and 10 bucks for the bulbs. When ordering from 1000bulbs the ballast have the scematics on the ballest that are very easy to read. If you have a camera to take a pic of the instructions i'll be more than happy to walk you through the process.

I'm very resourceful, have tools and smarts but would love to just find a good detailed instructions that would work for my size setup so i don't have to spend so much time trying to insure i don't screw up. I really want to learn from those who have blazed the path already.

Check out my threads. I think its very similar to what your looking for. I just recommend a larger mother room than what I have in my NGB cab. I'm also changing from DWC to E&F because of the reasons mentioned in the above Qs(less top off watering)

 

[bamboomer]

hey thanks Connoiseur. I checked the website and see the 150 HPS are ~$7 ea and the ballist is ~$44 so... looking at ~$100 plus shipping for two of 'em. For the HPS, I still need a special type of socket don't I? Also, I'm wondering if a bunch of CFL would work and be perhaps a bit cheaper. A 40W is shown to be equiv to a 150W and it cost about 2x but I don't think i would need ballists and special sockets, etc. Anyone out there using this type of set up and can compare with HPS in terms of cost to purchase and operate? Also, it would be much cooler and allow me to put the lights closer to the plants right?