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Bedroom cupboard --> Perpetual grow

aliceklar

Active member
Logging conversion of a walk-in cupboard space to a perpetual grow, with separate veg/seedling and flowering areas.





Veg area is the alcove to the left, flowering area to the right. I've built an mdf/cardboard partition door to the veg area, with a blackout curtain I can roll down over the top to make it lightproof.

Veg area contains a terrarium with an 18 LED light (white and blue) for seedlings and clones, plus a 50w Fecida COB LED to the side of it for a small veg space. Currently also using a supplemental 16w double headed LED spotlight, but this might be overkill, and worried about the heat it puts out so considering dropping it.

Flower area is to the right, with a Spider Farmer SF1000 quantum board LED.

Walls currently lined with space-blanket, as it is what I had to hand (trying to do this cheaply/with recycled materials as much as possible).

Working on ventilation/filtration now... have a fan/ducting/carbon filter that I'm installing inside the veg area. Work in progress... will update. Am trying to figure out how to stealth the exhaust behind a large mirror in the adjoining room, but realised that the mirror is pretty much flush with the wall so will block the outlet.
 

aliceklar

Active member
Veg / seedling / clone area

Veg / seedling / clone area





This is the inside of the alcove with terrarium, under some blurple LED lights. Pics show my rough Gripfill carpentry, and the cardboard door plus blackout curtain to divide the space off from the 12/12 flower area.
 

aliceklar

Active member
Flower Area & vent

Flower Area & vent








Flowering area from outside, plus the vent to the veg area. I've got the carbon filter attached to the underside of the shelf with a bungee cord. I'm building another small shelf (again, Gripfill is my friend here) to support the fan + ducting. Might need to flare the exit a bit to get enough airflow past the picture that normally hangs in front of the hole - or I could try some shims to hold the picture frame a little out from the wall.
 
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I

Insomniac420

Nice setup you have. Aliceklar I am building
A closet grow myself only 80cm x 80cm
 

aliceklar

Active member
Making progress with the ventilation - slow, but getting there. Have a Black Orchid axial-flow 100, pretty small fan, but I think adequate for my space. The tricky bit has been working out how to attach the ducting to the hole in the wall - so I cut a length of 100mm plastic pipe, gaffered it in place, and used gripfill (my signature building material... I should get sponsored...) to both stick and seal the new bit of pipe to the wall.

Have been hampered by the fact that the only entry to the veg space where the fan is, is via the flowering space, which is in darkness from 6pm - 6am, so I only have a brief window each morning on working days to work on this. Thankfully the girls are not too stinky yet!


 

aliceklar

Active member
A fundamental flaw of this design is the fact that I cant access the seedling/veg space except through the flowering area... and as this is in 12/12 it really restricts the weekday time I have to tend to my plants or work on the room. This is really slowing me down!:badday:
 

aliceklar

Active member
Update... have finally completed the stealthed air filter/extraction unit. Fiddly plumbing it all in, but got there in the end. Will post pics tomorrow. The air vent behind the mirror is nicely low-key, and the problem I had initially with the mirror being too flush to the wall was solved with a couple of shims on the back of the mirror. Simple.


Needed to do some fundamental re-wiring of the space to get a 3rd timer (for the fan) slotted in. Also suspect that I will need to create some more venting (for air intake) as the gap beneath the door is probably not sufficient, being blocked off during lights-out, and might also need to create more air-flow between the flower and veg area. And of course it will all need to be light-blinded without obstructing the flow.



Struck me that this would have been easier if I had pre-planned this all from the start... but life's not like that, and this has just evolved... still hopefully someone else will benefit from this (and I will do things differently next time I build a grow-room)
 

zif

Well-known member
Veteran
Being limited by 12/12 is not so bad once you reach a steady state (even if those light hours happen mostly when you’re sleeping).

It sure makes it harder to over-worry your plants, anyway. =)

Sounds painful while you’re still under construction though!

Looking forward to seeing more. :biggrin:
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
I can live with that access issue, but use green lighting from time to time. That way your not a slave to the 12/12

Is that alcove/shelf to the left about 80cm high? Get a table about 80cm high and put it in the right side, and veg under that?

Obviously that's just an outline idea. With the table more likely to be a sheet of wood that reaches the door, with some P strip glazing foam. Then you have a blackout curtain for each area. Most of the lower areas lights sharing a plug just under the curtain. To dim it. Then you can work in the veg, without letting the smell out the flower.

Depending on your dimensions, you might make tents work in there. 60x90x140 maybe.



But after that dance around my mind, I come back to the fact that this access issue isn't that limiting. Just be able to turn the lights off externally, so you may get in there with a green head torch, if you must wet one and go out unexpectedly. Don't be in a position where you can't water them. Anything else can wait.
 

aliceklar

Active member
I can live with that access issue, but use green lighting from time to time. That way your not a slave to the 12/12

Is that alcove/shelf to the left about 80cm high? Get a table about 80cm high and put it in the right side, and veg under that?


Thanks f-e. Yeah, I had been wondering about swapping the spaces, but dont think it would give me enough head-room as I'm growing sativas... (I currently have some RSC Highland Thai & Johaar in veg, waiting for them to get big enough to take cuttings).
The table is a neat idea, but would mean that i wouldnt be able to reach into the alcove any more, cutting down on the usable space. Have only just heard about green lighting - had not realised it was a thing, but it makes perfect sense (plants reflecting green light and all) - thanks for the suggestion! :tiphat:
 

aliceklar

Active member
Some pics

Some pics

Very chuffed with how this is shaping up. Have the basics sorted now - and the fan + filter is working great - came home this eve and there was zero smell, even though some of the girls are 4 weeks into flower now and starting to frost up.



Here's the fan/filter. The filter is mounted with a bungee cord to hooks on the ceiling, to reduce vibration. Likewise the fan unit itself is resting on a piece of carpet underlay.



This is what the room looks like from outside, with the mirror hiding the air exit vent. You can also see, just on the inside edge of the door-frame, my attempt to improve the blackout round the doorframe. I used a double-thickness piece of old curtain, but it is not 100% on its own. Should have used thicker blackout fabric, and sprayed all the internal surfaces matt black (currently gloss white, which does not help!).



I replaced the cardboard interior door with a custom cut piece of mdf - much better.



Here's the clone/veg area - thinking about moving the terrarium out to give a bit more room for mothers and vegging plants.



And here are the current batch of girls (Blueberry x 2, MSNL Thai Stick, Michka, & Purple Bud).


Next steps will be to improve the air-circulation & blackout round the door.
 

aliceklar

Active member
Blacked-out air vents?

Blacked-out air vents?

I want to make two vents - one inside the cupboard, between the flower and veg areas, and one from the flower area to the bedroom, as I dont think there is sufficient air-flow around the doors that divide the different spaces, and the air-extraction fan is in the veg area.


Width of the side panel next to the door to the veg space is 13cm wide. Planning to construct an mdf box with light baffles, painted black. Not sure how long it needs to be, or how many turns there need to be to ensure no light leakage... Can anyone recommend some designs? I've searched and found a few examples, but no general guidelines for constructing this kind of thing.
 

aliceklar

Active member
Blackout baffles

Blackout baffles

Put an old whiskey bottle case to good use, making a light-trap for the air vent between veg and flower spaces.





Also note to self - remember that white gloss is not helpful at intersections where you want to minimise light transfer.
 

aliceklar

Active member
Vent is working beautifully. Zero light getting through from veg > flower area, but unimpeded flow of air.



Made me think of the design for the interior door - to make sure it reflects light back on to the plants, but not around the perimeter into the flowering area, it needed to be white in the middle and black around the edges. Also makes it look like a Rothko :laughing:
 

aliceklar

Active member
Reorganised veg areaing

Reorganised veg areaing

Rearranged the veg area, removing the terrarium being used for cloning (no need for it to be in that space as it has its own light source and was taking up half the space). Added a second Fecida 50w COB LED and gave the plants in veg a bit more breathing space. Better.





Have been leaving the newly painted cupboard door to dry thoroughly before I put it in close proximity to the plants - dont want my bud to smell of gloss paint.
 
T

TheForgotten

.
Great ingenuity.... can you put up a double entrance to the 12/12 room?

Tarp zippered so you can close it behind you before opening up 12/12 area.... it need only be deep enough to stand in....
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aliceklar

Active member
.
Great ingenuity.... can you put up a double entrance to the 12/12 room?

Tarp zippered so you can close it behind you before opening up 12/12 area.... it need only be deep enough to stand in....
.


Using a zippered curtain is a great idea. Kind of like a grow tent, but in a cupboard... Hmmm... will think about how i might incorporate that. For now I'm OK with the limited access - as someone else said it does make it harder for me to fuss and worry the plants too much! :laughing: especially as Ive got plants in their 8th week of flower now... best I mess with them as little as needed!



Next step is to make a second vent, from the flowering area to the bedroom, for air intake. Have also been looking at some wild vertical LED scrog designs... life goals!!
 

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