Uneasy about first grow

[Textbook]

I have an entire apartment at my disposal and I wish to begin cultivating cannabis... After reading around I've decided I should look into a cabinet (possibly Mills Pride) at my local Home Depot. What I remain unclear about is the ventilation system for a typical grow cabinet. I have limited knowledge about fans and I'd love to know how I should go about installing the fans/tubing/scrubber (very clueless in this area) in the top section (it seems to be how its generally done in cabinet grows) of the box.

Something else I'm not too sure of is whether or not I would need two. Could I just flower and veg in the same cabinet? Maybe after the first few successful cycles I'll look into a separate chamber for each. I want to grow for the personal use of about 4 people, so I'm thinking 2-4 plants would suffice. What type of lighting should I consider and what height should the lamp(s) be hung at? Will the height differ at different stages of the growth cycle?

Basically all the details are a bit overwhelming and I'd love to get together a comprehensive list of materials (down to the most minute detail) so I can go out and buy them all. Being busted for energy bills needs to be the last thing on my mind.

I'm an absolute novice and I hope you'll forgive that, but hopefully someone here is willing to spread their wisdom and help me get this grow off the ground.

Thanks,
Textbook

 

[hoosierdaddy]

Welcome to ICMag, Textbook!

You will find what you want much easier by reading about others cabs.
It may take a few days of reading and absorbing it all...but it will probably net you much more info than what you will get here in a thread asking about it.

IMO...you are not going to supply enough smoke between grows for 4 people unless you use at least a 400w light, and have at least 4 healthy plants to finish each time.
If you wait to veg and flower the plants all in the same chamber, then it is almost guaranteed you won't keep yourselves in smoke between grows.
I would go with a Mills Pride type double cab and veg in one side so they are always ready to flower the day you harvest the previous crop.

Best of luck!

 

[AndreNicky]

I really recommend getting grow tent and depending on where u live start scanning craigslist daily(i've gotten almost all my hydro equip from craigslist, its a awsome site), The reason i suggest a growtent is because its so goddamn easy to setup. mine consist of 3 basic pieces; my 180cfm 4" centrifugal fan(Blower), 400 watt hps with air cooled hood and the grow tent. With these three pieces alls u need is your medium(soil/hydro) and your set to grow.

 

[KUSHEATER1]

keep reading then keep reading then try what you have read and tweak it from there then once again keep reading...

mills pride cab under a 400 watt but ya gotta read one good read is mills pride club...

 

[pHaroaH]

Apartment growing is risky because landlords can easily concoct a legally defensible reason to enter your apartment with out notice. I would use a cabinet that is locked, since they do not have a legal right to search through your personal property. I would also get a wireless security system that can protect against more than just nosy landlords. Some people even setup a motion detector to kill the cabinet power if someone enters the room for stealth.

Wireless Home Security System

As others have said, I would read the Mill's Pride club and copy one you like.

Mills Pride Club

All the information you need is already posted. Just search and read. You'll learn a lot more this way than just having a few people posting opinions in your thread. Once you know what you want to do, then post a thread about that and you'll get a lot of help dialing it in.

You have so many options... Using an LST or SCROG technique allows smaller flowering cabinets that are very stealthy. Check out the Micro Grows forum.