Last year a friend gifted me some locally outdoor-grown sativa, which was a bit seeded. I sprouted two just to see if they would germinate, and from that point on I became fascinated (more like obsessed) with this plant. They grew fast! I spent months researching every aspect of growing indoors, and ended up with what you see here. There are so many great setups on this site, and I borrowed many ideas.
I purchased a storage cabinet from Walmart measuring 15”x22”x60” externally. Not as small as a lot of setups here, but I think it still qualifies as “micro” considering the small footprint.
Anyway I replaced the cardboard back with luan painted with three coats of Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer/sealer. The cab was assembled with latex caulk at all contact points, and an additional bead inside to ensure air tightness. I used square pine molding, also primered, to create an inner lip around the cab for the weather strip; when installed on the edges of the cab itself the weather strip was readily visible around the doors which I didn’t like. The molding made light proofing a little easier and added some structural rigidity. An additional flat piece of molding attached to the left door and some foam prevents light leaks and allows the doors to seal when closed. The inside is covered with Reflectix foil insulation. It was easy to apply.
The growing chamber measures 14”x22”, or 2.1 square feet. With the 150w HPS that’s 71 watts per square foot. Total height is 46”, effective growing height (from the top of the pots to the ceiling) is 37”.
Light is a remote-ballasted 150w HPS security light with a Bake-A-Round for a cooltube. Reflector was made from a section of 4” duct. I’m currently exhausting through the cooltube, but as soon as the plants start to smell it will be on its own closed circuit, and I’ll exhaust through a DIY carbon filter in the utility room. I’ve had leaves right against the glass with no damage, the cooltube really lets you position the light as close as possible. The 120mm 130cfm axial fan in the utility room runs on 5v right now during the light cycle. It’s powerful enough at 12v to pull air through the filter, and it’s supposedly 45 decibels at 12v. Basically as loud as my computer. The cooltube’s 90mm fan runs continuously at 7v.
I plan to remove the lock on the outside, since tot locks are installed it’s unnecessary. I cut some L-shaped aluminum stock to reinforce the wood molding where the locks are installed. And used much longer screws. It takes a very firm push to get those doors shut, but I get a good seal against the weather strip.
The above text is several months old, written while I was waiting for my account to be approved. I'll get up to date in the next few posts by sharing some pics of my grow.
I purchased a storage cabinet from Walmart measuring 15”x22”x60” externally. Not as small as a lot of setups here, but I think it still qualifies as “micro” considering the small footprint.
Anyway I replaced the cardboard back with luan painted with three coats of Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer/sealer. The cab was assembled with latex caulk at all contact points, and an additional bead inside to ensure air tightness. I used square pine molding, also primered, to create an inner lip around the cab for the weather strip; when installed on the edges of the cab itself the weather strip was readily visible around the doors which I didn’t like. The molding made light proofing a little easier and added some structural rigidity. An additional flat piece of molding attached to the left door and some foam prevents light leaks and allows the doors to seal when closed. The inside is covered with Reflectix foil insulation. It was easy to apply.
The growing chamber measures 14”x22”, or 2.1 square feet. With the 150w HPS that’s 71 watts per square foot. Total height is 46”, effective growing height (from the top of the pots to the ceiling) is 37”.
Light is a remote-ballasted 150w HPS security light with a Bake-A-Round for a cooltube. Reflector was made from a section of 4” duct. I’m currently exhausting through the cooltube, but as soon as the plants start to smell it will be on its own closed circuit, and I’ll exhaust through a DIY carbon filter in the utility room. I’ve had leaves right against the glass with no damage, the cooltube really lets you position the light as close as possible. The 120mm 130cfm axial fan in the utility room runs on 5v right now during the light cycle. It’s powerful enough at 12v to pull air through the filter, and it’s supposedly 45 decibels at 12v. Basically as loud as my computer. The cooltube’s 90mm fan runs continuously at 7v.
I plan to remove the lock on the outside, since tot locks are installed it’s unnecessary. I cut some L-shaped aluminum stock to reinforce the wood molding where the locks are installed. And used much longer screws. It takes a very firm push to get those doors shut, but I get a good seal against the weather strip.
The above text is several months old, written while I was waiting for my account to be approved. I'll get up to date in the next few posts by sharing some pics of my grow.
