building first grow cabinet

[niggle]

ok so I've been looking for a suitable cabinet to grow in, i recently found a cabinet that was tall enough and i could work with.

right now I'll be using :
1 - milk crate with soil
1 - 6" inline fan
1 - 4" inline fan
4 - 42 watt cfl bulbs
4 - 20 watt cfl bulbs
2 - 120 mm pcu fan
X sq.ft. panda paper
X sq.ft. e-dead sound deadening

attached are pictures of what i got done today, i forgot to get a picture of the cabinet before i tore into it so there is no baseline....

i have so far built the false floor where the fans are located, there is also spaces for tools and the electrical which i will build hinged doors onto. the two fans are intended on removing air from the grow container, one will be filtered one will not and i will be adding a ona smell block thing into the air duct outlet. till then the floor is not permanently closed in. there will be two passive air intakes vertically on the left hand side of the back to help with air flow and provide fresh air for the fans

i have also marked out a rough idea where two 120mm CPU fans will be cut into the back, one blowing cold air in, the other sucking out the hot air, they will be mounted on the top back of the unit above a Plexiglas glass window helping keep heat off the plants.

before i add the sound deadening i will add cuaking to every seam i can. the sound deadening is both for sound and insulation , i have a roll left over from working on my car and can spare it or else i wouldn't be using it lol.... i will be putting panda paper over the e-dead as a final layer inside.

 

[Daffy]

what are dimensions, what type of soil, how many plants, what is your strategy(12/12, scrog, vscrog, sog, lst, perpetual, pedestals), what strain, where are the lights going to be, how much do you expect to yield, how much experience do you have, do you have any plants growing, any other fans? That 6" should pull a lot of heat and moisture out while that 4" will replace it with fresh air good job there but I wouldn't have located the intake as close as you did to the exhaust. It would work better if the intake were in the lower left corner so that you are drawing the air through the plants and the increased distance from the exhaust removes stale air more effectively. The way you have it now, your fresh air is pulled so hard that the air circulation is poorer. Good ideas applying more negative air pressure to the box than positive. Also who is coming over to your house to hear the noise? A bit of advice, no friends should be coming over and if you have a girl/boyfriend dump them because the number one rule is that no one needs to know about it.

 

[GrinStick]

you go boy!

 

[niggle]

ok so quick update, i forgot to take pics and i had to put the cabinet away cause in-laws are coming over.

daffy: I'm not sure what scrog, vscrog, sog, means but it wont be a perpetual grow, i don't mind the downtime, and i have feminized white widow seeds that i have used for both indoors and outdoors and will keep using the same seeds. for soil i make my own compost and have a free bag of black top soil i have laying around.

i have moved the 4" inline fan to the left side, and is now blowing air in from spot away from the exhaust fan, i was able to use the right corner as a utility hatch for the electrical, above the hatch is a ledge for a 2L with sugar and yeast...

i ran the wires for the lights and fans on the top inside the air shaft for the 6", i will be powering the 6 120mm fans with one large 12v, 1amp transformer, an they will all be wired in with the light timer.

i am currently looking at filters online and i think i will go with this one...
http://www.hydroasis.com/hy/productdetail.aspx?id=1229

 

[MHHSP]

you may def need a larger fan for that filter, a vortex type or cage blower would pull better air through. also that soil mix is too heavy and compact for container gardening, try getting an all purpose soil-less mix to start out with, sunshine mix#1, or #4, pro-mix, etc...

CO2 enrichment wont do you much good, unless your system is closed with proper vent timers and everything else is optimum for growth.

scrog, vscrog, sog are acronyms for different growing methods and training techniques, do a search and read about em, they will allow you a better yield in tight areas.

peace

 

[niggle]

so the inlaws left and i got some time to do a little more work, not as much as i would like but enough. i cuaked around all the main seams except for the floor till i cut the holes for the ventilation. tomorrow i will hopefully pick up a bathroom wall fixture for 4 lights, to save me some time fabricating one. i have decided to make my own filter and will start planning for that, i think something the size of a shoe box where the lid is the filter should be enough surface area.

i will be cropping and lsting the plant as well i have a metal shoe rack that will work as a screen to control the height of the plants, since it is a tall cab i will be running 4 24watt cfls about a 1ft below the bar to help the lower branch's fill out.

i am looking at roots coco mix, and then adding some seabird & bat guano, bone & blood meal, and alot of perlite. i think that would be a good start to a organic feeding.

the only part of coco i don't like is the idea of watering them multiple times a day,but some say you don't have to so im unsure to that.

next its finishing the exhaust and lights, i have to borrow a jigsaw to do the work.i have to cut 5 holes, 2 intake, 2 exhaust, one passive, then i can sound deaden the motors and then close up the floor, sadly the sound deadening is 1hr away at my parents were i store my car.

 

[Daffy]

Are you filling that 4 gal. with soil then?

 

[niggle]

i am looking at roots coco mix, and then adding some seabird & bat guano, bone & blood meal, and alot of perlite. i think that would be a good start to a organic feeding.

as for grow containers i will be using two black fabric grocery bags, i have seen a few grow journals where people have used them with success and i might give it a try

 

[MHHSP]

sounds delicious

 

[Bud Freak]

Looking Good!

Looking Good!

Nice job so far!

Since I'm basically lazy, my personal grow spaces have been pretty bare-bones (check them out at http://thegrowcloset.com/grow-in-closet-1/

Best wishes for a successful grow!

 

[Anti]

You can build your own carbon scrubber very inexpensively from parts available at any Home Depot or similar store.

I'm waiting to see it with the lights in it so I can make some sense of these pics.

 

[Cannabis_Fan]

Hi there dude - I've built a few of these cabinets - the first thing that struck me when I saw your writeup was that you seemed to have a lot of fans but not much light to back it up and make the fans do some work.

Also, a lot of small lights and a lot of cords - best to keep those off the floor just for safety sake. Wouldn't one light suited to your needs be nice?

 

[niggle]

so here is a quick update, its been a while cuase im low on funds lol, so i am waiting for my last 120mm fan, and then i can close up the top and the lights are done, i have installed the bathroom deco unit and now have 4 light outlets, also i put the quarter round so i can slide the plexi class in and out.

i have finished the floor and air ducks, i used spray foam to help seal the motors and they are super quite now. i have also cut the vents for the intake and exhaust.

 

[niggle]

Hi there dude - I've built a few of these cabinets - the first thing that struck me when I saw your writeup was that you seemed to have a lot of fans but not much light to back it up and make the fans do some work.

Also, a lot of small lights and a lot of cords - best to keep those off the floor just for safety sake. Wouldn't one light suited to your needs be nice?

im using cfl bulbs that are being hard wired, i will have a total of over 200watts, as for the fans they are all being wired to a 12vdc 1amp transformer so i only need to use a few wires.

dont know what u mean about wires on the ground but when its all done it wont have any loose or hangin wires...

also i will have figured out how im going to wire it all up

recepticle--- |--- power bar ----(constant power accessories )
..................|
..................|--- power bar|---- timer 1 ----- power bar ( lighting )
......................................|
......................................|---- timer 2 ----- power bar ( ventilation )