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Voidlings plan for stealth grow

V

Voidling

Member
Anti's original cab thread got me interested in a stealth cab so now I'm trying to build my own.

I've already started and my dimensions ended up being 4ft wide, 4 ft tall, and 1.5 ft deep.

I have two workhorse8 ballasts and 8 lights. There is two different temp bulbs but will have to pull that info tomorrow.

I originally planned on separating my heat extraction from the lights and the ventilation of the plants. As cash is dwindling and this build is already taking me forever to get to, I'll probably end up running it all together in KISS fashion.

So I need fans and diy carbon scrubber for sure.

I'm asking for input here on design and parts.

Thanks
 
V

Voidling

Member
From Tilt
If I was using your dimensions voidling.

grow chamber left
27" wide
18" deep
30" high

veg chamber right
20" wide
18" deep
30" high

utility top
48" wide
18" deep
18" high

set up lighting in grid pattern in flower vertical
use regular cfls in veg 23 w 6500 k horizontal
Do you have a build thread we can post there and not mess up anti's thread
Click to expand...
So you'd skip out on doing the air intake as a drying room like Anti's? I've been debating on that myself. I like it because the smell is still being filtered by the scrubber. I don't like it because it takes up valuable space.

Would you use 6 or 8 of the 55 watt lights in that size flower?

How man of the 23 watts? I'd have to buy fixtures and bulbs to do that. Looking into LEDs as heat is a big problem for me already running 3 55w pl-l's. My entire bedroom is 80 degrees with the heater set to 70. In the summer it gets over 100 near daily outside.

Thank you Tilt
 
Tilt

Tilt

Member
I like the stanley or lasko blower for fans $45.00. They are not in season so you will have to shop. extracting into a carbon bed is cheap too. I got a couple of cartons of carbon and kept adding it to mine until I had good ballance of airflow you can here it when the fan starts to drag. I cut my carbon with the pure silica kitty litter too helps with humidity.

If you find you need a ballast to run just 2 of your 55 watt lamps. You can pick up a 4 lamp t8 electronic ballast from home depot $15.00. i can tell you how to wire it.
 
Tilt

Tilt

Member
I put the buds in brown paper bags in a safe corner of the utilty section.

I have the same problem in my bedroom. The reason why is if the bedroom door is closed the hot air can't easily get to the return air vent for the ac and builds up in the room.

I would use 6 lamps in my dimensions for flower. Might consider adding the other 2 to the top open bulb for overhead lighting. It will help stack those calyxes in the cola.
 
V

Voidling

Member
I'll have to look up the fans. Quiet enough for stealth? This box is going up as my bed's headboard and I already have sleep problems that keep me up.

I have the two work horse 8's so can use them both for flower if I go for cfl or led in mother/clone/veg chamber. I was just wondering if you would use 6 or 8 total 55w pl-l lights in the dimensions you recommended for the flower room.

I'd considered running 4 vertical pl-l with two levels on the mother/clone/veg because I saw it recommended to someone else planning a cab. Was either you or anti that recommended it I think.

4 lamp t8 of what length? They had them labeled by lamp length on different boxes of ballasts when I was looking.

Thank you much

Edit, didn't get the second post until after I posted

I've picked up on that about the door. Even though I'd have my window open with it 50 degrees outside it didn't help. I've got the door closed to keep the cat out of my room.

I'll start with 6 and see how it goes. I'm hoping it doesn't add too much more heat to my room.

Thanks again
 
Tilt

Tilt

Member
The fan isn't super loud. I like to sleep with a fan for white noise. I find that I can't hear my noisy neighbors as much (i think they deal meth, God I hate tweakers vacuuming and building in the middle of the night who does that. I let it be and keep my head low sorry rant over)
I have humidifier that is louder than the fan fyi. With 6 lamps 55 watt pll 3000k color I was pulling out consistently18g to 28g a week on perpetual cycle.

the ballast is for T8/32 lamps
 
V

Voidling

Member
Thanks.

I do stuff like that but I'm nocturnal like that with my sleep problems. No problem on the rant.

My lights, I have 4 at 3000k and 4 at 4100k. I figure I can put in the clones on the 4100 k side and as rotation comes about move them towards the 3000 k so that's what they're under at the end of their flowering cycle.

Seeds shipped out today but afraid to pop them as I may be leaving town for a few weeks shortly and have no one to trust to watch them. Which means killing off the bag seed I've got growing and the ones I just started germing. But I'll wait and see being that I'm not sure one way or the other on this trip being it's not up to me.

Out of the 6 bagseed I popped, 5 have been flat out males from what I can tell. The 6th is a clone I had pulled from one that grew split. I ended up killing the main plant with a mixture of things unfortunately as it ended up being the only female.

What strain were you growing? I've got slh and red dragon, 2 of each, plus a fruity chronic juice free seed and some auto flower seed for free. I think those are the two freebies I should be getting anyway. Would love to pull an ounce a week but it's going to take me a while to get there. I plan on doing it as a perpetual harvest.

Is the fan quite enough for stealth?

Thanks

Edit:
I'm thinking on the dimensions you mentioned before the smaller chamber would be for the mothers/rooting clones/ and the short veg time and the bigger chamber for flowering right?
 
V

Voidling

Member
That was originally the plan when I got them but as we discussed light out I'll likely be placing both workhorses into the flower room for 6 to 8 lights in flower. Think I might try putting together an led light for the mother/clone/veg and cfl's if not.

Yeah, I was hoping the red dragon would do it even if I had to flower it a little longer. A sativa crossed with a kush and supposedly THC: 23% and CBD: 1.2%. Then again I've heard SLH can put people down pretty good around the 3rd hit or so. Problem is it'll be over two months of growing for the first bit. Just suffer through till then.

I'll check those links out either after work or tomorrow.
Thanks
 
V

Voidling

Member
I went to make a 3d model of it and realized I just uninstalled my 3d software the other night because my hard drive was 99% full and I needed space. doh.

It looks like a home made top bin led for the mother/clone/veg will cost me $150 with shipping. Highly tempted to go with it since I'm already having the heat problem. How many cfl's would you used in that size cab Tilt? I've got 4 23 w bulbs and sockets on hand I can use for the time being.

Hope to go pick up the plywood tomorrow. I wish I had taken pictures while I was cutting the frame. I used a dado blade to half lap the boards to make a better surface to mount them together. Should I take pics of the rest of the build? Anyone care?
 
S

sm0k4

Post them up. I am going to start a 3' x 2' cab soon so I'm lookin' around for any ideas. Carpentry isn't my strongest skill.
 
Tilt

Tilt

Member
Your veg cab depends on several factors
1. pot size
2. height you want to veg the plants to
3. space for cloning
4. number of mother plants I reccommend bonsai if you do mothers
5. revegging plants
6. strain ( sativas usually get a short veg or they will overgrow before they are done) indicas longer veg)
7. seedlings need a longer veg time
8. more light density usually gets you a shorter veg time with faster growth

I currently have 1 55 watt pll maintaining my perpetual grow cycle. I gave away my mother plants so I am taking clones of clones right now until I get some more bonsais going then I will kick on the the other 55 watter
 
V

Voidling

Member
@Sm0k4 - I'll do my best to post some up. Need a table saw with a dado blade to half lap like I did.

@Tilt - I don't have any pots yet so that's open.

I cloned and popped seeds in the tiny clear cups that are maybe 5 ounces. Moved them over to the standard size plastic cups once roots took over. Then after letting them settle popped them over to 12-12 for sexing. Just bagseed and 5/6 were male. So I'm not set to any size container, was going to look into the tree pots you and anti were using.

Height of veg will have to be dialed in to strain. Mother is likely to be the tallest as veg will be a week, maybe two after rooting.

Not sure how many clones I'll need to hold at any one time.

I read a thread about bonsai mothers, taking very small cuttings. I feel bad I forgot who posted it. I'm hoping I can keep a plant that small alive. I think I'm going to have to get the seeding grown into a bigger plant and take clones and practice bonsai cutting on a clone. Once it can take over as mother I can flower out the previous mother.

I'm debating how to do my mothers at the moment. I have 2 seeds each of 2 strains and 1 seed of a third strain. Not sure if I should pop all at once, 1 of each, or pick one and pop two and pick a pheno to keep then toss the other and then work on another strain. I had picked two, planned one to be a 2 month flower and one a 3. Turns out that the grow journals I found after ordering said that the 2 month took closer to 2.5 to 3 months.

The strains are hybrids and going to depend on the pheno I end up getting.

After popping these seeds I hope to be dealing with clones for 98% of my growing for a long time.

Was looking at running 28watts of led that I can turn up to 35watts on led for the size cab you listed above. That was from Knna who's been doing a lot of work with the top bin 1w leds. I have no answer for the light density on them.

Thank you for all your input Tilt
 
Tilt

Tilt

Member
tutorial on wiring up a t8 ballast to run a 55 watt pll

Get the Advance electronic ballast rated for 4 lamp 4 foot long t8/32

wiring
one side of the ballast has 4 wires (2 red) & (2 blue)

the other side has 4 wires (1 white nuetral),(1 black 120v hot) & (2 yellow)

1rst lamp
wire nut the 2 reds together and take a tail to one side of a 2g11 socket
take one yellow wire to the other side of the 2g11 socket

2nd lamp
wire nut the 2 blues together and take a tail to one side of the 2g11 socket
take 1 yellow wire to the other side of the 2g11 socket

wire up neutral to white and 120v hot to black and you are done

notes
you can do a single 55 watter by getting the 2 lamp t8/32 ballast and following step 1
 
V

Voidling

Member
My method uses a table saw with a regular wood blade and a dado blade. I have access to a table saw already, don't know price. Way too much for a single project, but I seriously want one. I bought a stacked carbide tipped dado blade for $50 at Home Depot. HD didn't have any, but you can look for wobble blades which are cheaper. I think they are harder to set up to proper widths though.

If your brave with a recip saw you can try cutting it with that but I'm not recommending it. You could possibly do a stair step setup to help increase surface area to glue. I'll try it out tomorrow and report back.

I started with
(3) 1x4x8
(2) 1/4 inch 4x8 sheets of plywood

I think I stripped out all the exif identification information. Some one please test to make sure for me please.

Ok I'm missing pictures of these steps unfortunately.

I ended up picking my size based off of plywood size. Plywood sheets come in 4x8 so I can do front and back off of one sheet and the top, bottom and sides from a second sheet.

I have access to a table saw so I bought (3) 1x4x8s.

I cut (2) boards in half to make (4) 1x4x4s.

I then cut (4) 1x4x4s down the length to make (8) 1x2x4s

I then changed out the regular blade for a dado blade. I bought a stacked dado blade for $50. I hope to do a bit of woodwork for different things and hope to put this through some use.

Adjust blade height to just under half the thickness of your wood.

Grab a scrap piece of wood.

Run the wood perpendicular to your saw and shave off the end and compare it to the wood you plan to use. Adjust blade height as needed. Repeat as needed until you get it set right.

picture.php


Shave off both ends of each board. Shave back the width of the second board.

picture.php


When done right, both ends should be flush without sticking past the other in any direction.

picture.php


Mine wasn't done quite perfect but good enough for this and for my first time. I might have to do light sanding and the glue will fill in any gaps. Learn as I go.

Next step is to cut (1) plywood sheet in half to make (2) 4x4's. I will lay one down on flat concrete and line up the boards around the perimeter and glue them all together and to the plywood. For the front I'll just have to square up the boards with a speed square as I glue and clamp them.

The step after that will be to connect the front and back with either (4) or (8) 1x2x1.5s, might have to get more wood. When I do that I'll be putting screws through the plywood, half lapped areas and into the 1x2x1.5s tying it all together.

Then got to glue on bottom, top and sides.

Have any questions or need any clarification let me know



Edit:
And I have been using coco and for the time plan to stick with it. I have General Organics line of nutrients. I need to get enzymes to recycle the used coco and possibly the culture type packs. Need more research on that. And I've already spent a pretty penny on the nutes line so that's not changing till they're done. I've been hand watering, usually by setting each cup in water. Also working on vegetables outdoors so the nutes can be used there too if I want to use it up to switch.

If I put the 6 lights in flower, I've still got two slots on the ballasts I have. I could drop one or two of them into the mother/clone/veg chamber to supplement other lighting for 12 hours unless that causes problems. If for 12 hours they get more light and 12 hours they get less light but still light, does that stress them and cause problems? Would it send them into flower? Or should it be fine?
The problem with the 55w pl-l's in the mother/clone/veg was I would only be able to run them vertical due to size restrictions.
 
S

sm0k4

Wow, going all out with the build. I would have just cut the top and bottom lengths shorter by the width of the side lengths. But I'm no carpenter. I like it that way but I bet its time consuming.

Is that just the wall or are you doing the floor like that too?

I have no clue about PL-L or CFL in growing situations, but I don't think you need to add a ton of light for a mother or veg cab. Depends on the growth rates you want I guess. No need to over think things at this stage. Get her built and let the temp. or plants tell you your next deciding factor on lights.
 
V

Voidling

Member
Thats what I should do but I tend to over think everything.

I'm having to make some concessions on my build due to money. I'll see how this one goes and my next will be made accordingly. I need it to be sturdy enough but also want it to be as light weight as possible. My nomadic mind makes me get really depressed when I feel too tied down. I like to be able to load my life up quickly and move. Having furniture that can double as packing containers and fit in my truck is a double plus even if it's only for my mental sanity at this point.

The back and front is made that way so there is more surface area to glue together and hold. This also allows the plywood to be fastened flush all the way around the perimeter. I tried it the way you said with 1x2s and the glue just didn't bond well enough, really needs to be screwed together. While I could of done that, it's hard to do with 1 inch thick wood with out coming out the side or splintering the wood. I would probably try cutting the ends at 45 degrees to fit together at a 90 degree angle and then try screwing them together, or the stair step type cut I was thinking about last night.

I wanted to make frames for all 6 sides done like that and then glue the frames together into a cube but don't have enough wood. I'll see what I can scrounge up to do 90 degree angles at each edge though.

Unfortunately didn't get any work done today. Didn't fall asleep until 8am and ruined my days plans.
 
V

Voidling

Member
Thanks, looking at it now. My concession is that I don't get to fully frame it. I stuck with frame and thinner plywood to keep it as light weight as possible for personal preference. Also Anti recommended adding the frame. He had problem with his plywood warping due to temps and humidity

I'm hoping to be able to do led in mother/clone/veg side which cuts down cooling ventilation on that side. A small pc fan can probably take care of the air exchange.

The flower room with all the pl-ls are going to take massive air flow to cool those lights. I really want to section off the pl-l exhaust from the plant air exchange but not likely to happen at this point. Hope to switch them to leds sooner than later.
 
V

Voidling

Member
Well I chopped the males. Used plain water on the female and the next day the leaves are crispy/crunch, curled under down the length of the leaf and a yellow green color. I think I might of killed this one.
 
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