Question about lighting tall slender vert cab

[hush]

I have an armoire that I will be converting into a vert cab, because I want a way to grow out tall sativas for my own head. The problem is that the space allotted for the grow is still relatively small, at only 18" x 20" so I don't think I can hang a bulb down the center and do a donut grow. That leads me to my question:

Can I just mount 96w compact fluorescent strips vertically in all the corners?

I don't see why that wouldn't work, but at about $230 for the set, I would rather do some research ahead of time. The way I see it I could order the 4 x 96w kit from a h supply, because of their badass reflectors, mount them vertically in all the corners, and put one plant in a 5g DWC bucket right there in the center. This way the tall sativa plant can just grow up up up and I won't have to train or prune her.

A standard 5g bucket has a diameter of 12" which means that centered in this cabinet the distance from the bulb to the edge of the bucket would average around 4-5 inches. I just placed a spare bucket in my cab and did some measurements. At 8" away (at most) from any one bulb, I think that's still in the effective range of these pl-l style compact fluorescents.

Provided this setup will work, I will be growing pure sativas at 12/12 from seed.

Any thoughts from you fluorescent and/or vert masters? Please?

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

what your suggesting sure can be done

depending on the plant you could grow one really nice one in the middle with strips all down the corners, sides, whatever.

if your looking at fluros, lood at LED fluro replacements. they seem to cost the same, and give off the same light at less power usage

i really dont see you getting more than one plant in there with that cramped a real estate, vert really does need floor space.

the other option you really shoud consider is old fasioned horizontal hood growing, it might just be better for you if you can get the heat out of there.

 

[rives]

Check out this classic grow -

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=92259

 

[wildgrow]

You can do as youre suggesting which flows along the same lines as the link Rives posted. You could go Daves horizontal route too. Myself, Id make sure to top often and lst lst lst if growing sats. Both would work just fine.

Another thing you could do is cover the insides of the cab door with light strips. That gives you 3 walls to train against. Id still top n lst like crazy. Hell, throw a few in the top of the cab too.

 

[DaveTheNewbie]

Check out this classic grow -

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=92259

this link is so awesome, everyone should read it
its also pretty much what your talking about but smaller again.

 

[Jbonez]

I would do vertical wired with some PL-l flouros.. They are VERY good at lighting a small area..

Here is a grow with 150w in a 1sq ft space. I didnt veg near long enough here, but you get the idea..

 

[hush]

OMG that trashcan grow is SICK!!!! Thank you so much for linking it! I can't believe he got over 5 ounces from that thing!! Wow, just, WOW!!!

Okay, that was the sign I needed that this is going to be a good idea. Sweet. Now, what I would like is for this thread to become a "help me design my vertical cabinet" thread. You guys rock! Vert growing is amazing, and i want to be a part of this club now, once and for all.

I will take a picture of my armoire tonight and post it here. I could use some more advice, and I have some specific questions to ask that would be helped by a visual aid. Thanks again, everyone!

 

[Jbonez]

Armoirs... lol.. Been wanting to deck one out for a hot minute... Im down to help with ideas, I love modding...

 

[GoozMan]

I run a pair of stacked 250w hps`s in a tall skinny shed, footprint is 1.5' x 2'. I don't see why you couldn't do a 150 in your space. Good luck

 

[GMax]

my first grow ever was in an armoire... ahh the memories

search "mills pride club" and you will find a lot of grows in similar spaces that may help you

 

[hush]

I run a pair of stacked 250w hps`s in a tall skinny shed, footprint is 1.5' x 2'. I don't see why you couldn't do a 150 in your space. Good luck

Well thank you. Truth is, I thought about it... But at only 18" x 20" I just really think anything suspended down the middle will take up too much valuable real estate. I mean, that's the size of a photo frame, lol. But then, on top of that, there is something appealing about having one plant completely surrounded by light, and being able to grow into the shape that Nature intended. This was reinforced by seeing that trashcan grow! The plant grew into an oval-shaped sphere, and was just gorgeous! But thank you for the advice, as it is still a good suggestion, and would most likely work.

my first grow ever was in an armoire... ahh the memories

search "mills pride club" and you will find a lot of grows in similar spaces that may help you

Hey I'm familiar with that thread, actually. I think it probably would help to scan through that thread again, I guess. But from what I remember, wasn't that a bunch of regular, horizontal style grow cabinets? Did anyone do vert in that thread? Will have to check it again, thanks for reminding me about that thread!

 

[hush]

Armoirs... lol.. Been wanting to deck one out for a hot minute... Im down to help with ideas, I love modding...

Sweet! Then let's go, shall we? (Insert "big grin" smiley here... God DAMN i hate the fact that the 5 image maximum includes smileys!!)

Okay here are some pictures of the armoire I'm working with. I have a few questions, but first let's look at the pictures.

Here is just the right side of the armoire, which is really the tall sativa chamber I've been talking about:

But here is the entire armoire with both doors open:

The way I wish for this to work is to have one fan up in the top left compartment which will suck air through both the right side (the sativa chamber) and the left side (where I eventually plan on setting up a vertical grow for indicas). There are intake holes in the bottom of both sides of the armoire, then the airflow should travel simultaneously up both sides of the armoire, where the exhaust fan will then exhaust the entire cabinet out through one hole.

Here is what the cabinet looks like with both doors open, looking down at the floor level, so you can see the intake holes:

You can also see the middle chamber in that last picture, but here is another pic:

Then after the air flows up both sides of the cabinet it meets here, in the exhaust chamber, where a single fan blows it out the back:

So now that you've seen the pictures, can you offer me any advice? Right off the bat I am having temperature problems trying to use the Stanley blower. It's old, so I wonder if it just doesn't have all its power anymore?

When I have the fan on high, I don't seem to get any negative pressure. Yet, when the doors are closed, I can put my hands under the cabinet, under the intake holes of both sides, and I can feel a breeze. So I know air is moving. Yet, the thermometer in the middle chamber, where the CFL is, keeps reading about 10 degrees over ambient. I've also tried pointing a small fan directly at the CFL bulb from underneath it, and I swear that increased the temperature by another 2 degrees.

My problem is that I apparently am a dummy when it comes to ventilation of anything more than one single chamber, like my grow tent. I have tried reading that ventilation 101 thread but it mostly appears as Chinese to me. I *think* my problem is either that there aren't enough intake holes, which would be weird since there is only a single 4 inch hole exhausting everything... Or, there aren't enough holes separating the individual chambers, thus equalizing the static pressure in all chambers?

I'm not sure what to do from here. I don't want to cut more holes than I need to, and end up having to plug them later with duct tape. I also don't want to buy a new fan if the blower should do the trick. But the only time I ever used this blower before was on a single chamber grow, in a small utility closet, and that worked just fine... It was even pulling through a carbon filter at that time!

So that is why I'm leaning toward the possibility that I just need to cut a few more holes, but where? As it stands there are two 4 inch holes in the bottom of both sides of the armoire, for a total of four intake holes. Then there are two 4 inch holes leading out of the tops of both sides' growing chambers, for a total of four holes that "feed" the blower with air to exhaust out of a single hole. That seems like it should work, in my head, but I think the variable that's throwing me off is the fact that, on the left side of the armoire, which is where I'm testing the temperature, there is an extra chamber that the air has to pass through. In other words, after the air comes in through the 2 holes on the left side, it actually has to pass through another shelf before reaching the grow chamber, where the light is.

Hmmm... For some reason, after typing that all up, it's starting to seem like really what I need to do is make that extra shelf look like Swiss cheese so that the airflow won't even practically know there is a shelf there?

Does that sound right? Or maybe it really is that these Walmart blowers are just not strong enough to overcome the static pressure involved in a multi chamber growing cabinet like this? Do I need to buy an inline fan like an elicent to handle this?

I really appreciate any and all help I can get here. Thank you.

 

[ZZTops]

That would work great...!

Couple of things that come to mind...

Putting a 1/4" wire screen in front of the blubs to keep the plant out...

Ventilate like a chimney, from bottom to top...

Kool Idea, I can taste the Sativa from here...

 

[ZZTops]

Yea that blower blows...

You need to suck the air out several times a minute...

A good 4' in-line fan should work great with your set up, port it out the back. Test for neg pressure, if not enough cover one/two of the 4' holes on the bottom till you get neg pressure...

As a general rule, a 4" exhaust should have two 4" in-takes...

 

[Jbonez]

Had to shorten that up a bit lol...

Without really commenting on your cab, I can only offer this in terms of "what will work".

If you can give me the dimensions of each compartment, and whether or not each compartment has its own intakes I can give you some advice, the math NEVER lies.. Also, do you want one fan to cool both compartments? We can augment the intakes so one fan does the job by lowering the veg area intake size so less air comes in, and more goes to the Bloom portion.

Essentially you want to exchange the air in the flowering room about 2 times a minute, more wouldnt hurt, so long as in coming temps being low dont keep the grow too cold, but that is what automatic fan controllers do and the light will generate some heat to keep things right.. They regulate fan speed to keep temps within 2f of the set point, which should be at 78f.

Not sure about that fan, what is the cfm rating on it? Id get a nice big ol redundant 6" inline fan from hydrofarm, the green one, or a knockoff on ebay for like 70 bucks shipped...

Get a fan controller to keep the temps on point and you CANT fail..

Veg likes more humidity, so make sure the lighting isnt to high so as to require too much ventilation which would lower the RH in the veg area which they seem to grow better with more often than not..

Im literally thinking about creating an entire bedroom furniture set that contains multiple grows enough to equal some decent weight.. But I just bought another house too so Im thinking of building a super hidden secret grow room somehow, with maybe even an attic access and ladder with plumbing and electric in the room, and ventilation to boot... the possibilities..

My goal is to one day get raided and them find nothing, the dog will be busy smelling hash Ive rubbed in places where they will find nothing... leading them on a wild goose chase and my lawyer saying "ok this is rediculous" My client has had enough of his time wasted..

My first growhouse in ATL was literally next to an elementary school, across from the church next to a police station with two cops ever morning directing traffic waiving at me as I checked the mail, all in the suberbs.. Perception is everything.

 

[GMax]

Hey I'm familiar with that thread, actually. I think it probably would help to scan through that thread again, I guess. But from what I remember, wasn't that a bunch of regular, horizontal style grow cabinets? Did anyone do vert in that thread? Will have to check it again, thanks for reminding me about that thread!

yeah I misread your actual question I just remembered that one was helped me when I was in a cab.... but you are right, the were mostly horizontal grows...

to your question I am not familiar to the light you speak of...but imo I feel if you are gonna be growing just the single plant...surrounding it with light from 4 sides would be superior than the single light in the middle

and maybe even a horizontal florescent too if you got the space

 

[hush]

Okay I will totally work out the exact measurements tomorrow. Thank you so much for helping me out with this!

I never actually clarified this before, which was an oversight on my part, but this armoire will be only for flowering. I already have my "main" grow in the closet, which consists of two DR60 tents. One for flowering under a 400w MH/HPS, and the other for vegging moms under a 250w CMH. So this armoire is just meant to be extra for me. I have long wanted to try out vertical growing, and this cabinet will basically just add 2 more flowering spaces for me to do so. The best part is, the layout of this armoire allows me to try 2 things I've wanted to experiment with: vert growing, and vert micro growing. That's right, that single CFL in that middle chamber is going to flower 4 small indica clones eventually!

So yeah, there won't be any vegging going on in this thing. That's why I was figuring I could make this work with just a single fan, because all the chambers could have the same amount of airflow in them.

I think I will buy another fan then. Just to do this right. But I'm going to try this with a 4 inch fan, because I already know a 6 inch inline would be too much... That's exactly what I'm exhausting my closet grow room with, which is much bigger, and I've already got that one on a speed controller dialed down to 75%.

So I will definitely plan on upgrading my fan to an inline. I don't expect to be ready to run this thing for another month or so anyway. In the meantime, jbonez, I will measure all the dimensions and get back to you.

Thank you, once again, for helping me out here.

 

[hush]

to your question I am not familiar to the light you speak of...but imo I feel if you are gonna be growing just the single plant...surrounding it with light from 4 sides would be superior than the single light in the middle

and maybe even a horizontal florescent too if you got the space

Well thanks for your input, I definitely appreciate it. But yeah, what I'm talking about here is actually lighting one single plant with vertical compact fluorescents, one on each corner of the tall slender cabinet. So the plant would be surrounded by light on all sides, and there would be no light down the middle, like typical vert grows are done.

If you don't know what these types of lights are, they are basically T5 tubes that have been overdriven and only use one endcap. A 4-foot regular T5 tube is 54 watts, but a 4-foot power compact (people call them PLL's here) is 105 watts. But I will be going with the 3-foot ones, which are 96 watts each, giving me a total of 384 watts of high powered fluorescent light to bathe a single plant in.

In theory this should work out just fine, once I have the ventilation worked out.

More tomorrow...

 

[hush]

If you can give me the dimensions of each compartment, and whether or not each compartment has its own intakes I can give you some advice, the math NEVER lies..

Alright, cool. What I've done is drawn up a magnificent sketch in MS-Paint. Leonardo Da Vinci would be proud, lol:

So yeah, once again, there is no vegging in this cab. There will only ever be 12/12 going on in this thing. The left side, what I've been calling the middle chamber, is where I will be flowering indica doms. The tall chamber on the right is for the sativa doms. I wish to have the appropriate amount of intake holes and "pass through" holes to correspond with each side's respective heat production. I imagine I will need less air going into the left side, since that will only have 125w of light, while the right side will have 384w of light. But I was thinking that if it's just easier, it probably won't matter too much if I have to equalize the airflow going throughout the entire armoire?

What do you think?

 

[Jbonez]

Daaaayuuum homie... Im coming up with 19.4 cubic feet outa my head... Not counting the space where you are storing nutrients..

You may be able to get away with a 4in inline fan, but I def recommend a 6" fan with a controller. Its never going to run full on because the space is small, but over ventilation is key..

Taking into account for your planned wattage, and static pressure, a 6" is a perfect choice for this.. You can augment the openings to adjust for temp as the intakes need to be smaller for the lesser of the wattage light...

Now, what are you going to do for a filter? No filter is small enough for that space unless you implement a bunch of the small ass Can filters... those tiny little fuckers, or even Phresh makes a tiny one I used for that small tent I showed you...