"SCROGBOX" WTB - Feedback

Whats up ICMAG? First time grower and first time poster here. I have been creeping your threads for months now and I've picked up a lot of info here that has helped me design and build my first stealth grow box. THANK YOU ALL. I will post some pics of the grow box in another thread, but in this thread I was hoping to get some feedback on my "SCROGbox" idea. Given everything I have read and researched, I think it should work out fine. However, I have no growing experience and I have no clue what I am doing so feedback is really appreciated.

I wanted to maximize my very limited grow space, however I could not find the right size pots so I came up with this idea and modeled it in Google Sketchup. I also thought it would be convenient to be able to remove the whole thing (pots, plants, screen, and all) from the cabinet for watering, training, pruning, or to just lovingly admire in the sunlight. I have not built it yet, so this is the perfect time to tell me why I should not do this or how the design can be improved.

I currently have 10 clones 2 weeks into veg (5 Super Lemon Haze and 5 Critical Kush). They have all been topped and tied down to get some horizontal growth started. I am growing in Foxfarms Ocean Forest soil under 500 watts of 6500K CFLs. My plan is to transfer 8 of the best looking plants into the box next week. I will veg them until the screen is about 60% full, then flip them and continue to SCROG them during stretch (i am pretty sure that is how its done).

Additional Info:

1. I have to flip these ladies in the next few weeks in order to finish mid May or so. It gets very hot where I live in June and my grow box is outside in a garden shed and does not have any cooling capability.

2. I probably should mention that I have about 24" from the top of the screen to the bottom of my light fixture. I am using a DIY 500 watt CFL light fixture that I built from PVC.

3. My only concerns (so far) is the amount of soil and the height. These plants will be small but I wonder if 2 gallons per pot will be big enough to finish them up. Also will I have enough room to flower or will I be super cropping and tying all my flowers down away from the light?

4. My grow box measures H 60" X W 36" X D 24". The actual space I have to grow in is about the size of the SCROGbox footprint dimensions and about 42" in height (the top 12" of the box is for fan filter housing, electronics, etc. The light hangs 6" from the top of the grow compartment at its highest setting)

Well Thanks for reading and thank you in advance for all your CONSTRUCTIVE criticism!

you should have enough room for flowers. with super cropping it keeps down the stretching. nice little grow box you got there. if you are worried about height you can ditch the pots and use a hydro tray close to the dimensions of your box.

With your height yes you have it planned correctly! Veg til 60% filled then keep pulling back under screen for the stretch.

With more head room using 600w I beg til screen full then even canopy then let the stretch grow my buds 2'-3' tall so I get a m3 of bud

Do you have more pics of how you got the scrubber and fan setup. My space is a little bit bigger. But i want to keep everything inside like yours.

shesayhesaid said:

Do you have more pics of how you got the scrubber and fan setup. My space is a little bit bigger. But i want to keep everything inside like yours.

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You can check out my grow box build here

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=338721

Boxfarm said:

I will veg them until the screen is about 60% full, then flip them and continue to SCROG them during stretch (i am pretty sure that is how its done).

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If you are using the initial screen to train, and it sounds like you are, usually people leave it there and secure heavy branches later on if needed. If it helps, this time I built a second scrog to stack on the first one, and when the plants stretch, they will come up through it and I won't need to secure anything later. You can't really adjust the scrog after the stretch w/o breaking branches.

I see how your scrog can be adjusted. I did one that way once. The thing that is beneficial to have adjust is the height. You aren't really going to mess with that one once you set it.

Boxfarm said:

2. I probably should mention that I have about 24" from the top of the screen to the bottom of my light fixture. I am using a DIY 500 watt CFL light fixture that I built from PVC.

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There is no way to call that w/o knowing the stretch of the plant. In 2 gallon pots, plenty of plants have the potential to stretch 2 feet. And you really only have 18" You are ok...just make sure your plant selection is not tall plants. In 3 gallon pots and 600 watts my plants finished at my nipples (I'm 5'10", nipples in normal orientation) They were medium stretch plants. Any strain you are interested in, whoever the source is, they can tell you how tall the stretch is, so, you'll be fine.

Boxfarm said:

3. My only concerns (so far) is the amount of soil and the height. These plants will be small but I wonder if 2 gallons per pot will be big enough to finish them up

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You have a height restriction, your pot size should be dictated around that. If you only have 24" usable inches from the soil to the light, 2 gallon might be overkill. Or you need short plants.

You are going to have some sort of pot in there correct? The dirt can't be against wood, I just want to make sure you are aware of that.

Boxfarm said:

Also will I have enough room to flower or will I be super cropping and tying all my flowers down away from the light?

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A week or two after you flip the lighting schedule, the plants will stretch taller. It starts to grow differently than before.

Once they are in the stretch, they don't bend the same. So people typically train them to fill the scrog. This means super cropping, topping, LST, etc. After you flip, you don't mess with it in that fashion anymore. You no longer have time to stress the plant, you need to maximize the time you have for flower.

So, yes, you will need to keep them down during veg, and your height limit is about 18" above the net. So, make sure you don't get tall strains. It's tighter than ideal, but I understand your limitations, and I think you will be ok with short strains.

Boxfarm said:

4. My grow box measures H 60" X W 36" X D 24". The actual space I have to grow in is about the size of the SCROGbox footprint dimensions and about 42" in height (the top 12" of the box is for fan filter housing, electronics, etc. The light hangs 6" from the top of the grow compartment at its highest setting)

Well Thanks for reading and thank you in advance for all your CONSTRUCTIVE criticism!

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Looks very cool. Nice job.


Given your height problem, have you considered flipping after the clone has established itself in the soil? You skip the scrog step, and you do more pots. Similar to this idea, but with soil... Most people call it a SOG grow (so you can google pics) I think it's the best way to grow with that height restriction. Plus your turnaround time is faster as you skip veg, and you skip all the training. So you yield less, but you finish 3-4 weeks sooner, so it "costs" less to produce it. But it's not the most efficient style. But compromises must be made for your height.

Normally I would say that the 3-4 weeks spent in veg and scrog are well rewarded. The problem is the plant has lots of roots and more stretch. You don't have a ton of room for much stretch. Just an idea for you to kick around. It's a very neat and orderly way to grow.

I had one awhile ago for a closet grow. Pretty similar. I put it on wheels so I could pull it out and work on it.

Update

Update

It's been a while so I just wanted to update this post just in case anyone wants to try and do something similar. I finished this grow with 8 plants in the SCROGbox at just under 7 oz dried and cured. It worked beautifully. My only issue was the box was pretty heavy to move in and out of the cabinet. Luckily I only had to do it a few times for pruning and such. Very successful grow. I will definitely use it again!