Suggestions from microgrowers...

[Guest]

Hello I have a freind who would like to start a low key stealthy microgrow

I'd like do your grow red greenery only thing is I cant do the whole carbon and ventilation thing that is in your grow....

I was appealed by pomh's ventilation system, the lil air thing in the side

I was thinking about the 2 tubs how I would do it...

It sorta goes like this

get the 2 rubbermaids and put velcro on the lids so they stick when I connect.

Then put the fluoros up in the top rubbermaid box like red greenery does.

Thats pretty much the things I've thought out thus far. LOL

So I need pointers on the whole thing pretty much...Especially ventilation and odor control as I cant do it the red greenery way....Some help PomH


Thanx in advance you guys suggestions, tips, prices all are appreciated...



Overdoze

 

[pieceofmyheart]

Here is what I use, TrueAir - Air purifier by Hamilton Beach. I got it at Walmart in the humidifier, fan air cleaner section for $15.00. The replacable carbon filters are $5.00 for 2. I change them about every 3 months. It has worked quite well for me.

I cut a hole for it and stuck it through.

 

[Guest]

nice POMH....got to love DIY...stay safe

 

[Guest]

Thanx pomh...

 

[bongoman]

Barrel of Green

 

[fishing time]

I LOVE the barrel of green! very clever! :jawdrop:

Piece of my heart, do you know how many cfm's that fan does? It looks like a pretty easy/simple thing to use for a little growin box, or even in the back of a PC grow case.

 

[Guest]

hahah I wrote my friend wow. I must have been pretty toasted! This is gonna be my grow lol. Ok thanx bongo for the BOG idea its just that I dont want to have to deal with ventilation and heat problems. Basically this is what I've thought of so far. 2 rubber maids (lid tops discarded) mouth to mouth with some velcro. Light fixture like in Red greenerys box fluros of course. Then for ventilation I will buy some of those air filter that pomh has...maybe 2 if needed So your saying thats an exhaust fan and a carbonscrubber pomh? That would make it even more awesome

 

[pieceofmyheart]

Well it does pull out some air yes, but I still had fans blowing. One blowing in a hole from the outside in and one blowing across the top of the box.

 

[0p0rat0r]

That barrel of green looks awesome. Cylindrical grows seem to be the most effecient possible use of a small space or any sized space for that matter. That was a great link and should be a sticky somewhere so more people can see that style of grow. I really want to try something like that sometime.

 

[Mr_Micro]

I think I've got an idea for your odor problem that might be helpful if your going to grow in a really tiny cab...
I'm using an interesting design for a little home made carbon scrubber that, while a little ghetto lookin at the moment, seems to work really well.

When I was setting up my PC cases I knew I needed to make some kinda carbon filter for em but every carbon filter design I had ever seen (including the True Air ones) were just too big to fit my micro setup.
Basicly I knew that I had to keep it really small and fairly stealthy, but at the same time find a way to cram a whole buttload of activated carbon into one little filter.

Using the little carbon filled fish tank pads just didn't seem like near enough activated carbon to kill the odor from the Skunk #1 (or Bubblegum for that matter) in my cases, so I ended up having to come up with a new idea. The solution I came up with is probably the smallest functional carbon filter I've ever seen. Heres a few pics...






I cut the bottom out of a tiny 1 or 2 cup sized disposable ziplock storage tub and used gorilla tape to affix it to the back of the PC case. Once I was pretty confident it was air tight I got a large sized reusable aquarium filter bag from a pet supply store and loaded it full of activated carbon. Then it was just a matter of cutting a nice sized section out of the lit, inserting the bag, and putting the lid back on.

When the bag is filled up it completely fills the entire inside of the ziplock tub so theres about a 2 inch thick layer of activated carbon the exhausted air passes through. The fan exhausting the air through the carbon filter is just a little 52cfm computer fan but it works quite well and doesn't seem to be overly restricted by the carbon filter.

At this point it's been able to handle all the odor I've thrown at it, but the real test will be when the Skunk #1 goes into flowering. If it can handle the skunk funk through flowering than I'll replace the ghetto lookin gorilla tape with some Goop and caulk to permenantly affix the carbon filter in place.


Just an idea for those ultra small scale growers who can't fit a full sized carbon filter into their setups.

 

[Guest]

Great info Mr. micro. I will make the same one when the time comes. Everythings in speculation right now! I think I might do a u3 mills pride with 70 hps and a couple fluoros for mixed spectrum...and then get a pc tower for a mother box! Errrr I'm always changing my damn mind! If only stealth wasnt an issue

Ever heard of someone pullin an ounce out of a pc tower with a 50 hps?

 

[bongoman]

Hey 0p0rat0r,

I keep tossing up between a cabinet grow or a barrel of green - the cabinet has the stealth factor, but the barrel has the efficiency factor.

The barrel needs to be kept in a cupboard or under a table or something I suppose if stealth is important.

There's these amazing photos from a Czech site here where the grower grew Jack Herer under 150W and I think got around 1g per watt.

 

[Guest]

Hey Overdoze

I have the same Tru Air filter that POMH has. I use one in my drybox. It works great and I refill the cartridges with aquarium carbon. Each store boughy refill has about 1/2 tsp and costs $8. I buy a 1lb box of carbon for $5 at the Pet Store and refill it for pennies.

If suggest that you separate the lights from the growchamber like I have with a sheet of glass or acrylic and it's own fan. The TruAir in the growing area should produce enough air flow to keep the plant happy. You might have to change the filter once a week when in full flower. My filter box has 1/2 lb of carbon and lasts more than a full grow.




My box with the interesting ventilation system is designed to handle the heat of high intensity lighting @ 100 w/sqft and fully scrub the air for complete stealth.

 

[pieceofmyheart]

Well why didn't you tell me that Red? or did you? lol

BTW red, did I miss the dry box directions? I don't remember that and I am working on something like that now. I am using a big rubbermaid, the one I grew in, was thinking about a dehumidifier.

 

[Guest]

I dunno, I'm full of good ideas or just full of it in general. My drybox is in the thread too. I just make a rack from a hanging file folder frame, duct taped the tru air into the lid and cut a vent hole in the bottom of the rubbermaid.



Here's a some drying harvests of yummy Shiskaberry!

 

[Guest]

Thanx red for stopping by

 

[0p0rat0r]

Hey 0p0rat0r,

I keep tossing up between a cabinet grow or a barrel of green - the cabinet has the stealth factor, but the barrel has the efficiency factor.

The barrel needs to be kept in a cupboard or under a table or something I suppose if stealth is important.

There's these amazing photos from a Czech site here where the grower grew Jack Herer under 150W and I think got around 1g per watt.

What I was thinking of doing was following the barrel concept, but inside a cabinet to retain the stealth. Instead of mounting the light horizontally, as per most cabinets, I'd mount it vertically and have a cylindrical screen running up the cabinet vertically. I seen somebody here mention doing that as well, I think vern equinox, but I haven't seen any updates from them yet. You really can't beat the effeciency of that kind of setup, at least I haven't seen anything rival that. I've seen a couple mentions of that Czech site you linked, and that grow is pretty revolutionary as far as I'm concerned, or at the very least evolutionary. I'm surprised that hasn't caught on more.

 

[bongoman]

Hi 0p0rat0r

Yeah, it was Vern Equinox - he was planning a cabinet with 2 screens and 2 x 150W HPS in each tubular screen - 64 square feet of screen I think. Not sure what happened to him - no posts since June. A pity, as he was on to something.

But a double ended barrel contraption humming away with fans blowing into it and duct pipe coming out ain't exactly stealthy, unless it is hidden in a cupboard or shed or garage.

I googled around and there is some stuff out there on doing a cicular scrog in a cabinet.

One thing I read suggested that you will need some way to either rotate the plants/screen or slide them in and out in order to properly access the back and sides of the screen so you train the plants well. That's why the circular tubs are great, cause you just lift the lid off and there you are -- instant access to the whole screen.

But I think you have a good idea - I need reasonable stealth but not sure if I need to go into a cabinet to get it.

Right now I'm just tempted to chuck some quick auto-flowerers in the vegie garden and take the risk! It's spring in my hemisphere.

Some MasterLow or the new LowRyder #2 which is coming out any day now.

It sounds interesting - an F4 cross of LowRyder and Santa Maria. In and out in 2 months or so. There's so much spring energy right now, it seems a crime not to be taking advantage of it! The vegies are taking off.

 

[Guest]

Wow, I missed the Barrel of Green Links and the Czech circular scrog. I saw the Czech guy on OG last year, he blew everyone away with that design. That circular SCROG pumps out the most bud of any cabinet going, hands down.

I get lot's of comments on my duct pipe - double-barrelled contraption too. I think people like the clean looks of a cabinet, especially if it's clean white melamine or a fancy armoire. They go and stick in a big honking light and a noisy fan and complain about how noisy the fan is.

I have my tubs tucked away in a spare bedroom closet with a lockable bedroom door. The ducting is to exhaust out the top of the closet door so that the closet door is closed at all times. The computer fans run quiet enough that you can stand in the room and not hear a thing. I lock the door when company comes.