dresser stealth grow

[buthidae]

First time grower doing hydro under cfl's, will need help from you more experienced growers.

Helen has died.

Day 1 of bs #3: 11-19

[CryptoKronic]

nice plan, i am in the works of doin something very similar (diff. grow medium and lights).

the in-line fans will move a lot more air...but at the price of noise control
cpu fan might work if you can get a good enough one...but u might have trouble controlling the heat with 6-8 cfl's in the confined space of a dresser

[buthidae]

Hello all.

I'm new to growing, but have been reading all these posts here for more info on how to get this all started. Thanks to all who've posted, especially your stealth grows, as I've borrowed quite a few ideas I've seen. Some details about what's coming together, at least till I can get pics up:
I'll be doing a DWC inside a dresser that's about four feet high in total. I've purchased a 10 gal bucket to grow in. The dresser is currently under construction, once I get a little further, I'll be posting pics, hopefully in the next couple of days.
Lighting will be done with CFL's, I'm thinking between six and eight 23w bulbs, 2 6500k's and 4 2700k's, possibly two more during flowering. The original six will be arranged in a hexagonal pattern so that while the plants are still very small, the light will be able to completely surround them.
I'll be using six airstones, also arranged in a hexagon, to provide the roots with a maximum amount of airation.
The medium I'll be using is Rockwool. I have no experience with this, but have read it's better for hydro grows, especially for soilless systems. I'll be moving to an 8" pot with clay pellets once roots have established themselves.
I haven't yet decided exactly how I'm going to vent this thing. Im leaning toward cpu fans, but have found in-line duct fans which look like they may move more air, and it'll save space when attempting to attach an inline air filter as well.

I hope I haven't bored all of you, I tried to keep my descriptions to a minimum, as this post will be updated soon, and everything will be easier to explain (less wordy) once I start getting pics on here. Any comments, input, support, suggestion, even constructive criticism will be appreciated. Thanks all, looking forward to this adventure...

Thanks for the quick advice, noise is an issue seeing as I live in a building with two other units, and I have room mates. The only saving grace I've got is that my apartment is two levels, and the the people that can't know live upstairs. I'll make sure I get in touch with a freind of mine who works at Best Buy. 40% off everything, including cpu fans, lol.

[buthidae]

Ok, a couple pics of the dresser being prepped...

The first shows the back of the dresser, which has the back removed to allow me access to the inside. The vent will eventually go on the inside through the particle board on the top.
The two peices that were glued to the lower part of the front and back of the dresser came from the leftover material from the drawers.

The second shows the bottom of the dresser being closed up, also with parts from the drawers.

The third shows the semi finished back. I've begun to caulk around EVERY joint between the boards. This is so that no light will escape and give me away. The board for the back will be held in place with barrel bolts, six of them. There will be weather stripping placed on the back of the dresser first, so the board will be pressed against it. This will not only help keep all the light out, it'll also provide a little pressure so the barrel bolts will be very effective at holding everything in place.

Everything so far has been glued in place. I tried using screws, but the dresser was so old, the wood started cracking. I will be picking up a drill and bits to make starter holes for any screws that do need to be used.

[buthidae]

Out of caulk, but the bottom is finished. Drawers still need to be glued on, then caulked.

After that the painting starts. I've noticed most people here have gone with white, or they've used sheets (either white or mylar). I've decided that after it's primed, it'll be painted with metallic silver paint. I figured since I'm only using CFL's, I should get as much reflection as possible.

I've included a pic of my current light setup, but am considering changing it due to what I believe would be a "dark spot" in the center. Obviously not a noticeable one when they're on, but I'd like to be able to get all the bulbs as close as possible to my plant. I'm thinking of using three "Y" adapters, one screwed into a socket, the other two into that one, and lights into those. To get the six to eight total that I'd like, I'll mount either two or four more between the first four to create a circle of sorts...

Any ideas? Will the second idea mentioned work better than what I have now (keep in mind, even with what I have now, I would be adding a minimum of two additional lights)?

[buthidae]

Ran out and got a couple more things today, most importantly the caulk.

Also, the light problem is solved, though I have to figure out how to make a hood for it. The zip ties are a temporary fix, only because I believe the light and heat will make them brittle. If I can't think of anything better, I'll likely just switch to larger ties.

There are three 23w 6500k and three 23w 2700k, which are alternated. I may eventually take out the fixture at the bottom and just hang a couple more instead, unless this works.

[Eric Chaton]

Buthidae,
I'm going to follow your progress. Have you already painted the inside silver ? "Flat white" paint is what I've only seen recommended on the internet. I painted my grow cabinet doors & part of the walls with flat white & it is very reflective. I'm sold on flat white if I'm going to stick with paint for grow cabs

I'm looking for to the day when you're excited about seeing white hairs on your plants. It's a great feeling.

[buthidae]

Haven't painted it yet, the glue is setting now, and I'll be caulking later. After that starts to set, I'll be gluing the rest of the drawers on. If I'm lucky, I'll get to caulking them as well before I get to bed around sunrise, lol. If not, the caulking will be done tomorrow, then I'll cure for a couple days, and I'll start painting.

I've also only seen white paint, but I sprayed just a little on a flyer that came with the paper a couple days ago and it looks promising. Maybe not as bright as mylar, but it should reflect more than white. The pic is without priming either... If it doesn't work as well as I thought, I may do clear gloss over it, or just go white like everyone else, lol.

[buthidae]

Trashed my original light arrangement, so I rethought the hood as well. I'm no longer going with the disposable lasagna pan, lol. I've constructed a hood of sorts out of cardboard and a stronger version of duct tape.

It's also got supports glued to the inside, as well as wire from a hanger to give the corners shape and support. There's also some wire in the center at the top for both structure, and to support the hood above the fixture so the lights will not actually be in contact with the hood.

I know, it's cheap, but I'm on a budget. Also, it'll work better than most of the hoods I've looked at considering the array of lights I wanted in a constricted space. Too bad I don't know how to weld...

Oh well, it gets painted tomorrow. Hopefully the rest of the cabinet is painted by Friday. My barrel bolts for the door should be here tomorrow as well, so my box should be completely finished by Saturday, then the real fun starts.

[apacolypz]

Go to the store, local hydro store and buy mylar film or order emergency sheets off ebay. They work GREAT! it will help you reflect 30% more light. Or if you have 12 bucks go to lowes they have a big reflector with i think a mogul socket for like 12 dollars man! It is huge. I buy the small ones there to to aid in lower canopy.



Great formation on the hood. wish I had the patience to be that perfect. My DIY hood looks good don't get me wrong but lol I was not aiming for perfect tape or measurements lol. I just did it! My biggest tip is when you buy pay with cash and try to think about your purchases in advance. I spend so much money in little time because I am always thinking how to revamp shit!

APZ

[buthidae]

Just a couple pics to show how the lights fit within the hood. Though it's hard to see, the second one shows how the hood is supported over the lights. I'm going to leave the top open, just so heat doesn't build up inside the hood.

[buthidae]

apocolypz:

Thanks for the info, not sure where the nearest Lowe's is, but I'll check Home Depot next time I get there. Unfortunately, we don't have any hydro stores locally, so I'm doing as much DIY work as possible. Definately keeping the mylar in mind, all depends on how well this paint works for now...

Thanks for the comment about the hood, it's only eyeballed, but it was a pain in the ass to get it together the way I wanted it, lol.

[apacolypz]

No you don't have to leave the top open incase you wanted to input a computer fan but the cfl put off little heat to really do damage. Just at best have a fan blowing directly on it. Heat rises so just have some os fans to blow air in and out. Looks good man def! If the paint works use. I was saying with about the same amount you paid for it you could of reduced your workload but DIY is awesome believe me. Yeah Home depot has them as well around same price. They work well! Dude on ebay scammed me into paying a shitload for them and they cost $7 bucks starting!

[buthidae]

Originally Posted by apacolypz

No you don't have to leave the top open incase you wanted to input a computer fan but the cfl put off little heat to really do damage. Just at best have a fan blowing directly on it. Heat rises so just have some os fans to blow air in and out. Looks good man def! If the paint works use. I was saying with about the same amount you paid for it you could of reduced your workload but DIY is awesome believe me. Yeah Home depot has them as well around same price. They work well! Dude on ebay scammed me into paying a shitload for them and they cost $7 bucks starting!

If I had seen light fixtures that had the bulbs placed close enough together, I'd have picked something like that up, but I didn't really look around too much. I had enough for the little I got, and that's about it, lol. It'll likely become a more permanent setup as my budget allows...

Will definately be putting at least one cpu fan to use to vent at the top. It will be equipped with some variation of the activated carbon filter shown here:
The BEST DIY EZ walmart carbon filter for MICRO grows Zen style. - Marijuana Growing

Depending on the smell, I may use two fans and two filters, one on either side of the light fixture. Air intake will be passive, I'm debating putting any holes for an intake at all, as I think the slightly lower pressure inside will help my door form a nice seal to keep in any excess light/smell.

[buthidae]

apocolypz:
Looked at light fixtures a bit today, and there will definately be some upgrades once money allows for it. Got some ideas that should work nicely, and will be much more structurally sound than what I've got currently.

The dresser now has all the drawer fronts glued on, just doing some reinforcing. Caulking will be finished tonight. The barrel bolts finally arrived as well, and I picked up some weather stripping, so the back should also be on either tonight or tomorrow.

Here are some pictures of the hood now that it's painted. I'm a little disappointed, even with two layers of primer, the paint still soaked into the cardboard more than I thought it would. It reflects more than white, but much less than mylar. We'll see how it goes with the dresser when that gets painted tomorrow. I also picked up white primer instead of grey, so hopefully that'll help a bit. May end up upgrading to mylar at some point...