Two dresser stealth cab, First Grow

Well GC I've been lurking here for about a month and reading, reading, reading, reading, and you guessed it, reading. Well I have finally acquired the cabinets that I would like to use, and would like some input on how to best put them to use.

I have two dressers with dimensions; 57"Lx16"Dx25"H and 32"Hx16"Dx29"H. The longer dresser is going to be split into two sections, 1 will be 34"W and the other 17"W

My plan thus far is to grow in soil (most likely 1 gal pots) and use the SCroG method. My plan as of now is to use the 34" section for veg/mothers and the other 17" for cloning. The taller dresser is where I'm planning to do my flowing with two plants each taking up a 16"x16" area. I would like to do a 150w (250 if it would be possible to keep it cool) HPS in the flower chamber, and CFL's in the mother/clone area's due to the low ceiling.

I have a decent budget and would like to set this up right the first time. I'm planning on gutting/refitting the dressers next weekend. Keeping this setup as stealth as possible is also very crucial, so ideas that can dampen the sound are very welcome.

As I said this is my first grow so any and all input is welcome. I'll post pics of the dressers when I can get them.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: none of these ideas are final, I am 100% open to other suggestions/ideas on how to break the dressers up to grow the best/most MJ possible.

Edited by Squirtle09, 17 February 2012 - 02:26 PM.

With dimensions like that, and considering your budget, you may want to use a UFO lamp. I've had good results with that and a couple of CFLs. It really keeps the heat down. Plus the red/blue lights look kinda surreal when you're high!

Ok, think about this. You are dedicating basically half your grow space to veg/mothers, and youre only flowering two plants at a time? Why woul dyou waste all that space to cut two clones each cycle? With your limited height, you could do a big SoG grow. Take a bunch of clones off your mothers and veg for like a week then straight to 12/12. When you have limited height, and a lot of width and room, SoG methods are usually better. Did you look into it? If you just want to scrog, I think you should make more room for flowering and less for veg/mother. Either way Im subbed:hello:

When you have limited height, and a lot of width and room, SoG methods are usually better. Did you look into it? If you just want to scrog, I think you should make more room for flowering and less for veg/mother. Either way Im subbed:hello:

I have thought about SoG but I am thinking the SCroG is a lower maintenance system once you get into flower since there will only be 2 plants to water/care for. As I have said this is my first go round and would like to use the KISS method. (i'm not saying i'm stupid, i have a degree in physics, but i like to keep things simple to begin with) I am an accomplished carpenter so I can build/refinish pretty much anything.

I was thinking of making the whole of the lower longer dresser into a flowering chamber but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get a HID light in there since it's so low, I don't want to burn my plants. Another issue with this is that i would like to have this be perpetual (or at least semi-perpetual) so I wouldn't be able to veg somewhere so i could just move them into the flower chamber and start 12/12. If i do the whole longer lower dresser for flower I'll also have to veg in there.

Another concern is where I would put my odor control (probably a can filter with an inline fan) in the lower cab since most of the ceiling will be taken up. by lights. Stealth is key, and I need to be able to reduce the noise of the fans to next to nothing.

With dimensions like that, and considering your budget, you may want to use a UFO lamp. I've had good results with that and a couple of CFLs. It really keeps the heat down. Plus the red/blue lights look kinda surreal when you're high!

My budget is decent, not super high. I can get a 150w HPS for like 80 bucks. LEDs are totally the wave of the future but they're too expensive for me right now. Thank you for your input though, anything else would be greatly appreciated.

My thoughts thus far on materials I will need...

Medium: FoxFarm Happy Frog
Method: SCroG
Nutes: Not sure on what nutes to use, Probably Fox Farm
Lighting: 150w – 250w HPS for flowering (depends on ability to cool space) (something like this THIS) ← any good?
CFL for veg probably (daylight 6500k or something near it) (open to suggestions)
Intake: Passive courtesy of MicroGrower420’s design
Exhaust: For flowering a 100-150 cfm 4” inline fan (this should be more than enough for the space, even with ducting and odor control) (something like THIS) again, noise level is a concern so if anyone has experience with a particular fan and found it to be exceptionally quite please let me know
Odor Control: carbon scrubber, probably a can, possibly DIY
Circulation: not sure yet, a few fans around the stems and a few around canopy, pretty much whatever fits in there
Temp/RH: maybe this guy
pH/ppm: open to suggestions for a relatively inexpensive pH/ppm/EC if that exists

EDIT: I'm thinking this for lighting now in the flower chamber click me

Edited by Squirtle09, 20 February 2012 - 03:50 PM.

So here are the dressers I'm working with with a rough sketch of my thoughts so far. I'll post pics of the actual dressers hopefully sometime later today.

The bottom left picture is a top view of the longer cab. The boxes going into and out of the back are where I'm going to be pulling my air from for the light, although as of now i'm thinking of using the cool tube to exhaust my room as well, we'll see how it works out.

I like your idea of KISS. That's what I did and I got good results. When you start to play with to many variables things get confusing.

I've been using Fox Forest Ocean Forest and their Grow Big and Tiger Bloom. I have not used the middle mycorrizahe. I am going to feed it Cha Ching in flowering stage. Nice and simple. Using my tap water and adding nutes I don't even have to check pH. By the way I check it anyway.

Happy Frog from what I heard others say is for seedlings. I have never used it. Some say FFOF is too strong for seedlings but I have not seen any nute burn from the soil.

I'm not sure if I am reading your diagram correctly but I am not well versed in growing with clones etc. I would say that mother area can be smaller. I'm going to be experimenting with a mother soon.

MicroGrower420 knows his stuff as does Bongsauce. Listen to them. My grow thread is LONG. The trials and tribulations of eastcoast22 LOL My grow is a decent sized cab with a 250 hps lamp. I use an MH conversion bulb in it. I love it and the heat works out well with tweaking. Winter is great temp wise, but not humidity. Summer has great humidity but higher temps...I have a GrowBright Carbon Filter on it and do not recommend it. I am going to try a Can filter or something else. I hatch seeds under 3 23 watt CFLs in my PC case. I plan to put some clones in the PC when I get there.

Thanks for stopping in. I appreciate your input, I'll take a look over at what you have. Something i quickly realized is there is always more to learn about this and that's why it's so exciting to me. I know MicroGrower and Bongsauce know their stuff, i've asked them to take a gander but they have yet to make an appearance.

My grow is going to be in the basement, so the temp is pretty steady in the summer and winter somewhere between 60 and 75, maybe up to 85 on the hottest days of the year. I'm also on the east coast so humidity may be an issue for me come summer time. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Lately every piece of furniture i see i start thinking of how i could grow MJ in it haha, it's becoming an illness. I guess i should medicate then haha. Anyway, that's again for stopping in, don't be a stranger.

Edited by Squirtle09, 20 February 2012 - 07:56 PM.

OH it is totally an addiction. Building is half the fun! I have dreams of making more cabs but have no where to put them and having all that MJ around me is dangerous.

Now do you plan to keep the fan inside the cab or outside? I suggest outside of the cab. I had it inside and it took up way too much room. I removed the fan, put it in a Rubbermaid container packed with foam to hush the noise. It is much better that way.

I have been to your journal before, read some not all, I'll have check it out in greater detail. I was planning on putting the fan inside, in the upper left compartment, I was also hoping to fit the balast in there as well, if not in there, in the lower left hand section. I would like this to be a self contained little area if possible.

Go SOG.

i wish i had the room for SOG, i should build another cab

Edited by rickylahey, 21 February 2012 - 02:08 AM.

hi

..on a fan I'd recommend the Panasonic whisperline fans...if you're gonna order a fan those are the best you can get for stealth. They're around 110-140 shipped probably. I've used a 150cfm one to cool a 400w hps in hood with a carbon filter...it worked great..these fans have great static pressure and if you keep them clean they are dead silent. If you decide to go with an inline make sure to get a speed controller as well. Also smooth, solid ducting can reduce noise quite a bit.

With your size of dressers you should check out some NGB and millspride style cabs....they incorporate some really great ideas for saving space and fitting everything in there. For your lowhead room I think the cool tube is the best option for saving room...when you set it up though...it might be a pain...but try to set it up shortways instead of longways. I* mean run the tube front to back instead of side to side..I dunno how to explain it ..but it will give you a much better lightspread/footprint.

I think modular scrog would work out really well...check out verdant green's modular scrogs over at ICmag..he has it down to a science and grows in some low profile cabs if I remember right.

...good luck with your build..holler if there's anything you're unsure of and I'll help where I can

Hi squirtle what's growing on my brother?

Thanks for stopping buy guys I'm starting to get super excited, I started gutting the taller cab tonight, and got the first pictures

..on a fan I'd recommend the Panasonic whisperline fans...if you're gonna order a fan those are the best you can get for stealth. They're around 110-140 shipped probably. I've used a 150cfm one to cool a 400w hps in hood with a carbon filter...it worked great..these fans have great static pressure and if you keep them clean they are dead silent.

I had looked into these but read a bunch of things about how inline were more efficient. But I was thinking for such a small space something like this would work.

I* mean run the tube front to back instead of side to side..I dunno how to explain it ..but it will give you a much better lightspread/footprint.

I understand what you mean about the lights, but all of the cool tubes I've seen say they're roughly 20" long, so my cab isn't deep enough for that. I thought since it was such a small space it would be ok putting it dead center of the grow area.

Thanks for your help and I'll be sure to ask if I have any questions. Feel free to pop in any time.

And now, the first pictures, nothing exiting yet just dressers.

Pictures didn't attach for some reason, let's try again...

can't see pics

I can see them. I will definitely be following this, Im building a cab ATM too.

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OH MY GOD. You are the luckiest son of a bitch. Those are perfect potential growboxes. Perfect.

Picture gods blessed me, jimmy, and budz I guess because we can see them