Hey guys, I am fairly new to the GrassCity community, and cannabis cultivating in general, however I have done quite a bit of research throughout the last few years which has led me to where I am now,,, about to begin my first grow. I have been having some digestive issues and have found marijuana to relieve me of the cramps I have been experiencing, and have grown tired of my local prices for herb at around $850 a quarter pound, and after getting the green light from my better half, I have turned my old dresser into a 360W LED grow cab. I will be trying to keep this post fairly organized in sections so it makes it easy for people to read, but a few bong tokes may make me stray... The Plan: My dressers dimensions are roughly 56"x18"x32" which isn't much space to be growing a few plants, so LEDs were pretty much the only way to go in my opinion. I purchased 10 UFO LEDs off alibaba for a pretty decent deal so my plan is to have two cabs eventually, one with my mother and clones and the other for my flowers. Essentially what need to do is: gut all the drawers, pull off the cheap back cover, add a floor for my trays to sit on, insert plywood into drawer spaces so I could screw the drawers into place, attach/ mount LEDs, and then construct a back cover to include two doors and 6 high end PC fans and fan speed controller. Sounds easy, but it was actually a bit of a challenge even for someone who builds custom homes for a living. My main obstacle was mounting the LED lights, as the mounting system included would have left me with only inches of grow space. After a few vaporizer bowls I came up with the idea of simply cutting holes in plywood, and let gravity hold them in place instead of hanging them. The plan is attempt a micro SOG, however if it fails it will more then likely become a SCROG. I will be starting seeds with the good old paper towel method, and once they pop I will be transferring into rockwool cubes that have been PH'd to 5.5, once the seedlings have some good roots I will then be transplanting into large party cups with a perlite and vermiculite mixture. I have some bagseed and 50 non feminized BC Hash Plant seeds given to me by a reputable grower in my area this spring at our 420 festival after discussing my plans with him. As for nutes, I have decided to try out the PH Perfect Sensi Grow and Bloom, along with some CalMag, a whole lot of PH down and some other goodies my local shop packaged up for me. I am hoping it will work out with the perlite and vermiculite and the hempy bucket style grow I will be doing. Construction: Materials Used Dresser (56"x18"x32") 3 sheets of plywood 4 90W LED lights. One is a blue spectrum 60 degree lens, one is a red 60 degree lens, and the other 2 are red 60 degree lens. I cannot remember the exact spectrum, but I had them custom made with 1W cree diodes. 9 5.5" PC fans, 5 exhaust, 1 bringing in fresh air, and 3 circulating air inside the cab. PC fan controller for up to 12 fans 4 Door hinges 2 Door handles 2 bolt guide locks (not too sure what the are actually called) 1 Roll of Panda film A fuckton of staples A fuckton of 1 5/8" screws A fuckton of wafer screws I have included some pictures of part of the building process, and the now 90% complete stealth cab. All that is left is to create 6 custom carbon filters for the fans, and hopefully that will solve the light leaking out, as that is the only spot I have seen light come out of. I did a test run for about 18 hours and temps are very stable at around 70 degrees with all the fans running at about 75% View attachment 144696 View attachment 144697 View attachment 144695 View attachment 144698 View attachment 144699 View attachment 144700 View attachment 144702 View attachment 144711 View attachment 144712 View attachment 144713 View attachment 144714 View attachment 144715 View attachment 144716 View attachment 144717 View attachment 144718 View attachment 144719 The Grow: This part will be updated about once a week, more so during the beginning and once flowering really starts to take off. Currently, the seeds are sitting in a ziplock bag in some paper towel, will post pics once they pop. Not much excitement yet, but in a week I'm going to be picking the 6 best looking seedlings, then veg for about 7 days, and then switching to 12/12 This is my first grow so if you have any advice on how to make life a bit easier I am all ears. I do not have high expectations, but I am hoping I can get at least two ounces, hopefully these LEDs don't let me down, otherwise I'll be using a 250W HPS and cooltube.
Very fuckin nice man! I know what it takes to build something like that and there's a ton of work that goes on that no one ever realizes. Alot of behind the scenes stuff if ya know what I mean...like 2953 trips to home depot Nice job with mounting the lights...and incorporating a fan controller. PC fan controllers are amazing tech for micro grows...there is no equivalent for a large scale grow. Good stuff man on so many levels...other new growers should aspire to such a detailed build. Can I recommend a few threads for you to check out if you haven't? Anti's micro stealth cab drbudgreengenes .. they seem to be similar to what you want to do, besides different lighting of course...and there's tons of useful info about running a micro sog with clones... like veg times, weights and measures..all that stuff. I also run some micro sog. I flower in 1 liter containers and pull like 5-10g a plant, flowered @ 3". I highly recommend running a mother plant and clones to get the most out of your grow. This is the nicest build I've seen for quite a while dude...it's only fitting for you to check some of the best micro grow threads I've seen on the net. best of luck, I look forward to how this develops.
Thanks for the kind words Bongsauce, I've been checking out your thread for a while now. I was actually inspired by DrBudGreenGenes, I believe he had an older thread on GC a few years back. Another fellow also had a grow similar to him, I just can't seem to find the journal now, and it was with cfl supplemented with some LED. As for the other one, I have never seen that thread before so it should be a good read. I hear ya on the countless trips to home depot, seems I'm running there sometimes twice or three times a day for silly things like brackets or screws. I plan on having another stealth cab at some point for my mother and clones, since I still have 6 more LEDs to play with, I'm just torn between using my other dresser almost identical to this one, or an old wardrobe that I've been debating to throw a 400W HPS I have laying around. Would be nice having 30 or 40 clones ready to be cycled in as I do plan to eventually be perpetual and harvesting once every two weeks. If I can get around 7g dry off each plant I will be fairly happy, as I'm more interested in finishing earlier even if it does sacrifice some weight. I believe these seeds genes require around 10 weeks till trichs are 50/50. Stoked for this learning experience, thanks for joining the ride, hopefully two and a half months from now this cab is a success, either way its the learning experience I'm after more than anything else Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I remember a few growers that mimicked drbud's style. Anti, thundurkle, tilt (with vertil cfls) I also have a vertical cab with hps and led running micro sog.
Wow I just check out your other grow there and that's pretty much the same idea I have for my wardrobe, including keeping the taller plants higher up to help reduce stretch, looks like I'll be busy reading for a while lol, thanks! Temps and burn aren't an issue with that setup? Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
with the vertical setup? I get burn if the buds get about 3-4 inches from the bulb. There's no problems with heat...even with both hps at 175w and a 64w led panel in the middle. I was surprised the single whisper fan could run it all (110cfm)...I had planned on adding intake fans or possibly a larger exhaust fan...but everything worked out.
That is great Intel to know, I thought they would have to be further way than just a few inches to stop some burn from the lights, this really inspired a new idea for my next cab, I'm thinking it will be an HPS and LED for my flowers and this cab may be for clones and my mother, we will see how this grow goes first A slight update on my beans, 1/8 have popped so far, going to clean out the cab and trays and soak my rockwool in PHd water this afternoon. I expect to have them all placed into rockwool by tomorrow evening. One problem I have come across is my hard water, right out of the tap I'm sitting around 600-700PPM, I'm thinking I will be buying a reverse osmosis machine in the extreme near future. The owner of my local grow shop told me she has had problems with out city water for years in certain areas and highly recommends one so I'll be shopping around for one. More pics coming once there are more taproots to show Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
too bad about the water...maybe you can just make your own RO system...you seem pretty crafty lol. I've also had pretty good results so far with just some standard warm white led bulbs from lowes, I'm half way through flower with em too and impressed so far with the results...I might use those to supplement in the corners of my cab if I need to. What wattage are those ufo's you're using? have you put em through a kill-o-watt, or know the actual draw wattage of them?
They are rated for 90W but I think they pull more like 60 or 70 from what I've read up. I'm waiting for my electrician buddy to come and see what its pulling, as I may need to put this outlet on it's own circuit. I have about 50 CFLs sitting in my storage room, so those can always be added in, some of the best micros I've seen are grown off them. How can I go about making my own RO? If it could save me 300 bucks I'll smoke a massive vape bowl and get creative, secretly that's why I'm doing this... I just love to build things lol Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
lol I love buildin too man...I love being in the moment, running into a completely unexpected problem and figuring out the solution. Hit up youtube...I'm convinced you can learn how to do absolutely anything on there.
Nice work @[member="dazed&confused!"] Still one of my top 5 movies of all time, btw. I saw it when it came out, I was 13-14 and so impressionable! Probably helped shape who I am today, lol! I'm digging your idea with the dresser. I was gonna do something similar but needed my dimensions to be exact so I could hide it away in a large closet. Personal needs. I opted to build mine from scratch. I totally feel you and Bongsauce on the Home Depot trips. I know most of the employees now, lol! They probably think I'm a contractor or something I'm in there so often. I always get one too few cans of paint or one too few packs of weatherstripping or something. I was curious about your alibaba purchase... How long did it take to get your shipment and did you have to pay some crazy import taxes? I've heard that before. I built all three of my cabinets and bongsauce was right, it's a lot of work. Looks like you have some good ideas and the ability to get there. Good luck with it. I'm subbin' up! Check out my cabinets below and I'll put a link to my journal. Peace man! Seedling Cab on top of Sexing Cab next to the LED Flowering Cab http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1323267-300-watt-led-cabinet-grow-ww-x-bb-ww-x-skunk-1.html
Thanks for stopping by Lixx, your setup looks great and that WW x looks even better. I bought the lights from a company on alibaba that claimed to be the manufacturing facility for black star, and after discussing on the phone with one of their sales reps they seemed quite confident in their product. Shipping was not that bad, roughly $250 and they took about 2 weeks to arrive with no hidden fees. After arrival I checked the diodes and they in fact were what I had ordered... Cree diodes. After firing them up I noticed the fans were very noisy so on two of them I have replaced all three fans with much quieter and higher performance fans, it required a bit of splicing but luckily the amps were the same. The two I have done this to are extremely quiet so I plan to do this to all of them eventually, but 30 PC fans at $20 each is not really on my high priority list. Can't remember the name of the company I got them from but I get emails from them every once in a while to see how they are performing ect, but I haven't even used them until now. Talk about those trips to home depot... I've already made two trips today to try to create my carbon filters.... Really at a loss as to how I will place them onto the plywood behind the fans. I was hoping HD would have some sort of 6 inch duct with flanges to screw it on but I can not seem to find them. I have the screen and activated carbon but no way of securing it on Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Here is one dissected... for when I do have the chance to play mad scientist again lol Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Well, I went out to Walmart in search of something to work with my carbon filter idea, and came back with this instead (really it was just an excuse to go for a motorcycle ride). This is perfect for my needs, i may spray paint it black or just cover with an old shirt in my closet on the shelf next to my nutes. I also got a water filter and have reduced my PPM to 210 which is much better, so I'm holding off on the RO for now. This reservoir holds exactly 10L, and where I filled it to it took 1mL of growtek pH down to take me from 6.5 to ~5.4-5.5 it bounces a bit. More for my reference in the future since I know I'll forget but may be helpful to newbs like me. I also cleaned the heck out of the grow cab and trays with diluted food grade hydrogen peroxide. Note to self: next time wear gloves if you intend to go out in public soon after handling h2o2. Edit: okay it seems I lied about that ratio of pH down, 10 mins later its now down to 4.8 haha Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
..on the 6" flange - would a toilet flange work, I think I've seen dudes use those for filters, but they might be 5" good to hear about the water, I think my tap is 220 or so. ...when you ph nutes in the future...more nutes will hold a more stable ph, like the ph of 100% nutes will stay more steady then ph'd water. Temp of the water can affect my ph meter too...if you're using a meter.
Seems to be associated with temp of water, its slightly above room temp. I checked with pH meter and its slightly below 5, at 4.9 but with my pH indicator fluid is showing a colour between 5 and 6. I checked out those flanged but they are like an inch too small, I got an idea but I don't know how it'll work, its pretty ghetto, next hour or so I'll be busy brainstorming. For future reference when I am doing nutes, should I pH then add nutes and then adjust pH again? Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
always ph last. Usually the nutes themselves will lower the ph a bit. I've had to make a few flanges myself. I take 1 foot long piece of metal ducting. I trim around the rim about 4" deep, about every 2 inches apart. Then I fold all those tabs of metal out like a flower, and cover it with a layer of foil tape and gorilla tape. Then instead of just attaching the flange, I make a sort of ring to slide over it and secure in place. The ring would sandwich the flange part made of foiltape against the back of the cabinet or w/e. maybe this is the same ghetto idea, lol.
I was going to do that however I'm going to see how this plays out lol. I basically made a pouch out of window screen. I'm running my hottest LED and the fan closest to it to see how well it vents the heat. No light leaks. It certainly isn't pretty and I think once I purchase a 3D printer this will be my first project. Problem I have found so far is most of the air doesn't get pushed through but simply bounces back, I probably should be pulling the air rather than pushing it but either way these PC fans won't move much air with any sort of resistance Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
yeh you might need more surface area for the carbon to reduce resistance. Have you seen the diy pencil holder style filters? I'm a huge fan of those filters..though you would need an extra 5-6" clearance behind your box.
Eventually once I get my 3D printer it will be almost like a pencil holder filter. Problem I'm finding is stuff that is 6". I've been walking around with a tape measure measuring stuff like a weirdo haha. I found a really nice pencil holder at thw dollar store but it is 4" I also don't want my dresser to stick out too far, so again I think my only option is to get something custom made. I need more surface area for sure. Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app