Hi, Iv been constructing this cab for a little while now after i had read quite a bit on the forums. I am going to be using NL #5 strain and this is a cfl grow. The cab is 24"W, 60"H, and 12"D. I am using the Lucas formula for this with GH nutrients micro and bloom. Outside Inside On the Left the one main power bar, middle the BB, and on the right is my intake 6x CFL homemade light fixture with sheet metal reflector, saw a guide on how to build this on a thread not to long ago. Just wondering what types of light bulbs shut i use for veg and flowering. i have 6 open lights and just wondering what would be the perfect amount of certain lights for this grow. Bag'O'Weed i found... Just above the reflector is my out take. Back of the cab also how i raise and lower the lights, bottom right of the cab is the one main power cord. Side of the cab bottom intake/ top out take, and im trying to figure out a way to attatch this carbon filter to the out take on the top that will keep it there but i can still get it of to change the carbon every three months. Any advice with this would be appreciated. Small home made carbon filter, found a guide to this on here as well. Well i was just looking for any comments or advice. I am also putting a tray in the bottom to go around the BB in case of any water getting anywhere. So looking for advice on which lights to use for my veg and flower cycles since i haven't gotten any yet, and a way to attach the carbon filter. Thanks for any comments.
For your CFL lights use a color rating of about 6500K for vegging. This is the light that has a blue color to it. Not all packages have this actual number but cool white and daylight spectrums would be closer to the 6500K. For flowering use a bulb with a color rating of about 2700K. This is more of a reddish colored light and works best for flowering. Lights with a color called warm light would be closer to the spectrum needed. Use bulbs that are at least 24 watt. That is equivalent to 100 watts incandescent bulb. The bigger the bulb the better. More of them helps too when you get to the flowering stage. if you are planning on letting your plants get tall you will also need some lights for the sides of the plant. CFLs work and work ok but they have to be close to the plant. They have a hard time getting enough light to lower branches and to stuff underneath the canopy during later bloom. Be sure and keep your plants LSTed when using CFLs so each light can be closer to more of the plant. That will help. Personally I use the SOG method to grow so my plants rarely get bushy or tall. The light is able to reach the lower areas this way. From time to time I will put an old used mother plant that was used for cuttings into flower under cfls. She has usually been LSTed so much and trimmed so often that it becomes a real bushy plant and they seem to do okay under CFL flowering. One of my mom's is Skunk#1. She lives under 16 hours of light a day and is covered with small buds. I still take cuttings from her, they root fine and grow with no problems. I think maybe the reason that there are buds is 1) 16 hours is probably minimal light to try and keep plants from flowering and 2) There just isn't enough light coming from the CFLs on this bushy plant to keep some of the lower budsites from beginning to flower. CFLs will do you a decent job as long as you don't expect them to do the same as a big grow light.
i dig the cabinet.... Ive been contemplating my own cabinet build, so this is pretty helpful, especially since the dimensions of that cabinet are the max size for my allocated space. Couple things more.... is there a huge issue with light infiltrating through the cracks? This is important for my build since the area i have chosen is cold at night, so ill need to run the daytime cycles at night where the heat from the bulbs will keep things warm, during the day ill run the night cycle where the ambient temp can keep them relatively warm. How are you powering your (PC?) fans? Also, i was thinking of duplicating the light bar you have at the top and putting one at the bottom to middle using those holes on the sides that are usually used for holding the shelves so the lower area gets light as well. Also to keep it a bit simpler, im going to be using the side holes to suspend the top light system as well so i dont have to mess with the strings. Do you have a link to the thread that showed you how to make that light bar? I was actually thinking since im using the shelf holes to suspend the light bar, i might as well mount my lights to the actual shelf and adjust that up and down, might drill some hopes in the shelf for air flow but i dont see why it wouldnt work. Just wouldnt be able to move the ones on the bottom if i did that... My only bit of advice is, i wouldnt think you need the intake fan, i would have just doubled the exhaust and put both fans at the top, the vaccum the fans create should be enough to draw in fresh air unless the thing is airtight. Thanks for the motivation, im gonna hit walmart tonight and find a suitable cabinet.
no i dont really have any problem with light leak. ok the inside of the doors i am also putting a white on one side black on the other material so no light getts out the front. also i went of the idea that im building a cab inside a cab because im going to be pputting this into a closet so when it needs to be dark it will be dark light it wil be light. my pc fans are hooked up to a 12v ac to dc connector i stripped ends of the wires and attached them together and then i just put alluminum tape over the wires . i strung the adaptor up to the top for the outtake fan then leel where with the bottom fan was i didnt cut but strip some of the plastic of the wire from the adaptor and just hooked the other fan up there so i wouldnt have to use anything else. my reason behind wher i placed my fans was to circulate air from top to bottom so whole plant gets some fresh, abd the bottom fan is in line witht the top of my bb so it wont be blowing on the root and break my plant http://forum.grasscity.com/absolute-beginners/231455-inexpensive-diy-grow-light.html this is where i found the DIY light thing
nice work man. I'm going to do a similar cab and line the inside with emergency blankets and use a hps. I wanted to know if you need to have and exhaust fan to use a carbon scrubber with?
That i do not know i would just figure u would to push the air out of the scrubber, im stuck right now trying to figure a way to attach mine easily
Air needs to be moved through the filter, the only way to do that is with a fan of some sort, plus fresh air is good for it anyhow... one good exhaust fan will do the work of pushing the unfiltered air through the filter, plus it will create a vaccum of sorts in your cabinet that will draw fresh air in through any cracks you might have. Have you thought about plumbers tape? i dont know how sturdy your filter is, or you might just use a tiny bungee cord, put some screws or eye hooks in the cabinet on either side of the exhaust vent, maybe about 6" from the vent and use them as anchor points for the bungee.
that seems like a good idea but I'm not sure if it will hold it up it feels like a few lbs heavy. u think i can use the left over aluminum tape i have even?
I wouldnt use the alum tape.... i would get some plumbers tape (which is actually not tape, but a strip of metal with holes in it, comes on a roll) or get a couple more of those hooks like you have suspending the light bar and bungee it or even string might work.
Anything new here? did you get that scrubber mounted? Thanks for the inspiration, i just finished my grow cabinet and will start germin a few seeds this week.
sorry ive had to cease all progress on this when my close friend got busted w ln after leaving the crib so tryin to lay low for a while. but anyways ive been concidering starting it up some time soon since ive been layin low for a couple months n stop selling But anyways on w the cabinet. Yes i did get the scrubber mounted actually quite some time ago, i couldnt really think of a good way to mount it in a way that i could detatch it when i needed to to change out the carbon so i just make a cross with some string and tied the 4 ends of the rope down to the little mini hinges and i slide the cabon scrubber over the hole of the out-take fan and the string just holds it in place. ive everything complete all i need left is my micro bloom already have the other one and i need a water tester which ive been holding off on since its probably the most expensive thing i will have to buy but i really cant wait to tget it started when i do. i just wanna make sure i know everything down to the last dow before i start my first run through the jungle of green. but other than that its just been sittin in the closet gettin dusty for a couple months. i also grabbed a bigger fan that i will add to the intake or out take im not sure yet.
careful what you let out the bag homie..... on a side note, i like your style when i comes to the DIY work and will def be gleaning off some of that info.....if you don't mind.
Sorry I have been out of the game a minute. Had to throw that thing in the dumpster and dip. But im glad you all like it. I think the hole set up cost me about 150-200$ somewhere in there.