Grow Cubes

Decided to start a small journal of my new setup was kinda going over it in a different thread but this will just entail the build.

Overview of the desired end result, I want to have a setup that allows me to stagger my crops to be able to have continuous yield, be completely contained and and stealth from vistors. Next want to have a crop cycle that allow me to have minual plants due to Washington states limit with medical marijuana. Also since I rent I do not want to have to modify the home in any way that can not be reversed. And lastly I want a setup that is some what mobile that way next time I move I am able to quickly tear down and reset it up.

Orginally was debating 2 locations one which was a walk in closet second floor advantages being easy to access and also out of sight, downsides being that closet get warm even in winter due to the fact the main return to house runs along side of it and furnace is located above it in attic. So i would have had to have a way to vent fresh air into closet and also a way to vent out air from grow cabinet. Also because of built in shelf's had a height limit of 65" and a width of aprox 5'. Next location is in garage. Positives for it is more then enough room to work with, adjacent to electrical box to run separate circuit, crawl space above to vent into, and has a utility sink with hot and cold water additionally would be easy to install an RO system into sink. Downside in the beginning fall was fairly warm in there aprox 80-85 F during day, almost outside so pest become a concern, and will require more work to make it some what stealthy since at time the garage does get opened and additionally if any maintenance needs to be done on home other people may have to go in there.

Started out trying to plan for the closet but realized after awhile the alteration needed to make it an effective space plus size constraint did not play into my overall goals. Yes I would have get security and it would have been out of sight of any visitors but would have required me to install an intake and exhaust vent into closet plus removed them at later date. After many days of drawing up plans trying to make it work decided to go with my other location. The garage had a nice spot next to sink about 6' wide and little over 9' ceiling height with that location could have set up a stack design with it being 2 grow chambers wide 2 tall plus Veg area was about to go with that and had started amassing lumber (which is hard only owning car and jeep no full sheets of plywood/MDF and limit on lumber can actually get longer board in car lol ). But as I was looking at things in the garage including my pile of stuff that has no spot in the house I remebered that i was going to build myself some storage shelf's in the near future. So now my grow cabinets are going to occupy the bottom of my homemade shelfs they will be seperate boxes which basically sit on the bottom shelf and will look like cabinets to the passing person and at a later date can be pulled from shelf and moved to what ever future location they may end up.

So now at least I knew where things where going so I could start with constraints. I wanted as much height as possible so squeeze in my bucket for DWC a screen about 8" off the bucket and then 12" above screen with 4" left for lights. This puts me at almost 36" total. The buckets well boxes I went with are 10 Gallon and 22"L 14"D 12"H they will house 2 plants. So need to give them about a 2'x2' floor space. If a minimize wall thickness will have a 22"x22" space for them. To lose as little as possible to frame and sides the whole thing is being constructed from 1"x2" pine furring strips and 1/4" MDF panels (buying them pre cut at 2'x4' making them easy to move ++). End result now is 2 grow areas in a box 2feet deep, 4 feet wide, well 4 feet and a half inch and 3 feet tall. Two of these boxes are being made so will have 4 grow areas to work with at 3 week rotations (3w Veg / 9w flower). After many words onto some starting pics. Sorry dont got one of my fancy vector drawn diagrams for this one and when you see the plans it explains even less lol.

Some more scratch on the back but all it has is some numbers all over it the rest is all over the place in my head.

Depending on which way I am going into the boards determines my screw I am using either 1 5/8 or 2 1/2" since the boards are only 3/4" thick the Holes are a must to prevent cracking usually do about 2/3 screws length for holes. I have been using double screws at every spot to make sure the boards can not twist and also been placing wood glue at any of the joints with the MDF.

There is some spots that I was unable to get screws into the wood in a fashion i though would be strong enough so I ended up using some metal angle brackets (will get a picture of what I mean next time) I try to avoid using these if possible. The bottom although it is only 1/4" MDF will be sitting directly on a shelf so I am not to worried about the strength at this time it is basically there only there to seal in the frame of the grow area.

By the time the walls are put in going to have a 22" wide and 23" long grow space with a total height of 35.5" by using the 1/4" MDF I Might not have the strengh but lose almost no space to grow area. As it stands now the top and bottom are only 1/4" think the outer walls are 1" thick and the center wall is 2" thick. I could have gone thinner but I like the way things felt constructing it this way over the other ( Yes a Made 2 different pieces to see what I Liked more.

The Lighter is there to give an idea of size.


There is 2 boxes started, not going to be stacked just did it for picture. Got this done in a day a couple days ago, shoulder started acting up on me and ended up in some migraines over the weekend so had to stop. Got a little work done today but did not take pictures will add some soon.

Well here some light pics too.

This is all the stuff I will be using.

GE Ultra Start Ballasts
55 W PL-L Bulbs 4 per box
Fixture will be hand made (still figuring that part out)

The FT55W/2G11 at 1.88 amps is me.

Ok now that is all for now.

 

Thank you, Got some more pics. Start putting in dividing wall in one of my boxes plus the wiring still have to put in backing and one side but should give a better feel for how it looks.

1st attachment

These are the brackets I had to use in a couple spots. They are connecting the top 2 cross members and the bottom one.

2nd and 3rd attachment

The containers I am using for this build are almost even with the cross members, I have all electrical stuff placed higher then this to help prevent accidents.

The romex comes out of the top of the box to hook up into a separate GFI circuit i am running from box.

Used shallow boxes so they will fit in the wall, because of this have to keep the wire coming from boxes short in order to get socket inside of them.

 

Ok, catching up with todays work.

First pic is a lesson make sure you measure twice, was getting ahead of myself and dint check my work and had the slot off by an inch, could have cut a new piece but decided to leave it there as a reminder.

Need to clean camera got something on the lens.

Both plugs are located in the left chamber there is a gap that runs between the 2 under the shelf with cut a piece of foam to stuff around fires in future.

Wash going back an forth on 2 different buckets this one and a shorter version that is only 5 gallons. The 5 gallon would have allowed me 5 more inches of vertical space but would have had alot less room for root mass plus less amount of nuets and more PH/TDS fluctuation. There great buckets though very sturdy will still have to put something on lid for light but many time better then Sterelite or Rubbermaid and best of all cheap.

As you can see box was made around using these. As it sit now have 5 inches for and aft. Will install some sort of removable shelf in front of the bucket. My intake will be located behind the bucket to allow for the cool air to pass the res first and work it way up into the plants, through the screen and then lights.

I have some catch up to do on the second box but my next major under takings will be my ventilation, the screen and a light mounting system.

Ventilation will probably be done with a 120mm PC fan. I have some special fans around that have a much higher static pressure rating which my work out for what I need. Going to through together something to test and see how they feel before I cut out a spot for them. Next thing I have to decide is if I want to have a carbon scrubber for each box or if i want to have some sort of collection box which scrubs everything. and has an addition fan to help over come the ducting that would need to be used.

Additionally for intake side of things will be planing ahead for next summer when temps are going to be to high in garage so will need to have a way to connect the intake to ducting which connect to another box for chilling the air.

As for the screen I have that work out about 80% of the way in my head, I want something attached to the lid that way I can pull out the whole bucket lid and screen if needed. I can then lift lid/screen/plants up to access the bucket in case the situation presents it self. That is also the reason there is no cross member on the bottom in front of my little grow areas, that way I am not trying to lift a buck of water up over the board potentially spilling the contents.

Being that I am using the PL-L lamps they are secured into the base and will have a lot of there weight forward. My though are to do something U shaped that way I can easily changed bulbs out when switching over from veg to flower. I had order some of the cheapest sockets I could find on the internet but to my surprise they are very well made and the lamps click into them very securely. When taking them out it is almost unerving at the amount of pressure you have to exert to click them out of the holder. The ballast as of right now will continue to be mounted out of the grow area on the backside of the case, I do have a limitation on the lengths of the wires coming off them so will come very close doing it that way, I do not want to patch the wires together would prefer they run straight to the sockets. I have wired up ballast to check them out and took me a little bit to figure them out being my first time wiring a 2G11. Will make up a diagram soon to show how it done since the internet has almost nothing about them.

Well hopefully some more people come around always open to suggestions on things i may have missed.

Later

 

Quickly made a diagram for wiring the ballast to 2G11 sockets.

 

OK did not get much done today but here is the start of my screen. The whole thing is made from CPVC which cost little and very versatile. I used some PVC glue on some of the parts so it would be sturdy then selectively left other parts unglued. The screen is 22" by 22" and about 8" off the lid. It bolts onto the lid then at the four corners bolts together. Also it can be set up and tore down in minutes and all the parts can be contained in the bucket. Will build 6 of these that way I have some extra sitting around if the needs arises. The PVC will be getting a coat of white paint then drilled to run some 550 cord every 2 inches. The lid will be getting holes for 2 5" netpods then will be running my air lines through the underside of the handles.

 

Sorry no pictures right now, but I have figured out a design for my light fixtures. They will be about 2" thick which is a plus due to my height restrictions and should allow me to vent all of my cab air past the bulbs to help keep heat up out of grow area. Since my cab will have a relatively small air volume. Each cube is about 12 cubic feet of volume minus about 2.2 feet from res. Because of the volume of air I will be using a 4" exhaust and my light fixture will have vents that have 120% the surface area of the exhaust that way there should be low restriction arround the lights. My goal is to pull the majority of my venting air past bulbs to help keep temps down in such a small environment. My first few runs will most likely be using my test models made of wood but already looking into designing a metal product utilizing reflector to scavenge more light. But regardless should have some pictures up soon of a running model.

 

Little progress made on the first box. All the edge have been sealed with acrylic/latex caulk. Then the insides have been coated with some flat white paint. I originally was using a brush to apply paint but found later on a foam roller gives a better finish for defusing the light. The work area is pretty low light and it is amazing how much light the boxes put up and they are not even directly facing the light. Debating painting the area which will be below the lid of the Res flat black. I tried some spray paint on the back of my light fixture but do not like how it smudge walls, so will need to either find some flat black latex and hope that the smudge do not happen as easy or ditch the idea. The hole around light are giving me about the same are as my exhaust and should help channel the air around the bulbs. The goal is to pull in my fresh air through a floor register install under the shelf in the back of the box, this will allow me to open/close register to effect my cab pressure. Located next to register under shelf will be the air pump so they get first chance at fresh air. They air will then travel along the side of res towards the front of cab where it then can work it way up into the plant canopy. Once the plants grab up what they want it will be direct past the bulbs and fixture into the upper portion of chamber where it get vented out the back and scrubbed. The bulbs be placed a little ways of the back of there frame in the picture they are just sitting there for size relevance right now. The holes behind the bulbs ends up having just a hair more surface area then the vent hole that will be in the back of the cab. The last pic show where I marked a light leak, turned the lights off then used a very high intesity flash light along the seams and looked for any light and marked it with some spray paint. The spot int he picture is the spot where a messed up a cut earlier. I would have gotten further but go a hole bit stuck in my drill, which is a key-less type chuck on it took almost an hour for me to get it out again.

 

Quick update nixing the black on the backside for now, it rubs off on the wall of cab. So having to paint over it in white tonight. Hope to have it good to go to throw the bulbs in and light it up tomorrow.

 

We have light. I hooked up some sockets and ballasts and lit up the box for the first time, going to have to wear some glasses to work in it. Still need to put some clips in to retain the fronts of the bulbs, also wish my wires were a little longer does not drop as far as i wish it would.

 

Been a Few days been playing around with how I am going to vent this thing. After some cardboard construction tests going to go with the Scythe fan i have around the house. With a small carbon scrubber located after the fan (box not sealed massive air leaks) is pushing enough air out the duct to blow out a lighter at 18" away. Not very scientific but will do, a step over the back of the hand method at least. My boxes only have a volume of 12 Sq Ft so really do not need to be pushing that much air and additionally I can hold the PL-L lamps in my hand while running even after hours of them being on (this was done with no venting). This vent box will be attached to the backside of the grow cubes one per area. Additionally if as temp climb next summer I can always attach a ducting and higher CFM system to the exhaust ducts. I did a quick and dirty diagram to show how it going to be maybe build it tonight.

 

Yeah was going to up my fans from my scythes but after todays little test not to worried. I want to vent back into right now anyways because of potential temp issues, but come spring will attach the ducts and vent to attic and will be pull that up with a much stronger fan maybe some along the lines of a Soler Palau 5" for every 2 boxes. I have a couple pics of my DIY scrubber which in no way shape or form was my idea originally. Also for anyone going that route made a couple little changes you cant see in pics, one which did not think of till after i put it together, which was to add some copper wire and pinch it over to keep the 2 cup holders in place, the second was to add a small piece of window screen in bottom of cup where I drilled the holes. I tried first pulling the air through scrubber in my hasty cardboard box as you can see does not extinguish the lighter, pulls it over good but keeps burning, but reserving the airflow that thing blows out a ways out from the vent.

 

I got 3 more to make so can document it much further . Will work out the box tomorrow along with a way to easily access the scrubbers. Maybe keep an extra or two on hand that way I can swap them out when needed then fix them at my leisure. Biggest thing that I am needing to work out right now is a good way to focus the air away from intake since that will also be on the back side of cab. Really do not want to use ducting unless it has additional fan attached because that is unneeded resistance as of right now.

 

Well started the shelfs which my grow cabinets are going to sit in. The cabinets were not designed to be load bearing structure instead something that was some what modular and could be moved and placed into something else. I was needing storage shelf anyways so went ahead and made the bottoms of them open to take my cabs. And the last one is some Ikea treasure from there As Is area 6 dollars got me all that in the mess there was 12 set of cabinet hinges, tons of dowels and assorted brackets.

 

The shelf for corner is started got to sealing the cracks with acrylic tonight. Paint and door coming tomorrow.

 

This is what I am using fro the Intake on my 4 Grow boxs. I had to trim them down so they did now stick out as far past frame was easily done with my side cutter and then tin snips. The floor register where only 5 dollars a piece and the filter maybe 2 dollars.