So I got some cabinets from CL on a great deal today. $30 for 2 solid cabinets. The bigger cab is : Height - 28 1/2" Width - 34" Depth - 14" The other one is : Height: 28 1/2" Width - 20 1/2" Depth - 14" I'm thinking of making the smaller one my veg/clone cab and the wider one being the flowering cab. I'm questioning how I should handle ventilation. For the bigger cab I'm thinking I'll cut holes for two 120mm PC fans and then one on the bottom left for intake. I plan to use some 4" transition ducting from each outtake and join them at 1 carbon filter either a 4" Phresh or a DIY. I haven't decided yet. I'm making one DIY right now to attach to my PC box I'll evaluate the performance of the DIY on that to decide if I want to use it on this build. Anyone have any input on any of this so far? I also thought about possibly re-hinging the door on the larger cab and standing it on its side to get more vertical room out of flowering should I bother with that or just LST or SCROG instead?? The smaller box will be used for the veg cab. I've got a nice GDP flowering in my PC box now so I'm going to try like hell to re-veg it. I'm about 2 or 3 weeks away from harvest. That's too late to try and get a clone isn't it? If not then awesome somebody PLEASE let me know. Next bit of input I need is about lighting. So far I've done 3 harvests and used all CFL for each, total of 92 watts (4 23w bulbs). On average I pull about 21 grams. If I have the room in this new setup I'd love to flower 4 at a time and try to pull a zip each. Today I got two 42w (200w equivalent) 27k CFL's, I'll hang these from the top of the flowering cab and probably put 2 23w CFLs on each side. Do you think this will be enough to reach or surpass my 1oz goal per plant. I do know that there is a lot more too it but I'm speaking from strictly a light standpoint. Any suggestions or input here? I'm only going to put one 42w (200w equivalent) 65k for the veg cab. Maybe a 23w or two but it seems like it would be a little tight in there. I would greatly appreciate any input anyone has on this setup. This isn't my first ride on the merry go round but I would love for it to be my best. If I can get the help of some of the awesome blades here I'm sure it will be. ** I first posted this in Bongsauce's awesome Cab Help thread but it is pretty old and I'd really like to get some feedback as I would like to start building tomorrow. Thanks everyone!
Dang GC 30 views and nobody has any input. Did I get too wordy for everyone or what? lol I'm going to start cutting mounting and sealing a little later on today. I'm wondering about how to most effectively seal off the door I'll probably end up going with some sort of weather stripping. However, I'm racking my brain for a more air tight/light tight solution. Anyone? Beuller?
how important is stealth? If you build a small frame with weatherstrip wont the closet shut completely air tight? hard to see how the hinges are. Secure/pressure with some sort of locking mechanism and it should be a done deal?
Stealth is not as important as blocking out light. When the doors close they appear to close properly but for our type of needs we want them to be completely light tight. I got some weather stripping today and I'll throw it on there tomorrow. By putting a lock on there it will allow me to both seal it up by pushing firmly against the weather stripping and add a degree of security. Win/Win I like it
What are you doing for ventilation? I assume you have something in mind but folks will ask you to spell it out.
Today I cut 2 holes in the veg cab for 2 120mm fans. I'm going to mount them on PVC grate drains and light proof them with a 3" PVC elbow. I'm not going to worry about putting a carbon filter on the veg cab, at least initially. I'm going to have a similar ventilation plan for the flowering cab. Two 120mm fans up top for exhaust one at the bottom for intake. Exhaust will also be mounted to PVC grate drains, elbowed and vented to an external 6" Carbon filter. I'm working on sealing off the boxes now so by the time I run my plumbing/ventilation I'll have a pretty air tight chamber. I'll post more pics once I get a little further along.
Looks like to me the way your doors hang weather strip might not work. I had the same problem I went to home depot to the trim depart. and got some "door stop" its super cheap and easy to put in you could just wood glue it down if you dont have a nail gun. Just close one door and trace it with your pencil. The single door might be a little tricky but doable mine cab is a single door. You can do the same on the back of one of your doors in the dbl cab to close the gap between them. Good luck hope that helped or at least gives you a idea.
Thanks for the tip country. I actually did something very similar to what you were suggesting. I was able to trace the door on the single cabinet just fine because I had already cut the ventilation holes in it. So after tracing the line I used my weatherstrip along that line to make a nice lightproof seal. I'm happy with it. What I'm not happy with is the way I cut the ventilation holes in my Veg cab. I cut 2 square 4in holes. I did this before I thought about using the 3in PVC piping (which I explained above). I wish I would have waited to cut those holes so I could have a nice uniform look between both cabs. Ah well. I have to figure out a way to light proof these 4 inch square holes after I get the fans in there. Any suggestions?
Simply cut an inner tube from a tenspeed bike and line the opening on the inside and when closed this will cover all leaks. Works same as the door strip but cheaper and easier to trim.
Some progress. I'll post some pics below. I'd like some input on how/where to mount the CFL's. I put together a crude drawing of where I am thinking about putting them. I'm planning on mounting porcelain lamp sockets to the side and back walls. On the side I'll use Y adapters to put 2 23 watt bulbs in and have 42w bulbs in lights mounted on the back of the cab. Any thoughts or questions on my plan so far?
I got a set of hydro farm light hangers and hung my lights, it works great so you can keep the lights super close and raise them as she grows. You could do the same just mount them all to a small 2x4 and your good to go. I recently added a reflector on mine.
Wow I didn't know those pulley things existed. As I was trying to fall asleep last night I was thinking about how to rig up cabinet door slides vertically to do the same thing lol. I'm absolutely using this design in my flower room. I'm OK with just statically mounting the lights in the veg cab though since I have and adjustable shelf so instead of adjusting the lights I'll just move the shelf. Thanks again for cluing me in on those pulleys.
Ok, here is the next thing I'm stressing myself out about. I need to come up with a cooling/filtering plan for the flowering cab. I keep reading about these 4 inch inline fans but I'm thinking that might be overkill in my little 6 sq ft cabinet. Then I keep reading that PC fans do not have enough power to push through a carbon filter. So I'm kinda at a loss right now. Opinions? I'd like to stay under 100 bucks for this part of it. The DIY pencil filter I put on my flowering PC build is working pretty well, do you think I could just use one of those on each of my exhaust fans in the new build and be effective? Edit: I found this fan/filter combo. Again I think it's overkill but what does everyone else think?
I decided to put the clones into a DWC system I just got done making. Hopefully that will make cloning from a plant that has been flowering for 4 weeks a little easier.
Now that the Veg cab is done I'll be starting the flowering cab soon. I've got a little time because I just took clippings from a mother that is flowering now. I know it's not the best idea to take clips from a flowering mom but I didn't have much of a choice. So the flowering cab doesn't "HAVE TO BE" done for about another month. I'll probably just do a little each weekend for the next 3 or 4 weekends. I'm also waiting for some seeds to pop so I can throw them in the veg cab too.
Since I know GC likes pictures so much, here. You can't really see too good but this is the cloning bubbler I made yesterday. I put little 'greenhouse' over them with really small tupperware bowls to help keep moisture on the leaves.