Hi Guys! I've been lurking for awhile, but I've decided to finally take the plunge and build a cabinet. I need some help with a few of the details. The plan (so far) is: French door cabinet of the dimensions 4' W x 2' D x 6' H. Built out of 2x3's and 1/2" crap plywood. Plywood will be surfaced with 2mm Mylar as it's being put together (will caulk the frame for light leakage) The top and bottom will be made from 3/4" ply to add some rigidity, and I may upgrade the doors to 3/4" for security and durability purposes. For Lighting, I'm thinking 4 Lamp 48" T5 with four 6500K's for veg and switching to ~2500K for flowering. That's 20000 Lumens right there. I was thinking of mounting two 4' T5 with two bulbs each to each side of the cabinet for further light goodness. My first question is: Is this overkill? It would seem that maybe I could use 2 bulb fix's all the way around. Some background, I'm only doing two plants, this is strictly for myself and I don't have the need for enormous amounts of weed. Though with LST, two plants can yield insane weed, so consider these are likely to be shorter plants. The top fixture will be dynamic and be adjustable height wise. Potentially this setup has 40K lumens of 6500K light, which might be a bit much for this small cabinet. For Ventilation: I'm going to do 4" PVC with an inline blower at 200 CFM, pulling through a home made carbon filter. Even at the relatively aggressive loss of 50%, that should still vent the room 2.5 times per minute, and scrub the stink in the process. I'm not sure if there's anything I'm missing here. Nutes: This is where I have no idea where to look, being in Canada, a lot of the vendor information on the web is invalid. Can anyone recommend a vendor and what I should be looking for up here? Can someone point me to some good guides for watering/lighting schedules etc? I'm currently plowing through the grow bible on my iPad. Anything else I'm missing? I think I've finally settled on G17 Haze and Pineapple Chunk from Barney's as my strains. Indica is nice to have, but I need a sativa for my ADD. Suggestions would be appreciated here as well. Thanks in Advance! Maverick
I don't know much about those lights, but as for a light schedule? You can leave them on 24/7 and not hurt the plants, although one would say they grow better and yield more under a 18/6 schedule. You should water only when (I'm assuming you are growing with soil) the soil is dry about 2 inches deep. As for nutes, go to your local garden store and look for something that has around a 20-10-10 NPK ratio for the vegetative stage and something around 10-20-20 for the flowing stage. DO NOT OVER WATER/OVER FERTILIZE. Death or burning will occur. Also, do not fertilize seedlings until they are at least 2 weeks old. I am sorry if you knew most of this lol, just trying to help.
Great choice of lighting compared to CFLs Your fan is on the minimum side but will work. Exchanging the air about 4 times per hour. I'm in Canada too and neuts are quite easy to find.
How about some shots of the cabinet? Also are you planning soil or hydro? I looked back up in the post and didn't see if it was mentioned.
Hi all, thanks for the responses! Thanks for the nutrient advice MMJ! Hemi: by my math the cab is 40ft3, at 100 CFM (the fan is 200, but we're assuming a loss of 50% because of the filter) wouldn't the cab vent 2.5 times per minute? Lowd: the cab is still in pieces because I don't have the Mylar yet, so I can't laminate it to the plywood, pics will come when it is done. Sorry for that I'll be using a soil grow in a shallow but wide grow bag, so I can try to LST the plants. suggestions otherwise would be appreciated. Due to limitations I didn't originally foresee (the cabinet lumber has already been cut) I will be using just the 4 bulb 4' lamp because I don't have enough clearance on the sides for the extra fixtures. It still should be plenty for 2 plants. I've decided to go 18/6 for veg, because it seems to be standard. Any other suggestions?
As Rhapsody mentioned above, I'm thinking that laminating or gluing the Mylar down to the sides wont be worth it. I have read many times that people don't like working with Mylar and its hard to clean. The white paint or just stapling it or taping it up. Can you put links up to the equipment your going to use. Sorry I like seeing as much as I like reading.
Most of the ventilation is going to be hand built. As for the lighting, this is going to be my main light (or something very similar anyways): Home Selects | 4ft. 4 Lamp High Output T5 Grow Light with Aluminum Reflector and Lamps | Home Depot Canada As I'm building the thing I'll do pictures for sure. With regards to the whole White vs Mylar bit, at this point it's going to cost me almost as much to paint as it would to do the Mylar. The plywood I have isn't particularly great, and would be a pain in the ass to paint, so I'd likely need to cover it with hardboard or something for a better surface. I've found Mylar for $25 for 25', which isn't horribly expensive. I'm basically doing a larger version of some of the other grow boxes on this site, mostly so I have the space to LST and ScrOG. Edit: http://www.bustan.ca/product_detail.asp?menuID=4&SID=24&PID=1098 Alternative Light to the one above, can someone recommend a vendor in Canada for this crap $225 is steep for T5's, and Bustan's prices seem way out to lunch.
Since your looking at bustan I'm assuming your in the GTA like me Head to see Peter at holland industry. I got a 4foot 4bulb t5 for like 130. He has used equipment that will save you a buttload. And your cabinet is 48cuFt. Dunno what math your using bro. LxWxH=cuft Paint is alot cheaper. And easy to touch up. Trust me go to local waste transfer station and you can get paint for free. Sheridan nurserys also let you scavenge used pots and containers from their plastic recycling bin. At 5 bucks a pot the savings aren't huge but sure help. Hit me up bro. I have a wealth of resources to share with you.
Right, sorry, was a tool and was thinking 5 feet tall instead of 6. Thank you for the correction, still wouldn't that mean the cabinet is being vented twice per minute at 100CFM? I'm actually not in GTA, though I wish I had access to those kinds of prices. Any other online retailers?
Holland does online sales too 200cfm divided by 48 =4.1 times the air is exchanged If you figure 1/2 lost in filter then yes the air is exchanged 2 times.
Ok, I was just clarifying, in your original post you said 4 times per hour, which seemed like nothing. I was just clarifying how much this thing will actually do. I really appreciate the help. I'll check out Holland's website. Thanks for the Tip!
Because I doubt your going to loose anything close to 50% efficiency from your filter. So I'm sticking with closer to 4x
per minute Right? not per hour? That's where the confusion is coming in What would you suggest for nutes, and is one 4 bulb fixture enough for the number of plants I have? Edit: as in which brand of nutes to use and do I get them from holland. Also, fucking awesome prices, you rock.
I don't see a head count? G17 and PC but u never said how many. Only one of each? In veg when my ladies are under 12" I can veg a dozen of em But for flower I'd only do one and it would definitely be scrog
One of each using Scrog and LST. I only use about a half a month, so you can see why I'm not overly concerned about yields. I don't need a pound just laying around, lol.
No but a plant needs to get a certain maturity before it can give you even the smallest of yield. Youd be surprised at how much room they will take. And with fluros light penetration suffers. I'd only do one at a time just my 2 cents
Just a single plant? I realize they take a bit of space but that's still 4 SqFt. for each plant if I grow two. I can easily supplement the outside lighting with CFL's if I need to. Otherwise I have this huge 4 foot wide by two foot deep cabinet for just a single plant