(The following is merely an introduction to become acquainted with my current situation, feel free to skip ahead to see my current setup plan!) About Me Hey there fellow City members! Call me Argonath - I'm your average "Cannabis Crusader;" quiet, introverted and polite. I'm nine-teen and I've been enjoying the herbal lifestyle for just about a year, and after much rumination and contemplation I've decided to venture into the realm of self-sufficiency. If for nothing else, the science and botany behind this absolutely beautiful, majestic plant is more than enough to get my feet wet in this abhorred but adored underground. Though my contribution to the community, as seen through my low post count, leaves a lot for me to improve upon, I feel that I am a complete member. To stress again - I'm introverted, and as such, I often find myself simply reading and acquiring vast amounts of information without readily pressing the reply button. Let's just say I like to "soak it all in." The Plan Without further adieu, allow me to reveal my brainchild: Operation Stickyfingers. With a scheduled launch date in late November, I am hoping for a more than generous (as always!) reply from my brothers (and sisters) of the City to reassure my monetary, mechanical, and scientific situation. The box will be a dresser. Now, I'm going to try and explain as best as I can in words here. (There are pictures in this post, feel free to open then to gain a better idea of what I am saying.) I intend on "gutting" my dresser completely. That is, removing all of the actual drawers, but keeping the "face plates" of each. Now, those "face plates" will be re-attached using glue or perhaps another soft mechanical means back onto the dresser to give the illusion of a fully functional dresser. In other words, if you try to pull on one of the drawer handles, it won't work. It's merely glued onto the dresser itself. So, that being the case, what's left is the hollow shell of a dresser whose dimensions are as follows: Twenty-eight inches (28" or 2'4") wide, fifteen inches (15" or 1'3") deep, and thirty-eight inches (38" or 3'2") tall. To answer your question - yes, it will have to be stealth. Thus, I am planning on throwing my dresser in my closet to "save room" after I rearrange all of the furniture in my room. The new area to hold my clothes will be a small night-stand-dresser that I already have. I'm unsure as to how many plants I will be allowed to grow in such a confined space. I was initially under the impression that growing two plants would be fine but I would need the advice of the City's expert panel to confirm that. Photographs (The following are thumbnails. Please click to see a larger view.) Please remember that the following views are all from the front. When finished, I intend on having access through the back by a hinged door. Also, the drawer sliders and all other obstacles will be removed! Side picture with sizes labeled. Front view with drawers removed. Front view with drawers removed - looking down. Side view showing relative size. The Execution My initial budget was set at around two-hundred dollars. However, I am a firm believer in "quality with a price." Thus, I am willing to push that budget to three-hundred dollars if need be. I plan on having one fan, since the intake vent should draw air in due to negative pressure created by the exhaust. Again, that is subject to change based solely on what is learned in this thread. I haven't browsed any hardware, mainly because I'm not too sure exactly what I need. If anyone can comprise a list of essential tools, I would be deeply appreciative. Now, I've done some reading and research in the field for the last month or so. My friend even let me borrow his copy of the "Grower's Bible." You can only do so much reading, in the end it's experience that separates the skunk from the shwag, the harvest from the death. So, with that in mind, I stand now before the City with open arms. Please, if you have any input on the matter; if you've been SoG growing for the past twenty years; if you've grown one plant in a PC case; if you have the most elaborate hydro setup known to man; if you haven't grown, but rather have anything to offer, please lend me your aid!
First off you gotta a good sized cab there to work with, as you mentioned i work with a PC case at the moment not really to hide it from anyone but just because i wanted to see how possible it was for myself, I have designed a few ops for friends in the past that have worked well. After all that being said, the first thing i noticed when i looked at the dresser is you still have those wheel hinges for the droors"sp?lol" to slide you can easily put a screen on there for SCROG grow since that seems like it would work the best with your space or possibly LST, but i would suggest hanging a screen from the hinge, Also what type of light are you looking for, CFL or HID. If you are looking to make a CFL grow which would be manageable within your price range just go to Home Depot and buy a few adapters etc and bulbs and youll be on your way. I can post pictures of how I rigged my CFL's up if you would like its quite simple. Ill have my camera in like 3 hours since my girlfriend always steals it lol. Fans - also depending on your type of light source. if you choose to get a HID light "hps/mh" in my humble opinion with that space you should really get an intake and an exhaust fan. IF you decide to use CFL you could possibly just use one fan with a high throughput like you said to create a suction type effect. and if you dont know how to use fans there is a great guide on the forums on how to wire a PC/Axial Fan to a 12v dc adapter which is quite simple to follow. http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-roo...w-connect-your-pc-axial-fans-12v-adapter.html Also you will need PH scale, something to check temp and humidity, and knowledge on nutes and soil.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate the swift reply! I do, however, have a few questions for you. I'm going to be honest, I've seen it tossed around but I'm not entirely sure what a "SCROG" or "LST" grow are. Furthermore, I really don't know how to decide on the type of lighting because I am unsure of the benefits of each. If you could please elaborate on this, I would be very grateful!
sure man, LST is Low Stress Training basically after you get 4 sets of leaves or so you should be able to start lightly bending the stem of the plant to almost a 90 degree angle and train the branches to all be pretty visible to the light, and the best part of this with small grows CFL's work wonders because they don't produce THAT much heat so you could literally keep the lights in the canopy or fill in spots that are not getting enough light with an extra cfl. Scrog = Screen of Green basically you make some type of screen as i said for you to do and put it on one of the rail hinges over your plants so they grow only to that one height so you have more of an even canopy with different budsites. both of them are pretty efficient for your type of set up but LST w/ CFL lights will really be pretty sweet. EDIT* O ya and the reason both of these methods are good are because of the increases of budsites "kolas" that are able to get a good amount of lighting for increased yield.
Ah, I see. So, an "LST" grow with CFL lighting is a bit more forgiving because it allows the user to fill in holes overseen in the setup process? Very good advice indeed, friend! Thanks a whole bunch! However, folks, I'm still wading in unknown water. Any and all advice is appreciated! Keep the ideas flowing!
do you have any idea on what kind of nutes, medium, etc you are going. do you have any genetics in mind or just going to use bagseed?
I actually began this thread with the prospect that members would let me know the hardware, gardening tools, and accessories that have worked for them in the past and that would accommodate the room in my "box." As for your second question, I would like to order seeds online. However, it seems as if it would be rather risky with the law having seeds shipped through our borders. Am I right in implying this, or is there really no risk with discreet packaging?
While I do appreciate all of the feedback thus far, I do feel that I was rather vague in my first post. What I am looking for, is some advice as far what setup to use specifically. What to buy, where to place, so on and so forth.
IF customs were to find out that there were weed seeds in your package, all they will do is confiscate it and send you a notification letter. You haven't technically done anything illegal. They don't know beyond a reasonable doubt that you ordered those seeds, so they can't do anything about it. Most seed companies will work with you to make it right if your package gets confiscated.
I'm in pretty much the same situation as yourself. Starting my first grow in mid-november. I hope you get a grow journal started alongside me. I've also done my research by visiting these forums and reading the grow bible + several guides. i'm not going to dish out any advice, since i haven't even grown yet, . However, I wouldn't recommend glueing the drawers to your grow box. How will you tend to it? Maybe just throw your dresser in you closet and face it against the wall so it faces backwards. Just turn your dresser grow box around when you want to water,fert,smell etc.,
Well first and foremost since this is a stealth grow what are your plans for keeping the smell to a minimum? The whole thing is going to reek. That being said my advice is a decent sized fan with a carbon scrubber. With the limited space i would say no more than 2 plants depending on how long you veg. for. I would say 1 month would be sufficient. Also i only have experience with LST which would work great, just keep tying the plant down. Now for supplies you will need like i said a fan for exhaust with carbon scrubber. The biggest CFL's you can get and as many as you can afford. Cool white for vegging and warm light for flowering. On my plant i used Fox Farms Grow Big and Big Bloom, worked great. Now for soil that is from home depot or the like will be fine, NO Miracle Grow though. For pots i would use no smaller than 3 gal. pots. As for seeds i purchased mine from dr.chronic and got the 4 package of grapefruit feminized seeds, no problems with shipping what so ever. any specific questions feel free to ask i will do the best i can. good luck and have fun.
Im still learning and absorbing info as well as you, you seem to have the same setup in mind as i do, i'll be growing in an apartment, so mine is going to be very similar (a dresser or armoire). Im reading this post and takin notes and such, so thanks for the info lol. GL with your setup man.
Go to marijuana-seeds.nl for your seeds they send it in a cd case underneath the black part of the cd. and it doesnt say their company name either.