New steath grow... mantle construction - Pic

[Beastman420]

Waass gooodd RIU. So I'm finally started to build my grow mantle or cabinet, whatever you would like to call it. I am going to an HTG store in a few days and just want to make sure I am not forgetting anything.

Heres the mantle I'm putting together

The grow space is - 28'' W, 37'' H, 12'' D

I'm planning on using a 150 HPS from HTG and POSSIBLY a few cfls, undecided as its my first grow and I cbf to hook them up.

As the 150 HPS put out some amount of heat I'm going to need ventilation. I figure I can just put some computer fans in there, but I was curious if placement matters. I'll have a fan inside blowing at the light but what else should I put on the back. An intake and an outake I'm guessing? Does it matter where I put them? I figured intake on the bottom and outtake on the top cause heat rises?

I will be topping and doing some LST but probably only a week of vegging max.

Someone suggested I could grow about 3 plants and put them all in one big pot that fills up almost all the floor space, is the appropriate. I read yesterday that you should have one seed per pot.

Some ideas for a back door also please, the picture is taken from the back, I sealed the front and stained it.

More pics coming saturday or sunday

Thanks

 

[newb101]

i would put all 3 in different either 1 gallon but 3 gallon pots would be better. veg for at least 3 weeks then flip the switch. paint the cab white on the inside try and get a aircoold system if possible. itll be nice and stealthy

 

[Beastman420]

i would put all 3 in different either 1 gallon but 3 gallon pots would be better. veg for at least 3 weeks then flip the switch. paint the cab white on the inside try and get a aircoold system if possible. itll be nice and stealthy

I think the guy and I were thinking one big pot would just maximize the space for roots, hence bigger plants right? I can only veg so long because that's all the space I have, I am planning on topping and LST, I think. I doubt I can afford and aircoold system like an inline fan, any other ideas for ventilation? If you WERE to use PC fans how would you do it?

Thanksss

@newb101 ill be up on your site soon too

 

[newb101]

well only thing is if you have a male in the group have fun pullin it out with all the other roots attached. 1 to 3 gallon pots veg for at least 2 wks lst is def a great way! get sum lil 3 inch massey desktop fans or sumkind of oscilating fan

 

[Beastman420]

well only thing is if you have a male in the group have fun pullin it out with all the other roots attached. 1 to 3 gallon pots veg for at least 2 wks lst is def a great way! get sum lil 3 inch massey desktop fans or sumkind of oscilating fan

Haha not to point stuff out, but did you even read what I wrote. I said I'm getting PC fans AND an oscilating fan, just not in those words. I'm just asking if placement of the PC fans matter, I want to put my holes in the back wall today and mount those in so I can get my door finished and stain the rest of the piece.

This is kind of what I was thinking. Green circles would be intake fans, the red circles would be outtake fans, and the white circles would just be holes (passive intake/outtake)
Would this be alright as far as placement, I figure this will definately keep it cool enough.

THanks

 

[ManiacBrainiac]

I would put the exhaust as close to the top as possible. The lower of the two exhaust I might move horizontal to the other hole. Eventually, your plants will stink up your area. If you have one strong exhaust, it will be easier to mount a carbon filter. If you have two exhaust ports, you will have to deal with both. Just something to think about.

 

[Beastman420]

I would put the exhaust as close to the top as possible. The lower of the two exhaust I might move horizontal to the other hole. Eventually, your plants will stink up your area. If you have one strong exhaust, it will be easier to mount a carbon filter. If you have two exhaust ports, you will have to deal with both. Just something to think about.

Hey thanks for the info. I think I get what your saying but you said exhaust twice that kind of confuses me. So your saying have one big outtake fan at the top, maybe one of the big 120 mm fans that are on top of the antec PC cases. And when you say move the other 'exhaust' horizontal of the first hole, thats where I'm confsued. For those you mean intake? Orrr...

Either way thanks, I was not really thinking about smell yet but one outtake makes sense as I will need the carbon filter later most likely.

 

[ManiacBrainiac]

I was just mentioning the two exhaust outlets if you were motivated to do it this way. My suggestion would be to have one exhaust fan--one of decent power to exhaust efficiently--rather than two. I would put it as high as you can or, better yet, put it on top. When you add ducting for some type of odor control system, having it on top will make it easier to deal with. I use an inexpensive bathroom type fan. It is controlled by a speed control so that I can change its speed so I can keep the warmth of the cabinet pretty carefully regulated. This being said, since I added the restrictive carbon filter system, I have to fun it at full power just to keep the heat down to 86 degrees when the lights are on. This is a bit warm, but the plant does not appear to be the worse for it. I will be adding an inline duct fan to increase the flow sometime in the near future. Not a real issue though.

 

[Beastman420]

I was just mentioning the two exhaust outlets if you were motivated to do it this way. My suggestion would be to have one exhaust fan--one of decent power to exhaust efficiently--rather than two. I would put it as high as you can or, better yet, put it on top. When you add ducting for some type of odor control system, having it on top will make it easier to deal with. I use an inexpensive bathroom type fan. It is controlled by a speed control so that I can change its speed so I can keep the warmth of the cabinet pretty carefully regulated. This being said, since I added the restrictive carbon filter system, I have to fun it at full power just to keep the heat down to 86 degrees when the lights are on. This is a bit warm, but the plant does not appear to be the worse for it. I will be adding an inline duct fan to increase the flow sometime in the near future. Not a real issue though.

I just ended up putting in 2 holes tonight, I'm going to have a fun near the top middle and then one lower in the middle.

But now I have a problem with my back door. There is a lip on the cabinet which makes it really weird and unable to open certain ways. Also the wood for the back door is quite thin, so I need to add something on to make the screws have an anchor. Any ideas? I was thinking velcro strips, but with 2 fans in the door I don't know if that will hold? So any ideas at ALL PLEASE HELP, HTG light and mylar and etc will come friday or saturday. I wanna get this base part of construction done so I can focus on that stuff when its here.

O and also, I'm going to be using these heavy dutyish 12V fans from radio shack, I'm sure people have seen them. No problems with these right?

Thanksss

 

[ManiacBrainiac]

You might try cabinet magnets to keep the door closed.

 

[GrizzlyAdams]

Herro!!

I had a buddy who did a wardrobe grow and only had about 4 feet of clearance. He experimented with placing a board across the base of the wardrobe then filling it with dirt. For drainage he set the floor up weird. 2 chunks of 2x4 with a piece of waferboard that has holes punched in it. When he watered he pushed a towel under the floor for a bit then pulled it back out. Worked real well. Its definitely not conventional, but if you want the most rootspace. . . it worked.

a 150w HPS is pleeenty of light for that area, you'll be happy with it, no doubt. Minimum wattage ratings you need 25 watts per square foot OR 3,000 lumens per square foot. Given you have a little better than 2 square feet, 75 watts of HPS per square foot is pretty beastly. I wouldn't worry about the CFLs.

Those fans should be ok? ManiacBrainiac is right, exhaust fans should be as close to the top as possible. If you need to reinforce that back part I'd knock out the backing and replace it with a sheet of waferboard OSB from home depot. Should be about $6 for a sheet if you get the thin stuff.

 

[GrizzlyAdams]

Oh, and for a door, no idea if this helps but take a glance!

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/247213-cheap-easy-zero-mod-closet.html