600-Watt Custom-Built ScroG Cabinet

Here's a pic of one of my 600-watt ScroG cabinets. Built out of 1/4" oak and 1x2s and 2x4s, stained on the outside, painted flat white inside.

Light: 600 watt, good bulb, air-cooled reflector
Ballast: Lumatek, digital, 120V
Fan: Eco-Plus 440 CFM 6" centrifugal
Filter: Small 6" carbon filter
Air intake: Two Doran 8"x8" darkroom louvers
Plants: 4 AK-48 (left two and right two) and 2 Nirvana Hindu Kush (middle)
Progress: Day 31 flowering
Grow medium: Soil (Fox Farm Ocean Forest)
Nutes: Fox Farm's 3 primary nutes, plus some molasses

I put casters on the bottom when I built it, so it can be moved somewhat. It's 4' wide and 3' deep (12 square feet, seems ideal for a 600-watt bulb), so it's actually too large to leave the room, but at least it's movable within the room.

Total cost of the materials was probably around $1500, including the equipment, lumber, paint, stain, brushes, screen, screws, staples, yada yada yada. I looked around and found some commercial cabinets that were similar, but none that had 12 square feet for any reasonable price, so if you want something done right, sometimes you just have to do it yourself!

Yield varies depending on the strain (Hindu Kush = big producer) and how long I veg the plants once they're in their final large-size pots, but generally the yield is between 12 and 16 ounces of buds plus enough budlets and trim and leaf to make enough canna-oil for 16 pans of brownies.

I also have some New York City Diesel (3 plants, good stuff!) growing in a 400-watt ScroG cabinet, and another six-plant AK-48/Hindu Kush variety pack in another 600-watt cabinet that's almost exactly identical to the one pictured here, for a total of 15 plants flowering at any one time. Plus there are about 40 vegging plants of various types in a custom-built veg cabinet that I built to look like a very large dresser. (Hindu Kush, AK-48, NYC Diesel, and some young unsexed Papaya's.)

I use a 30-site EZ-Cloner for my cloning needs. I need to build a drying box but I'm gonna wait for cooler weather to do that. I already have a spare 4" centrifugal fan and carbon filter, so it won't cost much to build a drying box. (I'm currently using a closet, some window screens, and a box fan -cheapomatic!)

Now I'm gonna go fire up a bowl, eat 2 canna-brownies, and veg myself!

Wow, that is better than the pre made one for sure! Very nice!

That is amazing.
Im looking into a smaller grow.
Using same general idea as yours just alot smaller.
Only looking for about 4 plants a grow.

Looks really stealthy also.

I used a HydroHut with a 1k light for about a year, but the cats sharpened their claws all over it, and it became clear that it just wasn't going to last, so that inspired me (forced me) to replace the HydroHut and 1k light with two of these 600-watt boxes. But two of these is 24 square feet, compared to 16 square feet for a HydroHut, so while I added 200 watts of electricity usage (20 percent increase from 1000 watts), I also at the same time added 50 percent more grow space, so that seemed like an excellent tradeoff (and it has been).

As for stealthy, yeah, not too shabby! I had a cable guy come in to do some work. First, he walked by the two 600-watt cabinets, didn't pay any attention at all (I did turn the fans all off). Then he walked by the 400-watt box, probably was within about 18 inches of three NYC Diesel plants, never had a clue. Then he did his work, right next to the fake dresser veg cabinet containing a few dozen smaller plants. And then he left, none the wiser. My main worry was the smell, but I brought in several of my bonsai plants/trees, so if he smelled anything, he probably thought it was them.

Hah, got so stoned a bit ago that I forgot I was cooking up a big batch of canna-oil (96 ounces, enough for 24 pans of kickass brownies), so I can't go veg out until it cools down and I can strain it into some bottles. Lol, I work hard to be really stoned a lot!

very very nice...good luck and peace

Tutorial FTW!

no one ever posts comments here. You do a great job, this site is pretty small so that is cool though. You should do a how to. You inspired me. Like do nice custom grow cabinets. Like maple wood and marble! Ha. Baller style.

don't you think you could get those lights a lot closer using the a/c hood and all?

very nice and clean, great looking box

This box is awesome. If I didnt already have a closet, I would build something like this!

good stuff dude ya put mine to shame?check it out.........

+rep gives me an idea for a new thread

also a very nice box +rep

Yep, I've thought about moving the lights up/down, but that'd add length to the ducting and would lower the efficiency of the ventilation, which during the summer is definitely more of a problem than light. The reflector is at just the right height to cover the whole 12 square feet, even if there's some 6 or 9 inch buds along the edges. Since the plants never seem like they're needing light, I figured, why screw with it if it's all working well. (Okay, plus I'm lazy. Heh.) I mean, yields are pretty decent, approaching a pound dried, depending on strain, with Hindu Kush being my best yielder. Not 1 gram/watt, but at least it's on the way to the ballpark.

I like how compact your box is, Davii, looks more professionally carpentered too. I freely admit I'm no carpenter; all I have is some power tools so some of my cuts and stuff aren't as precise as they could have been. Still, it's an upgrade from a HydroHut, which is what I needed, thanks to my sharp-clawed cats.

Thanks for the compliments!

hey ...awesome box man ..im setting up something similar ...how quiet would you say that Eco plus inline fan is? ...I need something decently quiet so its either a Can-Fan or this eco-plus

Well if your fan isn't enough to drop the light that's a shame... You have a great setup there, I love it, but if you're pulling a pound now dropping that light would make you kick ass even more and you know it.

How tall can your plant grow in that cabinet and would you consider building one for a small fee

check out my new box i just finished

instead of lowering the lights why not raise the plants? never mind old thread