mental paint
Active Member
I'm about to get started building my first grow cabinet. I'm a relative noob, but not completely so - e.g. I've helped a friend/housemate with several soil grows under HPS in a 3x3 closet. My own project has to be a bit more stealth, and also portable because I'll be moving in about 4 months. Partly for stealth and partly because I'll be moving soon, I've decided to grow some Lowryder 2 in a small cabinet.
Cabinet
I was thinking of building the box out of an IKEA dresser. The outside dimensions of the dresser are 31.5W x 18.5D x 48H (inches), so there should be a bit more than 3.5 square feet of floor space inside the cab, with about 46" inches of useable vertical space. Any idea how many Lowryders would fit in there? Or other strains that could be grown comfortably in a space of this size?
One reason I like the IKEA dresser is that it would be relatively easy to convert the drawer-fronts into a false door - should end up looking pretty inconspicuous if done right. Also, there's the possibility of pairing the dresser with the matching TV cabinet in the future (TV cab is about 3'W x 2'D x 5'H). After getting some more experience growing, the master plan is to convert the dresser into a mother/clone/veg chamber plus drying cabinet, and use the TV cabinet as a flowering chamber. So this ultimate purpose might influence the way I decide to do the current setup for the Lowryders (e.g. it would be better to buy equipment that I can keep using once I've got both chambers going).
Lights
OK, my big questions are about lighting/ventilation. Obviously I want as much light as possible for my plants, but how much wattage can I realistically cram into this relatively small box?
I was thinking that a single 250w HPS would put out a nice amount of light for the space, but I'm worried that the heat would be too much. I could cool the light with forced air if necessary (cooltube etc), but in such a small space it seems like a good idea to do as little ducting as possible, to save room for plants, odor filter, etc. This is especially true if I want to grow anything taller than Lowryders. Also, the more fans, the louder the cab. But if 250w HPS is doable in a cab of this size without insane cooling methods, then that would be great!
T5s (4 x 23w fixture) or CFLs (2 x 125w) are also an option, but I'm afraid that the fluoros wouldn't put out enough light to really stimulate nice bud growth (which is the whole point of the project, after all). At least they would be nice for clone/veg when I upgrade to a bigger flowering chamber some day.
The other option I've considered was a combo light, for example the 150w HPS / 4 x 23w T5 combo light by Spectra Max. Any idea how much heat these lights would put out compared to a 250 HPS? And would this make a decent clone/veg setup if I popped in a MH conversion bulb? The combo light seems ideal if the heat would be manageable.
Ventilation
At a minimum, I plan to buy a nice inline or squirrel cage fan, and either buy a carbon filter or make my own. I may need to do more depending on what I decide about the lights.
Question: how many CFM does my fan need to move in order to properly ventilate a space of this size? I did some calculations, and it seems like I'd only need to move a very small amount of air to change it out the cab every few minutes. But most of the fans I've looked move upwards of 100CFM. I'm afraid that if the fan is too powerful it will suck all the moisture out of the box. But then again, maybe I'd need to move a lot of air in order to cool down the lights?
Like I said, the vent/light balance is the aspect I'm most unsure about.
Grow Method
This isn't really relevant to the cabinet itself, but I thought I'd mention that I'm leaning toward using Hempy buckets to grow the Lowryders. Hempies seem to be a nice compromise between the ease and familiarity of soil, and advantages of hydro. I'm thinking it would be the first step toward transitioning to hydro techniques, which is how I'd ultimately like to end up growing. Hempies are also low cost, which is a bonus.
Budget
Money is not really an obstacle, though obviously cheaper is better. But I'm willing to pay a little extra to optimize this box - it will end up saving me in the long run if I can successfully grow an ounce or two every couple of months. Plus, self-sufficiency is priceless!
Anyway, I was hoping to get some advice on this plan from somebody with more experience before I start ordering up all the gear. Advice on an aspect of the project would be much appreciated!
Cabinet
I was thinking of building the box out of an IKEA dresser. The outside dimensions of the dresser are 31.5W x 18.5D x 48H (inches), so there should be a bit more than 3.5 square feet of floor space inside the cab, with about 46" inches of useable vertical space. Any idea how many Lowryders would fit in there? Or other strains that could be grown comfortably in a space of this size?
One reason I like the IKEA dresser is that it would be relatively easy to convert the drawer-fronts into a false door - should end up looking pretty inconspicuous if done right. Also, there's the possibility of pairing the dresser with the matching TV cabinet in the future (TV cab is about 3'W x 2'D x 5'H). After getting some more experience growing, the master plan is to convert the dresser into a mother/clone/veg chamber plus drying cabinet, and use the TV cabinet as a flowering chamber. So this ultimate purpose might influence the way I decide to do the current setup for the Lowryders (e.g. it would be better to buy equipment that I can keep using once I've got both chambers going).
Lights
OK, my big questions are about lighting/ventilation. Obviously I want as much light as possible for my plants, but how much wattage can I realistically cram into this relatively small box?
I was thinking that a single 250w HPS would put out a nice amount of light for the space, but I'm worried that the heat would be too much. I could cool the light with forced air if necessary (cooltube etc), but in such a small space it seems like a good idea to do as little ducting as possible, to save room for plants, odor filter, etc. This is especially true if I want to grow anything taller than Lowryders. Also, the more fans, the louder the cab. But if 250w HPS is doable in a cab of this size without insane cooling methods, then that would be great!
T5s (4 x 23w fixture) or CFLs (2 x 125w) are also an option, but I'm afraid that the fluoros wouldn't put out enough light to really stimulate nice bud growth (which is the whole point of the project, after all). At least they would be nice for clone/veg when I upgrade to a bigger flowering chamber some day.
The other option I've considered was a combo light, for example the 150w HPS / 4 x 23w T5 combo light by Spectra Max. Any idea how much heat these lights would put out compared to a 250 HPS? And would this make a decent clone/veg setup if I popped in a MH conversion bulb? The combo light seems ideal if the heat would be manageable.
Ventilation
At a minimum, I plan to buy a nice inline or squirrel cage fan, and either buy a carbon filter or make my own. I may need to do more depending on what I decide about the lights.
Question: how many CFM does my fan need to move in order to properly ventilate a space of this size? I did some calculations, and it seems like I'd only need to move a very small amount of air to change it out the cab every few minutes. But most of the fans I've looked move upwards of 100CFM. I'm afraid that if the fan is too powerful it will suck all the moisture out of the box. But then again, maybe I'd need to move a lot of air in order to cool down the lights?
Like I said, the vent/light balance is the aspect I'm most unsure about.
Grow Method
This isn't really relevant to the cabinet itself, but I thought I'd mention that I'm leaning toward using Hempy buckets to grow the Lowryders. Hempies seem to be a nice compromise between the ease and familiarity of soil, and advantages of hydro. I'm thinking it would be the first step toward transitioning to hydro techniques, which is how I'd ultimately like to end up growing. Hempies are also low cost, which is a bonus.
Budget
Money is not really an obstacle, though obviously cheaper is better. But I'm willing to pay a little extra to optimize this box - it will end up saving me in the long run if I can successfully grow an ounce or two every couple of months. Plus, self-sufficiency is priceless!
Anyway, I was hoping to get some advice on this plan from somebody with more experience before I start ordering up all the gear. Advice on an aspect of the project would be much appreciated!
