Critique my grow box! W/Pics! I need ideas!!!

Hey everyone! I am in the process of finishing my stealth grow box, and I wanted to show you all where it's at currently. I need some help deciding a few things. I want to grow AT MOST 2 plants via ScroG.

I am trying to keep my expenditures low, so I need some lower cost options without sacrificing too much quality. Here's what I started with:



The cabinets exterior dimensions are 25w x 17d x 36h. Interior dimensions are 24w x 13d x 34h after installation of reflective material. I am sitting at about 6.13 Cu. Ft. of space.

Here's what she looks like now:



I painstakingly decked it out with reflectix, but now I'm having difficulty deciding on components, and also determining where these components will go.

I have two intakes @ 3.5" in diameter:





I also have a tentative exhaust port cut out of the plastic here:



I'm not sure if I want it there or not...

I'm not sure if I can fit a fan and filter in the cab, so I am thinking that I will keep them outside. As far as a fan goes, I was going to use a PC fan, but then I hear that they stick with static pressure, so I thought I could go with something like this for <$25:



At 80 CFM, it should exchange my cabinets air around 13 times per minute. Even with a carbon filter on it, I shouldn't have too detrimental an effect on airflow. 4" would fit a phresh filter nicely.

Lighting is the next hard issue. I have been to Home Depot, Lowes, and Walmart at least 5 times each this week looking for an adequate light source for relatively cheap.

I was going to build my own fixture using lamp holders, wire, and CFL's, but I seem to be getting carried away wanting to stuff as many CFL's in this thing as possible.



This frame I build is perfectly sized and can accomodate up to 11 23w CFL's, or 8-9 42w CFL's, potentially netting me up to 19000 lumens. The price, however, seems pretty high. In total, the bulbs will set me back anywhere from 50-75 dollars. The lamp holders were $4 a piece, and the wire, wood, y-adapters, and cord set me back another $20.

So, $100 for this CFL lighting fixture. ~175-250 watts.

But, how about this option @ $69.75?



Do you see me having issues cooling this thing in this small a space? How much extra do you see me spending trying to cool this?

How about a DIY HPS cooltube with a standard magnetic ballast? It would be HPS ONLY, but at least it would be HID.





Sorry for the super long post, but I really need some direction. I feel like I have the basics down. I just need some fine tuning and some expert opinion.

Thank you so much for reading this!

Your dimensions are about the same as mine(in my sig)
you won't need that much cfls I used 6 14w cfls for veg and got 6 23w with 2 14w for flower. I use one 102cfm 4mm fan with a custom carbon filter. I can only help with what I know and since its about the same dimensions....
take it or leave it

bb61 said:

Your dimensions are about the same as mine(in my sig)
you won't need that much cfls I used 6 14w cfls for veg and got 6 23w with 2 14w for flower. I use one 102cfm 4mm fan with a custom carbon filter. I can only help with what I know and since its about the same dimensions....
take it or leave it

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I will certainly take it! It helps to know that you have roughly the same dimensions. You have given me a better idea of how many CFL's to expect to use. Thank you for your feedback! I can easily do 6 23w. I can only find 5000k veg bulbs locally. Will those do?

Thanks again.

I used 5000k

Looks really nice, like reallllyyy nice. My only recomendation is to figure out your ventilation. CFLs are a fucknig pain in the ass and will make that box hot as fuck. Go with like a 4 bulb x 2' T5H0. They donbt cause heat and are easy to get close to the plants. Use some sort of hook to screw upside down into the top and then hang the T5's on a ratchet or something to lower them. Use that 2x4 frame with some chicken wire and make a scrog

BBbubblegum said:

Looks really nice, like reallllyyy nice. My only recomendation is to figure out your ventilation. CFLs are a fucknig pain in the ass and will make that box hot as fuck. Go with like a 4 bulb x 2' T5H0. They donbt cause heat and are easy to get close to the plants. Use some sort of hook to screw upside down into the top and then hang the T5's on a ratchet or something to lower them. Use that 2x4 frame with some chicken wire and make a scrog

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Thanks! I took my time on it to make sure it would be a nice home for some plants. I almost have ventilation nailed down. I just have to decide how many CFM's to go with, and whether or not this duct fan will be adequate or not.

I really would like to find a 4 bulb 2 foot T5 that will fit. I'll have to do some more digging because the one at HTGSupply is soo deep @ 14.75". I ended up buying some cheap adjustable hangars from Amazon. That frame would definitely work for scrog, I never thought of that!

Thanks for the great ideas and feedback!

I don't think CFLs will over heat your box. I would just take in consideration how many lights of each type you can fit in the box for the max lumens and at what cost. I mean if you just want to get your feet wet I would go with CFLs. Check Walmart I got 3x 1600 lumen 6500k for like 9 bucks. I'm pretty sure I saw 6 packs for slightly more and in 2700k. And you don't have to worry about burning yourself or the plant with the cfl. CFLs will definitely grow the bud and well if your do it right. So don't worry about other lighting methods producing "far superior" bud.

sppoc.

Sppoc said:

I don't think CFLs will over heat your box. I would just take in consideration how many lights of each type you can fit in the box for the max lumens and at what cost. I mean if you just want to get your feet wet I would go with CFLs. Check Walmart I got 3x 1600 lumen 6500k for like 9 bucks. I'm pretty sure I saw 6 packs for slightly more and in 2700k. And you don't have to worry about burning yourself or the plant with the cfl. CFLs will definitely grow the bud and well if your do it right. So don't worry about other lighting methods producing "far superior" bud.

sppoc.

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As of right now, I am contemplating CFL's and T5's. I had my lumen count up to 19000 with a certain configuration of CFL bulbs. The only problem is that it gets pricey with 6 x 42 watters and 1 x 65 watter. I am under the impression that THIS IS OVERKILL for a micro CFL grow. Sometimes my mind gets away with itself. Sometimes I also have a brand loyalty issue where I want all my bulbs to be the same brand. It's fucking stupid, but I OCD a lot.

I will keep looking around. I'm not worried about superior lighting or else I'd be a staunch HID advocate. I just need to be able to produce my own buds and not rely on anyone else. It's dry out here, so this is my only option.

Thanks for the feedback.

Have a pc can blow across the lights and you'll be okay. Just doing that dropped the temp in my box almost 10degrees(f)

I have that same light be prepared to make a cooltube or strap a PC fan to the hood.

I'm pretty much a noob, but from everything I've read, you can't really have too much light. You can get too much heat, but I don't think there's really a such thing as overkill when it comes to actual light. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

There is such thing as giving a plant 'too much', it's just difficult.

Ok, I've decided to tone down the lighting just a little bit. I'm going with 6 42w, giving me a total wattage of 252. Adequate enough, eh? I also have room to add a couple more if I really wanted to. Anyone think I need more than that?

Anyway, I have another idea (thanks bb61)!

I am not completely decided on where to put my exhaust. I could put it in the top back, which is probably customary, but I would have a visible carbon filter sticking out the back. Not a big deal if I stack stuff on top of the cab.

But, speaking of stacking things on the cab, what if I glued a Rubbermaid tote to the top? I could cut a hole in the bottom of the tote and house my fan and filter in it. That way, my carbon filter would not be visible and it would look like I had personal stuff in the tote on top. I could label it something obscure, and I could even fill it with items.

Which way should I do this?

Why not instead of a rubbermaid, get another one of those cabinets and stack it on top? It looks kind of silly how it is, but I mean that doesn't really matter if that's all you have.

Tillinah said:

Why not instead of a rubbermaid, get another one of those cabinets and stack it on top? It looks kind of silly how it is, but I mean that doesn't really matter if that's all you have.

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It does look silly when looked at in my finished basement, but it's final resting place will be in my unfinished area, basically storage. I thought this setup would blend right in.

I will see what kind of cabinets they have at Home Depot for stacking. That's a pretty good idea.

Thanks!

Gravity Man said:

It does look silly when looked at in my finished basement, but it's final resting place will be in my unfinished area, basically storage. I thought this setup would blend right in.

I will see what kind of cabinets they have at Home Depot for stacking. That's a pretty good idea.

Thanks!

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That makes more sense being in an unfinished area. I'm not sure how stealthy you are going but their will still be the sound of fans and the smallest of light leak that may give it away at times.
If you aren't too concerned then just use the Rubbermaid, I just wasn't sure how stealth you are trying to go. If you exhaust into the Rubbermaid are you just going to have holes in the back of it for the hot air to go out?

Yeah, holes in the back, and a hidden shelving system inside. If opened, it would have heavy items in it, like books, that cover the filter from the top. Ducting would route the air backward.

The books would explain why the tote couldn't be lifted initially. Overboard, lmao.

I could also use a cardboard box.

Personally I wouldn't use anything that people could accidentally pick up and perhaps destroy my work.

Gravity Man said:

If opened, it would have heavy items in it, like books..
The books would explain why the tote couldn't be lifted initially.

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Haha you're the best, that's too good hahaha.
lmao.