Dresser grow cab, thoughts? Ideas for improvements?

Hey I am new to growing and I'm 5 1/2 weeks into my first grow and I just thought I'd post some pics of my setup to see if there's any thing i could do differently to improve anything an just to see what you all think of my dresser cab! So it's a dresser from ikea that's 4 feet tall 2.5 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep an I made the front into a door with hinges and 3 locks to hold it closed tight and to keep people out. Inside I have a 4" axial fan pushing I think it's 95-120 cfm for an exhaust at the top as well as 4 2.5" holes on the bottom for intake. I have my 150 watt hps light rigged up to 2 50cfm computer fans that exhaust the heat vents into a Y fitting i attached to the exhaust fan and the back side of the Y is sucking air from the cab its self. On the outside on the back I have a 4" carbon filter for smell. 2 6" clip on fans for air movement as well as a 4" to blow on the light to help with heat. Temps average 80F at its hottest at around 62 at its coldest. Humidity lingers around 30-35%. Lights are 14" away from plant tops. Anything else you want to know or if I missed something let me know! Thanks!

If its not broke, don't fix it.
You say you're 5 1/2 weeks into your grow, are the plants doing OK?
If so, then run with it, bro!

nice box! I'd stand it upright instead of laying it on its side though jk...

seriously...pretty sweet

The only thing I can really nitpick at is the size of your drainage dish, which could be slightly larger to compensate for the runoff.

Lol @ growbydesign ya for some reason when i post pics they always get posted at 90 degree angles lol but thanks I'm pretty happy with it so far and @ shaded when I water I have a bigger tray I put them in until most of the runoff is drained then I put them back into those smaller ones and check on them after like an hour to see if I need to empty them as well. This is kind of off topic but I have a question about my light, am I able to put a MH bulb into the hps light fixture? I want to use it for veg next time around as well as for flowering...is this a doable thing?

Lazyeyes12345 said:

Lol @ growbydesign ya for some reason when i post pics they always get posted at 90 degree angles lol but thanks I'm pretty happy with it so far and @ shaded when I water I have a bigger tray I put them in until most of the runoff is drained then I put them back into those smaller ones and check on them after like an hour to see if I need to empty them as well. This is kind of off topic but I have a question about my light, am I able to put a MH bulb into the hps light fixture? I want to use it for veg next time around as well as for flowering...is this a doable thing?

Click to expand...

I don't believe you can run MH in the mech ballast fixtures unless its for a MH bulb. I only say this cus I still have my little dresser bud box I built around a 150w HPS mech ballast light similar to yours [though yours is much better ] and I could not run MH in mine.

My Apollo digital ballasts are MH/HPS capable though...

Oh I see...maybe ill look into getting one of those appolo ballasts and piecing together a nice Mh/hps fixture for my next grow. In thinkin about doin up my old fridge as a grow box lol I think that would be sick, veg on top in the freezer and flower down below. Plus it'll look/sound like a fridge still so that's a stealthy bonus

Theres a few different mfg's...no idea which is better. A couple nice things about them is they are a corded ballast, separate from the light fixture...mine has a 15' cord and they run a lot cooler as well so you don't have that additional heat in the grow box with the light.

They're also a variable ballast. My 400w dials down to either 250w or 150w and my 1000w dials down to 600w and 400w....with the appropriate bulb, so it'll grow with ya

That sounds ideal! I'm definately going to go that route for my next grow, I want to see if I can get more than 150 watts in there without heat issues. What did you pay for the 400 watt ballast?

35% humidity is pretty low. Its optional, but you will see a big difference doing it this way
Veg..60-70
Flower..40-60

Give that a try once Have a good one.

Here is the link to the kit I'm using...select your desired wattage & hood...

Originally I got the 400w cooltube kit w/ just the simple reflector it comes with...kit was $190 delivered last fall including the add-on 6" fan

I just upgraded to the 1000w kit w/ the air-cooled hood in Feb...was $225 delivered w/o the add-on 6" fan...

Kinda doubt you'll fit any of the air-cooled hoods inside though...if ya scroll down to the bottom you can see reflector dimensions.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Apollo-400w-600w-1000w-Watt-HPS-MH-Grow-Light-System-Set-Kit-Digital-Ballast-/180933709019

Thanks grow by design, appreciate it! Looks like quality stuff. And blue dream truuuust me I tried everything I can to raise the RH lol, believe it or not 44% is the highest I managed to get it and that was right after I watered and left a damp towel hanging in there. I'd love to get it higher but I have no room for a humidifier and I don't like the idea of leaving damp towels hanging around, seems dirty to me. Any idea how ican raise it?