Luxx's 2nd Grow Perpetual Closet and Cab Setup

[luxx]

Light and Vent Setup:
400w hps cooltube 6 inch
170 cfm blower 4inch
Active carbon filter/scrubber
Roll of 4 mil black plastic
2 4x8 ducting
6 to 4 inch reducer

Medium:
4 bags of Hyponex potting soil
2 bags of Vermiculite
(suggestions welcome, i used this mix last time with good results)

Seeds:
Acquired seeds from a friend of a friend after he gave me a tester of the strain, and i was blown away. He said it was called Mexican Gold, so thats what im gonna call it for lack of a better name. Since i have a small abundance of these seeds, ill see what happens.

Nutes:
either order some ff stuff, or go with nutes i can get at lowes, hd, kmart, walmart, ace hardware. Need suggestions.

Room:
hot water tank room (its electric, I have been monitoring the heat it puts off during heavy use, no change in inner room temp which is great. Its a odd shape though, 5x6 foot room, the tank is positioned in the rear right of the room. Also, the only room in the house that has a drop ceiling with access to the attic. That makes venting a breeze. (pun intended) Not sure where to pull fresh air from, but on the other side of the room is my bathroom- i was thinking i could make a duct size hole in the wall under the sink inside the sink-base cabinet.

The Plan:
grow enough to supply myself with top notch mj to be able to smoke 2-3grams a day. I am going to start with 12 plants, to hope to end up with 6 fems. take 5 (or 4 depending on my luck) and smoke , take the other and put it in my old cfl grow cab on 18/4 and take clones from it.

Other notes: I want this grow to be as undetectable as possible, meaning no light leaks, sounds, smells, electric, fire, so on and so forth.

I am by far not a seasoned grower, but i seem to have a green thumb, i am working on a budget, so don't expect much more money to be thrown out there.

Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome, i need input to make this grow work, seems like when your keeping a secret from people, it eats you to show off the hard work you've accomplished, and here i can do that. I have went back through my old journal countless times to learn from my mistakes, and to take the knowledge that i gained from it and apply it to the new grow.

I need to get my SD card reader and good batterys so i can post some build up progress pics, gonna be a crazy ride...

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

I am going to start with the mother/clone chamber, its my old cab, with a few upgrades......

Lets get to work...

weather stripping around the doors, filled some holes with sculpy....

exhaust...

intake...

fire hazard..

drilled holes to allow air flow..

hung lights, thermometer and fan...

kinda stealthy?...

need to seal it some more...

see..

how should i get the doors to latch and stay closed? hmm, springs and eye hooks? theres gotta be a better way..

well thats all the pics i have right now, should be more tonight!!!

tell me what u think of my poor man build!

 

[bongtastic]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

I was deliberating the same thing. Fortunately for my grow, I don't have to worry too much about the cab beeing 100% light proof as I am growing autoflowering strains. However, I AM concerned about the light leaking OUT of my closet when the lights are on.

I have a very similar fan setup as your and what I am doing is building light traps out of black poster board. Basically, you enclose the fan in a box with staggered walls to allow the air to flow, but no light in. I'll post a mock up or something.

As far as the cracks around the door... I have considered quite a few things, but I think what is going to work for me is to buy the fuzzy-sided velcro tape and tape this along the INSIDE of all the cracks. The fuzzy stuff will (hopefully) make a great barrier in the cracks for the light.

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

I was deliberating the same thing. Fortunately for my grow, I don't have to worry too much about the cab beeing 100% light proof as I am growing autoflowering strains. However, I AM concerned about the light leaking OUT of my closet when the lights are on.

im not really worried about the light getting to my flowering chamber since it is a few rooms away. I just want to be able to sit in my living room and not notice a sunrise of lights in my bedroom.

I have a very similar fan setup as your and what I am doing is building light traps out of black poster board. Basically, you enclose the fan in a box with staggered walls to allow the air to flow, but no light in. I'll post a mock up or something.

yes, post a mock up, i cant figure out what i am to do about the light coming out the fans, but since its firing at the opposite wall, im in no hurry.

As far as the cracks around the door... I have considered quite a few things, but I think what is going to work for me is to buy the fuzzy-sided velcro tape and tape this along the INSIDE of all the cracks. The fuzzy stuff will (hopefully) make a great barrier in the cracks for the light.

the weather stripping is doing the job, the cab is kinda worn, although its holding light better than my last grow. I might run another strip of it if it doesn't block the doors from closing.

speaking of doors closing, how do you have your cab doors? latched? springed? i dont want my cats to make me think i have bugs eating my plants again. lesson learned.

they told me the strain was "Mexican gold" so i did some research, there isn't a Mexican gold, but there is a Acapulco gold. From what i read, its a old-school strain, long flowering time. Anyone have experience with this strain?

thanks people, keep up the comments and suggestions!!!

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

well i might as well post my pics of the flowering room and its components as i install them.

my area, from the back looking out....

standing in the doorway...

looking at the floor now...

chain looks janky, but each one can hold my weight (160 lbs) for as long as i can hang on them. need a better way to hook the chain to the eyelets....

Going to put my 170cfm fan and carbon filter combo up here attached to the roof slope firing toward the front of the duplex. thinking of enclosing the fan in a insulated box to reduce fan noise in the attic, and in the grow room. I will replace drop ceiling tiles, cut a hole in one, and put glue a flange to it, then seal all the tiles with something, not sure about that yet. if theres a problem with the fan or filter, i would ruin the tiles taking them out with most applications like glue/screws, so velcro?

still waiting on the fan, filter, and panda film, so im at a standstill.





and....







update on the veg/clone cab, we have liftoff...

well i hate the soil now, its too chunky, bark and sticks and shit, when i transplant, i will get a better soil, and lots o perlite.

thats all for now, not as much interest in this journal than my last one, hope it picks up, happy growing 420mag.

 

[bongtastic]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

Lookin good luxx! How did you germinate and when did you plant?

Hopefully my babies will peak their heads up by tomorrow!

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

Lookin good luxx! How did you germinate and when did you plant?

Hopefully my babies will peak their heads up by tomorrow!

soaked them in tap water for 6 hours, then placed in a paper towel on a plate, covered by a smaller plate, and sat them on the central air vent. i germed them Friday the 5th.

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

not much traffic through here, time to try out gc maybe, idk, one i get the room built im sure my thread will get some looks.

ok. i am trying to set up the perpetual harvest, so far this is my plan

clones take 2 weeks to root, and another 2 weeks to get a foot tall or so.

2 one month old clones(a) go in flowering
wait 1 month
2 more clones(b)
wait 1 month
2 more clones(c)
wait 1 month
now clones (a) are 3 months old and ready for harvest
put 2 more clones in (d)
wait 1 month
harvest clone (b)
put 2 more clones in (e)
wait one month
harvest clone (c)
put 2 more clones in (f)

so on and so forth
with my setup will i get around 3 oz of dried product every month, thats 36 oz a year.
does this seem logical? or should i rethink my times and amounts of plants?

another option, 6 clones scrog - untill harvest - put 6 more 1 month old clones, this cycle will yeild 10oz every 2-3 months 40-60 oz per year.

so i like option b a little because of the even canopy, in option A it looks like after the 1st harvest, the 1 foot clones would stretch, since the light is on the older clones.

i need some input on this, my sleep will be effected until i figure this out.

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

SCROG! need screen suggestions!! i was thinking some cheap fencing ? what worked well for u guys

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

anyone watching? bump

 

[OldMedUser]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

High Luxx

Great, I get to get in on a journal from the start!

You're ideas for a perpetual harvest look pretty good as long as you can keep on schedule. If you know for sure the time to complete flowering you can adjust your timing so after the first couple of plants mature you harvest two more in two or three weeks and so on and so on . . .

Once you've got the room full you'll get max use of the light. If you can, start the plants flowering under veg lights for the first two weeks to limit stretch. I think you'll need a better light than the one on the water heater tho if you want decent buds. ;0)

Something I've planned to do for years but life keeps getting in the way. I'm about to sell off a lot of stuff I don't need as much as I need grow stuff. Wanna buy a pool table? lol

how should i get the doors to latch and stay closed? hmm, springs and eye hooks? theres gotta be a better way..

Those spring loaded roller type screen door latches would work good and not too pricey. You'll likely need six. One for each top and bottom inside corner of the doors and two on the inside edges where the shelf is to suck in the middle of the doors.

yes, post a mock up, i cant figure out what i am to do about the light coming out the fans, but since its firing at the opposite wall, im in no hurry.

I had the same problem and I got a roof vent from the building supply store. The kind for passive attic venting. If the screen is in the way just take it out, you don't really need it there. You could probably make a decent set of baffles with some cardboard and duct tape.

chain looks janky, but each one can hold my weight (160 lbs) for as long as i can hang on them. need a better way to hook the chain to the eyelets....

Get some heavy screw hooks and twist them into the bottoms of the joists. Pre-drill the holes with a 3/16 bit.

I'll be around. This looks like a fun grow! +Reps

C'ya L8r.

 

[bongtastic]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

Hey luxx, just curious... since we have such similar situations... why not go for an autoflowering strain?

LabRat to the show! If you're interested in a double encore, feel free to stop by my grow as well. Luxx and I planted on pretty much the same day!

Cheers luxx, I'll be lurking!

 

[bongtastic]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

yes, post a mock up, i cant figure out what i am to do about the light coming out the fans, but since its firing at the opposite wall, im in no hurry.

Sorry! I forgot to post it. here it is:

This would be a cut away of a box enclosing your fan with both ends open. Basically, you stagger walls inside of the box to allow windflow (the blue line) in but light (the yellow lines) out. Aren't I a wonderful artist?

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

High Luxx

Great, I get to get in on a journal from the start!

You're ideas for a perpetual harvest look pretty good as long as you can keep on schedule. If you know for sure the time to complete flowering you can adjust your timing so after the first couple of plants mature you harvest two more in two or three weeks and so on and so on . . .

Once you've got the room full you'll get max use of the light. If you can, start the plants flowering under veg lights for the first two weeks to limit stretch. I think you'll need a better light than the one on the water heater tho if you want decent buds. ;0)

Something I've planned to do for years but life keeps getting in the way. I'm about to sell off a lot of stuff I don't need as much as I need grow stuff. Wanna buy a pool table? lol



Those spring loaded roller type screen door latches would work good and not too pricey. You'll likely need six. One for each top and bottom inside corner of the doors and two on the inside edges where the shelf is to suck in the middle of the doors.



I had the same problem and I got a roof vent from the building supply store. The kind for passive attic venting. If the screen is in the way just take it out, you don't really need it there. You could probably make a decent set of baffles with some cardboard and duct tape.



Get some heavy screw hooks and twist them into the bottoms of the joists. Pre-drill the holes with a 3/16 bit.

I'll be around. This looks like a fun grow! +Reps

C'ya L8r.

Hey luxx, just curious... since we have such similar situations... why not go for an autoflowering strain?

LabRat to the show! If you're interested in a double encore, feel free to stop by my grow as well. Luxx and I planted on pretty much the same day!

Cheers luxx, I'll be lurking!

Sorry! I forgot to post it. here it is:

This would be a cut away of a box enclosing your fan with both ends open. Basically, you stagger walls inside of the box to allow windflow (the blue line) in but light (the yellow lines) out. Aren't I a wonderful artist?

@labrat, thanks for joining. ima be doing a scrog from 1m old clones, every 2m. Should be fun.

Lol at the lamp on the water tank, that belongs in the living room, but i didnt have a light in that closet.

Fill the pool table with soil and grow out the pockets. :X

Gotcha on the latches, get six, cheap.

about the vent covers, aye, i will see what lowes has this week.

about the hangers, if i am going to buy the screws, then i might as by the eye bolts

@ bongtastic, since i used most of my money on lights, fans, filter, soil, nutes, etc, etc., I didn't have any for seeds, but i did get some seeds from a friend of a friend, of a friends old-school grower and hippy dad. He only had one strain, and it was Acapulco Gold. Not too much info on it, i want it to be a surprise like my last grow. Next cycle i will get me some auto fems and mother them up. would the clones also be auto?

that fan box looks to do the job. will you lose any air pressure w that?




well, fan and filter , panda film and mylar, will be here 2morro. nutes, screen and maybe a soil mix the day after that.

so ive got 5 sprouts looking healthy and frosty, one or two will be my female i hope!

cant wait, about two weeks left till i need to have the room done. i could build it in a few hours, if i dont end up running back to the store 3 times. So i am going to take my time and get things right before i flip the lights on.

THanks everyone for the support, without it this process is a lot harder.

 

[bongtastic]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

The box shouldn't really effect airflow so long as it's big enough.

Unfortunately, it's not really possible to clone an autoflowering strain. Well.. I take that back... it's possible, but you would end up with a 1 inch bud on a 2 inch plant. Lol. Autoflowering strains don't rely on lighting cycle change to flower... they have a built in "timer" so to speak. If you try to clone one, it will be the same "age" as the mother and enter flowering at almost the same time.

So, the only practical way to grow autoflowers is from seed.

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

small pic update. very green seedlings, lotsa fur on em. should get 2 good mothers from this batch.

also, my stuff comes in today!! gonna have the flower room built this weekend!!

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

those cups still too see through? might need to duct tape em up. opinions?

 

[3lions]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

Love these pics. Great for comparing. Need to start taking my pics in the daylight

The 2 smaller ones, they were set off at the same time? Are same strain?

 

[luxx]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

The 2 smaller ones, they were set off at the same time? Are same strain?

yea, a few germed late, i used some questionable soil with big pieces of bark and compost. so the tap root might have had to make its way around some crap to seat in the soil.


so my stuff came, and went, cause they needed a sig. so ima go pick it up tomorrow, o well, ill have plenty of time.

so i am wondering if this strain is better than i thought, never seen what looks like resin or hairs coming from the seedlings. we will see, stay tuned.

 

[munchin FACE]

Re: luxx's 2nd grow perpetual closet and cab setup.

looking great so far!
similar to our set up, but urs is way more complicated.
consider me a follower of this grow lol

good luck