Mammoth 150w HPS Grow Box... Anyone ever use one?

[Dankafied Rob]

So I'm used to growing in whole bedrooms with 1000w lights, window ACs, ect. Unfortunately, I no longer have this luxury, so I was thinking about purchasing a Mammoth Grow Box. It comes with a 150w HPS light, one intake fan and 2 exhaust fans with snap on carbon filters. I wanted to know if any anyone had any experience with this grow box. It's kinda pricy ($469.99) but then again I've never been good at building shit, so I want something that's plug in play. Since I'm forking out serious cash I want to make sure I'm gettin the goods.

Has anyone ever used one of these grow boxes?

 

[TorturedSoul]

That is kind of pricey.

What is the area of that box? A 150-watt HPS might adequately cover three square feet or so, depending on the specific bulb, the efficiency and shape of the reflector, et cetera. It won't have a great deal of penetration - but it might suffice for such a box, depending on its height and the height of the plants.

For such a price, I would expect a light that has a REMOTE ballast. If you purchase it, it would be a Good Idea to alter it so that the ballast is outside of the grow box.

If exhaust fan(s) is (/are) adequate, you should not need an intake fan. A slight negative pressure inside the box is a good thing.

Member ChicagoJoe (I think that's who it is) posted a thread about a grow using a 150-watt HPS. I bet he didn't have anywhere near $469 in that grow counting everything including media and nutrients. And the results were impressive for the amount of illumination. Here is one of his threads:
150W HPS - 18 pics - 9 weeks flower

I think he yielded 94 grams of bud, an ounce of potential hash-making material, and ½ gram of finger-hash.

 

[Dankafied Rob]

SPECIFICATIONS:

Demensions: 36"Hx28"Wx20"D
Lighting system: Sun System 150 HPS Grow Light
Ventilation system: 2-5" exhaust fans rated at 96 cubic feet a minute each. 5" fan intake with register grill.
Odor control: 2- 2 layer "Snap on" Carbon filter
Ambient running air temperature: 82 degrees
Running noise level: 35 db
Growing medium: Soil
Yield: 125-350 grams <---- (Does this seem realistic?)


The ballast is inside the box.

 

[TorturedSoul]

So... 3.8(888888889, lol) square feet. It's not too big, but you might wish to add a small amount of supplemental lighting at some point - perhaps a few low-wattage CFLs with a ~6500K color temperature.

3' height - that doesn't leave you a lot of room after you deduct for the space taken up by the light, the containers, and the space between the top of the plants and the light. It might be doable.

The upper end of that yield estimate seems to be quite high considering that it would be more than two grams per watt. The lower end might be attainable. I'd advise you to not expect it on a first grow with the setup. (Hey, you can always be pleasantly surprised if you DO hit it, lol.) Maybe SoG with a fairly high plant density?

Whether you decide to get it or not, good luck. If you decide to create your own, you can purchase an all-in-one 150-watt HPS fixture (with bulb) for around $60 or so if you look around and could probably put together a basic 400-watt setup for around the cost of this box (or not a great deal more). And there are plenty of folks here who would be glad to offer advice.