Stealth Cabinet Build-Input Requested

[Jamn49]

I have been lurking for a bit sponging info and boy this is a great site for that. Way too many people have indirectly helped me already to list, so thank you to all!! Wife and I are Med mj patients looking to offset cost of medicine and possibly be vendor to local dispensary to further offset costs.

Have grown a few plants outside from seed with a little luck, but have decided to look into a stealth cabinet grow for 7-10 plants. I like the design of the Supercloset deluxe, but from what I see heat and ventilation are issues. I will be putting this in my garage in So. Cal so temps can get high. If necessary, I will get a portable A/C to cool during the high heat times and run lights at night. The SC deluxe is also way more than I want to spend as I am handy with tools and believe I can improve the design for less $$.

The Cabinet is a monster 78x48x24 as seen here:Purchase Storage Cabinet, Storage Cabinets, Office Storage Cabinet, Cabinet Storage, Metal Storage Cabinets At Globalindustrial.Com I plan on painting it with flat white rubber paint so cleaning is easy. May put Mylar in high reflective areas for kicks and giggles, necessary?

I want to separate it with 2/3 up top for flower and 1/3 for clone/veg. I will be making 2 of these as my folks want in on the game as well, so I will probably make a separate smaller box just for 2 - 4 mothers.

For the top I plan on using a 400 hps with a cool tube (6" to 4" reducer on each end) 4" ducting with a S&P TD100 on low (97cfm) to cool the light. Consensus on cool-tubes? Should I go with a small air cooled rectangle fixture instead? For below, I want to use a three foot 4 or 6 tube T5 for the clones and short veg cycle. Any problems with either of these?

For box ventilation I will use 2-4" black elbows (either inside box or on back) on bottom for passive intakes. The shelf will have either 2-4" or 1-6" elbow so air can move from below to above. At the top I will use a Can filter 33(max cfm 250) pared with a S&P TD150(293 cfm) with speedster fan controller. (I want to be able to run fan @ 1/2 to 3/4 speed to keep noise down) Is this way over kill on ventilation? Not enough? Can too much air flow be bad?

Want to go hydro, thinking a drip system out of Rubbermaid containers for each as they seem to be shorter than ebb and flow and I am dealing with a bit of vert clearance. I am thinking of 350 gpm pumps and air stones for both systems. Is drip good for veg and flowering? Should I go a different direction? Those Turbogardens ebb and flows look nice for out of the box application, but again might be too high and sacrificing some growing inches.

For the actual growing, what brand of nutes does everyone seem to have the most success?

I know a pH meter is necessary, but what about a ppm meter? Are any other electronics necessary or help greatly for the novice? Best brand to use?

As I mentioned, I have found some cheap ~$75 portable A/Cs on C list to cool the garage during the dog days, but would a DIY water chiller be necessary as well?

My main hanging points are the box ventilation and either cool tube or rectangle fixture for hps.

Thank you in advance for any ideas or possible problems I have not thought of yet.

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Welcome to the 420 forums! It really is a great place with very cool, very helpful non-negative people and has a very positive vibe unlike some other forums out there.

I know a pH meter is necessary, but what about a ppm meter? Are any other electronics necessary or help greatly for the novice? Best brand to use?

Not necessary, at least not at the novice stage. I highly recommend the K.I.S.S. method until you get more familiar with the growing process lest you get overwhelmed (doubtful but possible). Some people have a hard time keeping their pH correct, some don't. PPM meters aren't the cheapest and are a bit more advanced than what you really need at this point. There are people who grow great MJ and have done so for decades without ever so much as touching a PPM meter.

As I mentioned, I have found some cheap ~$75 portable A/Cs on C list to cool the garage during the dog days, but would a DIY water chiller be necessary as well?

Only one way to find out...build it and see what the temps do. You may only need it during the dog days of summer or you may need it year round.

 

[Jamn49]

Thanks Neutrino! Do you think the ventilation design is in the ballpark? Last night I was toying with the idea of going with a TD200x and have ventilation go Can filter 33->Flex duct->air cooled fixture->ducting->TD200x then out the back. I like the idea of having the light cooler on a separate fan, so in the winter I can turn it down to make up for cold nights. Making my purchase list today and will hopefully start placing orders at the end of the week.

 

[Screwnuts33]

Jam,
Welcome. For hydro, a PH/PPM meter is a must. For dirt you can get by with just a PH. A single 400watt light is not enough for 7-10 plants. More light = more bud. Don't skimp on lighting. You may want to look at grow tents as well. They are not too expensive and create an instant grow space. Ventilation you will likely have to experiment with. Each application is a little different. I prefer to exchange the air volume of the grow space at least twice per minute. Get your space all setup and do some dry run testing to see where your temps are at. Once you know your temps are good and all systems are functioning well then start germing seeds.

 

[Jamn49]

Forgot I started a thread over here as well, so here is an update.

Changed the design from my first post. Ditched the idea of a combo box. Decided the height restriction was no bueno. The light and vent fan TD150 are mounted to one of the shelves since they support 300lbs and the top is pretty flimsly. I went with the cool tube, but the TD100 fan did not fit in the box, so i put it on top(a 6x4 reducer between shelf and lid). I knew heat would be a problem, so I went with separate fans for light cooling and box ventilation (TD150). I also had initially put the can filter 9000 in the box with exhaust outside, but the airflow was way too loud. Moved the filter outside and it baffles the noise really well. Now just a slight hum and the air noise from the light vent and the air flow from td100 is not too bad. Yes the stealth part is less now, but I put a clothes line in front of the box that hides the 6" exhaust tube(box is next to washer and dryer in garage). I cut holes in the box the td100 came in and put the fan in that so it just looks like a box sitting on top. I was running out of steam, so decided to cut some corners and get a turbogarden ebb and flow. Since it is no longer a combo veg/flower, I can afford the space the res takes up. Did not like that the flood tray is the lid for the res, so used one of the shelves and cut holes for the drains and got a piece of 1/2 styrofoam insulation for the res lid to control evaporation. For intakes, I got 2 8x8 darkroom louvers that are on each side at the bottom. Since nothing is coming out of the back, I was able to push it right up against the wall. Flow is good as I can put a lighter next to the vent and it pulls the flame sideways. I did get a Hanna ph checker (red primo) and Hanna blue ppm meter. Using GH 3 part nutes.

I got 12 clones of Double Chunk Strawberry from a friend of a friend. Not to sure on genetics, did a search and found some pics of Deep chunk x strawberry cough and my friend said they look very similar. Very very tricomed. Guy said on his first flower he wanted to leave the leaves on the buds they are so covered.

9 were cut on 3/6 and 2 were cut on 3/9 (the day I got all 12). Clones were placed in 3" RW (tall ones) by grower, and hand watered them on bottom of RW until 9 had major roots popping. On 3/16, I moved the 9 to 5" pots with hydroton and started flooding the tray for about 2 minutes 2x a day. The other 3 are going slow and are just in the pots sitting on top of the hydroton and still getting hand watered. Current light cycle is on at 5pm off at 1 pm to avoid heat of the day. The grower said they stay short and bushy (just double in flower) and are ready for harvest in 7 weeks. Short and bushy it is!!! After 9 days the biggest has grown only about 3-4", and the inter-nodal length is about 1/2 max. Had a heat wave here last few days and box has maxed at 90 deg (I know not good, trying to find ways to cool) and not sure if that has anything to do with it. Some leaves are bumpy in between veins and Cervantes book says that can be heat stress. Also some leaves are bending in odd shapes.

If I remember anything I left out I will add it.


Have a few pics to share when I get the hang of posting them.

 

[Jamn49]

Uploaded the pics.

First is wide shot of box at day 2.

Second is of plants on day 2. I ended taking the one in the pot out and hand watered with the rest.

Wide shot on day 9. 9 strong, 3 runts

Close up of runts

Close up of Strong girls

Odd shaped leaves with bumps between veins. Any idea why?

Messing with White balance on camera to remove yellow from hps. Looks better.

If anyone sees anything that could be improved, please let me know. I will keep updating this thread.

 

[Jamn49]

Oh yea, particulars.

Veg and flower will be under 400w hps. Plan on maybe upgrading to 600w after this grow. Will be building a separate veg box with flour down road.
GH nutes at Gh recommended strength of 3-2-1 (grow, micro, bloom)
Ph starts at around 5.6 and then lower it back when it gets to about 6.1,
ppm around 1550 with tap water starting around 230.
20 hour light/4 hours dark.
2 airstones and a 160 gph pump just for circulating res.
Temps max at 90(only twice, usually 85-88), min at 72.
Humidity maxed at 35%, min 20%
Seen some small black flys (fungus gnats?) and small clear (root aphids?), but only like 1 or 2 each time I open box. After putting gnat strips, maybe 1 each time I open it (have caught about 6 total on gnat strips). Will be putting potato slices on hydroton tonight to get larvae.

Anything else i should add?

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Looks like you've got it all covered...if you find you have a continual problem with fungus gnats let your plants go a bit longer between waterings to help reduce the humidity and damp organic matter that they are attracted to. I know a popular pest control item is Neem Oil, organic, but I forget what all it is effective on.

I ran a 20/4 light cycle on my first grow and it worked out very well...good luck!

 

[MisterPeabody]

SWEET! NICE looking cab! I'd bet that 400 will be plenty. Very professional looking. I'll be checking in on your grow.

Evolution Of A GrowCab-From The School of hard Knocks
Grow Cab Ventilation Redesign-All About Heat

 

[Jamn49]

Thanks Neutrino and Mr. P. It is definitely a learning experience. Now if my wife will not leave me for spending so much time tending to them!

One thing I noticed this morning, is my res ph actually went down from 5.80 to 5.77. I'll see where it is tonight.

 

[Lil Neutrino]

a 0.03 variation in pH shouldn't be anything to get too concerned about...

 

[Jamn49]

a 0.03 variation in pH shouldn't be anything to get too concerned about...

I checked it later and it had risen a little, like normal amounts. Written off as ph checker inaccuracy. How often does everyone calibrate ph checkers?

 

[Lil Neutrino]

I calibrate mine almost every time I water with nutes and especially if it's been sitting for over a week...only takes a second, sometimes it's still bang-on from last time and others it's off ~0.2.

 

[Jamn49]

I calibrate mine almost every time I water with nutes and especially if it's been sitting for over a week...only takes a second, sometimes it's still bang-on from last time and others it's off ~0.2.

I am going to put some calib fluid in some shot glasses and use it for a few days so I don't have to go through so much calib fluid. We'll see how that works.

 

[Lil Neutrino]

If it's clean I just pour mine back in the bottle when I am done.

 

[Jamn49]

Start of week 3 of veg. Took some pics, but forgot camera at home.might have something to do with that.

Anyhow things are starting to look good. No odd foam and floaties in res, ph remaining pretty stable, temps are good as well(85 max). The plants are starting to perk up now that I am only watering the bottom of the pots where the hydroton is and not getting the RW wet. I am flooding it for 1 minute every 4 hours. That puts the water level about 3/4-1 inch from bottom of pot. Then twice a day, I flood it until the water is just below the RW about 4 or 5 times so the roots stay in the water for a couple of minutes. Next time I will use smaller RW cubes and more hydroton so I can do proper floods. The runts are even starting to join the party!

 

[Kronik Klown]

looking good nice cab

 

[Jamn49]

Here are the pics from yesterday morning, evening and this morning. Last Night I saw some odd yellowing/white spots and after a exam, I found 1 spider mite. I checked all the other plants and I couldn't find any others, but I am sure there are more. I was told to spray them down with Neem and SM90. Is this a good course of action? I also found some browning on just one of the plants. Maybe heat from the light?

These 3 are from yesterday morning. Still a little droopy, but starting to perk up.

These 3 are from yesterday night. Looking a little better still.

Leaves are finally starting to stand up.

This one had the spider mite.

These last 3 are from this morning.

Here is the browning, any ideas?

One last shot.

If anyone has any ideas for improvement I am open for suggestion.

 

[Lil Neutrino]

Neem oil is a natural pesticide/insect repellent...should do the trick on that spider mite. Hopefully there's just the one, I've heard some rather nasty stories about them.

You should probably start a grow journal in the "Journals" forum if you want to keep a running thread showcasing your grow. It will probably get more views and thus more help in that forum regarding the various questions that may arise...not to mention more people get to drool over your grow

 

[Microdocks]

Iv only got spider mits once (thanks the bud gods) i used neem oil 1/2 strength with water, when the lights went off then wiped them down with a paper towel, an hour later and repeated that for a week. Did the trick and was easyer then i thought. So dont panic spiders mits will make the plant stop bud prodution amother other things but easyer to get rid of then other things ... make sure your washing your hands before going near your plants and keep dogs and cats away.