absimiliard

Hi all.

New member here. *waves to all present* So I've been doing some intensive lurking around the boards and reading the FAQs as well as doing research elsewhere. All of which is leading to me trying my first grow sometime soon. I however have a few questions that I'd like some input on.

I live in an apartment and intend to conceal my grow. I recently acquired an old dresser that I am ripping the guts out of and will turn into a grow cabinet. It measures 16" X 27" X 42" externally and probably will lose like 1-2" in it's internal measurements once I am done building it.

My intent is to put in a false floor about 6" from the bottom and use that lower area for my power-supply, cords, storage, and power-strip. I will drill two holes in the cabinet for computer fans, an intake fan down low and an outtake fan up near the light. I'll hang an HPS light from the ceiling and set my screen about mid-point. I think that leaves me like 12" from top of the pots to the screen and say 18" from screen to light. The interior will be painted white and the back of the dresser hinged for access. The front drawers will be nailed into place and wheels put on the bottom for mobility.

So my questions are as follows. First, do those dimensions seem right for ScrOG? I'm particularly concerned about the pot(clay not herb)-to-screen and screen-to-light measurements. Second, I figure I will be growing two plants in there, does that sound right? Third, If I knew how I would post my diagram of the setup and a pic of the dresser, how do I post pics on this board? (by using a URL to the pic on my server?) Fourth, I would also love some input as to a good on-line store to get equipment from, as my Home Depot doesn't carry Son-Agro lamps or lighting fixtures. Finally, with these dimensions do people think I could supply 1-2 oz. a month? (I smoke about 1 oz. a month and wouldn't mind having some extra to give to friends)

Thanks all. I'm sure I'll have more questions for this thread later, but I'll stick with these initial questions for now. I will also post my growing plan and schedule once I have the cabinet built and am ready to start my seedlings. (I will be using schwag-bag-seed for the first grow, after I am certain of competancy I will go out and get some decent seeds.)

__________________
Cool sigs are for cool people. I'm just a llama.
-Absimiliard

lilbuddie

My .02,

Be very careful if you are putting all your electrical stuff int eh bottom of the unit ... if you do be sure if you spill some water that NONE will leak into that lower chamber you'll have a nasty incident on your hands.

I think ScrOG is your only real option
If you can install a piece of glass between the light and you highest point above the plants you'll be able to control the heat much better. if you can have 2 sets of computer fans to sperately vent each area you'll also do better on controlling heat ... Do what you were going to do with the grow chamber part. 2 fans at the bottem of the chamber for intake and 2 fans at the top right below the glass for the exhaust. Then on say the right side of the lamp chamber put an input fan and on the left put the exhaust fan for the light chamber. That way you aren't pushing any hot air into the growth chamber. Then even if the lamp chamber is still getting to hot you could then install more fans just in that area to cool it
The amount of fans will depend on the size of the light you choose

The formula for the proper lighting is all in these forums already But a shear guess I would say you'll end up with a 250w HPS (possibly th eSonAgro if you spend th eextra bucks) but that is just a guess mind you ...

With a proper grow you should get at least 1oz sq/ft

Other than that ... keep reading
LB

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Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope
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absimiliard

Hey Lilbuddie. Thanks for the suggestions, I'm making the following modifications to my plan based on your input. Take a look and tell me what you think.

First, I am going to be lining the bottom on the grow-cabinet with a heavy plastic bin for water-safety. I don't want to move the electrical stuff up to the top if I can help it though I suppose I could if I had to.

Second, I will take a glass sheet, or plexi-glass and put it between the light and the rest of the cabinet for heat-control. I was already planning on having an outgoing fan up near the light to pull heat off and one below for cool-air intake.

Regarding that lamp, I was thinking that since a 160 watt Son Agro offers 16000 lumens (8000/sq. foot for my cabinet) I would like to go with the lighter 70 watt Son Agro which should give me like 4000 lumens per sq. foot. I don't want to go too high on the lumens/sq. foot because I do not want to have to add CO2 if I don't have to. I suppose I'll have to make a post to the lighting forum about this.


So here's the proposed diagram.


Thanks for the suggestions.

__________________
Cool sigs are for cool people. I'm just a llama.
-Absimiliard

lilbuddie

Add another intake fan in the top where the light is and another exhaust fan to the grow area ... that top part is gonna get hot and you want good air flow as not to heat stress your bulb.

Other than that looks like a plan
LB

__________________
Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope
Pass the Roots and Hit the Culture
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aeroskunk

or make the glass cover like 6" shorter, so he can add 6 inches of wood panel to the the top left or right side of the glass.. (reccomend right, to get a more thorough sweep of air).. and w/ that 6 inches of wood panel, just drill a 3" circle or whatever to allow air to pass through.. you can also run your wires up through there, or put your power supply up there for safety reasons.. trust me, you don't want your powerstrip down beneath your rubber reservoir..


a. skunk

absimiliard

Hey aero, lilbuddie.

Okay, I modified the diagram of my planned grow-cabinet. Take another look at it, just a few posts up.

I tooke aero's suggestion to move the electrical equipment up top rather than down below. That seems very prudent. I've also added two more fans to it, one up top and one below, for increased air-flow.

My concerns are now as follows. I am worried about the measurement from screen to plexi-glass. I know the plexi-glass shield will keep heat down but I don't know if 9" will be enough for the buds to grow in. I might be able to shrink the height for the bulb to 6", which would increase the bud to 12". I might also even be able to eliminate the electrical shelf by making it a box to the right of the light but I don't want to move the light from the center if I can help it, doing that would add another 5" to the bud area making it either 14" or 19".

I think 8" pots would be suitable, but I was wondering if I could drop to 6" if I used square 1' X 1' tubs. I intend to soil-grow. So is half a cubic foot enough soil for this environment? Dropping inches in the pots would let me lower the screen thus raising the height of the bud area.

Finally, will I really need 4 fans for this? I'm only planning on using like a 160 watt HPS bulb. Anything larger would be a waste of lumens and produce too much heat.

Peace out.

__________________
Cool sigs are for cool people. I'm just a llama.
-Absimiliard

lilbuddie

Yeah I think you should try and get more than 9' (12' would be good) for that area You have the right idea to use something else to plant in besides a planter. A kitty litter box would work well too.

I also had the same idea as aeroskunk for the strip of wood between the to chambers for more air movement

In the grow area I'd put the exhaust fan as high as you can and the intake fan is fine where it is ...

Dude I know my lil 150w with built in ballast can send the temp soaring in a small area

Better too cool than too hot
LB

__________________
Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope
Pass the Roots and Hit the Culture
Catagory 5 Survivor