Watch Sub Build His First Grow Box!

Alrighty, so I've been busy this weekend constructing my grow box.
So far I have just about everything I need (still a few things left) And I already started building it.

The box is 2' x 1.5 ' x 3'.
So far I've insulated and lined it with Mylar and setup my light mounts to hang.
Check it out so far:


Here is a better closeup of the PVC CFL light fixture (the pc fan is not mounted in the pic):


And here are my main plans:

Some stuff won't be the same, other things aren't in the plans, etc, it's mainly just a rough guide to how I want my box.

So next I'm, going to try and tackle the exhaust, I'm still not 100% sure how I want to set it up. My plans probably won't work well because I'd like to have some extra insulated ducting for noise control.

Lights:
-Sun System 150w HPS for Flower
-Custom PVC CFL light fixture (holds 4x 26w CFLs) - 104 watts - for Veg
-2 side light fixtures (not pictured) holding 2x 26w CFLs each for an additional 104 watts total. Both Veg and Flower

Exhaust:
-Soler & Palau TD-125 inline fan
-Hoping to have insulated ducting in there somehow, maybe up along the left side

Next up:
-Construct side light/fan fixtures
-Construct carbon scrubber
-Get and install insulated ducting with carbon scrubber, mount this whole system
-Cut hole for power cord, test for light leaks; patch any leaks.

So what do you guys think so far? This is my first box, but I took my time with researching and planning, and I really think it paid off, at least so far. I haven't run into any major issues yet.

P.S. I just mounted those PVC pipes at the top of the box to hang the lights, a good cheapo method for doing this is: Take a soda cap, drill 2 holes in it. Drill 2 holes in your box, zip tie the cap to the wall, fit a 1/2" PVC pipe into these caps like shower curtain rods - works great! I cut little notches out of the tops so it's easier to slide the pipe in. It can be a pain to snap them into place, but once in, they aren't going anywhere. Sure beats another stop at home depot!


Anyway, check back because there is sure more to come!

That is sweet. Good job!

nice dude that looks great i like how you mounted the fan and cfl's maybe you could do a tutorial of sorts for people to show how you did it exactly....and also like how you isolated the fan so it dont rattle the bulbs....im sure you could get more then one plant in there..id either go 3 ways with the space u got. #1 do about 4 smaller plants in there using one big tub. #2 use 18oz party cups and sog it out using clones. #3 do 4 plants in small DWC bubblin buckets!....good luck man cant wait to see what that cab will hold!....and i wish i could use sketch up i could never figure it out...

Thanks guys!
Durka, I may post a DIY tutorial for the CFL light fixture, I really like how they turned out, especially with the mounted fan.
Anyway, I had originally planned on just growing one plant at a time and doing some LST and possibly a SCROG.
Would 2-3 smaller plants yield more than one big super-cared-for plant? I just picture myself LSTing the plant all the way around the base of the cab instead of dealing with a bunch of little plants.

Anyway thanks guys! I will definitely be posting more soon, I just may not have a chance to do any major construction on it until the weekend, but during the week I can put together the inside stuff, so check back

Sweet setup. I would go with one plant as well if it were me. Maybe grow it out of a 12 quart dishpan to save yourself 3"-4" in height with a 3 gallon pot.

JacuzziSplot said:

Sweet setup. I would go with one plant as well if it were me. Maybe grow it out of a 12 quart dishpan to save yourself 3"-4" in height with a 3 gallon pot.

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Thanks! Yeah I was going to try and find a perfect size bin... maybe something like a kitty litter box or some kind of rubbermaid bin.
I will stick with one plant, get a wide bin and LST it around the border of the bin.. that should probably work out nicely.

I'm gonna have to order the 5" insulated flexible ducting online, though.. no local stores carry it in 5".. bummer

sub said:

I'm gonna have to order the 5" insulated flexible ducting online, though.. no local stores carry it in 5".. bummer

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Ya I have the same fan I ended up ordering 5" semi rigid duct and I dont recommend using that its a real pain to reposition my light. That fan is a bit smaller than 5" ducting but its easy to make it work with some foil tape just dont try to hook it directly to sheet metal fittings.

JacuzziSplot said:

Ya I have the same fan I ended up ordering 5" semi rigid duct and I dont recommend using that its a real pain to reposition my light. That fan is a bit smaller than 5" ducting but its easy to make it work with some foil tape just dont try to hook it directly to sheet metal fittings.

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Ah thanks for the tip! I was planning on getting a 90 degree elbow duct, but maybe I will jsut stick with straight insulated ducting instead.
I'm sort of debating on getting a 6" to 5" reducer and just buying 6" insulated ducting locally, but I don't like the idea of having bigger ducting than I need to..
so I'm either going to just order the 5" ducting or try to rig 6" ducting up somehow

would it be stupid to attempt a 5" to 4" reducer and use 4" insulated ducting? I know you shouldn't go smaller, but I am running the Soler & Palau TD-150 at the low setting (~150CFM) - I wonder if I can get away with 4" ducting... that wouyld be very nice!

sub said:

Ah thanks for the tip! I was planning on getting a 90 degree elbow duct, but maybe I will jsut stick with straight insulated ducting instead.
I'm sort of debating on getting a 6" to 5" reducer and just buying 6" insulated ducting locally, but I don't like the idea of having bigger ducting than I need to..
so I'm either going to just order the 5" ducting or try to rig 6" ducting up somehow

would it be stupid to attempt a 5" to 4" reducer and use 4" insulated ducting? I know you shouldn't go smaller, but I am running the Soler & Palau TD-150 at the low setting (~150CFM) - I wonder if I can get away with 4" ducting... that wouyld be very nice!

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In your case with a 150 I dont think thats a bad idea. You will lose some cfms but I used to cool a 250 with the 5" s&p. they sell the 5 to 4 reducers at home depot too.

JacuzziSplot said:

In your case with a 150 I dont think thats a bad idea. You will lose some cfms but I used to cool a 250 with the 5" s&p. they sell the 5 to 4 reducers at home depot too.

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Yeah, you know, I actually might even get a fan controller for it as I might be able to bring it down lower than the low setting.
4" should be ok, then, right? Even on low, if I lose some CFMs that's perfectly ok as it's already on low and I can go lower.

Will this setup be louder, though? There would be more pressure because it's smaller, but then again I'm using less power.

What are everyone's thoughts on this? If I can go to 4" I absolutely will, and it would be very convenient for me. Plus I could probably get everything today or tomorrow

It will be louder with 4" because the pressure will go up like you said but more intake will help quite things. Plus this fan is about as quite as they come. Once its in the cab with the doors closed the only noise is the air blowing out the back. I run mine on high all the way and it is still almost silent about equal to my cpu fan.

The only problem with speed controlling it lower than low is I dont think it will be able to pass through a carbon filter. In fact low is not powerful enough for it to work with my can 9000 filter. I used to have my fan hooked up to a speed controller to turn it down from full high but I couldnt notice much of a difference sound wise so I unhooked it because they put alot of strain on the fan motor. They work by turning the fan on and off really fast.

If you really want to make it more quiet find a way to mount the filter outside the cab so you can blow into it. That way you are diffusing your exhaust. I got lucky with my room layout because I have this cubby hole next to my closet that my cab fits in and you cant tell its not against the wall or how far back it goes. There is even an electrical socket back there so no odd wires running to a cabinet.

JacuzziSplot said:

It will be louder with 4" because the pressure will go up like you said but more intake will help quite things. Plus this fan is about as quite as they come. Once its in the cab with the doors closed the only noise is the air blowing out the back. I run mine on high all the way and it is still almost silent about equal to my cpu fan.

The only problem with speed controlling it lower than low is I dont think it will be able to pass through a carbon filter. In fact low is not powerful enough for it to work with my can 9000 filter. I used to have my fan hooked up to a speed controller to turn it down from full high but I couldnt notice much of a difference sound wise so I unhooked it because they put alot of strain on the fan motor. They work by turning the fan on and off really fast.

If you really want to make it more quiet find a way to mount the filter outside the cab so you can blow into it. That way you are diffusing your exhaust. I got lucky with my room layout because I have this cubby hole next to my closet that my cab fits in and you cant tell its not against the wall or how far back it goes. There is even an electrical socket back there so no odd wires running to a cabinet.

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Thanks for the tip. Yeah I probably wont go for the fan control then, but I am definitely leaning toward reducing it to 4" on the low setting. As for sound, like you said, it will probably be MUCH quieter in the box, plus my box is insulated and I will be using insulated ducting
Low setting on the TD-125 really isn't enough to suck through a carbon filter? That just seems crazy to me.. I'm thinking about getting the GrowBrite 4" Carbon Filter - I just really hope 4" ducting will be ok and that the low setting will suck through this filter (might make my own, though) - I suppose worst case I can pump it up to high power, but I'm not sure the 4" would be good on high

HMMMM.... decisions, decisions..

So I just got an email back from Soler & Palau:

Good Afternoon,

We recommend that you use 5" duct if possible, but if there are
limitations, you can use the 5" to 4" reducer and use 4" duct. The
difference will be less airflow than if you were to use the larger duct.


Best regards,

Russell

So it looks like I would just lose some airflow. I'm already using the low setting and have more CFM than I need, so I think I'm gonna go for the 5" to 4" reducer and see how 4" insulated ducting treats me. I guess if it's horrible I can just order the 5" ducting online

sub said:

Low setting on the TD-125 really isn't enough to suck through a carbon filter? That just seems crazy to me.. I'm thinking about getting the GrowBrite 4" Carbon Filter - I just really hope 4" ducting will be ok and that the low setting will suck through this filter (might make my own, though) - I suppose worst case I can pump it up to high power, but I'm not sure the 4" would be good on high

HMMMM.... decisions, decisions..

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Well the can 9000 is quite restrictive it is only 5.5 inches in diameter and has a full 2" carbon bed. I couldnt get a less restrictive one because I only have 7" behind my cab and I need 2" bed of carbon because I am running a 400w setup and my footprint is 2'x2.5'.

You could get away with a 1" carbon bed I bet but you might have to refill the carbon after every flower or worst case once during the grow. I have heard good things about these filter http://cgi.ebay.com/4-X-12-CARBON-A...370?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51933625e2 or you could build one.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=29402

So I may have to rebuild my PVC light fixture for veg. I'm not sure I can fit the side lights once my ventilation is in how I planned (I think I have to have it all on the left side)
In the event I cannot fit side lights, do you think I could fit 8 26w CFLs on the top?
Should the light fixture be flat or would it be best to have a curve to it (or rather, 3-4 angles in a PVC rig)

Not sure how to go about this.. but I will probably have to put all the CFLs on top. I might be able to fit 2 CFL fixtures as they currently are. I'll have to play around with it once my ventilation and ducting is installed. Maybe I can figure out a better was to hook up my ventilation, but I should have more pics up soon

quick sneak peak of the new CFL light fixture. Now holds 8 bulbs, there will be no side lighting.. just mylar and the scrog screen


Still probably going to trim down the excess PVC to save some room. I wish I could do something about the ugly wires on the sides.

Didn't have a chance to really mess with the ventilation today but I did get my 5" insulated ducting, so yay!

pretty cool fixture you got there

here is the new PVC and vent hood framework.



It's a bit too bulky, and a little larger than I had hoped, but I think it will be perfect seeing how my box will now be a ScrOG. This light won't even be in there during flower, although I'm not sure where I'm going to put it.

What do you guys think? Do you think this is too bulky, should I try something more light-weight?
I planned on lining the PVC framework with aluminum flashing, with this:
or

I really like the design, though. I will most likely keep it and just finish it, I guess I could break the light fixture down when it's time to flower for storage. I don't want all my hard work to go to waste (this is the fourth PVC light fixture I've made haha) - what do you guys think?

actually, think I could line the frame with Mylar mounted on cardboard instead of aluminum?

ah crap, the light may be too tall


Basically, all the electrical and ventilation will be on the left, scrubber at the top. CFLs for veg, HPS for flower (with supplemental CFLs)

I might have to make it smaller. I want to keep the HPS light in the box during veg, just cuz it's easier, but I wouldn't be able to with this huge monster.

Damn, I really wish I had more space to work with.
Do you guys have any suggestions?

how close to the ceiling can I put that 150w HPS?

edit: sorry for the crap photo