sugabear's den

let's see where to begin - it was the best of times, it was the worst of times....

no not a story of two cities but a story of two cabinets that then were three and then back again to two and soon will be none... ashes to ashes, dust to dust, seed to bud, and bud to lung..

so enough of the b.s. let's get down to business... I am starting this thread to document my cabinets and techniques for other growers as I get asked questions often...

a bit over 2 years ago I began building my first grow cabinet since 94 when I tried to build one with a 70 watt hps and a $10 bathroom fan growing bag seed that never worked out....

u2

so I started with the millspride u2 cabinet. It is counter height (42") and has two doors. It is your basic double door base cabinet. The interior dimensions are 29" high by 29" wide by 14.5" deep. This is the space for growing and stuff. There is a space under the interior floor (toe kick area) about 6" that is used for intake vents.




So I used a 2" hole saw to cut three 2" holes in the interior floor of the cabinet, two on the right side and one on the left side. Into the hole I slid a 2" OD 90 degree pvc elbow the interior of which was painted black. Underneath the cabinet a second pvc elbow also painted black inside was inserted into the end of the other pvc elbow. The result as can be seen in the pictures is a light trap but still very free flowing. I originally had air filter material in there but found it unnecassary as the cabinet is in my bedroom and there isn't much concern of junk getting in there. In order to be sure light did not get in there I also cut the piece for the back so that it went down half into the space underneath (see pics). So that is the intakes.


The back is made out of a piece of 1/2" plywood that I had cut at homedepot since they have the big saws capable of doing this. It is a good idea to build the cabinet first and then measure the size of the piece you will need. When attaching always line it up on either side and start at the top in the middle and then one top corner then the other - then down each side alternating from one side to the other as you tighten the screws. Always predrill your holes or else you will split the melamine side of the cabinet when attaching the back. Use 3/4" or 1" number 8 wood screws.

I then sealed around the back with latex caulk and aluminum foil tape where light was leaking...

I later learned that it was easiest to use weather stripping between the pieces during assembly. It compressess as you tighten the piece and forms a light/air tight barrior in between the pieces.

The top was a piece of melamine again cut at home depot to fit. It is held on by L brackets and screws through the cross brace of the cabinet.

Before I put the top on I cut the hole for the exhaust - it is on the left side of my cabinet and basically is a rectangular hole cut into the top edge of the back. I held the fan up and figured out the position and marked it to cut. Then I mounted the fan. The exhaust fan I used is a 134cfm dayton I got it at graingers for less than $50 usd and it has been running constantly for two years w/o problem. It is the higher rpm model (they have two 134cfm models).

Noise is not too bad - I actually like the white noise it makes - helps me sleep.

So the fan got mounted and it just pulls air out of the grow space - wide open intake - and blows it out the back. On the back I have a can filter 2600 - which is rated for 94 cfm or something like that. I got it at a hydro store for $59 or so and it has been worth every penny. It is still controlling stinky plant odor after 2 years of constant use. I tried building my own and just found this to be so much better in terms of ease of use, air flow, and odor control. A 4" flange made the attachment to the exhaust hole in the back of the cabinet possible. Standard dryer venting was used which was a mistake as this stuff can leak light - so I ended up covering it with aluminum duct tape - I recommend getting the more expensive stuff which is light proof. The filter is held up by garage bike hooks on the back of the cabinet. Pushing through the filter has worked well for me and it really deadens the fan noise as well. Also for me there wasn't room for the filter inside.








The doors are lined with 3/16" weather stripping so that they seal air tight. When everything is air tight the doors kinda suction together when you close them - this is a good thing - it means the pressure inside is negative and therefore any gap will not leak odor but instead pull air in to the cabinet and out through the filter on the back.



The main lamp is a regents 150 hps. I bought the lamp at Lowes where it is sold as a compact flood lamp. Dissassembly and remoting of the ballast was done using the DIY linked in my signature - back then it was in the OG FAQ and that is where I followed it from. The ballast is cramed inside a 4" square junction box from the electrical isle - and mounted to the back of the cabinet. The cords to the plug and to the lamp go through the back of the cabinet to the plug and the light fixture respectively.

The socket (medium base) was secured to the cieling using a piece of metal from a pipehanger in the plumbing section (has all these holes in it that fit the two screws on the back of the socket). This thing was bent and also screwed to the cieling of the cabinet. A square piece of white aluminum was bent into a bat-wing reflector by hand and screwed into the cieling of the cabinet between the socket and the metal piece.

After much experimenting I found the space to the far left of the cabinet was not suitable for growing as the fan was there - so I positioned the bulb in the middle of the space that was left - which is about 24" - and the bulb stays there. The orientation is perpindicular to the length of the cabinet. This produces the best light distribution. I tried orientating parrallel to the lenght of the cabinet - and I also tried making it moveable up and down on chains - and I even did a cool tube at one point. In the end I found this to be the best and easiest safest solution. Just mounting it up there and leaving it there. If a plant is too far from the lamp I just put something under it to raise it.

I have two power strips in there. The main one has a 15' cord that is run out of the back of the cabinet and comes out from under neath the cabinet. This powers everything. Then I have a second power strip plugged into a digital timer - this powers the lights.

In addition to the 150 hps I have added two t-8 floro lamps that I got at walmart for very cheap. A total of 35 or so additional watts are T-8. I do this for two reasons - to light the darker sides of the cabinet and to help even out the spectrum.

So with this setup temps are pretty well under control and stay within 5 degrees Farhniehiet of the room temperatures. Average highs in the mid 70s and lows in the mid 60s. Luckily for me the room is climate controlled to 68 degrees or cooler year round.

On the front of the cabinet I have placed a keyed window sash lock. More deterent than anything it is brass and doesn't look too out of place on there but does allow one to lock the doors - keeping unwanted eyes out. Well this probably won't prevent a thief intent on ripping your garden or a cop intent on busting you - it may stop a child or a visitor to your home from discovering what is inside which is priceless. (although I did have a thought about what if your landlord came in and saw the cabinet but couldn't open it - then called the cops - and then you got busted - would the warrant stand? I mean they really don't know what is inside since they can't open it ) anyways if you rent or have children it's proably a good idea to throw one of these on your cabinets.

So what does one do with this cabinet. Well I grow DWC hydro. I found that two 2 gallon buckets fit well into the cabinet. Attaching super simple scrog screens I am able to keep the plants under control and have had many successful harvests growing this way. I have also tried a single larger sterilite (aprox 5 gallon) container with two clones and that worked well however was difficult if growing more than one strain at a time.

I like to grow lots of different strains as everything I grow is for my head. I often start new seeds. So I needed a way to fit more plants in there during veg and the first part of flower (until females are known) I found I could do this by using smaller 2.5 quart buckets. This way I can fit 5-6 plants in the cabinet. I can flower them and when I have selected the two females I wish to finish I move them into the 2 gallon bucket and add the scrog. I will go more into detail of how I do this without any transplant stress.

I wanted to note that i keep my air pump outside the cabinet. I like the whisper series of pumps by tetra. I use a single 60 gallon rated one to bubble two big buckets or 5-6 small ones as described above with excellent results. The air line from the pump goes into the cabinet through the intakes and then a manifold in there allows me to connect and disconnect multiple buckets.

So average harvests have been around 3 oz or more.... I only lost one grow and it was my second when I had to go away for a week.... so let's see the following grows were completed in this cabinet...

burmese and nl x c99 (first grow)





burmese and nl x c99 (third grow)







cont'd below

cont'd from above

bluesat x jack herer and oregon90 (4th grow)

oregon90 and more oregon90 (5th)



oregon90 and trainwreck (6th)





.... in between here I grew in a bigger 400 cabinet (which I will also describe) using the u2 for veg as seen here - I was making some moms in dirt for a friend.... who I gave the 400 cab to.

and this shot also shows the 2.5 quart buckets


burmese and ICE (these plants were put in here when I got rid of the 400 watt cabinet - so the ICE was midway and the burmese was nearly done)

and when the burmese was done
ICE and bluethunder (the bluethunder had started flowering in my veg cab while waiting for the space to be freed up by the burmese)


burmese and grapefruit (my last grow chopped yesterday)







So next I have my original veg cabinet

I picked this one up at Walmart for $12.95 and it is made by closetmaid. The dimensions are 11.5" wide x 11.5" deep x 24" high

This was a super simple setup. I built the cabinet as per directions. For this cabinet I used the cardboard backing that came with it. In the bottom of the back I put a hole into which went the same dual pvc 90 pipe light trap intake as used on the u2, but only one. For exhaust I use a pc pci slot fan that I just cut a spot in the top of the back to hold - it's light enough that tape and the back hold the fan in place. I use another pc pci slot fan for air movement inside. Both are powered by a replacement AC/DC transformer that is the type that can be adjusted from 12V down to 4v - this allows me to turn up and down the fan speed and there for control the temps in there. I have found this handy in the winter when sprouting seedlings I turn the fans from 12v down to 6v and can get the temps up 10 degrees above ambient which is nice sometimes. The door is light proofed by some thicker 3/4" weather stripping which I used to make a frame inside the cab for the door to close tight to. I was not as concerned with light proofing here as it is primarily a veg cab - so not much effort was put into this part of the construction. I still wanted to use the shelf inside so I cut a hole in the shelf to allow air to flow through from the intake below to the fan above. Lighting is a single ceramic type socket that I wired with a repair cord (male plug bare wires on other end). I also got a Y adapter to run 2 bulbs in there if I want. I use CFL's and prefer the "Daylight" 6400K spectrum bulbs for veg and seedlings as they keep them nice and squat and happy. The cabinet is pretty small but i was able to fit 4 of those 4" square pots in there for veg if I wanted - I also have put a single 2.5 quart dwc bucket in there when I needed to get a head start on flowering a plant before the big cabinet had room. Mainly I use this cabinet with a tupperware wick cloner for clones and then once they have roots they move into flower soon after wards.

Here's a shot with the door open

and a shot showing the wick cloner inside

and here's a shot showing a blue thunder clone I had to start flowering in the smaller cabinet - it is in a 2.5 quart dwc bucket


-suga

p.s. - I'll be adding more pictures of the cabinet and details about the filter and fan over the next week or so.

damn that's a sad moment to see, i hope you'll be sticking around bro.............. if your stash is overwhelming i could really use some z's to hold me over i won't be seeing bud for 2 months...here's my stonehedge clone, today is day 6 and she'll be joined by some other clones in a week or so

Hey sugabear, very nice and clean cab. I would love to have that dayton fan hahaha, it's on my wishlist. How loud is it? I've always wanted to try burmese, sounds like some nice crosses. I'm looking forward to seeing the yield from that 400. Great job man.

B/R

I'm jumpin on this....for sure...ya ya you're shuttin things down...ha..lmao....for those checkin in wonderin if you should subscribe to this thread...

I say Yes...Sugabear is the man!!! ... I personally am in his debt and have nothing but good things to say about this man...jump on board...if you are looking for someone that will answer your questions in a timely respectful manner then you have come to the right place.

This guy knows how to work a 150w HPS and Cabinet DWC ....and don't be intimidated by his poppa bear 400w cab...size doesn't matter.

That said...we all need to take breaks from time to time...this may be Suga's turn...but if he has too much to smoke...this is the guy to give it away to a needy soul.

I'm pullin up a chair my friend....this I know will be the spot to be in the future...glad I got a good seat.

Peace and white light
BG

next up is the 400 watt cabinet

building a c25 grow cabinet
Ok-dokey here we go

I've started with the millspride c-25 from home depot for around $99. It is a wardrobe sized cabinet with a foot print of 30" wide x 20" deep. The cabinet is 70" tall with a shelf in the top. The bottom section will be used for flower and the top will be used for electrical equipment and that's it. Many people like to turn the top into a veg chamber, but I used my old cabinet for that.

I was able to fit a total of (6) 2 gallon buckets in there.

So first off the other materials I purchased. 3 packs of weather stripping, the 3/16" thick stuff, 3/8 wide. This was used again here to light proof and make the cabinet air tight. It was put around the doors as well as between the pieces as it was built.

So first step is to take the three pieces that make up the floor, shelf, and roof and put in the cams and dowels. Then we put the cam bolts into the two sides per the instructions.

Before putting the floor, shelf, and roof together with the sides I put a strip of weather stripping on the edges. See the pictures.



This weather stripping will compress when we tighten the cams and form a nice air and light tight seal.

Next we'll get the doors ready.

One thing that is really important when you do the weather stripping is to clean the surface (Doors) well with rubbing alcohol before putting the stripping on. You see these panels often times have dust and other junk on them and that will keep the weather stripping from adhereing properly.

intakes
Originally I started with a total of 4 intakes, each will be 1 3/4 inch interior diameter in the floor. However this was not enough so I ended up adding three of those 4" round dark room louver vents to the back.


heres some pictures on how the pvc intakes were constructed and installed - made sure I could fit the buckets in the config I wanted. I chose to put the four intakes right down the middle between the buckets.


I used a 2" whole saw to drill the holes.

Next we get our elbows which are black inside and put them into the holes. The other 4 connect underneath the cabinet to the elbows like in the picture - this forms a light trap for the intake.



Finally some caulk around the intakes in the floor to seal them and hold them in place.




For this cabinet I bought a 265cfm dayton blower ($68 at graingers) and put that in. ran the cord for the powerstrip.



decided on a 400watt hps for the lighting that I got online for pretty good price from htgsupply. I had to cut the reflector with a hax saw to make it fit in there in the orientation you see.







Initially I used the can2600 filter from the 150 cabinet first mounted inside then I mounted it on the back. Initially with the 400 temps were pretty out of control even with the filter on the back of the cabinet plus the additional intakes then I got a good tip from simon who told me to cut more holes in the shelf (I only had a 4" from when I tried mounting the filter inside - this allowed freer air flow and kept temps under control. Before too long I ended up switching to a can9000 filter (118cfm) and putting the can2600 back on the 150 cab - this helped temps too. Plus the can2600 wasn't cutting it for a full cabinet of buds. In retrospect I might have opted for the can33 filter for even more free flow of air.

All told and done I spent around $500 for everything. I could have easily spent more and gotten an air cooled hood and a decent inline fan - but I was trying to keep the budget low as I ran this cabinet for only 6 months.

During that time it ran a continuos 12/12 cycle and I harvested quiet a lot of bud from it in a perpetual style. I ended up giving the thing to my friend and he is just getting ready to pull his first crop.

I think I would modify the cabinet by cutting the shelf out entirely with this design which would allow a little extra head room for raising the 400. The foot print is just abit over 4 square feet inside so a 400 is producing very strong buds - scrogging big plants I could get 2oz of 10" cola buds from each plant with 4 in there.

Anyways so that's the 400 cabinet - simple and straight forward the design worked well.

Later I put mylar on the inside of the cabinet - just taped it in there. Here's some shots at the peak of flowering in this cabinet -





So that's about it - as I said I'll take more pictures of the cabinets and add them over the next week or so until then please feel free to ask questions and i'll try to answer them.

thanks for looking and stay safe

-suga

Wow!!!

Awesome cab building tutorials.

Keep it coming - I'm pulling up a chair!!!!

User Name said:

damn that's a sad moment to see, i hope you'll be sticking around bro.............. if your stash is overwhelming i could really use some z's to hold me over i won't be seeing bud for 2 months...

Click to expand...

User Name - I won't be going anywhere - just not growing for a while. If I thought I could safely send you some bud on loan until your's is done I would, however I think that would just put both of us at risk unnecessarily.

Red_Greenery thanks for stopping in bro - always good to see you

black rain said:

Hey sugabear, very nice and clean cab. I would love to have that dayton fan hahaha, it's on my wishlist. How loud is it? I've always wanted to try burmese, sounds like some nice crosses. I'm looking forward to seeing the yield from that 400. Great job man.

B/R

Click to expand...

the dayton is pretty quiet when pushing through the scrubber - the whole thing makes less noise than most air pumps out there for sure. I would put it around 1.5-2.0 sones based on comparison to a bathroom fan. Not entirely silent for sure but still fairly quiet. The air pump and the ballast make more noise on the 150 cabinet when running. For what it is worth the dayton's are pretty cheap - I got the small one at grainger's for under 50usd

Bonsai thanks as always for your kind words and hanging around - I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. Really not much going to be going on with the cabinets for a while - but I'll be here to advise and share still.

-suga

great to see someone else is in the u2 club! i thought me and stretchpup might be alone. its a great little cab, mine has a 2' 4-bulb t5 setup in it and is great for moms/veg.

awesome thread suga! ive always been very impressed by your grows.

High&Lonesome said:

great to see someone else is in the u2 club! i thought me and stretchpup might be alone. its a great little cab, mine has a 2' 4-bulb t5 setup in it and is great for moms/veg.

awesome thread suga! ive always been very impressed by your grows.

Click to expand...

High&Lonesome - there are a few folks running the u2 - me - bulenath - and there was this cat who had setup a pretty sweet combo with the u2 and the smaller cabinet that matches it, single door with drawer same depth as the u2 but half the width I think it's the u3. Well he had a u2 as a flower chamber and then the other cabinet was his veg and utility space - really nice and clean setup as I remember.

anyways...

so I was wondering what people want to know more about? I can do some in depth discussion on some of the strains I've grown if that is of interest to folks....

-suga

Hey nice work Suga!

How about some in depth about the lovely OB1 that I am a proud poppa of?

What is the traits of the Oregon99 and the Burmese?

Special care instructions? Right now they are under 90 watts of mixed CFL and it is amazing how much deeper green they are than the LUI clones. They seem to be much finickier, too. When they get bigger they will go two in a rubbermaid for vegging, then under 600 hps for bloom, but I will start with the LUI as I am familiar with this strain.

hey sugarbear
nice job.
nice buds.
i thought the burmese would be tall and lanky.
did you have to work with it to keep it compact?

hey there Sugarbear II, I really like your set up and the plants your are running look excellent. I will most definitely be watching your grows and will be looking forward to seeing the strains you are finishing in your flower box. Will be back as you update.

Happy growing

HeadyPete said:

Hey nice work Suga!

How about some in depth about the lovely OB1 that I am a proud poppa of?

What is the traits of the Oregon99 and the Burmese?

Special care instructions? Right now they are under 90 watts of mixed CFL and it is amazing how much deeper green they are than the LUI clones. They seem to be much finickier, too. When they get bigger they will go two in a rubbermaid for vegging, then under 600 hps for bloom, but I will start with the LUI as I am familiar with this strain.

Click to expand...

HeadyPete,

no problemo bro here's an in depth report... so where to begin...

mom

she's named oregon90 and I aquired her from a medical site that gave them to me for free - they were from an open breeding performed by VisionCreator - but he got the seeds from someone in oregon (hence the name) and the story goes that they are grown under a different name in the Euguene OR area - there a group of outdoor growers have been in breeding this strain for some 20+ years. My guess is this is old school afghani aclimated to oregon - whatever it is - it is very potent and the strongest indica I have grown - and one of the strongest I have ever smoked too - very old school in flavor - immediatly noticeable when I smoked the first bowl took me back to late 90's (I know real old school lol )

anyways only issue she had was that she sprung a ver few male flowers around 5 weeks into flower - I never saw a single one but I did usually find 5-6 seeds per harvest. all mature seeds - never any immature seeds - it was a transient thing - just enough pollen to make a few seeds - at least that was my selected mom - some other folks had some major complaints and I won't attempt to dispute them - but me the one I selected was worthy of several grows even with the hermie issue.

where the hermie issue came from I don't know if it was inbred depression or if it was maybe something they didn't consider a defect - imagine an outdoor strain where you killed all the males and the plants still managed to produce a few seeds - just enough for next year - but the rest is sensi - sounds like a pretty good outdoor plant to me

anyhow so some pictures of mom...

around 46 days







58 days









more to come....

ok so the oregon 90 had very dark green folliage and woody hollow stems. the smoke is very yummy - I've said before "pukey fruit with hashie tones" or something like that - other people have commented on some fruityness comparing it to a juicy fruit like taste - overall it's very hashy and like I said just old school - smells and tastes like good old school indica

the high is strong and very very good at pain relief as well as increasing appetite.

more pics of the 090


buds are very dense as soon as dry - makes them burn longer than a similar sized sativa bud





So then we have the burmese pure dad of whom I don't have pictures
[edit: well actually I found pictures of dad and here they are!




left to right burmese (dad) woodhorse trainwreck and oregon90 (mom) look at them - they don't even realize they're about too concieve - she's thinking "who's that little up shot - is it? could it be? a boy?" and he's thinking "look at this a nice older lady is checking me out and who knows maybe I get me some of the trainwreck too (he did btw)" - ah I crack myself up
again burmes male in the back and oregon 90 getting scrogged




]
- and pictures of his sisters - I grew out three females of the burmese pure and loved all of them. It is reeferman's version via heaven's stairway circa 2005

first pheno I grew - chunky and strong burmese flavors - over ripe tropical fruit - grapefruit - (I smell celery) and spice (incense - jasmine - exotic) - took 9 weeks - high is very euphoric and slightly sleepy if overdone



second pheno - lower odor - more berry fruity took 10 weeks - high is very spacey and happy









last pheno - very grapefruity - real chunky - lots of overripe mango - and kinda piney - yum

and I could fill up a book with her so I'll pic just a few of my favs...



this one was actually featured in Treating Yourself magizine (big glossy color photo looks soo nice










So these two strains being both IBLs and the stongest and most favorite of my plants I chose to cross them .

and the result is the OB1, O for oregon90, B for burmese, and 1 for the F1 generation.

and finally OB1

and finally OB1

so here's the OB1 story - I'm not going to finish this tonight so I'll just start with the two I grew - I'm going to add some pictures of Bulenath's as well as he did a real nice job with the 3 females he grew out.

I actually found this baby picture - I'm pretty sure the indica pheno is the one in the top of the picture



edit: found these pictures mid way between the one above and the next set - this is in veg -

I could definetly tell that this is the sativa by it's "spread out" structure

and here's the indica - more tightly noded and bushy


ok and here we are later - my two plants both turned out to be female - these are marked as 20 days flower but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

right away two general growth patterns became apparant which I would later see in other folks who grew these out.

one the 12 week pheno was single stem dominant without much side branching. Leaves tended to be wider set and had a more airy structure.

the second pheno was more squat with lots of side branches and a tighter structure


the one on the top in this picture is the indica pheno and the one o the bottom is the 12 week sativa pheno.


by six weeks in here is how the indica pheno looked - I was really happy with this one as it was kinda what I was going for.


leaves thinned out



by 45 days I was really happy with the chunkyness




and meanwhile the sativa pheno was very airy - I accidentally topped it by mistake around 4 weeks in


more indie pheno at 48 days



and sativa pheno at 48 days

indica full plant at 52 days


back side

budshots




55 days indica pheno




58 days indica






that's it for tonight..

Whoa! I'm impressed. Thanks so much for the effort and I am waiting patiently for the next installment of OB1 Theatre!

I can really see the diff with the two phenos in the leaves. Mine are too small to tell right now. They are also pretty slow growing, but they may just need more time to acclimate and need a little TLC. Tomorrow I will do some tending and a little top dressing...I also jacked all my clones up close to the cfls, so that should help.

Well I gotta run too. The wife is taking a little trip and I must twist her a couple travellers. Right now I have a strain called Jamaican Juice...kinda pukey fruity hashy and a good kick....kinda stoney and spacey.

Night!

OB's are looking awesome. Indica pheno is killer, how many days you think they'll take?
Great grow man.

B/R

very nice Suga, mind if i pull up a seat????Later

- Z

ok so a few quick words - black rain and zeus you're welcome to pull up a seat but this is not real time - I'm afraid I'm actually on hiatus from growing currently. This thread is kinda my place to document and archive things and well heady asked for a pictorial biographical genetipoligical (just made that one up) report on a strain I bred that he's now got in his hands... so that's what I'm posting up.

So indica pheno went 58-60 days before I pulled her. here's the harvest photos





for the roots mon - they're brown from the floranova I fed them - gotta be a hydro geek to take pictures like this


and now for some dry bud shots...





ran her again from clone -here's 54 days in