Brand New Project for a Brand New Grower

[cannabi]

I would like suggestions and a plan for action with regards to a project that may or may not come to fruition. It would, unfortunately, be a micro grow with no possibility of expansion.

With regards to usable space, the potential cabinet measures 18" tall, 20" long, and 12" wide from the inside with the drawers out. The drawers disassemble, and the bottom is solid. It would, of course, have to be the flower cab accompanied by a mid-tower PC housing a couple bonsai moms. Presently, the cabinet provides a lovely home for a five gallon betta tank.

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Those of you who are well versed in the art of growing, I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me decide what is necessary to achieve optimal airflow, light type, wattage, medium, etc. while still having enough room to harvest enough for a couple people and produce minimal odor.

The potential grower is entirely new to the game with absolutely no experience beyond self-taught knowledge of plant care via counterculture literature and this website.

Please let me know what, if any, potential exists for this piece.

 

[stealthnstoned]

with the size of that i would say you should stick with CFL's and use some 120mm computer fans for exhaust. Set up some passive intakes. I currently have a veg cab that is double layered, each layer is 14" x 28" approximately. I use about 8 23 watt cfl's per layer. the top layer has a 90 Watt UFO and 4 23 watt cfls. You can definately do a micro grow in that thing. Just be warned, even tho ppl say cfl's put off very little heat.... in a small space like that.. they still do put off quite a bit.. So temps will be an issue if you have a high ambient temperature.

How much odor control do you need? I would say for something that small you might be able to get away with using just some ONA gel.. Otherwise maybe build a small carbon filter to go on your exhaust. Theres a bunch of DIY carbon filter threads here just search for em.

I mean im no pro at all im just finishing up my first grow right now.. 40 days into 12/12. But from what i have read and the experience i have with my little veg cab for sure that cab can be used to grow in. Just gotta be a little handy with the tools is all.

Good luck with your grow! hopefully some more experienced ppl chime in too

 

[cannabi]

Thanks stealth, I had hoped to receive a few more responses but I can't expect others to do my work for me, eh?

Anyway, after some initial brainstorming, I believe the project will consist of the aforementioned cabinet and 6 24w PL-Ls mounted vertically with 3 on each side. The walls will be sprayed with contact adhesive and mylar will be applied to all the surfaces.

As for ventilation, a 50cfm Panasonic Whisper FV-05VS-1 is being considered due to the fact that computer fans tend to "whine" under load and it will have to contend with a carbon filter for sure. Plus the whisper can be exhausted straight out the back. However, I do not want overkill, but a few extra dollars for silent operation sounds like a reasonable trade-off. Anyone know if it's actually worth it?

For the front of the box, I'm not really sure how to handle that issue. The cabinet has 2 drawers that slide out independently of each other, and removing the drawers and keeping the drawer faces would not be difficult, but I am not sure how to reattach those and make the cabinet look normal while providing the functionality I require to access the plants inside.

As for medium, I wonder if there would be room for a couple buckets for a DWC? How essential is it to monitor dissolved solids in hydro?

Thanks

By the way, I need to know about ballasts that will fit on the back of the cabinet without being conspicuous. Since the box is 18" tall, I guess I would need something around 14" long ballast wise.

Also, does ONA actually neutralize odors by binding to them as Ozium does, or does it just "cover up" odors like Febreeze? I cannot have any smell of fresh plant life anywhere in this residence despite the fact that I live alone and have never had unexpected guests. I'm just too paranoid for that.

 

[Stonercool]

Thanks stealth, I had hoped to receive a few more responses but I can't expect others to do my work for me, eh?

Anyway, after some initial brainstorming, I believe the project will consist of the aforementioned cabinet and 6 24w PL-Ls mounted vertically with 3 on each side. The walls will be sprayed with contact adhesive and mylar will be applied to all the surfaces.

As for ventilation, a 50cfm Panasonic Whisper FV-05VS-1 is being considered due to the fact that computer fans tend to "whine" under load and it will have to contend with a carbon filter for sure. Plus the whisper can be exhausted straight out the back. However, I do not want overkill, but a few extra dollars for silent operation sounds like a reasonable trade-off. Anyone know if it's actually worth it?

For the front of the box, I'm not really sure how to handle that issue. The cabinet has 2 drawers that slide out independently of each other, and removing the drawers and keeping the drawer faces would not be difficult, but I am not sure how to reattach those and make the cabinet look normal while providing the functionality I require to access the plants inside.

As for medium, I wonder if there would be room for a couple buckets for a DWC? How essential is it to monitor dissolved solids in hydro?

Thanks

By the way, I need to know about ballasts that will fit on the back of the cabinet without being conspicuous. Since the box is 18" tall, I guess I would need something around 14" long ballast wise.

Also, does ONA actually neutralize odors by binding to them as Ozium does, or does it just "cover up" odors like Febreeze? I cannot have any smell of fresh plant life anywhere in this residence despite the fact that I live alone and have never had unexpected guests. I'm just too paranoid for that.

Sounds like you got some things figured out....

But then you're thinking about this:

How essential is it to monitor dissolved solids in hydro?

VERY essential. Since you're growing bascially in water, you need to make sure the water isn't going be clogging up the roots with too many solids...or that things aren't going to maintain pH-wise because of too many solids...

You have to watch everything...

The ozium will work, but then you need to use it again and again. You need to look into better smell control options overall since if you're going to continue growing, you need to continue to worry about it...especially since you're going to get used to the smell and start to not notice it...