Cabinet build perpetual grow

[B rad]

New to the game of cabs and micro grows. I read antis entire post and I'm very impressed! I have a 36" wide 17" deep 84" tall metal cabinet that is wide open, no shelves. I would like to make a veg/clone & mother chamber and a blooming chamber as well. I had plenty of good luck with 23 watt cfls for starting plants off indoors then moving outside so I would like to do something with cfls for my veg and cloning and flower with cfls t5s or 250 watt hps. I like how a lot of you guys are using the 120mm computer fans but I'm open minded to ventilation. Money isn't really a problem with this build would like to keep it under $800. Currently I have 2 ladies that are 2 weeks old under 2 2ft 2bulb t5 fixtures that are 56 watts combined under a mondi dome. they are cream auto and cr+ just to get the cab set up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh and my containers are great value fruit punch singles containers exactly 16 ounces I can fit 40 in the mondi dome

 

[B rad]

 

[B rad]

Well still waiting for a reply from anyone with any advice.....

 

[5th]

Anything specific you'd like an opinion on?

 

[B rad]

I have been doing some reading on induction lights and everything I've read seems very appealing but are they just some new like the led where everyone that's selling them says they're amazing but really they're just another light and hids beat the shit outa them? I was looking at 150 watt hps to do my flowering with... Any comments would be greatly appreciated

 

[aridbud]

Yeah, 56w is low....you can get great LEDs for your space...250w -400w. HID in that tight a space might burn em up.

Noticed condensation build up....make sure you have air flow going.

 

[atk7]

B rad I have a very similar cabinet that I have set up using a 65 w cfl for my veg clone area and I have 2 150w hps in cool tubes in flower area. It is still a work in progress and I have not done a journal or thread on it but some good pics of it in my albums. Take a look at those for some ideas on what way u want to go . let me know if u have any questions cab growing is a lot of fun and I have learned a lot from this one. And had some fairly decent harvests from it . Heat has been only a prob at peak summer time so had to make adjustments seasonally

 

[B rad]

Atk I like your cab I can't believe that the 65 watt cfl is keeping ur mother that healthy! Deff impressed. Since the last update I went in a different direction. I got a small cedar trunk lined it with reflectix built a cfl hood put 5 5000k 23 watt bulbs and 4 2700k 23 watt bulbs in it. No fans yet I've been looking at 120 mm fans with the programmable thermostat. Clones have established roots but only one problem I CLONED THE WRONG PLANT! So I got 3 cream automatics now and 1 critical + I'm gonna give it another try and take some cuttings from the right plant this time any advice on how to ventilate this would be a huge help and thank you for the replies fellas

 

[B rad]

Sorry the pics upside down

 

[B rad]

....

 

[atk7]

That will make a great mother / clone box but for flowering out in there u May run into headroom problems with those tall pots once they start to stretch , as for ventilation I would put in a couple passive intakes on the back and vent out the top with the 120mm fans. But how high priority is stealth over efficiency? Are u going to put a scrubber on for odor?

 

[B rad]

Not to worried about it being stealth atleast for now I have the light on a chain so I can raise and lower it if need be. As for a scrubber I may look into one further down the line but as for now id like to get this cab working. I'm trying to stay in 16 oz containers but can deff tell that my plants are wanting more soil. How do ppl go from start to finish in such small containers? Any good threads to read? The two plants in the back are doubled up just to get closer to the light bc I didn't feel like lowering it the other night I should have roughly 20 inches between the top of the container to the bottom of the bulbs when they're raised the whole way

 

[atk7]

B rad how did the cabinet work out?

 

[B rad]

Still a work in progress I have 18 cr+ clones going atm im thinking of buying a 8 bulb t5 for mother clone and veg and using the cab for blooming only prob is I can only fit 12 plants in the cab I decided to use 30 oz containers instead of 16

 

[B rad]

I also ordered some otm seeds they should be here in the next few days

 

[atk7]

Sometimes a little elbow/root room pays off . its just part of dialing it in!. that's half the enjoyment we get from these projects.l have a cutting from a friend that I am verging and cloning right now and can't wait for my current grape KUSH to finish up so I can flower this new cut out . The buds I tried out from this cut that my friend had were like smokin blonde hash and were beautiful . He tell me this cut finishes in 3/4 the time of the KUSH and the kush finishes flower in 60 days so this will be interesting. So far it clones in about half the time

 

[DesertSmoke]

your box is 6 inches taller than mine but otherwise it is the exact inside measurements. I am a wood box I made and it is currently under construction and I am collecting all the pieces I need for the finished product.
I am using 1/2 foam insulation on the insides that is cover in silver foil on one side. On top of that I have a roll of 7mil thick Mylar that has a backer on it for the top coat of the insulation. I have room for 3 5 gallon buckets using the DWC style grow and I have 6 inch net pot lids for the buckets. I have two whisper airpumps for the needed air in the bottoms of the buckets and my lighting is one 300 watt reflector lamp that has grown and bloom switches. The light came from Mars Hydro and after talking to everyone including Mars they told me that was all I needed to grow in that size box. I have a clip on fan for air circulating over the ladies once I get a grow started. I have a 6inX20in cutout in the rea of the box down low with a home made light diffusor and filter on it for the incoming air. In the top of the box I have 2-Noctua NF-F12 PWM Cooling Fans. these are super quiet and are made to push air. I have a homemade filter on the top of the box, a flat one I made o up using a standard home filter and then adapted it to hold some charcoal and it all is only 2 inches thick and it lays on top of the cabinet out of sight and should stop all the bad smells that may come out. I have a single exit hole in the box for the electrical cord to the wall outlet.... anything else you need to know or have a question about ..? sorry for the rant but it appears you ask for some things and I hope maybe I answered a few

 

[B rad]

Thank you for the info... Since the last post I bought a cooler guys progamable thermostat with 44cfm 120mm pc fan temps still won't stay below 110 im going to cut some bigger intake holes in the bottom and back of the cab I have the fan exhausting out of the top any suggestions?

 

[B rad]

I also bought a tek 4 light from htg and love it so far

 

[DesertSmoke]

everything I can read and comprehend is that for intake area needs the holes should be around 1.5 to 2 times the size of each of the powered (fan driven ) exhaust exits.
I am using 2- 5 inch exhaust side fans (the 2-Noctua NF-F12 PWM Cooling Fans) designed to push air thru a restriction--IE: cooling fins of cpu's and cooling fins of chillers so my intake area is going to be 6 inches by 20 inches covered with a cut to size filter to keep out unwanted dust and other contaminants. I am going to run the fans thru a NZXT Sentry Mesh Fan Controller with Five 30 Watts Channels so I can tune the fans from running at 100% down to where I need or want the noise level to be super quiet.
My LED lamp should be fairly cool so the exhaust is direct above the lamps which have 2 fans in the lamps housing so I should be able to draw out the heated air from the cooling of the LED internals as well as draw the fresh air in from my 6x20 intake area
Stain and varnish is drying right now so my access to the box is limited to viewing only so I do not put dust into the finish. I am going to make the intake light reducing vents this evening after dinner so I can at least stay somewhat busy on the box . I truthfully cannot give you my interior temps as of yet as it is not up and running but, I think it will be well below the 110 you have. What light system are you using right now?