diggin' the rabbit burrow

[NKOTS]

hi folks,

Rabbit habitats include meadows, woods, forests, grasslands, deserts and wetlands. Rabbits live [...] in underground burrows, or rabbit holes.
source: wikipedia.org

i am pink rabbit (a rabbit that acts pink), planning to dig my burrow

so this is what i am up to. take a look at my growroom design below and please share your opinion or ideas.
every piece of advice counts and will help me design a perfect burrow.

here's what we're working on.



the cab is 16 x 12 inch, height = 18inch (i.e. 40 x 30cm, height = 45cm).



my aim is to have a main chamber for vegging (possibly flowering too in some circumstances) and 2 little cloning chambers.
i am also planning to build another flowering cab with HPS, but let's focus on this one first.

see the idea in this pic:



blue area is for power source and electricals.

venting inlets and outlets are marked and the air flow dircetion as well.

lighting is marked yellow. the cab will only contain CFLs as it will be mainly veg area. i plan on building a multi-CFL hood with an external ballast (the idea of remote ballast is wonderfully explained in this thread. btw grouchy, thanks for inspiration, if you read it).

any thoughts? thanks in advance!

 

[Hamburglar]

If you use PL-L lighting and utilise a SWC (DWC in a shallow container) then there is no reason that you couldn't just grow the plant through a SCRoG and flower in the same little grow space.

Your clone space(s) seem small, but if you used a jiffy puck with a clear plastic cup over it I guuess it'd work.

Best of luck

 

[TrichyTrichy]

subscribed

 

[rootidec]

subbed mate!

 

[Mitch971]

Hi KNOTS,

Thanks for asking me my opinion ,

I think you've got a nice burrow there you might add a fan at your main inlet that'll be good I guess.How about just one big clone chamber ? More space for your next cloning tray or large bubble cloner, also don't forget to test temps.

Mitch.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

I think you should take out the tools section and the dividers in the clones Chambers. just keep you tools somewhere else, no need to have those in the cab.

Also how do you plan to light seal it?

 

[blynx]

here's my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt

I would not bother with remote ballasting the cfls. IMO, it's more trouble than it's worth and most of the heat comes from the bulb and not the ballast.

I would not make a cfl 'hood'. I would just mount the lights on the walls pretty much as high as possible. Since you are limited in height, if it were my cab, I would mount the cfls horizontally (parallel to the ceiling), ie not hanging down.

I'd think about knocking the wall between the clone chambers out and just dealing with one clone area. I might even see if it was feasible to knock the tool wall out too, ditching the tool area, and make a larger clone area.

I think you're going to need another computer fan to help with heat/circulation.

 

[Siomha]

hey NKOTS I would love to help you but I dont build my own burrow.
I am sure those guys on the forum will help you out in any way though.

good luck

 

[Hermanthegerman]

Hello, I think your box looks fine, you know more about boxbuilding than me.

 

[greenmatter]

passive intakes usually mean a hole with outside light coming through them. a solution should be in the plan

 

[5th]

I'm keen to watch this develop.

 

[Dr.Zoidberg]

here's my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt

I would not bother with remote ballasting the cfls. IMO, it's more trouble than it's worth and most of the heat comes from the bulb and not the ballast.

I would not make a cfl 'hood'. I would just mount the lights on the walls pretty much as high as possible. Since you are limited in height, if it were my cab, I would mount the cfls horizontally (parallel to the ceiling), ie not hanging down.

I'd think about knocking the wall between the clone chambers out and just dealing with one clone area. I might even see if it was feasible to knock the tool wall out too, ditching the tool area, and make a larger clone area.

I think you're going to need another computer fan to help with heat/circulation.

That has pretty much everything that I wanted to say in it

If you really want to get the hood it wont harm but I think aslong you paint the surface white / get reflective material in there you wont need a hood - heat will be ok either way I guess.

I would get that wall between the clone chambers out for sure though. For the venting I would either get a strong fan or get a 2nd one to be sure u have enough airflow. Temps wont be a prob if the airflow is good enough.

 

[NKOTS]

wow, thanks to all for your input, many things were on my mind anyway but some ideas are inspiring.
also, thanks for the PMs i received with some advice!

hope this turns out fine

to sum up your suggestions, i need to take the following into account:

1. airflow
it must be decent to ensure moderate temps. besides i need to make the temp test at various times of the day.
so far i only planned a regular pc fan whose power i don't even know. time will tell if it is enough but in case it's not i will:
a) make another outlet and install another fan, or
b) replace the fan with more powerful unit, or
c) add an extra fan at the passive inlet hole (not passive any more then)

2. odour control
no scrubber is included in the design - true. i plan to install it either before or after the cpu fan, or possibly at the exhaust, outside the cab.
however i am not sure if i flower much here as there is another HPS cab intended to be built. i know though that some strains will smell a lot even in veg so need to think about the scrubber anyway.

3. cloning area
most of you recommend that i get rid of the dividers and merge both cloning chambers (+tools chamber maybe) into one big area. well not so big to be precise but still much more convenient
this may be a PITA to perform as it requires me to detach the whole back of the cab but i will think it over. (the cab itself is much bigger than the growing area displayed in the pix)

4. lighting
yeah, i know remote ballasting is a lot of work but my main objective is not to reduce temp, rather to reduce height of the CFLs. i took all measurements and i believe i can force the highest number of bulbs if i cut them in half and take the ballasts in to the utility chamber.
blynx your idea with horizontal positioning of the bulbs is very good but as mentioned above, this will allow a lower number of bulbs... but i will consider this, thanks!
the idea of the hood lets me construct the whole lighting unit out of the cab (convenient) and then install it inside when it is ready. so i believe i will stick to that initial plan here.

5. light sealing
hash zeppelin, that is a fair question.
firstly, what you cannot see in the pix is the rest of the cab. it allows space for tubing that will deliver tha fresh air. and this way there is little risk that light gets in/out through the venting holes.
secondly, the growing area will have its own door and already now it sits behind the 'normal' door of the cab. so i believe this double light-proofing will be a good way of preventing any light leaks.

6. dwc / swc
i am coming back to growing after years of break. so will refresh my abilities in the soil medium at first.
but i like the hydro concept and eventually may give it a try. thanks for suggestion, hamburglar!

any other thoughts before i start the diggin'?

peace

 

[Walt Jabsco]

turn that box on end. much better use of space that way.

 

[NKOTS]

turn that box on end. much better use of space that way.

not sure what you mean, walt?
turn it 90 degrees and make the side act as the bottom?
if so then unfortunately it cannot be done as this is part of a larger cab and there's no option in turning it all... nice idea though, thanks!

 

[Mt Toker]

Interested in seeing this go through. Subd

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

I like your box so far. I would line the insides with Mylar instead of make a cfl hood though. you have good airflow so your heat should be fine. one thing you will need to watch is your humidity. you want veg humidity ay about 75 percent, and your flower humidity at about 40 percent.

 

[NKOTS]

Thanks, hash zepp
As i mentioned earlier, it will be easier for me to build the lighting unit outside the cab and then install it rather than play with each fixture separately. That's why i think i will still makr the hood, and it also allows me to fit more bulbs than otherwise.
When it comes to mylar, i am quite reluctant as i never succeeded with this material, it used to shrink a lot and i like to keep it nice and tidy

 

[NKOTS]

Instead of mylar i use flat white sheets.
So these are first steps i took:

 

[Mt Toker]

Heck yes! construction is under way! My second grow was in a cabinet and I loved it!