yellowtree
New member
Hi Icmag Micro Growers. I would like to share my micro grow cabinet.
I got a lot of inspiration for this project from this forum and I think that this idea of mine has some potential. I hope someone else gets inspired from this and makes their own setup, as it feels great to supply yourself and have full control over your favorite herb. Thank you everyone that unknowingly helped through the whole process!
So. I do not have any photos of the build process sorry. But I will do my best to explain.
I took out the drawers. Used a angle grinder to cut the fronts of the drawers off, do this carefully and avoid damage to the front of the drawers.
I then removed all the guts of the cabinet. In mine there was a steel frame that suppported the front of the cabinet. This frame imparts alot of stability and needs to be replaced with wooden inserts. The wooden inserts also function as the base to which you can attach hinges for the door.
Remove any extra aluminium and steel inserts that support the drawer's. Alot of scrap metals from this project are handy for later use.
Now that the cabinet is empty, you need to start with replacing the front frame. I made mine out of MDF sheet. I made mine about 150mm wide, and fixed it in place with building glue and a mallet - a very very tight friction fit. I then added onto each support a bit more mdf, which allowed me to attach an internal velcro door made of panda film - 100% light proof.
The door was made out of mdf also, then painted black. The fronts of the filing cabinets were carefully glued on, and screwed from the back of the door. If you line it up right and have not damaged the doors at this stage the end product looks exactly like normal drawers even close up. I used three concealed hinges and with a bit of fidling and sanding I got the door perfect. It wont lie, it was time consuming and frustrating. But worth it.
I replaced the lock with a 5$ store bought one, the origonal key was missing. The lock is easy to install and works like a charm.
For an intake I drilled two holes half way up the back of the cabinet. Fitted plumbing bulk heads (gives you something to attach stockings to etc), and built a light trap out of mdf. I coated the light trap with sound proofing material. The light trap was built to take up the back compartment of the cabinet - there is a roughly 150mm back compartment where the filing cabinet is riveted together. An output was cut out in the top right corner to suit my room. In hindsight I wish I put it in the back.
I then glued a mdf sheet on the top of the cabinet, alowing screws to go in to support fans, lights and filter. The glue did an amazing job. And supports alot of weight.
A peice of mdf was glued onto the back, to allow a solid attachment of power accesories. A power cord was then run through the back, and a hole drilled for remote air input for the hydro. All gaps were then sealed with black silicone. I discoverd if silicone is smeared thinly over the steel walls it absorbs vibration better, and dulls the sound a surprising amount. The walls were then all coverd in panda film. The internal door is attached with velcro, and works really well.
The cabinet uses a mars reflector hydro 48 x 3 w led. I was impressed with the power of this little light. I will continue to use it, as I feel I have not yet maximised its use. You can sit it right on top of the buds. I have light readings somewhere which I will upload. I installed as big a fan as I could get away with and a phresh carbon filter (which worked very well).
Since its steel you can use magnets for mounting fans, tie down points etc all over the place. There are a few lost all over the thing. Strong magents!
I made a simple dwc with an internal pump for easy water changes.I used some cheap dutch master advance grow + bloom. The genetics are Skunk 1# fem. I am grow in the tropics and damn the heat makes it very hard to do indoor. The plant stretched a HUGE amount and got out of control, I was very surprised it just stretched and stretched for weeks.
Any way, its all drying out now in the cabinet and I will report the yeild after curing. Looks between 1-2 o, and the buds that were under the led hoging room are very fat and dense. Comparable to 250w I believe, but the ones that were shaded out are fluffy. I think with some scrog action and shorter veg I could do much better.
Thanks for reading, heres some pics.
Thanks for stopping by. Will be updating the cabinet after this round is in the jar
I got a lot of inspiration for this project from this forum and I think that this idea of mine has some potential. I hope someone else gets inspired from this and makes their own setup, as it feels great to supply yourself and have full control over your favorite herb. Thank you everyone that unknowingly helped through the whole process!
So. I do not have any photos of the build process sorry. But I will do my best to explain.
I took out the drawers. Used a angle grinder to cut the fronts of the drawers off, do this carefully and avoid damage to the front of the drawers.
I then removed all the guts of the cabinet. In mine there was a steel frame that suppported the front of the cabinet. This frame imparts alot of stability and needs to be replaced with wooden inserts. The wooden inserts also function as the base to which you can attach hinges for the door.
Remove any extra aluminium and steel inserts that support the drawer's. Alot of scrap metals from this project are handy for later use.
Now that the cabinet is empty, you need to start with replacing the front frame. I made mine out of MDF sheet. I made mine about 150mm wide, and fixed it in place with building glue and a mallet - a very very tight friction fit. I then added onto each support a bit more mdf, which allowed me to attach an internal velcro door made of panda film - 100% light proof.
The door was made out of mdf also, then painted black. The fronts of the filing cabinets were carefully glued on, and screwed from the back of the door. If you line it up right and have not damaged the doors at this stage the end product looks exactly like normal drawers even close up. I used three concealed hinges and with a bit of fidling and sanding I got the door perfect. It wont lie, it was time consuming and frustrating. But worth it.
I replaced the lock with a 5$ store bought one, the origonal key was missing. The lock is easy to install and works like a charm.
For an intake I drilled two holes half way up the back of the cabinet. Fitted plumbing bulk heads (gives you something to attach stockings to etc), and built a light trap out of mdf. I coated the light trap with sound proofing material. The light trap was built to take up the back compartment of the cabinet - there is a roughly 150mm back compartment where the filing cabinet is riveted together. An output was cut out in the top right corner to suit my room. In hindsight I wish I put it in the back.
I then glued a mdf sheet on the top of the cabinet, alowing screws to go in to support fans, lights and filter. The glue did an amazing job. And supports alot of weight.
A peice of mdf was glued onto the back, to allow a solid attachment of power accesories. A power cord was then run through the back, and a hole drilled for remote air input for the hydro. All gaps were then sealed with black silicone. I discoverd if silicone is smeared thinly over the steel walls it absorbs vibration better, and dulls the sound a surprising amount. The walls were then all coverd in panda film. The internal door is attached with velcro, and works really well.
The cabinet uses a mars reflector hydro 48 x 3 w led. I was impressed with the power of this little light. I will continue to use it, as I feel I have not yet maximised its use. You can sit it right on top of the buds. I have light readings somewhere which I will upload. I installed as big a fan as I could get away with and a phresh carbon filter (which worked very well).
Since its steel you can use magnets for mounting fans, tie down points etc all over the place. There are a few lost all over the thing. Strong magents!
I made a simple dwc with an internal pump for easy water changes.I used some cheap dutch master advance grow + bloom. The genetics are Skunk 1# fem. I am grow in the tropics and damn the heat makes it very hard to do indoor. The plant stretched a HUGE amount and got out of control, I was very surprised it just stretched and stretched for weeks.
Any way, its all drying out now in the cabinet and I will report the yeild after curing. Looks between 1-2 o, and the buds that were under the led hoging room are very fat and dense. Comparable to 250w I believe, but the ones that were shaded out are fluffy. I think with some scrog action and shorter veg I could do much better.
Thanks for reading, heres some pics.
Thanks for stopping by. Will be updating the cabinet after this round is in the jar
Nice job! 
