first try

[moonshoes]

I have never grown before but I am making a plan to start but I need advice first. Please critique my plan.

I looked at a lot of New Ganja Boy setups on here, but that looks too hard for me. I want to make two boxes, one for veg one for flowering. I'll have them on either side of my bed and make them look like night stands, with the wires plugged in behind my headboard.
I learned on overgrow (r.i.p.) how to make a powerful light out of cfl's, pvc, wood, and high temp adhesive. This will be up top in each chamber (blue and red lights respectively) hanging on S hooks and chains. I'll grow them in soil, less complicated. Also on overgrow I learned how to make a ghetto co2 rig so I at least plan on that in the flower cab at least. I don't know what to do about a fan, I was thinking passive intake in the floor and two of those school bus driver clip on fans.
I know how to water plants and have rooted clones by putting cuttings in a glass of water in the window sill but that is the extent of my skill. Also, I have no safe address to order seeds and have seen a lot of bagseed grows on here with hermaphroditic plants so I don't want that. The only way I can think of to get them is to use a remailer, but only super sketchy ones will work because the rest require government paperwork and ID. (I live in America by the way).
I will try and sketch this up so people can tell me what I'm doing right and wrong before I start building. My most crucial question: How do I make these light proof? Sorry for being so new, I have been studying this for four years but I have no hands on experience.


All guidance appreciated, smoke `em if you got `em!

 

[Pirate138]

You need an exhaust, clip fans wont cut it. HPS would be better than CFL for flowering. Your room is gona small like herb unless you get a carbon filter for both boxes. The noise from the fans and humming of the lights will also make putting them by your bed a bad idea. Light proofing requires sound carpentry work, flush corners and sides, lots of caulk, well fitting doors with negative pressure, and weather stripping. Also dont grow unless you live by YOURSELF or have a wife. No roomates and no parents heh.

 

[moonshoes]

thanks

thanks

Crappy fans no good, got it. I will get a squirrel cage fan and hook a small scrubber up to that, hopefully muffling it. For the exhaust I guess I could put a muffin fan over some holes in the back and cover the holes with darkroom louvers.
I might augment the cfl's with an hps in the flower chamber, using a security light, heat level permitting.
I will assemble the cabs myself, but I will have the guy at lowes or home dePot cut all the wood on that big machine they have. I don't understand how to create negative pressure.
Thank heaven I live alone, no one will know. My only foreseeable security problem is the fact that I rent and how to dispose of plant waste because I share a dumpster with my neighbors and I'm paranoid that if they fuck up and the cops are going through the trash they could find some plant material.

 

[Pirate138]

Burn your waste, or gorrilla dump it somewhere, but burning is better. Negative pressure is when the doors of your cab are sucked closed on their own.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

The cuts at Home Depot are not precise. They have a sign that states it. Plus IME they are not accurate. Close to maybe like 1/4 to maybe 1/8 of an inch but for a cabinet I think you would want precide. Maybe look at a cabinet grow. The cab wont cost that much and you will have more vertical room. One side could be veg, one side could be flower.

Some plywod boxes as nightstands may look funny

Or try a thrift shop and look for a armoire or something used and cheap.

 

[moonshoes]

great advice so far, but i require more.

I'm modifying a prefab cabinet.

Is it true as I have read that I can lightproof the doors by lining the edges with weather stripping?

Does making passive intake twice the size of exhaust really create a suction that keeps the doors shut or is that bs?

Will darkroom louvers, while being light tight, let enough air get in? I'm thinking of using these over the intake and exhaust holes on the back so it will still look stealth.

will i need a center post where the doors meet to lock the light in?

thank you

 

[FreezerBoy]

Do yourself a favor and read through this ...
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=21879&highlight=mills+pride

Weatherstripping or foam rubber works for lightproofing. Negative pressure is for real. Never tried louvers. Center post would be good.

 

[moonshoes]

Thanks for the advice, that is a lot to read but I'm getting good ideas from it.

I still haven't bought a cabinet yet. The one I am considering is 61 1/2"H x 28 3/4"W x 14 1/2"D on the inside and I was planning on using 400 watt hps with 273 cfm pole fan. Will this cabinet be cool enough with that stuff or do I need to change my plan?

I want to start but I need to make sure I'm getting the right stuff. Thanks

 

[FreezerBoy]

I'm in a 22"x29"x54" space. I wouldn't go 400 but, I grow in a freezer with double steel wall construction. You could turn your cab into swiss cheese faster than I could cut a single hole.

The 400 Watt Club

fan-intake calculator

Not trying to avoid questions. Just trying to send you where others are doing what it seems you want to do. I'm big on the Tony Robert's method. Find someone good at what you want to do, learn how they do it, then do it yourself.

 

[moonshoes]

thank you again!