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Planning for first grow - Micro 4x55W PL-L vertical scrog cabinet

snowgeek

New member
Hi all. I've spent the last few weeks researching for my first grow and would like to run a few ideas past you guys and girls with more experience in this.

The space I will be growing in will be a 50cm x 50cm x 100cm high cupboard that I am getting made by a flatpack kitchen cabinets place. To make the most of this space I'm planning to run a 55W PL-L in each corner. Each light will sit inside a perspex tube with a PVC pipe light trapped intake feeding straight into the bottom of the tube. This should keep the temperature under control and allow the plants to grow right up to the light. I'm also going to add a couple of extra passive intakes into the cabinet to give the plants some fresh air. These will also be light-trapped with PVC pipe and will have a small fan near them to blow air around the cabinet.

It's my understanding that the color temp recommended for CFLs (6500K veg / 2700K flower) doesn't necessarily apply to PL-Ls as the rating is based on an average of the wavelengths output. I've seen some journals where people have had success with 4000K/4100K aquarium lights so I'd like to try with one type of lamp for veg and flowering on this first run. Depending on how this goes I might expand to having different bulb types in the future.

The current plan is to have a vertical scrog facing each light. I'd eventually like to add an extra light up the middle of each of the side walls and the back (would be too difficult to do on the door but I might if I can work something out) and do 3 slightly larger plants but to keep the costs down on this first attempt I'm hoping to do 4 smaller plants with one scrog in each corner. I could also/alternatively put a single tube right in the centre of the cabinet. While this would make more efficient use of the light, I have a feeling it would get in the way too much to be worth it for now.

Actually I wonder if I'd be better off putting a light vertically in the middle of each wall and forgetting the corner lights for now so that each tube gives off lght in 180 degrees instead of 90 in the corners. Not sure how I'd do this on the side with the door though.

I've also considered a few SOG style stadium setups but that looks a little too elaborate for this attempt. Maybe down the track.

Stealth is a concern in appearance, sound and odor (this is an apartment grow) so I need to be careful how I do the exhaust. I've heard good things about those Panasonic Whisperline fans so am considering one of those hooked up to a carbon scrubber. What size should I be looking at for the filter? Most of the ones I've seen so far are really long and I think I'd struggle to get one to fit. I've been looking at some of the DIY scrubbers posted around the place and some of them are pretty awesome but I'm worried about the amount of guesswork involved. Can anyone here give me some tips on something that would work in my situation, either ready-made or DIY? I'm not sure if a fan like this will be overkill for such a small cabinet but I guess I can run it on low with a fan controller and it should have enough suck to allow adding a small HPS later.

The idea is to eventually add a second similar cupboard for a veg cabinet and two smaller ones for moms/clones and storage so I can get a perpetual grow going. Having to have separate ventilation systems for each cabinet will add a bit of overhead but being modular it will be easier to fit into a different space when I eventually move and the costs can be spread out a little by not building everything at once.

I'm weighing up whether I grow in soil or a hempy bucket. I'm leaning towards the hempy bucket because I can see soil getting annoying in an apartment. Hydro has always intrigued me and the bucket looks like a good introduction to this way of growing. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions about mediums and nutes as I get closer to having things set up.

The other thing I need to sort out is seeds. I'm not sure if this should be asked here. Please let me know and I'll split this part to a new question in a more appropriate forum if this isn't the right place. I'll be going through Attitude for stealth shipping but feel like a kid in a candy store looking at all the different strains on offer. I love sativas but am unsure of a decent one that is easy to grow, reasonably potent, could yield well in my setup and doesn't take 3+ months to flower. I'd also like to get a relaxing indica to chill out on at the end of a hard day.

My current shortlist is:
Barney's Farms Tangerine Dream
Barneys Farms Vanilla Kush
DNA Genetics Chocolope
Dutch Passion Strawberry Cough
G13 Labs Pineapple Express
G13 Labs Skunk #1
G13 Labs Blueberry Gum
TGA Subcool Seeds QLeaner
TGA Subcool Seeds Jilly Bean

There's a lot of fruit flavoured strains in there but that isn't intentional. I guess I've tried to pick strains I'm unlikely to have come across before. I'm open to any suggestions. I'll probably get 3 feminized seeds each of 3-4 strains. It'll be great to eventually have a few different varieties on hand for different situations.

I'm really looking forward to starting this and will definitely be coming back here with updates and more questions once things start happening. Any and all thoughts on this plan appreciated.

Peace.
 

snowgeek

New member
Thanks Ceylon. Both of those look really good. I have to go to work now but I will read those threads tonight and post an updated plan.
 

yesum

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Hi, I would also consider putting 2 55 watts in center of cab. 4 lights in corners would be slight overkill imo. Also, you would have to have reflectors behind the lights for decent efficiency.

I have 1 55 watt vertical in center of 2x2' tent and will add 1 more by taping the sockets together(side to side so the u shape sides do not block each other,diagonal piece of metal between lights to reflect off the little light that would be lost). Also have LED overhead in tent. I do not use tubes to cool and have a exhaust fan running at lowest speed with no heat problem. The plants can come within 1 inch without burn.

No light loss with light in center of grow, and some light loss even with reflectors in corner placement and increased cost. Either would work fine tho.
 

LoKey

Member
so something like this just wider and no veg section,

its works pretty damn good, i can grab an "action shot" when lights are on if interested

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snowgeek

New member
I think ou guys are right about putting one or two lights in the centre being a better choice than lights in the corners. I was worried that the lights in the middle would restrict access within the cabinet and would limit my options for how I grow.

Yesum that's good news about the temps. What if I didn't bother with intakes and tubes for the lights then hung them from a grill (think like a scrog screen but stronger) inserted like a shelf at the top of the cabinet. This would allow swinging the light out of the way when working and make it easy to change how the lights are set up.

LoKey your cab looks awesome. I've got lots of questions but I'll read your thread about it first. In the meantime can I take you up on that action shot?

Thanks for the feedback guys.
 

LoKey

Member
here you go, the plants on the right have 1-2 weeks left, the three in the back corner should be another 4 weeks but i expect them to be done in 2-3 with how they're looking, and the ones in the front left, well just ignore them, the one (center one) im gonna probably just chop and replace, and the one on the left still has a good 7+ weeks to go (its a 9-11week strain that is the only one left of its kind, as i culled the mother and some other clones, as i dont care to grow it anymore)

I expect over 10g dry per plant, looking to hit just over 16g dry per plant but i dont think ill hit it this round.

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