Diary The Further Adventures of Mr VerdantGreen

[VerdantGreen]

Hi all, I've just built a new cab! Been planning it for ages but getting it made and running has taken a while due to life/family/time etc.
By my standards this cab is quite big... internal dimensions are 80cm x 80cm and 120cm high.

I didn't want the door to be the full width af the front, mainly because space is very tight and there wouldn't be enough room to open it ! so the door is 60cm wide. - it is also stronger and more rigid with a return at the front.

I wanted to get a light that was a bit oversized for the footprint and also dimmable - so that i can really push the plants during peak flower, but turn it down for veg etc - and also because i wanted it to pretty much fill the top of the cab without big gaps around the edges so that the coverage was strong all over.. ive always preferred this and think it works better, so i went for a Mars Hydro FCE-3000:

It seems like a nice modular design.. it requires some assembly but it was pretty easy and was worth it just to get it delivered in a modest sized box..

 

[VerdantGreen]

Here is the inside of the cab, i managed to find a drip tray that fits exactly

you can see ive made it with no seams on the inside (i put them on the outside instead...
and the top, the wood in the middle is to hang the light from because the 9mm ply wouldn't be strong enough

 

[VerdantGreen]

here are the plants. For the first round i am going to run just 4 in here.. may even do a modular scrog lol - it's been a while !
I have 4 rooted clones:
2 x Contra D (both the same, Contra D 1 )
1 x BlueDigiBerry F2 (the wide leaf plant that i kept and was one of the seed mums for the F3's)
1 x Chem Zhuzh. (this is an untested one that i didn't have room for on my test grow)
here they are out in the sunshine for a pic:

here they are in the Cab with the light hung and a fan installed.. mylar sheet not arrived yet and still a bit to do, but we're off ! (the reserve plant is a Lemon Thai) Dimmer is on 25% atm but i am hoping to veg at 50%

 

[VerdantGreen]

What i mostly want to do with this cab in the future is be able to test out a decent number of plants without having to use small pots, and the size has been chosen carefully to enable me to fit 9 x 11 litre pots which should make for better test grows...

and if i wanted to i could run 16 x 5.7 litre pots in there too (this is the size of pot ive bee using for the test grows recently.. but they are a little too small for decent plant expression imo.. good to have that option though )
Running 4 first though in 25 litre pots should let me get used to the light without root binding being a factor...and also give me extra veg time to get used to the light and its power, and finish off a few bits with the cab (i want to have another fan mounted on the front return blowing towards the back to create better circulation... and a few other odd jobs
VG

 

[VerdantGreen]

Hi again, poor pic but you can see i now have mylar sheet installed, a second fan on the front return.. plants have been potted up into real soil.. checking which of my thermometers/humidistats work properly as well. put some water in the drip tray to raise humidity as there are so few plants in there to bump it up.

VG

 

[flylowgethigh]

One nice thing about the cord on the FCE it lends itself to mounting the driver outside the grow area. The driver gets warm. Mine is in an adjacent closet where the air is cool and blowing (AC unit), and the driver still gets pretty warm.

 

[VerdantGreen]

yes thats a good feature, i may need to do that if i run out of height. At some times of year here the heat is useful for the grow.. and at others too much- so i like to have the choice.
VG

 

[herbgreen]

Brilliant design

you are going to run short on headspace

I suggest hooks you can use hold that LED unit as close to ceiling as possible

I like fixed lights....and move plants up as you go

whatever you got to do to get it as flush with the top maybe brackets it can sit on

I'd like to build one like this that I can break down and move

Ive seen the IR saunas like that and they use metal latches to hook the sides of wall together

Then it fits together very tightly

 

[VerdantGreen]

hey @herbgreen thanks! - yeah i was quite relaxed about headspace because this cab is 4ft tall - the tallest ive made ! ... but ive been using blurples that don't need a big gap between light and tops in flower... and i guess i'm going to need at least a foot ? or more with this Mars FCE.. yes ive done 4 hooks before and that works well.

i reckon this is at least the tenth cab ive made (or converted from something else) in the last dozen or so years so ive learnt from a few mistakes along the way. yes one like this would flat pack very easily and the 9mm ply is light. probably take half an hour to take down or put up with an electric screwdriver once made. i just got the sheet cut to size at the local DIY store so easy to do. i'll grab a few more pics of details at some point.... and i have some plans for a mod. when the cold weather comes. It's in an unheated garage so that is the big challenge and had been for me for the last few years. Much easier if you can duct air into your grow from a living space because it's already much closer to the right temp!

VG

 

[herbgreen]

Love the paneling

 

[Redrum92]

In on the first page of what's sure to be another legendary thread. Can't wait to see what you do with the new cab.

 

[VerdantGreen]

Thanks @Redrum92 ! - yes there have been a few over the years lol - hopefully my luck will hold with this one too.
yesterday i 'retired' my 100mm Ruck Temperature controlled inline fan. It had been working pretty much continuously for about 14 years and was still going strong but i felt i should 'play it safe' and fit a new one.. it does all my cabs. now i also have a spare. Replaced the carbon filter too.
Plants have started growing into their new pots.. pics tomorrow.
Regular garden looking pretty good too atm -

VG

 

[Benny106]

Fuck yeah in ftw nice build out!

 

[VerdantGreen]

Hey thanks @BeAn v.2.0 .. The warm welcome and kindness i recieved from you and the crew way back then has been massively influential for me and my direction

 

[VerdantGreen]

So the plants seem to be vegging up nicely.
Here are the 2 Contra D's

The Chem Zhuzh and the BDB. CZ is a bit behind but starting to put on strong growth now:

The Lemon Thai rooted a bit later but again is getting going:

After taking the pics i Topped the Contra D and the BDB. Here they are in the cab after being topped

VG

 

[VerdantGreen]

hi, plants are all in 5 litre pots now. the BDB back right and the CZ front right were up-potted a couple days ago because i wanted to give them a bit of a head start as the Contra D were growing so quickly. they are on the left and looking droopy immedialtly after repotting.

light is at just under 50% ... we have a heatwave atm so not going to push it and they are growing well.
taking a bit more space up.. ignore the BDB seedlings on the right they are just in here for a minute because space and they help keep the humidity up (i moved them down a bit after the pic because they were too close to the light as they got a bit bigger ). also some clones lurking underneath
hopefully i can get a pic tomorrow with the Contras perked up a bit.
VG

 

[944s2]

looking good VG,,,
crazy heat at the moment,,,,
I be popping beans when I’m back in 2 weeks ,,,,
time they have a long veg and some training I’m hoping we’re out of the worst of it by then so bloom should be ok,,,,,
I have almost floor to ceiling windows and even with a moby to help with the temps I still work my nuts off keeping humidity up,,,,

 

[drosera420]

Thanks @Redrum92 ! - yes there have been a few over the years lol - hopefully my luck will hold with this one too.
yesterday i 'retired' my 100mm Ruck Temperature controlled inline fan. It had been working pretty much continuously for about 14 years and was still going strong but i felt i should 'play it safe' and fit a new one.. it does all my cabs. now i also have a spare. Replaced the carbon filter too.
Plants have started growing into their new pots.. pics tomorrow.
Regular garden looking pretty good too atm -
View attachment 18729860
VG

Have you noticed those phlox will be visibly different shades depending on the time of day ? Dawn and dusk mine will get a dull hue like the pic the during the day they are visually striking. I suppose it's just the UV catching them or not. They really look like 2 diff. varieties at times.

 

[unregistered190]

Nice buildout VG! You are gonna rock it

 

[VerdantGreen]

Have you noticed those phlox will be visibly different shades depending on the time of day ? Dawn and dusk mine will get a dull hue like the pic the during the day they are visually striking. I suppose it's just the UV catching them or not. They really look like 2 diff. varieties at times.

Yes, i love the way they look so blue in the fading light! (was trying to get pics of the different hues the other day but couldn't capture it well)
- i'm not really keen on all the pink Phlox.. but i love this mauve/blue one and i also like the white ones.

VG