ambr0sia
Member
Howdy, folks. Long time listener, first time grower.
After carefully considering venting, security, temperature control, and available space, I've selected a quiet corner of my small home to place my personal medical veg / flower cabinet; Trouble is, I can' t figure out the best way to use it. I was gifted a 430W Son Agro (sans bulb) + Air cooled hood, but I'm afraid the 2ft depth may not lend itself well to a bulb as mighty as the 430.
Further complicating the issue is that this cab needs to be as stealth as possible; A short ~4ft tall cabinet would be perfect for me since it could easily be excused away as a standing workbench. However, I'm under the impression that that'd be much too short to house the 430W, regardless of ventilation.
Here are my options as I see them:
1) 4Wx2Dx7H cabinet w/ 430W flower in the top 5.5Ft, utility room and veg in the bottom 1.5ft. Workable, I think, but not as stealth as I'd like, since I don't have a good excuse for a big-ass cabinet that can't be opened.
2) 6Wx2Dx4H "workbench" SCROG cabinet w/ 430W flower chamber taking 3ft of that width (3Wx2Dx4H), 2ft of that width for veg / utility (2Wx2Dx4H), and 1ft of the width (1Wx2Dx4H) for filter / fan / duct work. This is my favorite option, but my fear is that this design is too small (and more importantly, a fire hazard) for the 430W.
3) The same as #2, but replace the 430W Son Agro with 2x DIY cool-tubed 150Ws. Logic being that the lower wattage lights will allow for a shorter cab since the lights can be closer to the plants themselves, while still giving me a nearly equivalent end wattage. The downside, of course, is that I'll need to spend an extra ~$200 or so for new lights and bake-a-rounds.
Safety is of utmost importance to me, so please don't hesitate to let this color your suggestions. Also, I'm not sure if it's relevant, but law in my state limits medical patients to 6 plants total, so the plan is to have 2 plants in flower at all times, and 2-4 plants in clone / veg.
WWICD?
Follow-up question: The site was chosen in large part due to the ease that I'll have venting everything into the crawlspace below the house, which I hear is just the kitten's mittens. While I was down there verifying that I could punch through where I thought I could, I noticed that there were no vents from the crawlspace to the outside world (at least that I could see). Will it still be safe and prudent to vent down there?
UPDATE: v1 of my proposed cab design can be found down yonder.
After carefully considering venting, security, temperature control, and available space, I've selected a quiet corner of my small home to place my personal medical veg / flower cabinet; Trouble is, I can' t figure out the best way to use it. I was gifted a 430W Son Agro (sans bulb) + Air cooled hood, but I'm afraid the 2ft depth may not lend itself well to a bulb as mighty as the 430.
Further complicating the issue is that this cab needs to be as stealth as possible; A short ~4ft tall cabinet would be perfect for me since it could easily be excused away as a standing workbench. However, I'm under the impression that that'd be much too short to house the 430W, regardless of ventilation.
Here are my options as I see them:
1) 4Wx2Dx7H cabinet w/ 430W flower in the top 5.5Ft, utility room and veg in the bottom 1.5ft. Workable, I think, but not as stealth as I'd like, since I don't have a good excuse for a big-ass cabinet that can't be opened.
2) 6Wx2Dx4H "workbench" SCROG cabinet w/ 430W flower chamber taking 3ft of that width (3Wx2Dx4H), 2ft of that width for veg / utility (2Wx2Dx4H), and 1ft of the width (1Wx2Dx4H) for filter / fan / duct work. This is my favorite option, but my fear is that this design is too small (and more importantly, a fire hazard) for the 430W.
3) The same as #2, but replace the 430W Son Agro with 2x DIY cool-tubed 150Ws. Logic being that the lower wattage lights will allow for a shorter cab since the lights can be closer to the plants themselves, while still giving me a nearly equivalent end wattage. The downside, of course, is that I'll need to spend an extra ~$200 or so for new lights and bake-a-rounds.
Safety is of utmost importance to me, so please don't hesitate to let this color your suggestions. Also, I'm not sure if it's relevant, but law in my state limits medical patients to 6 plants total, so the plan is to have 2 plants in flower at all times, and 2-4 plants in clone / veg.
WWICD?
Follow-up question: The site was chosen in large part due to the ease that I'll have venting everything into the crawlspace below the house, which I hear is just the kitten's mittens. While I was down there verifying that I could punch through where I thought I could, I noticed that there were no vents from the crawlspace to the outside world (at least that I could see). Will it still be safe and prudent to vent down there?
UPDATE: v1 of my proposed cab design can be found down yonder.
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