Armoire/pantry stealth build

[torontoke]

Hey everyone
Im going to be building an armoire or pantry cabinet for flowering.
I plant to use the top 3/4 of it for flowering.
The flower area will be roughly 48" high x 36" wide x 24" deep.
Now i plan to use two aeroponics totes with 4 plants in each with scrog.
Now would i be better off buying a good led or a mh/hps switchable ballast maybe a 400w
This will strictly be for my personal smoke im not looking to become an overnight ganja cartel lol

 

[torontoke]

I hope to eventaully get this setup running so that every month i harvest one of the totes.
I have alot of seedlings to choose from but i will be starting with 4 nl x ak47 and 4 jesus og's

 

[Careerforacityboy]

Sounds like a cool idea, I'll defiantly check back on your build.

 

[torontoke]

Should be all up and running by next weekend.
I have a bunch of young ladies waiting to be flowered.
Thanks alot for your interest it was your cabinet that helped me decide on using a full size armoire.

 

[Careerforacityboy]

Should be all up and running by next weekend.
I have a bunch of young ladies waiting to be flowered.
Thanks alot for your interest it was your cabinet that helped me decide on using a full size armoire.

Oh thanks man, I think it is so obvious it's not!!! Hahaha. Happy I helped someone because I've gotten so much from this site it feels good to help even one person.

 

[Dragon311]

Just my 2 cents, but I lean towards LED for smaller enclosed spaces like armoires and cabinets.

I have an XGS-190 LED in my 5ft cabinet and its perfect for it. Although I can not personally compare to HID, since I've never used it, I think LED has lots of advantages over HID for stealth. Little to no heat...less power used....near silent operation, and low profile.

 

[italianstallion24]

^^^^^ you forgot expensive

 

[torontoke]

I was thinking about going led but the worthwhile units are really expensive and from everything ive read they dont last that long.
I was weighing the benefits against the disadvantages and im not so sure what to do.
I agree the led would make the cooling a little easier but is it worth it?

 

[Abiqua]

Imho, when you start adding up efficiency, intensity and peripheral costs, then LED's are still competitive, even though they are still on a price fixing platform somewhat, especially quality [i.e. Area 51, Apache Tech, Hans, Advanced, BML etc etc].

Then add the ability to focus on light quality, which is where intensity can really pick up.

I am not trying to sell anyone on LED, but crunching the numbers is where I play and they offer one of the greatest advantages right now, especially when you can't stuff a 315w CMH into a small cabinet

 

[Dragon311]

I was thinking about going led but the worthwhile units are really expensive and from everything ive read they dont last that long.
I was weighing the benefits against the disadvantages and im not so sure what to do.
I agree the led would make the cooling a little easier but is it worth it?

While I can't speak about life of the product through personal experience (I'm only on my 2nd grow with the unit), I can say that Area 51 offers a limited lifetime warranty for their product. So that tells me that they stand by the quality of their product.

As for being "expensive"...they are in the sense that you're putting out a good chunk of money up front. However, the way I look at it is, over the life of the product I will be paying less in electricity compared to HID, while still getting results comparable to HID. Also there's no additional cost of buying more bulbs. And with the model I have, there is no need to switch bulbs around for veg/flower.

 

[torontoke]

And what may i ask is the average retail price of your area 51 unit and how many plants can u flower under it?
Im glad people who are using led are chiming in.
I have been hearing about people running them but its usually the techy guys and most of them make their own.
How hot does your get?
Do you need an exhaust to pull heat away from it?

 

[Dragon311]

And what may i ask is the average retail price of your area 51 unit and how many plants can u flower under it?
Im glad people who are using led are chiming in.
I have been hearing about people running them but its usually the techy guys and most of them make their own.
How hot does your get?
Do you need an exhaust to pull heat away from it?

Search engines are your friend...

That being said, they retail for $575 but you can usually catch them discounted closer to 5-525.

It will cover a 2.5' x 2.5' area in flower. Personally I just do a single plant at a time. I imagine you could fit 2 plants easily if you can acccomdate that much space in a cabinet.

It doesn't get hot at all, as it has 2 PC fans running exhaust at the top and its quiet too.

 

[torontoke]

Found a wardrobe/armoire on kijiji for $20. I will start painting and modifying it tomorrow morning.
I will post up some pics of it as i go.
For now im just going to put 6 cfls in it til this new batch of seedlings is a lil bit bigger.
Im still looking into a led light or just grabbing a 400 watt mh bulb for the light i already have

 

[torontoke]

So the armoire practically fell apart when i took it out of my truck.
Spent the last couple days putting supports inside and i installed a 2" wood lip an inch behind the hinges so that it will block some light.
Im going to use sunvisors with velco to make a cover to seal it completely.
I also jigsawed two holes on the back for my fans.
Im going to start with 4" computer fans so i had to make old fashioned cardboard light traps.
Tomorrow i will paint another coat on the inside and figure out a lock system.

 

[torontoke]

Havent figured out how to post pics on here yet.

 

[Abiqua]

Havent figured out how to post pics on here yet.

Right where you write your post and it says "Post Reply", use the button next to it...."Upload a File".

Pics are faster if you trim them down a bit. Some people are posting multiple 6-8 mb single images....ouch.

 

[torontoke]

Ya thats the problem i have. My phone saves the pics as huge 10mb monsters.
How do i cut them down?
Im obviously not very tech savy

 

[Abiqua]

Ya thats tue problem i have. My phone saves the pics as huge 10mb monsters.
How do i cut them down?
Im obviously not very tech savy

Not trying to nitpick either, just that some of the pics, I didn't look at, because they didn't load or were taking way too long.

1. You can possibly set your camera settings on your phone.
2. Use an online editor to cut them down. Sumo, Lunapic, etc.
3. get on a comp and use paint program to chop em down.

 

[torontoke]

The cheap laminate covered particle board did not like taking paint either.
Ive painted the inside three times and u can still s

 

[torontoke]

This is what the outside looked like when i got it.