Milkman's DIY stealth perpetual grow cabinet (with pics)

[milkman92]

DIMENSIONS: 80cm wide, 70cm tall, 45cm deep (80x70x45)

LIGHTING: Each pod will be lit with 4x 25w CFL once in full veg/flower, plus room for additional in middle (won't be needed)

VENTILATION:
Exhaust - 140cm Akasa Viper PC fan
Fan speed: 1600 RPM
Max airflow: 110.61 CFM
Max static air pressure: 3.12 mm H2O
Noise level: 26.01 dB
Intake - Passive intake holes (did have a 120mm PC fan in there but it didn't work)
Air Circulation - 3x 4" fans

Dry-run temp readings (with all 8 CFLs running):

Max: 33c
Min: 17c

Didn't really know what I was doing in terms of DIY, prior to this project I had never picked up a drill or saw in my life, so it looks very bad but hopefully will do the job.

The idea behind the plant pods is a way to utilise Rhizopots in a small space, and use LST at the same time (I have very little headroom anyway), and be able to move everything as one unit. There is a section at the bottom of the pod for a tray for runoff water, which can be easily removed.

Each 4-light fixture will have a 3:1 ratio of spectrum. The left side (veg side) will have 3:1 6500k:2700k and the right side (flower side) will have the reverse.

One of the 4" fans is pointing at the CFL's on the right side to keep them cool during the flowering phase.

I will be growing autoflower strains, for a number of reasons, but they are not relevant for this post.

The only potential problem I can see is the temps getting too high, but I'll have to make sure my bedroom (where the box is based) is cold.

My aim for this setup is to be able to produce 1oz/plant, every 6 weeks. The idea is to plant a new seed every 6 weeks as all the auto's I've grown so far have been ready in around 3 months.

Details on the grow medium etc will be in the grow diary.

Thanks all, any feedback is appreciated!

 

[gogogogogogo]

30 degree temperature differential will be stressful on your plants from my experience... also not sure if the hooks are for doing a scrog but if they are your pot is definitely too tall for that and it'll be extremely difficult to keep it that low. I like the cab, I tried a similar setup for my first grow with an old tv cabinet but found it was just way too inefficient. I think I still pulled a qp off it though.

Best of luck to you.

 

[milkman92]

30 degree temperature differential will be stressful on your plants from my experience... also not sure if the hooks are for doing a scrog but if they are your pot is definitely too tall for that and it'll be extremely difficult to keep it that low. I like the cab, I tried a similar setup for my first grow with an old tv cabinet but found it was just way too inefficient. I think I still pulled a qp off it though.

Best of luck to you.

Hey man, yeah I'll hopefully be able to control temps a bit more. I'm considering adding another PC fan exhaust. Any thoughts on this? And the hooks are for LST (to tie string to) and I'll hopefully be able to train the plant around the pod.

If I can get 1oz a plant I'll be happy!

Ceers

 

[gogogogogogo]

From my experience even with my poor growing conditions (similar to yours, and please don't take offense to this!) if you top and or LST getting an ounce is easy.

If you want to get temps down, here is my recommendation.

Get a 6" booster fan and duct the air away from the box.

They are under $20 on amazon, move 240 CFM, and pull very little power. Ditch the PC fan's and go this route and your heat problems should be resolved. As for the hooks, that'll work great for tie down points. I just wanted to make sure you weren't trying to put a scrog screen over it.

Another thing that may help, try to get the power strip out of the cab as they can sometimes get warm and throw off some heat. Probably not your issue, as I suspect your heat is due to improper ventilation. Exhausting the heat to the outside of your cab will only result in it being pulled back in through the intake.

 

[milkman92]

From my experience even with my poor growing conditions (similar to yours, and please don't take offense to this!) if you top and or LST getting an ounce is easy.

If you want to get temps down, here is my recommendation.

Get a 6" booster fan and duct the air away from the box.

They are under $20 on amazon, move 240 CFM, and pull very little power. Ditch the PC fan's and go this route and your heat problems should be resolved. As for the hooks, that'll work great for tie down points. I just wanted to make sure you weren't trying to put a scrog screen over it.

Another thing that may help, try to get the power strip out of the cab as they can sometimes get warm and throw off some heat. Probably not your issue, as I suspect your heat is due to improper ventilation. Exhausting the heat to the outside of your cab will only result in it being pulled back in through the intake.

I just looked at those booster fans. Unfortunately don't think they would fit in my space. It's all pretty tight in there anyway. I could try and wire up a second identical PC fan exhaust? Next to the current one? Then I would have 2 exhausts and 2 passive intake holes. The power strip I didn't think about, and it might be something to consider. Every little helps right?! The cabinet is pressed right up against a wall so I know that intake/exhaust air could me mixing quite a lot, but I have to for the stealth factor. I could pull it out a few inches if you think that would make even a small difference though!

 

[gogogogogogo]

If it's pressed right up against the wall, no amount of PC fans or booster fans will do you any good. While some of the air will escape through the sides, lots will "bounce" off the wall and go back into the box. I strongly recommend ditching the PC fans if you wish to get constant temperatures. Climate is everything for a grow and should be step one before you even sprout your beans.

 

[KushMaster89]

Looks like a fire hazard to me lol.. Cool though

 

[Gregor Eisenhorn]

Turn those cfls hortizontally, that will lower the temperature slightly and give you more light bulbs in general produce more light from the sides) and you get more space!

Try this mate, buy some super strong magnets and stick them to the back wall at for example, three different heights and stick one magnet to the back of the light fixtures This way you can easily position the lights according to the plants height!

 

[Gregor Eisenhorn]

I just looked at those booster fans. Unfortunately don't think they would fit in my space. It's all pretty tight in there anyway. I could try and wire up a second identical PC fan exhaust? Next to the current one? Then I would have 2 exhausts and 2 passive intake holes. The power strip I didn't think about, and it might be something to consider. Every little helps right?! The cabinet is pressed right up against a wall so I know that intake/exhaust air could me mixing quite a lot, but I have to for the stealth factor. I could pull it out a few inches if you think that would make even a small difference though!

Mount the aditional fan on the opposite side.

Also if a fan is pressed against a wall, it will be having a hard time pushing the air, something to consider. You could make some light traps out of small PVC pipes if stealth is an issue.

Also, have you thought about doing a scrog in addition to tying the plant down? In such a small space a scrog could be a life saver.

Other than that, it all looks great mate! I love DIY cabinet grows, I'll be watching.