Rubbermaid GROW, step by step....day by day

solarguy

solarguy

Active Member
Here is my 1st grow cab....

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1. 2 x 45 gallon rubbermaid tubs 15.00 each = 30.00
2. black and white spray paint for plastic = 10.00
3. extension cord 3 prong, everyday use 16 gauge wire = 6.00
4. 5/16" hook screws, bolts, washers...
-4 hooks @ 1.00 each = 4.00
-8 bolts @ .25 each = 2.00
-8 washers @ .25 each = 2.00
5. 6" inline duct fan = 22.00
6. 2 x 2" pvc 90 degree elbows AND 2 x 2" pvc short pipes, 4" long. = 4.00 total
7. *Mylar = had some left over, if not a new roll is 20 bucks but will last a long time with a grow like this!
8. wire connectors, duct tape, foil tape = had them laying around! (i do electrical work)

80.00 total for cab without light and plant material.

Step 1: spray paint bottoms of rubbermaids. first black and than white. This is so light doesn't get out the top and reflects off of the bottom. Why not spray the sides? because the Mylar will block light out/in. If you are not using Mylar i recommend spray painting the entire rubbermaid or else you will be glowing. remember first black and than white. You will not need the tops of the containers, see photo to understand.

Step 2: Inside the rubbermaids cover the sides with Mylar. If you dont have Myular than spray paint it black and than white. The entire inside except the bottoms and than tape it with foil tape. Keep as little foil tape out of the inside of the rubbermaids, this will prevent hot spots. Turn on your lights in a dark room and put them in the tub, make sure no light leaks...

Step 3: use a drill or screw driver to put the hooks inside. You will have a bolt and washer on both sides on the rubbermaid, outside and inside...These hooks will be used to hold your lights....you can use any lights with this grow design!

Step 4: This is for your fan/exhaust...with an exacto knife or sharp knife, cut a 6" hole in the bottom (actually your top) trace your fan for an even cut!

Step 5: At opposite bottom corners cut two inch holes on the rubbermaid that doesn't have the fan hole in it! This is for your passive intake!

Step 6: grab your extension cord, cut the female end off. This is the end where you would plug devices into, NOT the side you plug into the wall, that's the male. strip the coating around the wires. There will be three wires. Green, black, white....most extension cords have green wires and the other two are usually black, that's fine.

Step 7: take fan wires, green black and white, and connect them to the extension cord wires. You will need to strip the wires of the extension cord. Its a good idea to have the same amount of wire showing on both the fan and extension cord. You will see the middle cord is usually the ground, or green. Typically the two other wires besides the ground will not be marked. If your extension cord is not marked its ok to connect the wires from your extension cord to any of them. So to conclude: your green fan wire should be connected to the green extension cord wire, this is your ground. the others can connect to either.

Step 8: Use wire connectors/caps/ to connect wires together. Make sure no wires are exposed and they are all inside the wire caps. Its a good idea to secure your wires with electrical tape after...this stops the wires from pulling apart.

Step 9: place your fan in the hole! the air should be blowing straight up! I wrapped a shirt around the outside of my fan and taped it with duck tape so it sits on top of the grow box and i can remove it and look inside, adjust lights....etc! To prevent light from getting in you can add duct work so the light doesn't get inside! I will be doing this once i am off 24/7 veg cycle.

Step 10: put PVC pipes together and secure them with duck tape or glue...
There is another on the other side! 2 x 2" intakes!

Step 11: figure out your lights and get some plants in this bitch!

You can do many different variations and what i have learned is that there is NO right way!

FYI:

I use a 6 inch exhaust fan and 2 x 2inch holes for passive intakes. 4 inches total of intake. There is negative pressure created since my exhaust is bigger than the intake. The fan pushes more air out than it is pulling in so there is constant air flow being brought in and out quickly. If my intake holes were greater than the 6 inches of exhaust, i would have a hard time keeping the air moving out! This also prevents air/odor from leaking out the bottom. You can see in the pic below the lighter flame is being sucked in!
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Once the smell kicks in and i go to flower i will use Duct Work and make a DIY carbon filter. This will be connected to the fan, the fan will stay in the same position. I will be sucking air out of the cab and pushing it through the filter into my bedroom!

DIY carbon filter - http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs...on-filter.html

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Finished product Day 4:

003.jpg006.jpg004.jpg005.jpg026.jpg044.jpg038.jpg043.jpg:mrgreen:
 
solarguy

solarguy

Active Member
I think the leaves are drooping from the transport from Florescent's to LED. They were moist when i got them from the dispensary and after one day the LED dried them out so i watered them, they perked up a lot and now are drooping a little....any input? Temp is 76-81, humidity is around 35%, light is about 16 inches above (recommended from LED company so the spectrum's can mix)

Thanks!
 
L

leftreartire

Active Member
wyteberrywidow said:
I like letting my plants grow straight up no techniques but i tried topping and lst.Yeilded a bit more not much more but ill try in the future and see what happens.
Click to expand...
so you are telling me you had the same results with topping and lst as you did just letting it grow? man i find that so hard to believe since i feel mine have gone up alot since i have began lst before they even called it that.
 
wyteberrywidow

wyteberrywidow

Global
leftreartire said:
so you are telling me you had the same results with topping and lst as you did just letting it grow? man i find that so hard to believe since i feel mine have gone up alot since i have began lst before they even called it that.
Click to expand...
Did you read.I said yielded a bit more not much more...
 
solarguy

solarguy

Active Member
sounds to me like SCROG might be the best method with a cab like this, i am really confused about FIM and topping anyways...
 
solarguy

solarguy

Active Member
with Scrog is their any pruning? You only prune leaves that are dead correct or shading bud site?

pruning is just trimming correct?
 
solarguy

solarguy

Active Member
i have found several i just don't know when you start the scrog.....do you flower once it hits the screen? veg into the screen?....


and how far above pot should the screen be or is it irrelevant?

Anything that doesnt grow up to screen to i just cut it off or keep it down there?

Also can you veg for however long youd like and same with flower?
 
wyteberrywidow

wyteberrywidow

Global
With a Scrog you let your plants veg until they are 8-10 inches high and then go to 12/12.
A screen is put, lets say 9 inches above your pots, stretched across the whole grow area, horizontally, 2 inch mesh. I suggest plastic as it gives off less heat and less likely to tear your plants as you adjust them. The plants are allowed to grow through the screen by a couple of inches but then they are pulled back under and trained to grow horizontally across and under the screen, for the rest of their growth. As the plants grow you move them so that one bud site is allowed to grow through one hole in the screen, the main stem still grows horizontally. The cool thing is you don't have to tie them down, just adjust them as they grow and fill all the spaces in the screen. As they flower and grow - every hole in the screen will have a bud growing through it and they are all about the same height. This makes full use of all lighted space.
Eventually this canopy of colas are not going to allow any light through the screen. You should prune under there but do it slowly as not to shock the plant and besides, those fan leaves carry food for the plant. Wait until they are not helping at all and 0 light gets through before going radical, again... only prune a little at a time. Needless to say this method allows light to get to every bud that is through the screen, all about the same size so that everything ...light, space to grow, etc is utilized to it's fullest giving you the maximum yield in the space that you have. Some peeps even with plenty of space will grow this way to get the most out of their resources and energy...great economy of lights, nutes, etc.
That's it in a nutshell, I've most certainly have not mentioned some stuff that others might fill
 
solarguy

solarguy

Active Member
what would happen if you vegged your plants to about a foot tall and then started to scrog? is it only good at 8-12 inches tall?
 
solarguy

solarguy

Active Member
i will....IMO the roots will just be bigger and everything below the canopy might be useless. So it might be a wash with the extra time i wait to get them that tall....
 
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