Growbox build in process, need thoughts/help.

Hello RIU readers, i had once tried to grow before but i moved before my beautiful girl in garden was done. So she had to be chopped.
Anyways, now that i am at my new home i am ready to take a swing at growing again. This time i am going to go the indoors route. I have an armouire, internal dimensions 18(l)x30(w)x47(h). I plan on Scroging 2 plants under a 400w hps. I will veg with cfls (8-43w), which is still up for debate, while i save for my HPS. So far i have began to rattlecan the inside white. I used 1/2" weatherstripping to seal the cracks in the double doors. My main concern is cooling. I have a 10" metal oscillating fan that i plan to place on the floor, blowing between the bottoms of the plants causing an upward circulation of air. 1 4" metal fan intake. Should i carbon filter the intake? i will not be using inline fans so i how will i protect the smell from leaking out of the intakes? Exhaust being 2 4" bathroom fans, one mid way up and one at the uppermost part near the light. Will this be enough to cool the 400w HPS?
I plan on using an organic soil, fox farm nutes, and dechlorinated tap water. Thanks for all input. I cant wait.

its gonna be pretty hard to keep that box cool enough

i have a 400 watt and it sits at 80 in my veg tent thats 2x4x5

id recommend getting a tent instead if possible.

heres a cheap one thatll do the job for under $100 shipped

http://www.accesshydroponic.com/reflective-interior-32x32x63-inch-hydroponic-grow-tent.html#.UKwspuOe9U4

that and id get another one of those 4 inch metal fans

if youre not able to get the tent you should shoot for a cooltube and use the cool air from outside to cool the light.

as far as carbon filters go the room you have it in is gonna smell like kuh regardless i only really use carbon filters if im venting air from inside the room/tent out a window/vent

what strain do you plan on growing??

Should i abandon the 400 and switch to the 250? i am stuck with the box, i already began working on it and i dont have much spare money for upfront fees.
Would a cooltube make it better to run the 400? i think the yield of a 400 would be greater than a 250 so i am aiming to use that.

well if you got a cool tube for it it would run you 35-65 bucks probably

so if you can spare it id get it for sure

then upgrade to the tent after you finish your first grow and use the box as a 250w veg and the tent a 400w for flower

did you get your light/ballast yet?

i have the same size tent at linked above and it seems to work well with my 400w HID light. i use a air cooled hood and temps are not really a issue.

either way a cool tube or aircooled hood is a must here is a nice 400w kit the bran gaurentees thier light bulbs for 1 year and the ballast for 3 years, i just picked up the 1000w version of this lamp and have to say im pretty pleased. the MH light bulb that came with it was broken, they shipped me a new one no questions asked and didnt even want the old one shipped back. had a good bulb 4 days later.

if your going to use a carbon filter i would suggest doing a passive intake and using the fan and filter to cool the light using air inside the cab.

EXAUST FAN < LIGHT (cool tube) < CARBON FILTER <---------air flow

and just get some passive intake holes in the bottom of the cab, this will scrub the air before it enters the cool tube then exaaust the hotter air towards the top of the cab and pull in cooler air from the bottom of the cab, and keep the small oscilating fan for air circulation.

if your hellbent on not having any light leaks for either a stealth grow or mundane "oh no my plant is getting the most miniscule amount of light during dark hours" (which you dont have to concern yourself with because they can get small amounts of light and be just fine) then you can make your passive intake come in through a piece of PvC shaped like a Z, use 4" PvC as long as that fan is running no smell should escape the passive intake. heres a quick sketchup

in the drawing above the oscilating fan might pull air in through the passive intake but probabaly not that much, if the smell starts leaking out try moving the fan up a little so that its not pulling any air into the cab, if it pulls in more than the exausts can move out then it will push smell out any cracks in the cab

Wow great info, thanks.
Aircooled hood is on the list now. I havent ordered yet so that is up in the air on what to go with.
how about 4-4" passive intake holes at the bottom? the box is raised above the ground that would allow dispersed airflow along the bottom.
So how about, midway up 4" exhaust fan, to dryer hose/whatever/minddrawingblanks, to an inline fan, cooltube, carbonfilter?
Box will be inside of a closet with a rollable entertainment center infront. Just dont want any weird light coming from behind the entertainment center.
I built light traps for intakes, ill upload pics later.
Thanks for the sketchup. I appreciate the help RetiredMatthebrute

i wouldnt go with 4-4" intakes if your going to do 4 of them i would go with 4 1 inch holes, you want to keep negative pressure in the box so smell dosent leak out, if you dont have enough negative pressure then air will escape and smell. the idea is to have any and all air coming out of that box scrubbed and clean. This is why i said to cool your light with air thats in the box that way you can scrub it right inside the box and dont have to worry about dryer hoses everywhere.

In such a small area would CFL be a better idea?

I run 260 ( I think no less tho) watts of CFL

It is enough to grow 6 plants in 3 gallon pots.

The top end of lights and air never ends so you have to decide what you are comfortable with.

Also here is a plastic cupboard and that also is CFL. In there the plants grow straight up and I grow in 1 gallon pots and get 8 in there.

Limiting yourself to some "box" may be a mistake if you want to have a grow unit that lasts and is functional.



No matter what you need air flow through your grow area. It's not wise to close the door and think that somehow the plants have enough to breath.

These plants are alive! They are a life form. It's wise to realize that and design so they do live well.

RetiredMatthebrute said:

i wouldn't go with 4-4" intakes....about dryer hoses everywhere.

Click to expand...

I didnt know if that would be two few, i will definitely look into 4 1" holes. i will start with less and check results before over drilling.
Thanks again.

Ernst said:

In such a small area would CFL be a better idea?
...These plants are alive! They are a life form. It's wise to realize that and design so they do live well.

Click to expand...

I will stick with HPS for density, i never said that i would just leave the door closed? I take plant classes and im educated with growing plants, just not mmj. In my OP i stated intake/exhaust possibilities. Thanks for your input.

I look forward to seeing your completed box.

https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/320402-stelthys-600w-hps-project-new-279.html


not sure if any of the pics are available as his grow was right in the middle of somew tech issues this site was having a few months back.

this dude did a extremely awesome job on a stealth wardrobe project he did grew out some killer buds.

I realize your on a budget so you wiull probabally not end up with anything close to this guys cab (no offense but he spent well over 3k on his stealth cab) but it may have some ideas for you