stealth cabs.

Frank Nitty

Well-Known Member
the cabinet started out as a 6 foot tall, 4 foot wide wardrobe with 2 doors. i cut off the top 2 feet of the cabinet and lowered the top of it. i then framed the inside of it with 2x4's for the needed support of the tank. then i created the air scrubber chamber on the left. it was the depth of the cabinet, 20" x 12"w x 36" tall. on the wall splitting the air scrubbing chamber i used 2 4" DC powered fans. they sucked air up through a hole in the floor between the two plant totes. if i remember correctly the fans were rated for 100-150 cfm. on the floor of the air scrubbing chamber i cut a 10"x16" hole, placed an air conditioner return air filter over it. built up cardboard sides on the edges of the filter and poured an 1" thick layer of activated carbon over it. there was also a small ozone generator hanging inside the air scrubbing chamber.

both the intakes and exhaust were open on the back side. i had framed channels underneath (for exhaust and intakes) to prevent light leaks.

as i stated, i started off with so much shit crammed in there. i found in the end, things rain cooler and better with just 2 bare 150 bulbs. 200 watts of LEDS will do you right. you can see in the pictures i scrogged, so i built some 1/2" pvc frames and chicken wire to support the plants.

getting the light leaks on the front doors was the trickiest, but some marine weatherstripping did the trick.

i too wanted to have a bare, natural looking cabinet, but that plan i had in my head did not work out. since i did have a key lock exposed on my doors, i had the ex wife sew up fitted cloth that just laid over the whole cabinet.

the plant totes were small 10 gallon sterlite brand, i believe. actual grow chamber 20"D x 36"W x 48"H.

i had to scrog everynight if i didn't want a mess. if i skipped two night, it would take an hour to scrog all the stretch back down.

btw, i started with 2 plants per tote. that was also too much and unnecessary...

couple more pics.

hope that helps, if you have other questions, fire away...

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That is fucking genius!!! I am in total awe of this diy/stealth cabinet... Those plants are /were beautiful... Are you still using that set up?
 

Sour Wreck

Well-Known Member
That is fucking genius!!! I am in total awe of this diy/stealth cabinet... Those plants are /were beautiful... Are you still using that set up?

thanks


that setup was retired long ago. have grown in a cabinet since 2005.

grew in tents for years, now i have a dedicated HIDDEN room. i have started a thread, but there is not much in it yet. i have 5x8 room with door openings on both ends. i veg in that room and soon those doors will have electromagnetically locked sliding bookcases covering the doorways. once inside the veg room, another electromagnetically locked door leads to the flower room. flower room is operating, but not completely finished. electromagnetically locked door already in place on flower room.

soon i will have a bigger stealth setup that will allow others in those areas without suspicion
 
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Frank Nitty

Well-Known Member
thanks


that setup was retired long ago. have grown in a cabinet since 2005.

grew in tents for years, no i have a dedicated HIDDEN room. i have started a thread, but there is not much in it yet. i have 5x8 room with door openings on both ends. i veg in that room and soon those doors will have electromagnetically locked sliding bookcases covering the doorways. once inside the veg room, another electromagnetically locked door leads to the flower room. flower room is operating, but not completely finished. electromagnetically locked door already in place on flower room.

soon i will have a bigger stealth setup that will allow others in those areas without suspicion
You're on some old haunted house type shit... Im gonna start calling you secret squirrel...
 

taproot

Well-Known Member
thanks


that setup was retired long ago. have grown in a cabinet since 2005.

grew in tents for years, no i have a dedicated HIDDEN room. i have started a thread, but there is not much in it yet. i have 5x8 room with door openings on both ends. i veg in that room and soon those doors will have electromagnetically locked sliding bookcases covering the doorways. once inside the veg room, another electromagnetically locked door leads to the flower room. flower room is operating, but not completely finished. electromagnetically locked door already in place on flower room.

soon i will have a bigger stealth setup that will allow others in those areas without suspicion
I was thinking the same thing, I was going to countersink some strong magnets on the inside of the doors where the handles would be, since it's countersunk it wouldn't go all the way through so you wouldn't be able to see if from the front; then when I want to open the door I could use another strong magnet on the outside to attract the inside hidden magnet and have them stick together strong enough to pull the door open. But, that might mare the wood over time and leave tell tell signs since it will disrupt the the overall stealth by having two spots that look different...kinda of runs the camouflage. But then I thought about countersinking two elctro mags but then I was stuck on what if the power goes out I don't want the door to pop open....then my mind started thinking what about a battery backup...as my mind is a "What if" this mind of mind which is why I always end up generally over engineering things. I guess I could have cabinet latches so they just don't pop open. I was thinking also that I'd do a four feet high cab, I got the blue painters tape out last night and got a general outline on the wall for a 36Wx24Dx4ft high and thought it looked good but I worried if the tank would look out of place being that high but seeing yours I don't think that's the case and I might take it to 48W because yours doesn't look out of place being too large of a cabinet either. I might also narrow the depth I had in mind as most affordable tanks are 18D and 24D in cab might look odd. If I went with a 20D for the cab I think that would be enough and then I was planning on putting a large base end like a 24 inch base to give it some extra stability seeing how it's got 400-500 lbs of water on the very top of the structure. I think after I put the inside top on the cab I'll put the outside top where the tank will sit with something like this cut to specs and then stain the rest of the cab and trime it to match. I was going to partition off part of the top space for my fan and filter but after seeing yours It might behoove me to just make the cab 48 inch wide and partition off 12 inches for my inline and filter.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50106773/
 

Frank Nitty

Well-Known Member
I was thinking the same thing, I was going to countersink some strong magnets on the inside of the doors where the handles would be, since it's countersunk it wouldn't go all the way through so you wouldn't be able to see if from the front; then when I want to open the door I could use another strong magnet on the outside to attract the inside hidden magnet and have them stick together strong enough to pull the door open. But, that might mare the wood over time and leave tell tell signs since it will disrupt the the overall stealth by having two spots that look different...kinda of runs the camouflage. But then I thought about countersinking two elctro mags but then I was stuck on what if the power goes out I don't want the door to pop open....then my mind started thinking what about a battery backup...as my mind is a "What if" this mind of mind which is why I always end up generally over engineering things. I guess I could have cabinet latches so they just don't pop open. I was thinking also that I'd do a four feet high cab, I got the blue painters tape out last night and got a general outline on the wall for a 36Wx24Dx4ft high and thought it looked good but I worried if the tank would look out of place being that high but seeing yours I don't think that's the case and I might take it to 48W because yours doesn't look out of place being too large of a cabinet either. I might also narrow the depth I had in mind as most affordable tanks are 18D and 24D in cab might look odd. If I went with a 20D for the cab I think that would be enough and then I was planning on putting a large base end like a 24 inch base to give it some extra stability seeing how it's got 400-500 lbs of water on the very top of the structure. I think after I put the inside top on the cab I'll put the outside top where the tank will sit with something like this cut to specs and then stain the rest of the cab and trime it to match. I was going to partition off part of the top space for my fan and filter but after seeing yours It might behoove me to just make the cab 48 inch wide and partition off 12 inches for my inline and filter.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50106773/
Sean Connery and Roger Moore... Two James Bonds!!!
 

Sour Wreck

Well-Known Member
I was thinking the same thing, I was going to countersink some strong magnets on the inside of the doors where the handles would be, since it's countersunk it wouldn't go all the way through so you wouldn't be able to see if from the front; then when I want to open the door I could use another strong magnet on the outside to attract the inside hidden magnet and have them stick together strong enough to pull the door open. But, that might mare the wood over time and leave tell tell signs since it will disrupt the the overall stealth by having two spots that look different...kinda of runs the camouflage. But then I thought about countersinking two elctro mags but then I was stuck on what if the power goes out I don't want the door to pop open....then my mind started thinking what about a battery backup...as my mind is a "What if" this mind of mind which is why I always end up generally over engineering things. I guess I could have cabinet latches so they just don't pop open. I was thinking also that I'd do a four feet high cab, I got the blue painters tape out last night and got a general outline on the wall for a 36Wx24Dx4ft high and thought it looked good but I worried if the tank would look out of place being that high but seeing yours I don't think that's the case and I might take it to 48W because yours doesn't look out of place being too large of a cabinet either. I might also narrow the depth I had in mind as most affordable tanks are 18D and 24D in cab might look odd. If I went with a 20D for the cab I think that would be enough and then I was planning on putting a large base end like a 24 inch base to give it some extra stability seeing how it's got 400-500 lbs of water on the very top of the structure. I think after I put the inside top on the cab I'll put the outside top where the tank will sit with something like this cut to specs and then stain the rest of the cab and trime it to match. I was going to partition off part of the top space for my fan and filter but after seeing yours It might behoove me to just make the cab 48 inch wide and partition off 12 inches for my inline and filter.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50106773/

i would definitely put filters, pumps, etc in side chambers. you are going to need all the height you can get inside a cabinet.

not sure i followed you on the depth of tanks. mine was 55 gallons. it was roughly 48"Wx12"Dx20"H

it sat an inch or two away from the back of the cabinet and that left a 6 inch ledge up front. people have actually laid their arms down on the ledge up front, with their chins resting on their arms watching the fish while bogglegum and afghani were just 2 feet away, lol....
 

taproot

Well-Known Member
i would definitely put filters, pumps, etc in side chambers. you are going to need all the height you can get inside a cabinet.

not sure i followed you on the depth of tanks. mine was 55 gallons. it was roughly 48"Wx12"Dx20"H

it sat an inch or two away from the back of the cabinet and that left a 6 inch ledge up front. people have actually laid their arms down on the ledge up front, with their chins resting on their arms watching the fish while bogglegum and afghani were just 2 feet away, lol....
I agree, 48W and putting the filter, fan and pump in the side is the way to go so you're not shooting self in the foot with a nice cab but not enough grow height to use it. Did a 12" wide tank look odd on a 20"D stand up close in your opinion? Most tank and stands I see in person don't have a lot of differences in size. I'm trying so hard to make it look like it belongs in the room and not out of place. I guess what I'm asking does it make you think this tank and stand don't belong together?
 

taproot

Well-Known Member
Also, and here me out on this one.... I'm strain hunting for strains that work for me, I have chronic pain and cannabis helps so much with the nerve, muscle and joint pain but at the same time a lot of the strains invoke anxiety and or fear...irrational thought. I've been experimenting with CBD to help with this so I'm trying to grow test plants so i can see if they work for me or out they go. Having stated the latter I want to grow several small single cola plants. Have you ever grew like this in a small cab? I see the autos can achieve this...but I want to clone the ones I like instead of buying strains. From research it seems like flowing straight from seed, flowering straight from clone seem to produce small single cola plants. I was just wondering if you had any experience with anything like this in a cab or have you only used scrog?
 

Sour Wreck

Well-Known Member
I agree, 48W and putting the filter, fan and pump in the side is the way to go so you're not shooting self in the foot with a nice cab but not enough grow height to use it. Did a 12" wide tank look odd on a 20"D stand up close in your opinion? Most tank and stands I see in person don't have a lot of differences in size. I'm trying so hard to make it look like it belongs in the room and not out of place. I guess what I'm asking does it make you think this tank and stand don't belong together?
i never felt it looked out of place. but you are correct, most fishtank stands are just big enough,.
 

Sour Wreck

Well-Known Member
Also, and here me out on this one.... I'm strain hunting for strains that work for me, I have chronic pain and cannabis helps so much with the nerve, muscle and joint pain but at the same time a lot of the strains invoke anxiety and or fear...irrational thought. I've been experimenting with CBD to help with this so I'm trying to grow test plants so i can see if they work for me or out they go. Having stated the latter I want to grow several small single cola plants. Have you ever grew like this in a small cab? I see the autos can achieve this...but I want to clone the ones I like instead of buying strains. From research it seems like flowing straight from seed, flowering straight from clone seem to produce small single cola plants. I was just wondering if you had any experience with anything like this in a cab or have you only used scrog?
single cola plants that only grow 12-18" high is called SOG 'sea of green', instead of scrogging like i did (screen of green).

i have not ever tried to grow sog style and for that to work in a cabinet you would have to find the correct pheno type from a strain that does not branch much. sorry, i can make many recommendations in that area. with that much said, you should stay away from sativas or mostly sativas. they grow tall and lanky and some cause anxiety. find you a small strong indica. BOG makes some that would work well for you.

Sour Lifesaver or maybe Sour Bubble....

you will need to flower as soon as possible. i used to flower with 8 inch plants. about 4-5 weeks old and just reaching sexual maturity (alternating branches/nodes).
 

Gbuddy

Well-Known Member
@Sour Wreck
Bro I love that cabinet!!!!
You are definitly paying much attention to the detail!!!
Great results in return you got I see!

@ all
About the mylar .... I know you know it Bro but I just write it for the threadstarter and who ever is intrested....
-Flat white painted surfaces reflect way more light than mylar.

Other Member told me also about a product called orca film.

You guys should consider using white if possible.
I would!

And how I love those stealth lil weed making mashines! I LOVE IT!!!

Peace
 
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Kushash

Well-Known Member
Also, and here me out on this one.... I'm strain hunting for strains that work for me, I have chronic pain and cannabis helps so much with the nerve, muscle and joint pain but at the same time a lot of the strains invoke anxiety and or fear...irrational thought. I've been experimenting with CBD to help with this so I'm trying to grow test plants so i can see if they work for me or out they go. Having stated the latter I want to grow several small single cola plants. Have you ever grew like this in a small cab? I see the autos can achieve this...but I want to clone the ones I like instead of buying strains. From research it seems like flowing straight from seed, flowering straight from clone seem to produce small single cola plants. I was just wondering if you had any experience with anything like this in a cab or have you only used scrog?
Have you considered topical cream for pain?
Works great for some types of muscle pain.
 

My Name is Mike

Well-Known Member
Wow, how flipping cool to find something so unique and interesting and then actually find the guy who designed it over 18yrs ago! Anyways, you just touched on some of the points that I had floating around in my head for my specific needs. Sometimes the best way to hide something is in plain sight. Other than being inconspicuous and looking like it belongs in the room in the first place my thought logic was to design something functional that servers it's apparent function to the casual observer without drawing scrutiny past it's apparent function.
That's it all right there brotha! Finding something to blend within its environment is key to stealth. Mine is in my garage, looks like a beat up brown metal cab scratched and dented all up. Fits the garage look and no one has ever questioned it.
 
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