Stealth Perpetual Grow Cab plans 400w HPS / 250 CFL, pretty pics, feedback please!

evening all. having been inspired by two awesome grows from Stelthy and Wolfman Zen I've decided to get in to it. This is going to be a long drawn out ride. I'll start a journal in a bit once the plans have settled. Speaking of which, let me know if you have any thoughts on these: (give me a shout if you want these as editable doc to play around with yourself)

front of the cab

Shopping List

Old Cabinet
400w HPS bulb, ballast, reflector (cool tube)
250w (125?) CFL veg spectrum, fitting (T5 unit to save space?)
UV B strip light, fitting
Mylar (orca sheeting?)
Smoke detector
Out 1 inline extractor fan
Outlet fans 2 and 3
Intake fans 1 and 2
Thermometer / humidity gauge
Fan 1 oscillating fan
Screen
Fans 2,3 and 4 CPU fans
Co2 unit (yeast and sugar - though maybe not)
Tubing
6 x 10 ltr pots
4 x baskets
Clay pellets
Rockwall plugs
Cutting planter
Reservoir tub
Nutrient pump
4 gangs and timers
2 x Intake filters
3 x Outtake carbon filters
4 x Spray nozzles
venting tubing
Nutes
Silver gaffa tape
Staple gun
Adjustable transformers
Electric cable and cable tidys
Air stones and pump ??ehem; seeds! (lemon haze / white rhino??)

I'm thinking of a wardrobe like this but something a bit older, better built and with thicker walls for more stealth. I've heard height is what you want but I'd like a bit of portability (not a double wardrobe). I want to get this bit cheap so i'm scanning the gumtree free section, freecycle, the skips, and the 99p local collection no delivery bargain stuff on ebay. I want something about 6x2x3 foot, so i think I'm looking at a third of that height (2") for the flowering room (1/3 for the veg room and 1/3 for pots and height to the screen, and light?). I want the cab to be stealth, cheap and pushing out the highest grade. Any ideas on where I can do things cheap, and where I really do need to spend the coin, or anything else, always welcome.

Very nice!!! What size cabinet are you looking for? I see you will be using co2, what kind of setup are you planning?

Hi Xcon, thanks for stopping by. I'm looking for a 6x2x3" cabinet (180x60x90cm). I've not done much research on co2 so i'm open to suggestions. It seems like to get the best out of it you need a sealed unit and A/C which I hadn't planned to do. So I was thinking of a home made yeast kit.

I'm liking your set up, wish i had that much space and a wall to cut into What's up with using that many CFLs in an array rather than one momma 125/250 dual spec one? Do you get better light coverage? Bigups!

If anyone has any bits they want to get rid of that might help me crossing off that shopping list, give me a shout (UK). Peas.

bobdisandatdob said:

Hi Xcon, thanks for stopping by. I'm looking for a 6x2x3" cabinet (180x60x90cm). I've not done much research on co2 so i'm open to suggestions. It seems like to get the best out of it you need a sealed unit and A/C which I hadn't planned to do. So I was thinking of a home made yeast kit.

I'm liking your set up, wish i had that much space and a wall to cut into What's up with using that many CFLs in an array rather than one momma 125/250 dual spec one? Do you get better light coverage? Bigups!

Click to expand...

Thanks man!!! It's just a plywood box with a door, not very discrete. I tack bedsheets to it when I have to.

Mainly I went with the array because of the cost factor, I built the 400w board for about $70-80, hardware included. If I went with 2 giant bulbs it would have cost me twice as much. Since the plants need to be within a few inches of the bulb, I'd say it's a benefit to use multiple cfls instead of just one.

I've never used co2 so I can't really comment, but it's interesting.

I'm looking forward to your build!!!

its gonna be slowly slowly but keep an eye out for us. You've got me thinking about using a different cfl set up in the veg compartment. I'll report back with what I find out about co2. Peas.

I like using old wood armoires. They are usually cheap (less $50) used and don't require any hiding. I ran mine in an apartment in the living room with out anyone being suspicious. Plus the wood sides are great for mounting lights, fans and electrical components.

hey Sighkov1, hope you're good.. I would use an armoire but being english i would have to call it a wardrobe or my mouth would feel dirty. Seriously though - whats the difference? wikepedia/dictionary has them as pretty much the same thing, or is it about drawers at the bottom, or having a pull out desk or having used it for guns or summit? I'm into using a wooden cab for stealth and cos I've heard the tents get pretty sweaty.

What did you do about intake/ outtake filters? These seem to be the giveaway bit that you can't do without. any thoughts always welcome. Bigups.

Hey man nice design on the cab, I just wanted to say you might see if you can squeeze a little room out of something else and get yourself a little more vertical room on the flower side. It's good to keep in mind that your plants may double or triple in size once in flower. I wouldn't bother with the yeast and sugar for CO2 but that's just my opinion, I just don't see any benefit to the small amounts produced and how uncontrollable the amount produced is. Also with your 400 your gonna want to cool tube it or vent it, I recommend venting the light heat to another room or area as well.

On your CFL question I wouldn't bother plain and simple, the main reason is that I think with some T5 tubes you will be good and the light will be more evenly spread across the whole veg area. Also you can remove the ballast from the T5's (to cut heat down) and remote it. The other thing is that T5's generally have a low profile so it might save you some inches, and when it comes to growing everyone knows more room is better!

Good luck to you and happy growing!
KnB

Thanks KnB! So you reckon I'd be better off putting the veg room in another cab and using this one just for flowering, getting as much out of the height as I can? Or are you thinking with t5 I could save a bit on this part of the cab - maybe cut it down to a 1/4 of the total height or less and send that extra space up to the flower compartment?

An extra box would be pretty cool; I've seen a lot of people use the chamber for drying after flowering but I was hoping to stagger the four pots by 2weeks each meaning the flower comp. will always have something on the go. With the veg in a different box, could i use a little of the height where it was in the first cab to construct a little drying room?

I'm still looking at cool tube vs. euro reflector. Seems like a cool tube is gonna cost me a few bucks extra and some more time in setting up the venting but will solve a whole bunch of heating problems down the line. Am I right in thinking a standard lamp and reflector will get me better light coverage but in this sort of space it's not going to make much difference?

On venting; i don't mind the out going into the bedroom and providing cheap heating but I guess this means I'll need a cold air source from somewhere else? Or is a standard sized double bedroom big enough, with a window open, to supply the in and the out? I saw on Stelthy's box the initial plan was to bring cold air down from the loft but when he stepped down from a 600w to a 400w this didn't seem so necessary.

Thanks again for stopping by and giving us your thoughts; let me know if anything pops to mind on the above. Peas

'Scuse my manners. Pull up a pew. I'll get the choons on

[video]www.youtube.com/watch?v=241EaD_p77U[/video]

an we can have a lickle



Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff. That feels better.

What d'you reckon to these plans then?

Right then, time for a bit of shopping. Fun stuff first. Seeds and lights.

Seeds

I want to grow two strains; one up, one down. So something heavy and something light. And I guess I'm going to need well behaved unfussy strains for a first grow. Any tips for vendors or strains greatly appreciated. If nothing else I'll follow my bliss, maybe a lemon haze and a white rhino if that'll work with this setup. BTW What's the craic with feminised or unfeminised? Is it worth the risk of hermies?

Lights

So do i get a kit or put one together myself? Either way I want a 400w Cool tube, preferably one i can put a MH bulb in for veg and a HPS bulb in for flowering. There are kits for £115 here they've got Maxibright ballasts and Sunmaster lamps. On the other hand it looks like i could get the cool tube itself for about £40 (good old amazon) and then look into getting better spec ballasts and lamps (maybe not lumatek and hortilux, but you know, the second cheapest thing on the wine list)

Any thoughts?

Lights II

For the veg box with the mommas and the clones in it sounds like T5 is the way to go - for space if nothing else. So should I buy some of these bad boys for £1.99 each (in the right spectrum for veg), find some fittings and wire it up myself to a piece of plyboard? Or get a premade one (seem to be about £50-70 for 2-4 bulbs 50-100w)?

mmm SLH, mmm white rhino. It looks like the SLH only comes from Green House but there are loads of places to get the WR. Any thoughts on genetics suitable for this build? Or doggies nuts vs nirvana?