Thinking about my setup..

Hey everyone I'm new here. I got seeds from a friend and decided to try giving gardening a try.

I'm doing an in-door grow, with a metal filing cabinet. Going to put aluminum plates on the bottom of it for extra heat resistance and to try and prevent water, etc from leaking. Then a plastic storage box, shoebox size underneath the plants.

I'm going to be running fluorscent's, either a shop tube twin tube lamp, or 4 13 or 15 watt fluorscent bulbs for 4 plants.

I have a super high powered air filter, so noisy I can barely sleep even on the low setting, high setting I can barely hear my TV. This is for filtering dust for my allergies. But I plan to get a little fan of some sort (CHEAP) hopefully.. Any suggestions on fans?

I am copying the nutes and insect away from B. THC R+D's setup
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I am a germ freak and I HATE bugs.. Growing this in my room probably isn't the greatest idea..

I'm too academically challanged to create a hydroponic system, I have a very very hard time doing things in a step by step process. So I guess I will have to settle with regular soil. I read SCOTTS soil is good?

Any suggestions on a good pH balanced soil? I think I came across someone saying they used a treated soil where bugs wouldn't hatch in?

I read that foil is no good for heat wrapping? Mylan or something was it called was better? I also sprayed engine block enamal on my cabinet, good for 500 degrees F

Will have pics up soon. My seeds will be done today. I have a couple sprouters already, and 2 more on the way, so I will soon be able to pack them into some fresh soil!

Well okay here are things I need advice on..
a good soil
ventalation info, where to route to when a window is not an option?
ways to kill the smell, besides the carbon filter
and will 4 13 watt CFL spirals be sufficient enough for 4-5 plants? I think that hits around 5000 lumens +..

Any help/advice/scolding would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks everyone and thanks for reading!

Ferti-lome ultimate potting mix if you can find it.....go look for a plant nursery. If you can't find it go for Scotts, Fox Farms, or MG organic.
Air intake should be close to plants, air exhaust goes up top.
If you don't have any leaks in the cabinet a carbon filter will do fine.
Each plant needs like 30000 lumens, so starting out the plants that will work. But once they get bigger they are going to need MUCH more light. And you have to remember to keep them 1-2 In. from plants. Get some higher watt CFLs 23's are easy to find. And they have to be daylight nothing else will work for veg.


Its called Mylar and it works ok. NO ALUMINUM, it could burn holes through your plants.
Post anymore questions when you put up pics.

Will a 23 watt CFL bulb work in any fixture? Won't short anything out will it? My main concern is the safety of other people in the house, I don't want my families house to catch fire because of me.

I will need two fans then, for intake and exhaust which fans do you reccomend? That are not too expensive..

And will all Ferti-lome, Scotts, Fox Farms, or MG organic work throughout vege and flowering?

Anything I gotta mix, or do I just add the soil to a pot and (?water?) I read just make sure the soil is moist, not wet, moist.

23 watts cfls fit in any normal light fixture. And no they won't short anything out, you could probably have 20 or more set up without any problems.
And a two fan system is a pain in the ass. You need an exhaust so do that and have a small fan inside the cab to keep the plants cool. As for fans you could use just about anything. You mentioned you already have an air filter so thats a start. If you could post some pics of the cab, with some dimensions. and a pic of your noisy filter I can help you sort it all out.

All those soils will work from seed to flower but each has diiferent amounts of nutrients , have you figured out what nutes your going to buy already?
Basic is Veg 10-10-10 flower 10-15-10.
And yeah the soil needs to be moist for seedling.

AIM me if you want to talk seriously, I hate posts.

you need way more that 4 23w cfl's for 5 plants!!!!!!! i use 6 42w cfl's per 3-4 plants and thats not great at all

I can't get 42w CFLs where I'm at. So I use alot of 23's and a special reflector. Works great for me.

Well I got two plants inside my cabinet right now.. I have a small 4'' fan blowing at my lights, and my air purifier/filter outside of the cabinet by an opening. I have 2 23w CFL daylight bulbs over it right now. I have 2 more 23watts I haven't put on yet, debating whether I really should or not.. It is recommended to leave it on for 24/7 during vegetation?

Pics man, it would really help if I could see what your talking about.
how old are the plants?
And I like 24/7 cause you don't have to deal with a timer, but its really up to you. I don't think if affects plant grow too much.

You dont have to bring soil into your cabinet. I would much rather use a soilless passive hydroponics system. There are a few different grow mediums you can choose from. I havent tried coco coir yet but have used rockwool and sphagnum moss (found at lowes hardware for underwater plants). The rockwool is ok, but has ph issues that can be resolved by presoaking in a rockwool conditioner and PHed water. The sphagnum moss has no issues and has worked great for me.

My container is a 18"x12"x6" plastic storage box for 6 plants. Just use the biggest you can fit into the cabinet. Fill the container to the top (6") with your grow medium and cover with light proof material. I use 4" square plant pots to start the seedlings in. These containers need to be full of large size holes in the bottom for the roots to grow through. The pots are spaced as you need them on top of the large box with an area of the light barrier removed were the pots will sit and block the light. The roots will grow down into the big box.

Watering and feeding is simple enough. You water every 2-3 days, like with soil. But what makes this a hydro is when you water, you want 1-2 inches of water standing in the bottom of the container. I have been taking my finger and moving the moss to see how much water is in the bottom, but have thought of using a float to get a measurement of the water in the bottom. I just need a 1/2" plastic ball that floats, super glue a 7" rod to it and put it into a 7" cylinder with slots in the bottom 4" and covered with plastic screen for the water to go through. Some of the roots will live there and take up nutrients. Roots above that will have access to the moisture by the natural wicking system of a soilless medium, but also have plenty of air pockets for oxygen intake. Once all the standing water is absorbed, water again. Top watering is done until the roots have had time to grow to the bottom (@ 3-4 weeks).

Nutrients are any hydroponic nutes with the micro elements found in soil. I even found some at Southern States hardware for tobacco beds (25 lb bag for $29.00). You will also need some PH down and PH tester. I keep my PH between 5.5-6. I also have hard tap water so I buy spring water (filtered) at walley world for $0.58 a gallon and mix 2/4 spring water and 1/4 tap water. There are some elements in tap water that are needed for plant growth. Some say to add cal-mag in a soilless grow, but I have had no need for it.

As far as some air flow in the cabinet, I like using computer fans. some at the bottom for intake and some at the top for exaust. Just wire them up to a cheap 9-12 volt power plug from a wireless phone or electric razor, portable cd player, ect. The fans are cheap and are available with high airflow. If you dont have any around, newegg.com is a good place to get them. They have many to choose from.

I hope some of this crap will help you out.

I only have 3 23w daylights now... one of them was BURNED OUT.... grr so I'm using 3 daylights CFL's and a warm white
It's been about 4 days now..
There's my 4'' table fan I'm blowing on my bulbs, and I'm trying to score a computer fan for free, then gonna wire it up to a cell phone charger, which works??

Watering is every 2-3 days then? How many ounces or cups should I give for a small plant about 5 days old

I know it's ghetto but any ideas are welcomed..

Interesting.....well first you need to be able to move those lights up and down easily. I don't see and kind of pulley system so start there. And I'm not really sure what that top picture is...at this point I think you should just check out all the grow room designs they have on here to get some inspiration.

oh sorry.. It's a file cabinet i have

use white paper around the growbox, not alfoil
an ideal pH is 6.8
perfect tem is low to mid twenties
perfect humidity i think is like 40??
andto keep bugs away just spray the edges of the box with surface spray
surface spray lingers on objects and insects hate it.

20-40 farenheit?
or 20-40 celcius?

69-79 farenheit.....
and humidity can change alot and the plant will handle it. just keep it super low during flowering.

mm86 said:

20-40 farenheit?
or 20-40 celcius?

Click to expand...

celcius, sorry i forget not everyone is farenheit! haha

haha no worries thank you guys!
I'm getting kinda worried though if my seeds are growing or not.. one sprouted and it's been a few days already lights are on 24hrs as well, and nothing yet.. it's in a small 8oz cup, I water a little while after the soil has gotten dry

Well you're doing everything right, sometimes seeds take a bit. My last batch took about 5 days after germination. So don't sweat it.

thanks everyone for your help.. I'll keep you guys posted, and I'll get pics up when/if these sprout