Building my first grow cab

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housefullOweed

Member
Okay so i am getting ready to build my first grow cab and i had a few questions but here are some details first, the size of the cab will be L4'xW4'xH69" i have an air cooled hood, a 300-400 CFM centrifugal fan, and a carbon scrubber, plus all the ins and outs for the set up. Concerns about growing space are the main reason i am making this thread as i said my cab is 69" tall, i would like some more head room but unfortunately its not possible. My planters take up 12" i am figuring 18" for the distance between the light and the canopy but I'm hoping i will be able to get closer to 12" since i have an air cooled hood and my reflector will probably take up 20", as you can see my 69" grow cab was quickly reduced to 19" of growing space. To combat this issue i plan to build 4 scrog crates to control the height the crates will be 19" tall this leaves 1 foot between the screen and the maximum safe distance from the light if i use the 18" estimate. The scrog crates will be roughly 20"x20"x19" and house one plant per.

What do you guys think, will this be enough space? Every thing i know tells me it wont work, but i really want to believe it will work.
 
scroglodyte

scroglodyte

Well-Known Member
too deep to reach back areas, and too small to walk around in. i'd make a tad shallower, and a bit wider. but sounds like a plan, man. ScrOG will be fine in that space, but stick with Indicas.
 
mike91sr

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
If all the screens are independent and you can pull the plants out to train them, that sounds pretty solid. But like scroglodyte said, thats pretty deep to reach into. My cab is 3x8 and I have a hell of a time training the back areas sometimes. Oh, my cab is only 5' tall and has 1400w in it, so with that extra 9" youll be more than fine. Consider making a way to access the screen from the sides/back if you don't want to pull the plants out of the cab everytime too.
 
nedyah

nedyah

Member
I have a closet with a 165 cfm fan and it is too powerful. More closet is more or less 3.5 x 4 x 8. You can see it in my pics if you want. You might not even need a reflector in a closet like that. I use MH and it heats up quite well so I have switched to t8's to start my plants until I can get an air cooled hood.

Its probably a good idea just to start with a couple plants if you haven't done this before. But it really depends also on where you are getting your seeds from. Do you have bag seed or are you getting your seeds from a dealer. I would go with an indica dominant strain or an auto flower if height is an issue.

You also shouldn't start your plants off in a 12 inch tall container; they don't need it and you will just end up wasting water.

Take a look at my photo album and tell me what you think. Our set ups are similar and I can help you with some of problems I have run into.
 
scroglodyte

scroglodyte

Well-Known Member
my cab is 28" deep, and i feel as though the reach is a little far, and no.......i'm not a pussy. them pots is heavy
 
mike91sr

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
nedyah said:
I have a closet with a 165 cfm fan and it is too powerful.
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really? Never heard that one before. No filter hooked up I assume? and what size light? Most people don't have an easy time controlling temps and smell with a small cab and a metal halide unless you're in a cold ass area.

@scroglodyte: what are you doing that the weight of the pot matters? Mine are all stationary and I haven't lifted them in probably 6-7 weeks. If you're taking them out, reach shouldn't matter because I'd assume you take out the front ones first. I feel like I'm missing something really obvious here lol.
 
jhod58vw

jhod58vw

Well-Known Member
Your cab is about 9" shorter then mine mines 6-1/2' tall 5'x3' and have plenty of room for 12 plants in 2 gallon bags and plenty of head room to grow them ceck out my grow. Ask any questions?? I've investested more after each grow originally started with cfls in this same box and got super dense solid frosty ass nugs look tru all my threads you won't be dissappointed. Any help needed just ask.
 
H

housefullOweed

Member
scroglodyte said:
too deep to reach back areas, and too small to walk around in. i'd make a tad shallower, and a bit wider. but sounds like a plan, man. ScrOG will be fine in that space, but stick with Indicas.
Click to expand...

I designed the space 4x4 because a 1000 watt light covers a 4x4 space perfectly from what i read, also the scrog crates will make accessing and maintaining plants in the rear easy because i can just pull out the front plant to get to the back i can also rotate the plants if need be. A few more questions do you guys think 1 plant will be enough to cover the whole 2x2 screen in 1 months veg time also how close should i have the screen i was thinking 1 foot from the planter but with so little space I'm thinking it might be better to make the distance between the planter and the screen shorter.

nedyah said:
I have a closet with a 165 cfm fan and it is too powerful. More closet is more or less 3.5 x 4 x 8. You can see it in my pics if you want. You might not even need a reflector in a closet like that. I use MH and it heats up quite well so I have switched to t8's to start my plants until I can get an air cooled hood.

Its probably a good idea just to start with a couple plants if you haven't done this before. But it really depends also on where you are getting your seeds from. Do you have bag seed or are you getting your seeds from a dealer. I would go with an indica dominant strain or an auto flower if height is an issue.

You also shouldn't start your plants off in a 12 inch tall container; they don't need it and you will just end up wasting water.

Take a look at my photo album and tell me what you think. Our set ups are similar and I can help you with some of problems I have run into.
Click to expand...
I got my seeds from attitude, at the moment i have serious seeds ak-47, white label seeds white widow, delicious seeds fruity chronic juice, and g13 labs sour ak in the seedling stage i just started them with in the last week or so, and as far as starting the plants off in a 12 inch tall container i am not i am transplanting from solo cups to 1 gallon to 3 gallon to 5 gallon containers.


Thanks for all the quick responses guys ill take a look at your grows and see what i can learn from them...
 
mike91sr

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
Yes and no, mine are each responsible for roughly 3sq ft of screen space, I veg them for a month or so before I even put them under the screen, then it's about another month until I flip. I like to let my screen fill up more than most people here, check out my journal and you'll see why though. I'd still plan on around 2 months total. Guy named lilindian's recent harvest was incredible. Something like 17.5oz from around 7-800watts in a small cab. He vegged for a good while though. Ultimately yes, it will work, but you won't yield anywhere close to what you could with an extra couple weeks of vegging.

My screen is of varying heights above my plants, as some are on stands, and I have a stadium style screen to increase my footprints. The lowest is about 5" above the pot, heighest is around 14". It all depends on how you prepare the plant for the screen. Some of my plants were trained sideways for a month straight, others were allowed to grow taller to fill the raised edges of my screen. If you make a watering device(funnel + hose) so you can water from above the canopy without dumping water/nutes on your buds, you really have no reason to get under the screen besides trimming/training which doesn't require much space, especially once you've filled out past your pots.
 
H

housefullOweed

Member
Thanks for the advice man that's a nice looking set up you have got going there, i think i am going to reduce the distance of my screen from the pots and probably top them i figure the more tops and the closer it is the quicker the screen fills up, as far as letting it veg for a few weeks longer goes i will most definitely consider that but i am very worried about the height how high above the screen can i expect the plants to grow? I am firmiliar with the technique and what it accomplishes but i have no practical knowledge on putting it to use how does it work exactly do i just route the foliage threw the screen untill i fill it up and the flip to 12/12 and leave them alone or do i continue to route the foliage threw the screen during flowering?
 
scroglodyte

scroglodyte

Well-Known Member
jhod58vw said:
Your cab is about 9" shorter then mine mines 6-1/2' tall 5'x3' and have plenty of room for 12 plants in 2 gallon bags and plenty of head room to grow them ceck out my grow. Ask any questions?? I've investested more after each grow originally started with cfls in this same box and got super dense solid frosty ass nugs look tru all my threads you won't be dissappointed. Any help needed just ask.
Click to expand...
i spin them to top/train them
 
mike91sr

mike91sr

Well-Known Member
housefullOweed said:
Thanks for the advice man that's a nice looking set up you have got going there, i think i am going to reduce the distance of my screen from the pots and probably top them i figure the more tops and the closer it is the quicker the screen fills up, as far as letting it veg for a few weeks longer goes i will most definitely consider that but i am very worried about the height how high above the screen can i expect the plants to grow? I am firmiliar with the technique and what it accomplishes but i have no practical knowledge on putting it to use how does it work exactly do i just route the foliage threw the screen untill i fill it up and the flip to 12/12 and leave them alone or do i continue to route the foliage threw the screen during flowering?
Click to expand...
Vegging longer doesn't mean theyll be further above the screen. The height above screen is ultimately determined by how far into flower you train. You can keep every shoot under the screen for 2 weeks and end up with a 2-3" thick canopy above the screen, or let them go untrained in flower and have 18" above the screen(depending on strain of course).

I also recommend that you generally try to keep the branches below the screen, not weaved through it. There's numerous reasons for it, and until you experience the difference I don't think a generic tip from me will be able to tell you what's best for your specific situation. I weave a couple branches because I can use the branch to keep the screen lower to the plant and sometimes it just helps with placement. As far as space goes, once you've realized that having 4-5" makes NO difference if you don't have to water from underneath, there's no reason to go back. I'd just hate to watch my plants veg for a month knowing that I'm going to cut it all off later lol. LST young and keep the screen low for max efficiency. Doing anything else may make it easier but ultimately reduces the effectiveness of scrogging
 
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