Cabinet setup. Need some advise

Hey everybody! I'm looking to start my first grow. I got some advise about the box and lights but I would like to see if I can improve on the design. I bought aunit with 71-3/4 in. H x 48 in. W x 20-1/2 in. D(Link) with shelves like in the box1 picture. I planned on a SCROGd DWC with a 250w Hps (Im told with the right timing it can be used the entire cycle).I have to start with a single plant from a seed but hope to eventually use the remaining shelves for cloning and veg. In quotes below is a post copied from another forum describing how I should set up the box. Before I start buying parts I would like a second opinion. Anything that would improve yield or more efficiently use the space.
Thanks in advance!

Follow what I did in the diagram(box2). There will be too much air restriction and heat will built up too much otherwise. Growing one plant in flowering will yield better than two. I would clone the first plant before you flower and then grow the clone, once the first plant is harvested, clone the clone, flower the first clone, grow the second, repeat. You can do a tradition a mom/clone setup also but this way is easier once you can clone perfectly every time. I would take 4 clones each time just in case while you learn to clone with 100% success and either save the others for later harvests or destroy them. Use CFLS for the clones or even better PL-Ls. I don't think a T5 fixture will fit in your space, if you find one that does, use that. You want something as close to 6500K as possible for the clones. A 250w may be a big much for that space, but only because of heat. A 150w will cover the same space and give off less heat but will not give as good of results. Worst case is you find out the 250w is too hot and you end up buying a 150w and then you have a 250w for when you can upgrade. If you can spend the money n a quality LED panel, that is an option but that will cost 4x as much but could give better yields if you get a good panel. Personally I wouldn't get the LED panel, but it is an option.The main flowering space is just fine for one nice plant but a tad small for two, especially for a scrog. Doing a scrog on a DWC in a confined space can be troublesome when you need to clean the res out which should be done once a month. You also might have problems checking your PH/nutes/etc. every day, which you will need to while you learn how to do hydro. Soil would be easier but DWC is totally doable. You may want to just tie down instead of scrog which will give you the same results but will be far more flexible when you need to access the res.

You will want a 12"x6" scrubber with a 4" dayton/axial fan to handle air and smell. A 6" fan would be better just in case it gets too hot, put a fan controller on it to turn down the noise if needed. A 120mm PC fan should be used for the clone chamber exhaust, maybe two if the heat is too high in the clone chamber. You may need to move the scrubber to fit it in there right but that size should be more than adequate for the cab.
 

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asaph

Well-Known Member
looks good to me!
be sure to get some real good genetics if you're growing just one plant. Also you want to maximize the volume of soil in your box in anyway you can - this will both increase your yield by much, and also help keep the box cool by a bit. it's a good plan!
 
I know the exact unit you bought. Was looking at it a while back.

Keep the whole bottom unit for flowering and 3/4 up to the top, make that your veg and seal it off from the others.

You really wont need to exhaust the veg neither. It should naturally stay warm due to the flowering below, yet you could pull a little air from the veg up top with a single hole in the bottom of the veg floor. Remember to make it lightproof as well.
 
I know the exact unit you bought. Was looking at it a while back.

Keep the whole bottom unit for flowering and 3/4 up to the top, make that your veg and seal it off from the others.

You really wont need to exhaust the veg neither. It should naturally stay warm due to the flowering below, yet you could pull a little air from the veg up top with a single hole in the bottom of the veg floor. Remember to make it lightproof as well.
Something like this?
 

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Yes sir. Just make sure you have enough room at the top for veg, given the plant height, pot size, the lights youll be using and how far in between the lights and plant tops youll need.

Thats what I had in mind if I had purchased that cab. I was going to use it as my mother, veg & clone cab.

Look at the dimensions, measure what you think youll need for your needs, how much youll need to satisfy yourself that is.
 
Thats what I had in mind if I had purchased that cab. I was going to use it as my mother, veg & clone cab.
Would the design still work if I used it for seeds/clones(top), veg(right), and flowering(left)? Assuming all areas are lightproof? Or would it be better if I just split Top(veg) and Bottom(flower) in half and used a small humidity dome for my clones and seedlings?
 

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I was gonna say maybe doing half flower half veg would be a good idea. You could just stick your seedlings in the veg room, or if you really want to have a ''nursery'' section that's fine too.

You can setup clones in your veg area if you have the space, seems like you have some good real estate there.

I'd split the two phases so you harvest more often.
 
I was gonna say maybe doing half flower half veg would be a good idea. You could just stick your seedlings in the veg room, or if you really want to have a ''nursery'' section that's fine too.

You can setup clones in your veg area if you have the space, seems like you have some good real estate there.

I'd split the two phases so you harvest more often.
Ya this seems like the simplest solution get get what I want. Ill split the Top 2.5' feet for the veg and the Bottom 3.5' feet for flowering.I can exaust through the sides of the unit if it gets too hot. I dont think ill have the space for an HPS without worrying about burning my plants, so Im trying determine weather to go with LED or CFL but it seems to just be a matter of opinin on which gives a better yield. I read CFLs can be placed right next to the plants without any problems is it the same for LEDs?
 
Doing some more reading I decided to go with CFLs for the grow. I think 4 bulbs each for the top and bottom sections will provide enough light for a 4'W x 3'H x 2'D area. I read its better to use a mixture of both red and blue spectrum light so I was thinking of going 3 Blue 1 Red in the veg area, and 3 Red 1 Blue for flowering. With the walls covered in mylar or another reflective surface will this be enough or too much light? Can you even have too much light?
 
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