Check out Home Depot GrowCab 2007!

Hey holmes...

Check out this baby. I'm really psyched to use it. This is a secondary grow room for clones/seedlings (I use it in conjunction with a larger veg/flower room running 1600W HID).

I built the basic cab last year but had to borrow a fluoro hood. I had no watering system and was handwatering clones in soilless 2x day. That sucked.

So, I wanted something hydro, space efficient and able to get about 6 clones to 1-2 feet tall. It will also be a starter room for seedlings.

So here it is.. Tah dah!

It cost around 500 bucks in all. The main rip was the MicroGarden @ b/c they add in all this junk, but the thing (almost) fits the space so well I knew it would be a long time before I found the equivalent and I didn't want to look.

Here's the list

Cabinet about 90 bucks
Replace cardboard backing with plywood (painted with Killz)

Microgarden Ebb/Flow (incl pump/timer, nutes, ph U/D) 165
Holmes clip on oscill fan 25$

ECO 150W fluoro 75$ 7500 lumen 150W 6500K Mogul Base Compact Fluorescent Grow Lamp - Plantlighting Hydroponics

Sun System VIII high watt fluoro hood 90-110$ Sun System 8 High Wattage Fluorescent Grow Lamp Fixture

Yeah, the res sticks out the side a little and I had to cut but it's actually cool. I can refill the res without doing any manuevering inside! I was originally going to cut out most of the upper shelf but I can run plants in there up to almost 2 feet as it is. I feel like M. Burns... "Exxxxcellllent"!

Room ran 78 -80 with this fluoro, house temp (67) without. No venting necc.

it's not a space where you could get a good yield growing from start to finish but it's a nice secondary cutting/cloning room. I plan to use it just like that. Last year with this bulb the temps ran right at 78-80.

BTW, they gave me two doors of the same side thus the mismatch.

killbud

Light efficiency:

I would never use CFL for the whole shebangabang but for purposes of clones it is fine.

You need 2-3 lumen/cu.ft.

So for,

lightSpace = area between the light and the first third of plant, 6-29 inches.
widthRoom = 17.5 inches
lengthRoom = 27 inches

growSpace cubic feet = widthRoom x lengthRoom x lightSpace = (converted) 1.4 - 3.4 cubic feet

lumens 150w compact fluoro = 11,000 = 3235 - 7850 lumen/cu ft.

Actually if you can go with t5 lighting. Why?

T5 lamps provide the ideal spectrum for plant growth. Photosynthesis rates peak at 435nm and 680nm. A 6500K t5 lamp has a spectral distribution with relative intensity peaks at 435nm and 615nm. This equates to very little wasted light energy in terms of plant growth.

Lumen is a measurement of light output. It refers to the amount of light emitted by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface located at a distance of one foot from the candle. Traditionally, lumens have been the benchmark of a lamps ability to grow plants meaning the brighter the lamp the better the plant. However, studies have shown that a broader color spectrum lamp with perform much better than a lamp with high lumen output, especially when it comes to plant growth.

Lumen and spectrum are both important for growing.

You can have great spectrum, but if you don't have high enough light hitting the plant you're not going anywhere. So your lumen/cubic foot is an important measurement. These measurements complement each other, they're not exclusive. Optimal is 2-3k lumen/cubic ft.

A 6500K t5 lamp has a spectral distribution with relative intensity peaks at 435nm and 615nm. This equates to very little wasted light energy in terms of plant growth.

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You're right about the spectrum but the ECO 150w are also 6500k bulbs as it says in the link I posted.

However, the T5 is too long for this case and you'd need app. 3 to equal this bulb. It wouldn't work in this cab, bro.

KillBud said:

No venting necc.

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Ventilation is one of the most important things when growing. Plants, not just good ol' Mary, need three basic things: Light, AIR, and water. No matter if you're temps are ok, there still needs to be a way to exhaust that old stale air the plants already used, and bring in some fresh air.

Yes, true. It's one part I was going to add. Good point.

But without the heat issues it's not going to take much to provide air exchange. I've already done a grow in this cab that was far more ghetto than what I have in it now. Air exchange was leaving the door cracked and a non-osc fan (pics).

I gradually replaced them in the main room w/ the HID as the first plants were harvested. I had a sativa dom AK47 that took forever to finish and one clone had to stay in that cab almost 2.5 months! The worst part was I had to hand water the plants 2x day b/c I was growing in coco/netpots (or they'd start to wilt). Eventually I transplanted them into my larger room and they quickly acclimated (third pic).

I have a small space and don't need to produce a ton of clones. You need a lot more ventilation if you're going to grow in a small cab with HID. It's overkill for an application like this IMHO.

If I were using this room to grow anything over 2 ft I would change the strategy.

where did you buy your cabinet?

dude, i saw that cabinet at home depot the other day and was thinking about buying it! its the $110 one isnt it?

YungMune said:

dude, i saw that cabinet at home depot the other day and was thinking about buying it! its the $110 one isnt it?

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oh, home depot, i feel dumb now.

wow everything looks good but I see no exaust ?

Thats the exact same cab that I bought to make my grow box from! Here are some pics of the plants in veg right now. I am obviously keeping them very short. I will flower them after about 15 days on vegging. I can only fit 5 plants, but thats fine. Yeah, it's ghetto as fuck, but hey, it gets the job done!

You can make a 4x4x8 grow cab for under $30 at home depot. Wafer board Blue Ribbon 4x8 sheets, $6-7 each. If you had checked, they also have some VHO floros by the security lights in the right spectrum for under $20 a pop. Also, they have galvanized steel sheeting and usually a bender and could make a reflector on the spot, can get a 2'x2' sheet for under $25 that you can turn into a nice 24"x18" reflector. $20 more for hinges, brackets, and screws and you're still under $100.

zombie1334 said:

Thats the exact same cab that I bought to make my grow box from! Here are some pics of the plants in veg right now. I am obviously keeping them very short. I will flower them after about 15 days on vegging. I can only fit 5 plants, but thats fine. Yeah, it's ghetto as fuck, but hey, it gets the job done!

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Ha, I just bought the same cab today! As for air exchange, will a 30CFM PC muffin fan be enough?

Nice...
Here's what i did with mine..

Man i aint trying to hate but shit is raggy then a mother fuck. Lol but whatever works homie

Well you obviously miscommunicated something, lemme try to correct it.

J.Ruhland said:

Hi, I bumped a 2 month dead thread to talk shit

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