Potential Grow Cab--Will This Work? Please Advise!

Hi guys

I posted this in the grow room forum, but realized it's probably more of a newbie question--haha

So--quick question.* I found this ikea cabinet on craig's list for $20 ( http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10121761 )The dude lives in my area and I could go pick it up later today.* I know the height is great, and I like the idea of adjustable shelving, because I could attach my lights to the bottom shelf and just raise it as they grow.* It's also already white, so I wouldn't need to paint it, and the back is made from that cheap ass particle-board stuff, so it would be easy to cut holes for ventilation and fans.* My question is this:* is a 15"x15" square just too small for 1-2 plants?* I've got 3 random bagseeds vegging right now, so I'd be lucky to even get 2 healthy females.* I'm worried about light penetration and space later on, but maybe they'll just keep growing vertically if confined horizontally?* I'm doing a very basic CFL grow (first time), and I'm looking to upgrade from my ghetto cardboard box to something a bit more versatile and stable.

Thanks for the feedback, and let me know what you guys think.* I want to know if I should jump on this or keep looking.

i would get it, and either flower early or spend some cash on auto flower seeds

did you mean 15x15 in or 15 sq feet? aw fuck ill just check the link

edit; the link did not take me to the cab

Yeah 15x15 inches. Not sure why the link got screwed up, but here it is again:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10121761

With a space like this I'd do away with top lighting and use side lighting instead, as you said penetration will make overhead lighting pretty pointless. I'd use 4 foot T5 HO fluorescent tubes, one or two in each corner and/or centered on each wall, and let the plants stretch all they want.

If not side lighting, I'd use the shelves to break it up into 2 sections, each with their own top light source, and train smaller plants to stay low.

As for number of plants, with side lighting I'd do one or two plants max. If you break up the spaces and use top lighting in each I'd use no more then four (smaller and trained) plants per space.

i say one plant only

VH13 and Kaleo are both right. With limited horizontal space, light penetration available to the lower branches on the plant will suffer once you have a thick canopy on the top. In addition to an over-head grow light, sidelighting will be super beneficial with those cabinet demensions.

here's how I would do it:

starting at the 'floor' of the cab, i'd remove the first, third and fifth shelf.

for lighting you'll need around 3700 lumens minimum. 3 26 watt CFL's per shelf. 2 daylight 1 flower for veg.

use LST to keep the plant close to the ground. i mean real LST, the type that keeps the 'trunk' low from where it breaks ground.

and a couple of PC fans for ventilation.

you need to cover the glass though...... light gets out = light comes in. you can't have light leaks in flower.