Very first Cabinet Grow - Beginner

[jcb114]

Hello,

Im starting this journal for some help anywhere anyone can see somewhere we i can better my grow or cabinet please let me know and feel free to criticize and keep in mind im doing my best.

The cabinet that im building was very rough before i started my work but ive gotten it back to some sort of life. Currently im waiting on my seed's to arrive so i can germinate in which i am going to use the paper towl method keeping the paper moist and checking each day.

For my potting medium im using Bio Bizz All Mix in 1 litre pot's to avoid to much transport nutrient wise i will be using the Fox Farm trio of Tiger Bloom, Fox Farm Grow Big, and Fox Farm Big Bloom.

Light's currently i have 8 x 25 watt CFL (i cannot remember the Kelvin Unit's or Spectrum i will upload later)

I have two 120mm Computer fan's at the moment which havent been wired as im waiting on a power adapter and another fan or two, i havnt fully decided on the positioning of the fans most likely will be two for air movement and one exaust and one intake, the exaust fan will be placed over a carbon filter which i havnt decided to make my own or build one either way one will be fitted as there is a amount of stealth required.

Ph/ humidity/ temperature meters will all be added (digital) for constant reading's

Some pictures of my cabinet start of build

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I went on building, replacing old wood, sealing everything up with bathroom silicone, lined the wall's with tinfoil (which im replacing with Mylar) removed my partition which was going to be Right side Veg Left side Flower chamber ive decided to go with a bigger box for more room.

the floor of the box is lined with panda bag's for spilages and on top there is a holed board for ventilation of the root's which i can place a heat mat if required

the back of the box is separated into two section's the smaller one which covers the storage area for (plug's, timer, nutrient's, power adapter ect.) and this is locked on one side with a hinge on the other (changing the way this is attached) the second part the larger on covers the growing room which is on two hinges and two magnetic closures at the top it seals it up fairly good with not much light escaping

Updated pictures

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Ive started doing the wireing for the lights which will be arranged 2 on each side with 4 in the midle which can be lowerd i made my own reflectors from bakeing tray's which work preety good. once my fund's get better i will buy a 4 in 1 bulb adaptor so i can save space.

[jcb114]

With the cabinet basically built (frame wise) i started to put the light's in here is a few pictures of the inside without the partition and no bulbs in pic's either

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all the fixtures will be screwed in properly and positioned properly according to the light per square meter so i get the most out of my lights also i want to find a way to strengthen my reflectors and join them?? not really sure what to do with them. All the cables will be tided away and nailed down my problem at the moment is for each light i have a socket.

More too come, still need to get seed's, more bulb's (higher wattage), power unit will update soon.

Ps. dont wire anything while stoned this is what happens :rasta:

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[low_rdr]

Hey JCB,

Just wanted to point out with a CFL grow, the more uniform the lights, the better. You have some wiring skills, its easy to setup stationary lighting with CFL's that will cover your entire canvas with light, cheaply - If you switch over to the small ceramic outlets, you can set them about 1" apart, if you want to get creative, you can also rig your stationary lighting to nylon slides (or plastic/wire) to raise/lower your CFL's, in my case I don't need this, because I'm maxed out (just about) on light on the bottom of my box, however, with your setup, your using about 1/4 of the lights I am, and they aren't exactly uniform, thus creating 'bright spots' which will call for multiple rotations.

Don't get me wrong, I do rotate my plants, but its more for the sake of inspection than light penetration - At any rate, with your current setup, your going to at least need something to get the plants closer to those CFL's (such as a box), otherwise your asking for unnecessary stretch.

I'm also not seeing any sort of ventilation, you are going to need it, while CFL's don't put off much heat, your going to need some air exchange.

All in all, not bad! You can see some good examples of uniform lighting on my log 2600 cfl log.

[jcb114]

Hi low_rdr,

Thank's for the feedback, i know exactly what your saying with the uniform fitting i would have ratherd to do this but i couldn't find the right fittings anywhere but now ive re adjusted all the lights to now they cover a better area of the box just by angling the lights better, also ive organized some of the wiring neatly. Four of the lights can be lowed down to the plants so i wont stretch also i might raise them with a small box at the start.

For ventilation im just waiting till i get my power adapter before i start cutting holes in places if you get me but needless to say i will have exhaust fans and intake for fresh air and small fans for air movement in the cab.

Will do a full update with pictures soon :)

[jcb114]

Update Picture's - Seed's have arrived i got 3x Barneys Farm Northern Light's and One Blue Cheese still waiting on my Power source its in the post anyway, waiting on some new bulbs a swell i ordered a 65w CFL (6400) and a 45w (2700) i figured use the higher wattage for flowering, nearly finished building the box no time, money, materials to finish quickly hence the wait. I got myself some Rockwool cubes which i was thinking about using in a propagation box and germinate my seeds in them then just transport into my 3/4 liter pot's, what dose everyone think should i bother or just use the paper towel??

The box has been lined with mylar and panda liner on the floor and roof (some pics dont show this) also i sorted out the back of the box and put magnetic closures on each side and have a small lock for the front door, Going to wait till the plants start to smell untill i get a Carbon Filter (recession times), Cut one hole on the bottom right of the back for intake then one fan blowing air to the left of the box and then an exhaust on the roof which brings the air into the shelf space which it escapes itself (holes are not in pic's)

Other than all that cant think of much more will have more pic's up soon :)

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[low_rdr]

JCB -

Its nice to see someone else doing it the right way. Everything is looking good! If I'm not mistaken your using soil as a grow medium - If that's the case, I would germinate in root riot, or riot cubes vs rockwool.

I've done soaking vs papertowel vs germination box and I've had 99% success with germ box, 75% success with soaking, and 0% success with papertowel (those were crap seeds though). Others have had greater success, I just stick to what works for me. If I'm mistaken and you are using a hydro medium, rockwool is just fine! Do you have a heat mat under your germ box? (best method imo, and not too strong lighting over the seedlings for the first few days)

[bitemybud]

Nice looking cabinet. Didn't read much, but enjoyed the pictorial essay.

[jcb114]

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