Entertainment center hydro grow evolution. . .

I've mostly been lurking here and decided its time to contribute. This time last fall, I began medical growing for the first time. What a steep learning curve. I'd like to give a special thanks to all the experienced folks around here helping get us newbs up and running.

Here is the result of modifications over four grows. Five is underway with a few more changes.

Attachment 295693

I found the entertainment center cheap on CraigsList and cut the divider between the upper and lower sections to yield 5+ feet of vertical space. The main grow area in each cabinet is 19in x 19in x 5ft. Smaller side cabinets are used for mothers and storing nutes, supplies, etc. A carbon canna filter pulling air from the back of the cabinet takes care of most/all of the stench.

The LED UFO is from FuseLED.com with extra 660nm 5W LEDs from Mouser.com added around the perimeter. A separate switch allows me to turn on the 660's during flower. This ended up being 120W total and about $150. The goal was to keep the heat to a minimum, mission accomplished.

The SCRoG works great. The first two grows I had trouble trimming the back side so I added a lazy susan. Water use was another issue. I drain and fill every week or so but the water level drops fast. I added a float valve connected to a five gallon external bucket. Now I only need to check them once a week, maybe more if the pH is drifting. The current nute setup is just Lucas Formula plus Aquashield. Idiot proof for a newb like me.

Anyone that is just getting started in hydro, the first thing you need is a good pH meter. Don't skimp, get one that's waterproof. I have a waterproof EC/PPM meter as well but it gets far less use than the pH meter. Especially since I drain and fill weekly. Putting pH up and down in tincture dropper bottles makes fine tuning easier.

Here are a couple pics of the current grow. The tops of the colas were harvested today, 1/4# bud wet should yield 1+ oz dry. Wet sugar shake was another oz that went straight to green dragon. After two more weeks, the rest will get pulled. Dual harvest allows part of the harvest for day use and the other for night by following the trichs. I think 1g/W is reasonable with this setup. Using the two cabinets, harvests are coming every couple months. I have a closet setup with CFL for veg/cloning that can shorten that time to every 45 days.

Pre harvest:
Attachment 295692

Post harvest:
Attachment 295691


There is probably $300 in each cabinet including the meters and filter, excluding nutes. I wasted some money with experimentation so it may a bit higher but those funds were spread over the year. The setup cost was still recouped by the first grow using the $14/g dispensary prices around here.

Thanks for reading. Let me know if you have any questions.

Hey nice setup! Looks and sounds like lots of trial-and-error has paid off. I looked at the pic of your setup before reading your post, and I thought the lazy susan may be to rotate the plant for lighting reasons, but doesn't look like there's any issues with the mylar and light coverage.

I would like to know if you had a couple grows without using the tiny red LED's that you mentioned from Mouser before starting to use them as to compared with your current setup, using them? Do they improve flowering under all same conditions? Also, what type of AC power supply do you use for them?

Again, very nice, clean, compact setup.