1st Timer Here - Cabinet Grow

First off, let me say thank you to everyone on this forum, as there is a library full of great information here at your finger tips. I decided to set up a home garden, at first for my girlfriend to grow some small herbs, etc. Since then, I have upgraded it somewhat into a growing cabinet.

I am a first timer here, so I would like discuss my cabinet and see what I can do to improve my setup. Thank you in advance to anyone with some input.

For the cabinet, I got a Sterilite utility storage cabinet measuring approximately 2.5"x3"x6.5". I cut out one hole on the side and one hole on the top for ventilation holes. To move air into and out of the holes, I got two small 8" R/V fans. The temperature during the day is 80F-85F and 75F-80F at night. Humidity goes from 45-60. To measure the temperature and humidity, I purchased a digital thermometer that reads them. I havent' been able to find the material that most people purchase to reflect light, so for now I have went cheap and used aluminum foil around the interior of the cabinet.

For lighting, I wanted to go as cheap as I could while producing enough vegetation to carry me into flowering. At flowering, I plan to purchase another bulb in the red spectrum. I ended up going with a 125W CFL Full Spectrum Hood/Bulb combo. I figure that this will give me anywhere from 1' to 2' of vegetation during that light cycle.

Since I'm still learning and whatnot, I went with some bagseed to get my feet wet. I germinated 10 seeds by tossing them in a clean shot glass with a coffee cup turned upside down over it for two days until the root burst the seeds open. I've heard of other methods, but this seemed the easiest/most convenient way to go. I ended up getting 9 out of 10 to germinate, which isn't too horrible I guess.

After germination, I purchased a heated mat and used some 8oz. Dixie cups as my starting pots. I've heard lots of bad things about Miracle Gro but that is all I had access to, so I went with it as my medium. The pots went under the CFL for 24 hour cycles and did well. They stayed for a few days. I think one of the youngun's got a little sun burned, so I adjusted the light and there haven't been any other issues with that.

Since then, I would say they have begun their vegetation cycle, and I have moved them to 18/6 photoperiod. I also transplanted them into 5" pots. Almost all of the plants are starting to form their third set of leaves. It is pretty exciting to watch the plants change and grow.

So now that I have went over everything that I have done so far with my setup, I will talk about what I am unsure about, what I plan to do in the future with this grow, and then ask for any and all advice from everyone here in the community.

One thing I haven't messed with yet is the pH. I know that this is a very important thing. I need to get a meter and something to adjust it up/down. Any recommendations on this?

Another thing is medium. I started off using Miracle Grow, and I know that at a bare minimum, I need to add some more nutrients/minerals/etc. What should I do about this?

After veg, which I'm guess will be 2 to 4 months, I need to switch out this bulb for the red spectrum CFL bulb. This should be fine shouldn't it?

In the future, I plan to take one of the shelves from the cabinet (there were four and I'm not using any of them) and cut the cabinet in half horizontally. Then I want to get another grow hood/ballast and have a simulaneous veg/flowering cabinet. I will cut some holes in the shelves so that the venting still works properly, but be able to keep it air tight covering them for when the flowering portion needs to be completely dark. I also wouldn't mind getting into hydroponics eventually, but baby steps here right? Lol.

Anyways, I am now one week from seed into this grow, and I hope to get lots of input on what I am doing right and wrong, as well as advice on how to improve what I've got going on here. There are photos of the cabinet and youngun's below. I will update with photos maybe once per week so that we can get some kind of slide show going on. It'll be helpful to have so that I can learn from my first grow :)

Thanks a lot all

Dump the aluminum foil and paint it with flat white paint.It will reflect more light and not burn your babys.If can can get a HPS lamp for flowering,its 10 times better than cfls.That way you can veg with cfls and flower with with HPS.But its a good start and a good learning cab too.Nice job so far.You can order on line nutrs and soil too,and all the grow supplys. Peace

I was really hoping for some help on a couple topics tonight so that I can go to the store tomorrow and pick up everything else that I need. Please help! :) Thanks!

White paint really does reflect the light better huh? I read somewhere about something you can get at Home Depot for a couple bucks that is like aluminum foil, but completely flat surfaced. Anyways, thanks for letting me know about the paint.

Yeah, the HPS is a great idea too. I was trying to only use CFL's, as to not kill my electricity bill, but I don't want to miss out on a better yield because my wallet is too tight.

Do you have any idea of what I should be mixing with the Miracle Gro as far as nutrients and other minerals go?

Thanks for the input crazywill!

Actually, lumens per watt, you get more bang for your buck running a HPS vs CFLs (CFLs are just cheaper to buy). :thumbsup:

Really? I've always heard that HID systems were hard on the electric bill and CFLs were a way to get around that.

I'll post it if I cant find it again, but in one of my grow books (or online ugh i cant recall -- too many sources) theres a really nice chart that goes over wattage, kwph, lumen/lux, to compare incandesant vs floresent tubes vs CFL vs MH vs HPS.

HPS produces the most lumens per watt. If you want 2 48 watt CFLs (96 watts) each bulb gives ~2700 lumens your getting 5200 lumens when a Home Depot 70w outdoor garage lamp modified will shed like 8 or 9k lumens on 70 watts :)

Till I find it I usually refer people to this link on Greenmans's site, pretty good and goes over ALOT from temps to wattage to lumen vs lux etc. :)

Marijuana Lighting Types and Intensities

Side note though, its entirely up to you as the route you take. CFLs are handy and produce EXCELLENT results especially in vegative growth... imho anyway :) I use them, im not trash talking them :)

No real right or wrong way I suspose, its all about what you intend on doing and what you hope to accomplish. Ive seen small small plants that look like they were grown under hid lights on here.

Awesome, I definately think I'm going to upgrade to HID units. So far though, the CFL is working great on the youngun's. I think I'll keep the CFL for propagation/seedling stage, use a 250W MH for veg, and a 250W HPS for flowering. Thanks for your input bonghit, great information there with the conversions, etc.

Ditch the foil. Have you heard that enough times yet? The stuff you are talking about is "mylar". You can buy it at Walmart and other sporting goods stores. It is sold as "emergency blankets". Very inexpensive. If you can't find mylar, white paint works good too.

If you get an HID, get a digital ballast and then you can use either bulb - mh/hps - with the same ballast.

PC :smokin:

Awesome, once again great advise. I have definately taken the aluminum foil down and I picked up some white paint. I could get Mylar as well, but I figure that paint will make it easier for me to maintain my venting, etc because I won't have to cut around the holes in the top and side. Thanks again, and keep it coming everyone.

For the ph you can use some litmus paper which will tell you your ph by what color it turns. You should be able to get this at a pool supply.

Watch with that miracle grow because that soil usually already has ferts in it so adding anymore could burn your plants. So I personally wouldnâ??t add any till they show a sign of deficiency


I just picked up the Marijuana Horticulture by Jorge Cervantes and must say I can't put it down lots of good info.

Oh yeah the plant in my profile pic was flowered under cfls so you can do it, you will just get better results with an HPS.

Hope this helped some, good luck with the grow make sure to update!:greenthumb:

Great link there. I may have to pick that up. I think I've decided on MH and HPS, but I'm just curious as to what type of CFL you flowered your profile pic with, a regular bulb or a lower K spectrum flowering CFL? Thanks.

you can get that Book at borders and barns n nobile they usualy have it in stock. Atleast mine do for some reason. lol

The plant in my pic was flowered under 4 regular red spectrum cfls bought at home depot. They come in a red package.

:thumbsup:

Best book I've read yet, simple, yet complex. From basics (head of plant is the cola, the flowers or cylaxes, etc) to advanced (chapters on feminizing, f1/f2 breeding, genetics, crossing etc.) Has blurbs from members of grasscity, overgrow (rip), cannabis.com etc etc etc. Best book I've stumbled on, *highly* reccomend.

Amazon.com: The Cannabis Grow Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing Marijuana for Recreational and Medical Use: Books: Greg Green

Np on the link, hope it helps. Grow on and good luck :thumbsup:

Yes thanks again. Even though there is a lot of information here in this community, it would be great to have a book right there handy for photo's and step by step walkthroughs. Thanks for the links on the books all.

The plants are coming along nicely. The larger ones in the group are starting to grow their 4th and 5th set of leaves, but the length (internodes?) between the leaves is extremely short, so I think that is a good thing. I think they will stay under the 125W CFL until the end of the weekend, and then I will have them under a 250W MH. Keep up the input everyone, and I'll try to post atleast one or two photos of the babies by the end of the weekend.

what type of cabinet is that? and is it metal or plastic? i've seen these same cabinets but didn't get them because i was afraid they would catch on fire from an hps because it was plastic.

Actually I'm not sure. I think its some sort of plastic polymer that is resistant to heat. I used a drill to actually cut large holes into it. My drill got hot bu the chips weren't melting or anything.

I learned my first lesson about CFLs yesterday. I am usually home to turn fans on and off as I see fit, but I wasn't yesterday. When my plants went from the night cycle to day cycle, my lights kicked on like normal, but my fans and vents were off and closed. I got home to find my babies sitting at 98.6, I shit you not. Thank goodness I only let them sit in it for an hour or so before I could get home and fix everything.

I dont think they will suffer at all from that, but I just thought I'd post and see if anyone thought otherwise. They look great this morning, so I don't think there was any issues. Most of the plants are growing their 4th or 5th set of leaves :)

Just thought I'd post a quick update, and then nothing more pic wise until flowering... I don't want to bore you all. Anyways, this is only under a CFL for 10ish days. Things are going great so far. Thanks for everyones support/contributions :)

Those pots you have suck, big time! :( You want pots that drain, not ones that hold water in the bottom. This all has to do with the health of your roots and such so you need to get some regular nursery pots and put the plants in them pretty darn quick.

Other than that, your plants are looking good! :thumbsup:

PC :smokin:

These pots came with drain holes, they just drain into those reservoirs if I water too much. Should I still find a way to get the pots completely off the ground? So that the soil cannot get backed up with water? Maybe something like a SCROG setup but with screen under the pots as well? Thanks

The reservoirs are the problem. You want regular nursery pots that drain. If you want to contain the runoff, find a plastic container/tray for the plants to sit in.

PC :jointsmile:

Also, does anyone know when I should be topping these plants, as well as, when I should be starting any clones? Thanks again