Getting ready for my first grow.

Okay, I'm getting ready for my first grow, and like anyone else just starting I have a ton of questions.

I guess I can start off with what I have to work with and then go from there.

I'm looking to build my own grow cabinet. I don't have a lot of room so I need something compact and I think a cabinet will work best as I also need it to be semi-inconspicuous. What I had in mind was something along the lines of a 36" wide, 24" deep, 36-48" tall cabinet.

I was looking at marijuana-seeds.nl and I think I'll go with some white widow for a start. They seem to be more of a bushy plant so I was thinking maybe I won't need that much height for flowering. Obviously I want to keep the whole setup in the same cabinet, so I'll need room for both the veg and flowering chambers in the cabinet.

Something like this: http://boards.cannabis.com/attachmen...ans-growth.jpg

Only I don't need the extra room for the utilities and things, they don't matter if they are visible so I can leave them on top of the cabinet.

I know for sure I want to have room for 4-6 flowering plants. Should I go with a bigger cabinet?

I need to stay as cheap as possible for the first round of plants, so I was thinking about something like this for the lighting: 1,000 watt HPS & MH Metal Halide GROW LIGHT 1000 w NEW - (eBay item 260171668226 end time Nov-10-07 20:30:00 PST)

I could use the MH bulb for the veg, and then switch to the HPS when I move them to flower, and after I get some more money to invest, get another ballast and everything for the other bulb so I can veg and flower at the same time. Or I might just go with fluorescents for the veg chamber. I'm still not sure which would work best for veg. I would guess the MH, but thats why I'm here, I don't know for sure!

For ventilation I was going to stick a fan near the bottom of the veg chamber blowing into the cabinet, another near the top of the veg chamber blowing into the top of the flowering chamber, a fan near the bottom of the flowering chamber blowing into the cabinet, and last but not least a fan pulling the air out through the top of the flowering chamber and out through a carbon scrubber. The intakes will run through a few bends of pvc pipe to eliminate any light leaks.

I've done some reading around and found a lot of great advice so hopefully everything will work out. My two biggest concerns are seeds and lighting, I think I can figure out the rest (emphasis on THINK).

If anyone has any advice on some good places to get seeds that would be awesome. I read a few places that said Rhino Seeds don't package worth a shit, last thing I want is to pay for a bunch of broken seeds. (I'm in the states if that helps any.)

And is a 1000w HPS too much for a small cabinet? I'm worried about temperature control. Should I go with a smaller bulb? like a 600w? I want the ability to expand in the future, should I just ventilate the shit out of the cabinet and go for the 1000w?

Any and all advice is MUCH appreciated!

I'll post more questions as I think of them ;)

Thanks!

with a 600 or 1000, which i would recommed 600 prob wont work in that cabinet setup, theres really not enough room. considering you will need a cooltube of some sort and you will need to have a premium inline fan and plenty of ventilation.
if it were me i would setup 2 cabs if all possible 1 for veg 1 for flower so you can get a continous harvest

want to stay cheap as possible? but want 1000 lol,

keep up all the research and youll get some beasts

You look like your ready to grow some serious plants! :jointsmile:

Though, I don't think you're going to be able to meet some of your expectations with that sized cabinet. Flowering plants can easily shoot up to over 2', even the squattest varieties of indica. And that's not including the extra height from the container that it's in. You could just take away from vegetation time and would end up with shorter plants in the end, but the yield will be diminished severely.

The cabinet setup you've depicted looks very efficient, and I'm not trying to say that you can't produce some good buds in it...because you certainly can! But, if you can get your hands on a larger & similar cabinet for just a little bit more money, it would be money well spent. Also, you said that you won't be using the utility sections of the cabinet, but you're still going to be using a similar ventilation to the one shown in the diagram, right?

With adequate ventilation, similar to what was shown, you will be able to run the 1000W switchable system you're planning to buy in the cabinet. It really looks to be a decent system, so go with it if you can afford it. (I like the idea idea of a fully-suspended ballast.) But even with good ventilation, it still might get pretty warm in there...especially in vegetation, when you're using the MH bulbs. Even digital systems can make things warm in tight locations...so, just don't skimp on the ventilation if you do plan on going with this fixture, and you'll do just fine with it. I still think you'd be putting a light like that to better use in a larger enclosure, though.

Check out Project 420 for a myriad of reputable seedbanks. I'm partial to experimenting on new seedbanks based on several factors; new strains/crosses, competitive prices, solid reputation, etc. I've tried at least a dozen different seedbanks, and I've yet to find anything truly bad to say about any of them. Some just take a little longer to reach you, compared to others, but they've almost all been primo quality seeds...from germination to harvest.

Keep reading through the archives of this forum...you'll find more than enough insightful content to keep you busy for a long time! :D

Hey man, :)

You can go 1,000 for the cab, but with your dimensions, it's gonna... require... serious... everything.

You can go 600HPS and a 400MH... if you want, run 'em together during flowering.
DEFINITELY you need a CoolTube or a sealed hood.
I suggest Hydroponics | Hydroponic Supplies .
I've had great experiences with them.

[[[ wow!!! Hey, Stinky! :) Since when do we have these url filters?
let me try... to beat the machineee..... w w w . b g h y d r o . c o m ]]]

In addition, if you want to simplify your cooling, I would suggest a heavy duty fan ($$).
Not the squirrel cage type... and definitely computer fans will NOT do.
Bathroom fans won't either.
Damn... HPS bulb put out a LOT of heat. MH not that much.
A 'Fantech' fan will be great. And a sealed hood (/cooltube).

I'm thinking you can put a heavy duty fan sucking air OUT through the sealed hood.
Intake is passive.
You need a carbon air scrubber for smells?

I can do a crappy Paint diagram if you'd like - for the air setup.

You planning on going soil or hydro?

Oh yeah... one more thing.... I would separate the mother (veg/clone) chamber, fromt he 12/12 (flowering) chamber. That's just me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by turtle420

Damn... HPS bulb put out a LOT of heat. MH not that much.

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Interesting. I just gauge temperatures by walking in the room, and have never felt the need for a thermometer...but I know my MH's burn hotter than my HPS. I've been using the same 1000W MH bulb for quite some time (a generic Sylvania), and have a Hortilux HPS for flower. So maybe that's why I've noticed such a difference.

Guess it's about time to find me a better quality MH bulb...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr. Clandestine

Interesting. I just gauge temperatures by walking in the room, and have never felt the need for a thermometer...but I know my MH's burn hotter than my HPS. I've been using the same 1000W MH bulb for quite some time (a generic Sylvania), and have a Hortilux HPS for flower. So maybe that's why I've noticed such a difference.

Guess it's about time to find me a better quality MH bulb...

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Interesting indeed! :)

Well, maybe, just maybe, your MH is up for replacement?
I guess in your example, both bulbs are 1,000 watters?

I take it from the fact that I was able to cool a 400W MH with a 45CFM fart fan... and the cooltube was perfectly cool to the touch.
But the 600W HPS???
Even though it was 200W additional, the amount of heat was totally disproportionate. It was a grow bulb... don't remember exactly which, but it was not a security/HomeDepot HPS.

I remember installing a 300CFM squirrel cage fan to the cooltube (with the 600HPS), and still the cooltube would not be cool to the touch.

And you've never used a thermometer!?
I LOVE IT! :) :)
Gotta love growers like you man... really.
I was a freak. I would measure this, and that, and this other things... and the that of this. LoL

:)

Peace Mr. Clandestine!
Best,

-turtle420 :cool:
.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by turtle420

And you've never used a thermometer!?
I LOVE IT! :) :)
Gotta love growers like you man... really.
I was a freak. I would measure this, and that, and this other things... and the that of this. LoL

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Never felt the need to have one, no. I'm able to keep temperatures to what feels to be mid-70's at all times. I'm no longer growing in a basement or attic where the temperature can fluctuate at all hours of the day/night. I still keep measurements on several other factors, and keep a log on all the variables, but for the most part...I have a very small list of variables. I like predictable results, and generally don't deviate from what I know works.

As for the life of my MH bulb, I'm sure it is time for a replacement. I also keep air running through my hood and to the bulb itself, but can still tell the difference in temperature when switching from a MH to my HPS. Again, it could also be due to the fact that I purchased a much better quality HPS bulb, by a more prominent manufacturer. I wish I could go to Home Depot to buy my bulbs, but they only stock up to 400W in the area that I live in. Not sure if they stock higher watt bulbs in different locations, but around here they don't seem to.

Still, even with the excess heat that my MH gives off, it still seems to work much more efficiently in vegetative growth than my HPS does. I've tried both.

Alright, first off thanks for all of the advice! :D

I know I know, I said I wanted to go cheap and then I throw the 1000w HPS out there! I've made several half assed attempts at growing before, nothing too serious, just throw some plants in the closet with a few lights a fan and add water. For the most part everything worked except the lights, so really what I meant by wanting to go cheap, was go as cheap as possible on everything but the really important stuff. In my limited experience the lighting, and for this setup the ventilation, seem to be the more important things in terms of getting the cabinet set up.

I've had a hard time finding a cabinet that will be big enough for what I want to do, so after hours and hours of looking online I think I found something that will suit my needs. I found some steel beam shelving systems that I can kinda custom build to the size I want, with or without shelves, and then I'll just take plywood to enclose the whole thing into a cabinet.

So I'm on my next step, figuring out what sizes I want to go for for the veg/clone and flowering cabinets.

After taking several things into consideration and reading some replies, I'm thinking about this 600w HPS for the flowering chamber and throwing in the extra $40 for a digital ballast: 600 HPS EconoCool Grow Light System | BGH
I really don't want to have to spend so much on a light, so if anyone has an idea for cheaper lighting with the same output I would love you forever. :thumbsup:

and a 6-inch Fantech In-Line Duct Fan - 256 CFM (is this too much? not enough?)

Thanks turtle420 for the suggestions!

The fan would pull air from both the cabinets and out through a scrubber (I think I might make this one http://boards.cannabis.com/growroom-...on-filter.html)
I need the scrubber for the stanky yeah, I'm in an apartment so trying everything to keep it my own little secret!

The space I have to work with is approx. 7' high, 2' deep, and 6' wide.

For the flowering I was thinking about a 5' tall cabinet (I can go for 6' if needed), 2' deep and 3-4' wide, the two cabinets will go side-by-side, with the veg/clone cab being about 3-4' tall, and 2'x2' square.

I'm thinking I'll just go with flouro's for the veg chamber for now, any recommendations for the size I'm going for?

I know I had more questions but I can't think of them now, I think it's time to go get :stoned:

Oh oh, I almost forgot, I'm going to go with soil... water hates me, really really hates me, and I can see hydro turning into a huge mess if not worse :D

I'll make a diagram of what I've got in mind so far.

Okay, after a bong load of inspiration, here's the diagram I created so far for the flowering cab.

Cabinet Design (if I did the link thing right!)

High Tech Garden Supply

I think you'll be happy about that :)

And I think that your grow cab. looks very nice, except for the heat issue. Throw in a homemade cool tube and you'll be set I believe!!! THe one that i cant find the link for!!!! sorry bro, im too stoned... :jointsmile: