My first grow cabinet (handmade, sort of)

[PlainJane]

An IKEA convert, for a good cause.

Whatcha think?



(tried to post that as an inline image, just won't do it. Maybe it's on account of my n00bness)

Anyway, the cabinet is 2 metres tall, 1 metre wide, and I'm quite proud of it. That was hard work!

There's a 250w HPS and carbon filter w/ extractor fan. Passive air intakes. The taped on white sheeting stuff is more for the purpose of catching spills/dirt.
If you can believe it I took that photo with bright lights on, that HPS being on makes it all look dark. Bizarre result with cameras, I guess.

There are a few light leaks in the doors, have to sort those out. (the quickie "hey, lets duct tape it" thing works but not greatly) If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

I'm hoping that's enough room under there for clones and a very trimmed mother, but if not I'll work around it somehow. This is just a hobby sort of thang for a few plants for personal use, nothing outrageous. I'm thinking this should work out fine for that purpose.

It's such a shame I can't share this splendid achievement with more people but I have cannabis.com for that. :jointsmile:

PlainJane Reviewed by PlainJane on 08-24-2008. My first grow cabinet (handmade, sort of) An IKEA convert, for a good cause. ;) Whatcha think? http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/3538/cabfv8.jpg (tried to post that as an inline image, just won't do it. Maybe it's on account of my n00bness) Anyway, the cabinet is 2 metres tall, 1 metre wide, and I'm quite proud of it. That was hard work! Rating: 5

[SunnyD]

Your resovoir is going underneath that shelf I take it?

How are you going to control res temps if they get out of hand? Put something filled with ice on the outside on the floor so the res can cool off through convection?

[PlainJane]

Your resovoir is going underneath that shelf I take it?

How are you going to control res temps if they get out of hand? Put something filled with ice on the outside on the floor so the res can cool off through convection?

I'm not doing hydroponics, just plain old soil growth.

I am hoping the temps don't get too out of hand, this is England and all and our summer has been utterly pathetic and cold. Right now with it empty it's 28ºc (82ºf) in there, which is on the warm side. Damn, now you have me worried.

[SunnyD]

Do you have your fans running 24/7? if not that will help a lot

And you said you have passive intake? I'm only seeing ventillation...if you add an intake that will help as well

Gotta make sure she's light sealed though!

[PlainJane]

Do you have your fans running 24/7? if not that will help a lot

And you said you have passive intake? I'm only seeing ventillation...if you add an intake that will help as well

Gotta make sure she's light sealed though!

Yes, I will run fans on all the time. Suppose I'll wait and see if that is enough. If it gets really hot I suppose I'll have to get an intake fan. Maybe I have my terminology wrong (I thought having holes with no intake fan was called a passive intake (?)) but what I've done there is cut two holes (about 2" around) and attached some insect screening to those elbow PVC pipes and stuck them in. There is quite a lot of air moving through there. That white plastic got sucked upward when the doors were shut until I put something on top of it. I was thankful it was well taped down at the edges.

Yeah, not sure what I'm going to do about the light round the edges. I think I need to find weather sealant stuff because the duct tape quick job didn't quite do it. It took care of 98% of it but I could still see a tiny bit of light and I know that's a no-no.

[PlainJane]

This is a photo of it closed:



I like the idea of no handles. Like a subconscious thing to look uninviting to open. I can barely reach the top to open it though, which is somewhat amusing. </short girly> :hippy:

[SunnyD]

Oh I see them now, can you get your hands back there to feel the pressure of the suction those are allowing into your cab?

You know, squeeze yourself back there when the thing is closed and running and slap your palms on both of those 2" holes and see how much air is really moving INTO the cab, your exhaust looks A ok to me

And like I said, your temp reading of around 82º F will go down when you have your fans on 24/7

[PlainJane]

Oh I see them now, can you get your hands back there to feel the pressure of the suction those are allowing into your cab?

You know, squeeze yourself back there when the thing is closed and running and slap your palms on both of those 2" holes and see how much air is really moving INTO the cab, your exhaust looks A ok to me

And like I said, your temp reading of around 82º F will go down when you have your fans on 24/7

I can only reach one (without moving the cabinet) I can feel light suction. Then I put a piece a paper over it and it pulled towards it. It didn't hold it there but the paper sort of slowly slid down. There is an insect screen there though which might sacrifice a bit of air flow but I didn't want any junk getting in there since it won't be so easy to dust back there on a frequent basis.
I think there's good air movement though, I couldn't believe that plastic sheeting got sucked upward like that.

The fans are on and it's actually gone up to 31ºc but oddly it doesn't feel hot in there. I wondered if it was hotter because it's empty.
Crap, didn't think heat would be as much of an issue. I can see now that making the cabinet was probably the easy part. haha

[SunnyD]

Where is your thermometer located?

And how close do you plan your plants to be to the light?

[McDanger]

I can only reach one (without moving the cabinet) I can feel light suction. Then I put a piece a paper over it and it pulled towards it. It didn't hold it there but the paper sort of slowly slid down. There is an insect screen there though which might sacrifice a bit of air flow but I didn't want any junk getting in there since it won't be so easy to dust back there on a frequent basis.
I think there's good air movement though, I couldn't believe that plastic sheeting got sucked upward like that.

The fans are on and it's actually gone up to 31ºc but oddly it doesn't feel hot in there. I wondered if it was hotter because it's empty.
Crap, didn't think heat would be as much of an issue. I can see now that making the cabinet was probably the easy part. haha

Now I could be wrong, but I believe your temps will go up when you have plants in there.
The plastic was sucked up because you don't have a big enough intake, it should be bigger than the exhaust. 2-2" holes do not equal 1 4" hole(math, lol)
What is the temp outside the cab?
Looks good otherwise, good job:thumbsup: