1st time Noobie CFL Stealth Grow!

Well, thanks to all the information, pictures, etc., on this site, I'm convinced I can do this! I've never even had 'normal' garden before, let alone tried something like this. Anyway, I'm going to build a stealth garden under my work bench/lab for my 220 gallon reef aquarium in the basement. Its' 8' long x 41" high, by 2' front to back. I'm going to use CFL's and do a scrog.

I've got a small order of seeds coming from Attitude. Should give me plenty of time to get my grow cabinet ready. Going to enclose the area with wood - will a couple of vents for air exchange and will be lined in reflective material. Mostly ideas in my head right now - hope to get them out of my head and under my work bench soon! Will post pictures as it goes. Will probably have 2 plants in each 'section' of the area. If this grow works out really well, I may create 2 individual sections a make one a bloom area and the other a veg area so I can cut raise clones instead of using seeds. All just day dreams right now, though.

I like the whole idea of the grow under the tank. Shit - even if it doesn't work it's cool. Get some more pics posted as you progress champaign - want to see. And try to get some bigger pics - those are a bit small.

Good luck. Our favorite plant really isn't that hard to grow.

Great idea! Plus, even if its loud people will just think you got special fish stuff going on underneath

I wanted to do it under the tank, originally, but 1) it's a bit too short for my liking, 2) if there were a tank disaster, it takes out the sexy ladies would go up in 'smoke' and 3) it would make it difficult to do any maintenance and/or repairs to any tank plumbing. So, under my work bench was the ultimate choice.

I took my lighting idea from a posting I saw on another site made from pvc pipe and lamp sockets wired with an extension cord. I modified it a bit to make it cover more area. I'm going to use 6 each 250 W equivalent 6500 k CFL's for each side of the cabinet over no more than 3 plants per side for veging. Once it's time to induce flowering, I'll replace those bulbs with 250 W 2700K.

Here's some pics of the light fixtures. The sockets almost fit with no modification but they're just a bit smaller than the opening so I just wrapped the base of he socket a few times with electrical tape and they fit snug and it worked perfectly and looks great. My fingers are killing me today from cutting, stripping and twisting all those wires. An electrician I am not!

I got the cabinet enclosed this weekend, too. Can't believe how much work I actually got accomplished this weekend. I probably should have taken advantage of the warm weather and played some golf but I had a one-track mind

I forgot my dimensions while I was Lowes and got a 20" box fan for exhaust - had to modify it to fit in my opening but it worked out ok. Very quiet, too.

Got the light fixtures hung last night. Installed them on an improvised 'pulley' system so that they can be lowered to the bottom of the cabinet or raised to the top. The rope is just tied to the light fixture and runs through a couple of hooks and then wrapped around a cleat. I think it will work fine.

I also found some 27 gallon heavy duty tubs that I plan to use to grow the plants in.

OK - Now I'm getting excited! Looking good all around.

Looking sharp man!

Added some more framing to the cabinet facing so that the doors stay shut. Just have to figure out some door locks now so nosy eyes can't just open the doors. I get my light bulbs today so tonight I can see just how much glow comes out around the doors. I don't think it will be too bad.

I CAN'T WAIT 'TIL MY SEEDS ARRIVE!!!!!!!

Also ordered this sweet fan I hope to be able to mount to the top of the cabinet to blow onto my scrog screens. It oscillates both ways, left/right and up/down. Should cover the whole area well.

I gotta say I am damn impressed at your use of pvc as conduit. It looks solid.

I am really curious what lightbulb that is shown on in the fixture inside the cabinet. It has a blue/purple light, and I'm not sure if that's weird camera settings or if you actually have a light that puts that off?

champaign said:

Also ordered this sweet fan I hope to be able to mount to the top of the cabinet to blow onto my scrog screens. It oscillates both ways, left/right and up/down. Should cover the whole area well.
View attachment 2431586

Click to expand...

Never used this in a growing context, but i had one on my desk in my dorm and that fucker could hit me on top bunk (bout 8 feet away) and that's not in a (very?) confined space. Should work wonders in there, just be careful when they are young, have it on a lower setting then versus when they get older.

The light bulbs in there are just a couple of incandescent bulbs to see how things look - I get my 250w equivalent 6500K CFL's today. Can't wait to see how bright the inside will be with 12 of those blazing away.

Ya - I'll have the fan on just oscillating one way on low setting at first and as things (hopefully) take off, I can increase the speed and have it oscillate all over the place.

Never saw a fan osc side-to-side and up/down. Sounds like it was designed for growing pot. Now that's a manufacturer that has their head on straight.

Oh ok. Just weird light contrast i guess then,

I have taken alot of shots of cfl bulbs running, never incandescents though.

Never seen a CFL that light color.

bioWheel said:

Never saw a fan osc side-to-side and up/down. Sounds like it was designed for growing pot. Now that's a manufacturer that has their head on straight.

Click to expand...

Ya, they're missing a big marketing opportunity not advertising in High Times!

Well, I got my bulbs installed and ... DAMN they're huge. Had to re-design my fixtures. I like them better now, anyway. Turned on the lights and fans and let them run for a while - temp maxed out at 84 with 49% humidity. From what I have seen online, that should be ok. Anyone think differently?

Ive seen in other threads that clear pots are not the best, i dont know if you are really gonna use those, but if you do it would be best to cover them up with paper or duct tape or something (roots dont like light). Nice grow box btw, so sick. Well thought.

Thanks, Uranium. Ya, I read that too. I'm thinking of trying to find black masking or duct tape and wrapping it to the dirt level. I liked the size of these buckets and I couldn't find them in any other color. I've got holes drilled around the rim for doing LST and eventually a scrog.

Seeds came in yesterday (KUDOS to Attitude - 14 days from time of order to receipt of seeds). Started the germination last night! Can't wait to 'tap some root'!