Grandma's Boy Stealth Grow Cabinet

So let me start by saying I dont live with grandma but a grandma did own this townhouse before me and I havnt had a chance to remodel this room or maybe I kinda like it. Anyway, I have been posting a bunch of newbie questions here and there but I finally got 90% of my equipment and my cab is pretty much set (or so I think). I have a few seedlings going from random seeds so I am waiting to see which if any are fems. I wanted to keep this small for discreteness. Hoping to host 1-3 plants or something like that with ScrOG method. I have a 4" exhaust fan pulling all my air out at something like 105 CFM at the top and 10 2" passive vents which still don't seem to be enough to keep the fan from whining when I close the doors. My 300W LED (from eBay) came in and I'm hoping that's not too much light but might need to downsize that eventually. I have a small Vornado fan to push the air coming in from the 2"ers all around the box and past my mini humidifier. Standard temp/humidity meter and I brought my power strip near the top away from any water like suggested. Total space inside is something like 21x21x28. The back is not as stealthy but the further I got into it the build the less I really had faith that I could truly hide what I'm doing from visitors, especially anyone who would stay in this guest bedroom sooooo that being said it was a fun project but without the ability to fully self sustain in an air sealed sound proof box/cabinet/closet I dont think true stealth can be achieved...unless you make a secret room or something but that's out of the scope.

I'm letting it run empty a while to see how it holds temp and humidity since I was running 4 CFLs previously and was having some issues. Hopefully a little more friendly.

Stupid not so stupid question....would a carbon filter be overkill? I ordered one without really looking at the dimensions and its here, weighs 10lbs, and is the size of a medium bucket...worth installing for the smell or will it get out anyway?

Yes. Hook the filter up even if you have to blow out of it. Put the predicted on the inside of the filter to keep dirt out of it.

Some will tell you it can't be run that way. Works just fine. Its more efficient to pull through the filter but it still work backwards.

You would be surprised how bad some plants smell especially skunk, cheese or shit strains.

How far should I keep my LED from the tops of my plants? Im in seedling phase.

stickyfly said:

How far should I keep my LED from the tops of my plants? Im in seedling phase.

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Cool lil setup! Could get away with using 2 of them cfls in the seedling stage about 6 inches from the top. Let them roots develop. The led is fine where its at if using. Seedling will need more than 24"

Thanks Rolla! I added 2 more 2" vents which seems to have satisfied the exhaust fan needs, nice and quiet now.

Patience is the next thing I need to learn as I have not much else to do with the box and all I do is keep checking on my babies hahaha.

I must say, my temps are much more manageable with the LED rather than the CFLs. So far my meter has recorded a high of 77 and a low of 71 since I turned this thing on yesterday. Humidity us also better, able to stay around 40 with the mini humidifier running, with LED off it gets up to 50+

Question for you guys...in this setup, how long would I be able to safely keep everything off when I have visitors? This means lights, fan inside, and exhaust fan.

That's a neat little cabinet. Got a bit more room than my first one did. Very tidy too.

stickyfly said:

Question for you guys...in this setup, how long would I be able to safely keep everything off when I have visitors? This means lights, fan inside, and exhaust fan.

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I wouldn't be able to tell you what impact it has on a plant, so would also like to hear what people have to say. I have had to close up my cabinet with no ventilation, only a bright LED torch and a few quiet PC fans running to circulate the air inside for 3hours when I had visitors. Didn't notice too much negative...

Depends. If you have no light, no longer than 8 hours in veg for the “night” cycle.

However, even one of those battery led lights you would stick in a closet should prevent flowering so you could get more time with that.

I think I'm going to keep my fans off during dark hours to save money since the plants aren't using CO2 during that time. It can also be timed during the day so if I have visitors it won't be running at all. I just have to be mindful of humidity but its been relatively low for the time being. I'm sure it will be more of a problem during the summer.

little update on my operation. things are going well, plants show no signs of light burn or stretch so I think my lighting is going to work out well in this space. got them transplanted into larger planters which will be their permanent home. also into new soil medium with 35% FF Ocean Forest, 35% Happy Frog, and 30% perlite. Had to give one of my 7 away cause it wouldnt fit in here with the new planter. hopefully it was a male Will have to cull 2 more for the final grow since I only want 4 plants in here max.

Temps and humidity are holding up well and my wireless outlet is cool cause I have it all on a schedule right on my phone. Last thing going in will be my carbon filter which will definitely take up some space but it will fit, waiting on a fan duct adapter.

stickyfly said:

little update on my operation. things are going well, plants show no signs of light burn or stretch so I think my lighting is going to work out well in this space. got them transplanted into larger planters which will be their permanent home. also into new soil medium with 35% FF Ocean Forest, 35% Happy Frog, and 30% perlite. Had to give one of my 7 away cause it wouldnt fit in here with the new planter. hopefully it was a male Will have to cull 2 more for the final grow since I only want 4 plants in here max.

Temps and humidity are holding up well and my wireless outlet is cool cause I have it all on a schedule right on my phone. Last thing going in will be my carbon filter which will definitely take up some space but it will fit, waiting on a fan duct adapter.

View attachment 4080612 View attachment 4080613

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That is a cool set up

Little update, I think the box is now finally complete. I installed a carbon filter inside and I covered up my passive vents with a carbon filter sheet so that smells won't seep out when the exhaust fan is off if I have visitors and it will block light from leaking into the box during dark hours. Had to leave for an 8 day trip and will have parents visiting to check on pets. Hopefully my disguise keeps them away from my locked cab. 14/10 schedule starts today with dark hours being during the day so its nice n quiet when they visit. Only thing I have noticed is the box is a bit warmer with the reduced air flow, now holding around 77-79 with light on. Dips 10 degrees cooler or so when off. Hopefully my plants survive 7 nights without a watering, they got a good one today.

Looks great! Most people would just think it’s a server cabinet. Maybe you are doing some web hosting with some LED fans in there.

Box and babies survived my 8 day trip, had a friend water them once mid week when I was gone. It stayed under the radar when pets were visited and my carbon filter additions are definitely keeping things discrete because I got a pleasant wiff of goodness when I opened the box upon my return! Giggity.

If there is a problem with watering and you are away for long periods often, you can always try to make the containers into mini hemp buckets next time.

I travel a lot and have a 3x3x6 so I will get some real water suckers. I got some 5gal buckets. I’ll put a hole about and inch or two up from the bottom, fill that space with clay pebbles, put some burlap over it, and then the soil. Gives a small reservoir in the bottom

So when they need a watering every couple days, that should double the time they can go without.

Things are moving along and I am into my mainlining project. After installing a quiet fan, I have been dealing with some heat issues, and I keep moving my box into my spare bedroom which with the door closed can run really cool during the winter. This keeps my box at ideal temp during lights on. However, this isn't really where I want the box...it would be best in my office where it was during my trip. I found a decent little personal evaporative cooler which I think will replace my mini humidifier and also provide some additional cooling allowing me to keep the box where I want it. Also, I am hoping this helps during the summer months when my home temps will be up several degrees.

Final update I think for this thread. I got my 100W Quantum Board which I have dialed down to about 70W. I purchase a small desktop evap cooler for moisture and cooling and I built a base for the fan and evap cooler to sit on at the back near the passive intakes. I also installed a small 80MM fan to push the hot air building up above the QB into the carbon filter exhaust. Unfortunately I was a bit too heavy with the drill and put a tiny hole right through the damn top when trying to predrill the hooks for the 80MM so there is that...hopefully I can keep the temps regulated now with all the upgrades.



Digging this xmas tree shape of pots