my winter project

So I have a small cabinet 30" tall x 23" wide x 11" deep ( this is the interior measurements) Originally I planned on using this for next season outdoor. I'm going to start veg couple months before start of season.

But then I thought I could try to cramp to plants in there from seed to harvest. I plan on getting two t5 HO 24" fixtures for the top( gonna have to MacGyver it in there being only 23" and 24" fixture, but I think I can make it work. ) and a couple cfl on the sides and or bottom corners.

The inside will be lined with mylar. This will be my second grow if I go through with it. I had a successful outdoor season. However , I will be attempting with Coco and 3-in-1 fertilizers (fox farm I believe) . Outdoor I used ffof and Earth juice ferts. I used advances grow techniques (LST, topping and fimming, pruning and adjusting)

I'm not attempting to be Americas next top grower but rather trying to pull off at least one indoor plant kinda stealth. Kids and what not. Either way I'm getting the t5s for veg.

I already got the @ least 100 w per plant technique in mind. 6700k for veg 2500k for flower. Sounds good on paper .... Any opinions welcome

Edit :: don't mind the VHS /CRT TV or the fancy cable management. SMH

Homie I've got a similar setup to yours going right now heightwise; although the cabinet I am using is about half the width. I am using a 2.5 gal container, employing a "Recycled Organic Living Soils" methodology, have 3 cfl's w/ clamp reflectors putting out about 2750 lumens, and have 3 seedlings going of Master Kush strain.. I may grow them to harvest in the cabinet itself, or just veg them until i can put them outside in the springtime. I will have to keep them short though and "FIM" them along with LST training and I have a makeshift twine screen for a SCROG. I recently watered last night: a cup of filtered tapwater with half a teaspoon of organic molasses and a dilute amount of human urine - the seedlings seem to have responded very well and the second set of true leaves are tiny but visible. I say go with it man!View attachment 2842791View attachment 2842793

That cabinet will be perfect.

The only major issue you might run into with a stealth grow is heat. It builds much faster due to being in such an enclosed space.

Everything sounds good, though. Let us know how it goes!

I veg with a 4-bulb 2' T5 and the plants love 'em. I'd like to share that the T5's have about a 20" plant height limitation though....so you should flip 'em around 10". While T5's are not very hot, if you don't have some sort of cabinet ventilation, you'll have heat issues.

dilute amount of human urine

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Eva Mendez urine maybe but I'll pass on that ingredient. I use organic molasasss though. I was planning on vegging as high as I could for next season. Bit I want to try indoor. So I'll try and flipped when they are around 10" like you say. Give head room for the sprouting.

As far as ventilation I was trying to skip on that. But I'm thinking PC fans. 1.00 desktop fan from Rite-aid . I'll come up with something not so obstructive and so complex. I think PC fans. But I would have to cut out some sort of exhaust hole. I don't want light to leak in though.

My idea
View attachment 2842938


All embedded into the cabinet. Wires outside , cfl fixtures flush like reccesed lighting. Going to order the T5s Friday. Trying to get the cabinet ready by Novemeber. Procrastination better not set in.

All embedded into the cabinet. Wires outside , cfl fixtures flush like reccesed lighting. Going to order the T5s Friday. Trying to get the cabinet ready by Novemeber. Procrastination better not set in.

I would put the intake fan as low as you can on one side and the output fan as high as you can on the other side. otherwise you got the basics covered nicely. Good luck w/your Grows.

TripleMindedGee5150 said:

View attachment 2842936

All embedded into the cabinet. Wires outside , cfl fixtures flush like reccesed lighting. Going to order the T5s Friday. Trying to get the cabinet ready by Novemeber. Procrastination better not set in.

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Do you plan on using one of those fans as an exhaust fan? You could pull it off with one fan as an exhaust and one fan to circulate air, and a small hole at the bottom (intake) to create negative pressure.

Small edit: I'm rooting for you. I love cabinet grows lol

Thanks bro notBallin. Ya I was planning on setting up one fan to suck the air in and the other to blow it out. I'm assuming its better than just to circulate air in an enclosed box

Active exhaust with a passive intake will create negative pressure, which you want in ventilation. Then you can just put fans in place to breeze over your girls.

Active intakes are just fine, but they need to be sized right........ often aren't for a micro grow and then all you are doing is most likely lowering your humidity [exhaust > intake] and having to water more.

All though even worse designed active intakes can cause air to pool up inside your cab [if exhaust isn't up to the task] and can raise humidity that way as well.

I would recommend 3-5 room changes per minute to start and then tweek it for humidity/temp.

30x23x11 = 4.39cf[3-5] = 13-22cfm [san's filter]

I have a similar spec.

Abiqua said:

Active exhaust with a passive intake will create negative pressure, which you want in ventilation. Then you can just put fans in place to breeze over your girls.

Active intakes are just fine, but they need to be sized right........ often aren't for a micro grow and then all you are doing is most likely lowering your humidity [exhaust > intake] and having to water more.

All though even worse designed active intakes can cause air to pool up inside your cab [if exhaust isn't up to the task] and can raise humidity that way as well.

I would recommend 3-5 room changes per minute to start and then tweek it for humidity/temp.

30x23x11 = 4.39cf[3-5] = 13-22cfm [san's filter]

I have a similar spec.

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Bro thanks ! That sounds legit. But, I'm going to go out on a limb and be a newbie. I don't understand that. That's like spoken code. So is that a yes on cirrculatimg air from outside the cab, thru and out the other end of the cab. Or just a fan blowing air?

On another note just placed my order for my t5 fixtures

Active exhaust with a passive intake will create negative pressure, which you want in ventilation. Then you can just put fans in place to breeze over your girls.

Active intakes are just fine, but they need to be sized right........ often aren't for a micro grow and then all you are doing is most likely lowering your humidity [exhaust > intake] and having to water more.

All though even worse designed active intakes can cause air to pool up inside your cab [if exhaust isn't up to the task] and can raise humidity that way as well.

I would recommend 3-5 room changes per minute to start and then tweek it for humidity/temp.

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Nice Way to articulate that into a post. thank you good info!

I don't understand that. That's like spoken code.

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naw, he is saying basicly for a noob like me, it maybe better to have a hole at the bottom of the cab as an passive air in take(IE no fan) and one FAN as an exhaust towards the top of the cab that blows air out, one or more fans inside the case blowing air around. that way It is always getting the perfect amount of fresh air.

Reku, glad I could help, I am really just elaborating on your concept that hot air rises and cold air follows accordingly, that is negative pressure...air always seeks to go where there is less pressure, hence why hot air rises.

So using hot/cold principals, you want your exhaust as high as you go, along the sides or back wall, or even in the ceiling. That way all hot air is exhausted and none is pooling up with in-efficient design. [Fan aka Active] [Your exhaust does all of the work, venting and providing pressure to suck air in through the intake and this is how you size a room by allowing it to breathe..... like a car engine]

Your intake should be the lowest part of the cab, either in the floor or along the very bottom of the sides or the back wall again. Tons of people use black plastic pvc elbows, so that they act as light traps and intakes. [NO Fan aka passive]




Your intake AREA should be double in size to the Exhaust AREA. So if you are using a Four inch circle for your exhaust, then you would need the area of an 8 inch circle. Not eight, one inch circles. [quick shitty math 35 1" circles = 8" ][A=3.14XrXr]

Room Changes
There is far more complicated math, but quickly warehouses and library's average about 7-14/room changes of air/per minute.

To calculate your room change, you figure out your total cubic footage of cabinet. The amount of changes will dictate your overall CFM and then how match it will Raise or Lower your Temperature.

For example, if I only had a 10cfm fan, my room change would be about 3 times per minute and my temps we probably average 20-25F over ambient [65-75].

If I have a 100cfm fan, I would average 30 room changes a minute and my humidity will drop, and the plants will suck up water faster as temps fall.

You can use a voltage controller to speed up or slow down a bigger fan.

Too big is fine, too small sucks.


Size the Fan A 65-75F = ambient temp where my cab is located. I try to maintain a +10degrees F over Ambient, inside my cab.
My exahust fan is only a 22 cfm... 4in diameter [95mm] computer fan, the intake is sized a little less than 7.5" of area overall and I adjust the voltage [that's another question for another time] RH is 45-55.

I am also venting 125w's of cfl in 3.5sq.ft.

I size this way because I use my own DIY carbon scrubbers and I don't have a way to reliably tell how much the filter will block airflow when I put them on the fan.

THis way I can just add more voltage to my fan and then adjust the increased volume to the temperature I want.

reku said:

Nice Way to articulate that into a post. thank you good info!



naw, he is saying basicly for a noob like me, it maybe better to have a hole at the bottom of the cab as an passive air in take(IE no fan) and one FAN as an exhaust towards the top of the cab that blows air out, one or more fans inside the case blowing air around. that way It is always getting the perfect amount of fresh air.

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...and fresh air is cycling Co2 as well.

Gotcha! Aye thanks for all the feed back from everyone. Top dog shit.... No pun intended

Lots of good info there. thanks again.

Abiqua said:

I size this way because I use my own DIY carbon scrubbers and I don't have a way to reliably tell how much the filter will block airflow when I put them on the fan.

THis way I can just add more voltage to my fan and then adjust the increased volume to the temperature I want.

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So the red additions to my picture would be PVC ? And the bottom white circles just holes ? And you say no fans needed ?

TripleMindedGee5150 said:

So the red additions to my picture would be PVC

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These would be areas for your exhaust. You want them as high as you can get them, either in walls or even the ceiling.

And the bottom white circles just holes ?

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This should be your intake area, it is the lowest spot, to allow the most unheated fresh air into your cab.

And you say no fans needed ?

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Fans are NEEDED!

Basically you have an exhaust fan pulling air through the cab from a passive intake which allows air, but blocks light from entering cab.

The exhaust is Mainly dependent on your scrubber [if you use one], your intake ambient temps and cab size.

Interior Fans
Then you should have a few fans completely on the inside that are basically blowing that air around as it is being pulled from intake and pushed out the exhaust.

I just mount PC fans on brackets at canopy level.

If you can wait till morning, I will take a pic of my cab, maybe that can help a bit, I hope I haven't "over-complicated it", my bad.

Well, going into the walls sounds pretty deep. I can wait till the AM