Stealth Grow Project w/ Incoming Do it Yourself Guide

Thanks for looking at this new thread, I am new to this growing hobby and I have been reading and self educating and think I have a solid project. I would like some of you pro’s to criticize my idea and let me know the kinds of yields I could get if the plants are correctly monitored. It’s a soil grow for 2 plants. My file is connected below please feel free to ask questions or express concerns if I have not thought something out or if you have an improvement. I will update with the final product when the fans come that will probably be in afew days. Thanks again!



Case:
This cabinet was chosen for its common look and perfect size to grow 2 plants without causing much attention. It also includes white on the inside making it perfect for reflecting the light around areas of the plants.
Closet Maid® W36 Stackable 2 Door Storage Organizer White

Price: $29.98

Lights:

This is the total light system for the grow box. A simple modification is done to the light housing to ensure proper fitting of the bulb but everything else is simple fitting. 11,400 Lumens for 2 plants.

Par lamp holder round cover, 18CI PVC hold, 40W mini twist CFL

Price: $60.14

Thermometer:

I picked this one for its cost and additional humidity gauge.

Price: $3.48

Timer:

I went with this timer for the theme of cheap and easy to use. Just set you’re on and off times with the green and red plugs and your good to go. Also remember to grab two.
Price: 13.94
Air System:
This is the total Intake and outtake system for the grow box It is the parts that can not be ordered at Lowe’s. However, they can be found on Fantronic.com. The fans run at an incredibility low sound level.
80mm Fan Grill, 38mm Long Fan Screws, Panaflo 80x25mm Fan Low Speed
Price: $31.53 (with S & H)
Air Filter:
This is a cheap pre-filter that can be wrapped around a screen I am going to try sealing it around a clean 2-liter bottle with many holes on its surface. The bottle will sit on top of the outtake fan and hopefully take away the smell.
Price: 9.98
Light Blockage/Air seal:
This Velcro matches the color of the Cabinet and will make a cost efficient seal around the doors and block any light that may be seeping through 4 feet should be enough to cover all of the cracks on the door side of the piece.
Price: 8.97

checked the tracker today should have my fans by monday at the latest, maybe even 2morrow if the mail is on time!

ooh im excited to see how this goes. im going to be starting the same project in about 2 weeks.

thanks Ziggynads i'll try to keep it as up to date as I can. with winterbreak coming up in college I should be able to get alot of time to put towards pics and details! looks like the fans are coming monday, no dice for todays mail

Aw darn. I got my seeds today, waaay earlier than I expected (I ordered them from Nirvana 5 days ago), but I can't start growing bc I'm going out of town for a week for Thanksgiving. I don't want to leave my babies unattended for that length of time. I got 10 Northern Lights (maybe I'll plant 5, its my first time), what are you gonna grow?

I went looking for the Rubbermaid locker you posted, bc it looks ideal for my space too, but I couldn't find it at Home Depot. I'll try Target or Walmart. Well, I'm definitely excited for you and can't wait to see your progress. I will prob start planting mine when I get back Dec 3/4, I can't wait! I still need more time to accumulate supplies anyway...

ur set up looks pretty good for a little steath u might add y so u can have 160 watts instead better yield no one can tell u wat yield u will have though
all looks well make sure u use good soil and ferts i recommend foxfarm soil and nutes had realy good results with but ur choice

I agree- you can never have too much light, especially with CFL's. Youll be fine to veg them with limited light, but it wont be until they begin flowering that youll notice that they want more. Packing 8 cfls into that box would be a good start.

As for yeild- thats completely up to your skill as a grower. But generally, for a CFL grow, anywhere from half an ounce to an ounce per plant would be fairly respectable. I would veg for at least 30 days for this. Your final yeild will be almost completely determined by how much light you can get in there, and by how well of an environment you keep for the plants. For such a small area like that, I would recommend using some yeast bottles to boost C02, and mylar for extra reflectivity.

SenorSanteria said:

I agree- you can never have too much light, especially with CFL's. Youll be fine to veg them with limited light, but it wont be until they begin flowering that youll notice that they want more. Packing 8 cfls into that box would be a good start.

Click to expand...

I agree with him. You'll want to shoot for at least 7,500-10,000 lumens per square foot during flowering, and if you have more thats great. So 6 of those bulbs minimum for you, but it would be better to have around 8 or 10.

And that cabinet is a great find! Thats a great price and perfect size to have a few plants!

Thanks for the feed back dhhbomb, beginingbotanist420 I have seeds from an Ounce of mids I had awhile back I think it's some form of skunk (the usual for my area) Not knowing how this strain is going to act I plan on vegetation cycle till I am filling up half the box. Then try to let the other half fill out during the flowering cycle, but only time will tell (I'm dieing for my computer fans to arrive!)

For lighting I Plan on using the handy adjustable shelf to keep the plants as close as possible and creeping the shelf down over time.


Ziggynads, the case I’m going with is a wood Closet Maid 2 door storage organizer if you got the $29.00 to shell out I got it at Lowe’s on a standard day to day price. Part Number is #37665 just Google [#37665 Lowe's] and it should be in the top 3 links It has 2.79'x2'x1' (HxWxD).


SenorSanteria, What are my best alternatives for getting CO2 into the case? I’ve heard of a vinegar baking soda method what is this yeast method your speaking of?

looks like a great setup i hope you have good luck. im doing a similar grow with 3 plants with about the same lumen ratio per plant but i was just wondering if you had different light spectrum lights with your 40w bulbs or just one type

for the ones keeping an eye on my thread here is some of my babies i have in my room just messing around until the fans get here, Not the real reason for the thread but somthing to look at

I got a new camera today its a FujiFilm Finepix 52000HD

Enjoy!

OOh, they are looking good. I hope your fans get to you soon!

I didn't realize how much light was needed, I'm going to need a lot more bulbs. Did you get the 3000K and 6500K bulbs?

Neat Fact:
Daylight sunlight is 10,000 lumen/sq ft.

Try hitting that indoors... lol (wish i could...)

Thanks regarding the plants, I just went with 4 of the same bulb it's a white glow. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good flowering cfl? That has a red spectrum.

you want the 2700-3000k cfls for flowering, they should look yellowish not white when you turn em on. i think they are called daylight, not soft white. something like that.. some cfl companies put the lumens and kelvin (color temp) on the box.. look for that if ya can..

I think the Soft White or Warm White is for flowering, 3000K. Light looks yellowish instead of super-white.

The Daylight is the 6500K bulbs

BudgetGrower87 said:

Neat Fact:
Daylight sunlight is 10,000 lumen/sq ft.

Try hitting that indoors... lol (wish i could...)

Thanks regarding the plants, I just went with 4 of the same bulb it's a white glow. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good flowering cfl? That has a red spectrum.

Click to expand...

In your box, you have 2 square feet of floor space. You can easily get 10,000 lumens by using (7) 42w bulbs [~2750 lumens each] or (12) 23w bulbs [~1750 lumens each] or (25) 13w bulbs [~800 lumens each]. Notice you have to use less watts to acheive thae same number of lumens with lower wattage bulbs? CFLs get higher lumen/watt ratios at lower wattages. I'd go for atleast that...

CFL's are also a better deal financially at lower wattages. Two 23 watters will cost you less than one 42 watter, and put out more useable light. Plus because youll then have two bulbs instead of one, you can get better coverage by putting one on each side of the plant.

Lower wattage CFLs also stay cooler, allowing you to get them closer to the plant without burning them.

WOOHOO just got my fans in the mail going to the store to buy a 3-pin Power supply and installing I'll bring my cam and take some pics I'm so excited!

Where can you buy a 3 pin power supply?

All looks well Budgetgrower. I have one question, for i have the same cabinet. How do you plan on light proofing it???