Just built a new grow cabinet

I have been working my ass off on this project over the weekend. It's made out of a special plywood. I added 2x2's for extra strength. It vents out the top, using a 180 cfm fan in the attic. The air goes thru an activated carbon filter, runs thru the attic to the outside. I have a shelf because some of the plants are shorter but need to be close to the light too. The light is a 400w Metal Halide; the remote ballast is outside the cabinet. I have two heavy duty magnetic catches but it still leaks light. I have a solution for that but it'll have to wait til tomorrow. The cabinet is sealed with acrylic caulk so no light or odors can get out. The fan is mounted near the ceiling. The power strip is also mounted to the wall as is the hygrometer/thermometer. I have another thermometer in the bag with one of the plants. I read on here where someone said "a lot of trouble could be saved by the use of a $5 lock. I thought that was a very salient observation and bought one.

looks good but lite looks a bit far away, if its too hot blow a fan near it, id have the fan inbetween the lite and top of the plants. your blowing heat down insted of away.

is that just soil in them bags?. it would be poss to grow small plants like that, wouldnt it, looks a good idea.

i hate that HTG supply marks everything they sell! Did you get the free lighter also?

what do you mean by special plywood, what's special about it?

also, about how long do you think you spent on this?

Nice grow box keep us updated!!! What kind of babaies you got there and how old!!!

Maybe you could post more info on your box for us??? Particularly dimensions, and maybe we could get some photos of the outside as well??? It looks quite impressive.
Thanks

The last time I hooked up the HID light I fried my plants within 30 min - dead. I thought I'd start off at about 30" above my plants this time. It's maintaining 90 degrees F in the cabinet so I'm not too worried about them suffering; I'm keeping a close eye on them. The soil in the 3 gal grow bags is a custom blend of Fox Farms Happy Frog organic soil, Miracle Grow Organic Growers Choice, blood meal, bone meal, perlite, and dolomitic lime. I saw a grow done exactly like this and the results were mind-blowing. BTW, the plants have grown 1/2" taller in the last 20 hours.

The dimensions are 2' x 4' x 73". The special plywood has aluminum on one side and some sort of hard white plastic on the other. I probably spent 15 hours on it.

Yes Dankie I got the free lighter, LOL. I don't mind the HTG sticker; I just don't want anything with the stealth hydro logo on it. That would be a death sentence for my plants using anything they sell.


Puffs, the ones in bags are blueberry; the ones in RW are Big Bud. The Big Bud are 35 days since sprouting; the blueberry are 27 days old.

I can't post pix of the outside; that would reveal information about who I am and where I am.

Also, what did you use to assemble the box (wood glue, nails, screws?), and what was that plan you had for the light leakage?

Sorry about all the questions lol, I'm building my own within the week and this looks like a perfect model

sorry potpimp i didn't mean to pry i was just curious about you special plywood when i asked about the outside but i understand.

No offense taken password. I bought some 1" drywall screws to hold it together. They are screwed into the 2x2's. I took some latex caulk and caulked every seam. I'm not completely happy with the door situation tho; it still leaks. I've been tinkering with installing a heavy curtain inside the door; that might work better than anything else. I bought and installed some rubber weatherstripping but that didn't work at all so I pulled it off. If anybody comes snooping around I can hit the kill button on the powersquid and turn the light and fan off. I've had to do that a few times already. I poured a little ONA into a paper cup and that stuff works like crazy! No smell - period.

Check out my cab if you havent already... i used 3/4" thick weatherstripping and it seals it perfectly ... but for added protection i went to walmart in their fabrics department and got a heavy duty black fabric and the ol lady is in the process of making me a curtin for the doors... jsut in case...

I didn't see the finished cab Dusty; all I saw was the framework. I tried weatherstripping but had a hard time with the door closing. I have a black curtain covering the front of it now anyway so it's working well. I also have a lock - very cheap insurance!

everything looks googd but 90 deg. seems a little high,i would put in a fresh air intake fan or maybe another small exhuast fan,this way your plants growth wont be stunted by the heat,the bigger the plant,the bigger the yield.happy growing

litljohn said:

everything looks googd but 90 deg. seems a little high,i would put in a fresh air intake fan or maybe another small exhuast fan,this way your plants growth wont be stunted by the heat,the bigger the plant,the bigger the yield.happy growing

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Very true liljohn; that is the reason I'm now using LED's instead of the HID lighting. The cabinet stays about 75 degrees with the door shut. BTW, I grew off two grows in this cabinet last year and I'm on a new one with white widow; they are in flower. Check out the grow journal in the sig line.