Shackleford.R
Well-Known Member
To find a little info on the lights you see added on later in this project, check here Power Strip CFL Fixture.
To give you a better idea where our starting point is, here is an image of the cabinet used in my project.
Not very pretty, but along with other furniture pieces in a room, it doesn't stand out, which is what you want anyway right?? Keep in mind, there are several other styles of these cheap pre-fab cabinets (the one used here was only 29.99) perfect for 2-4 plants, depending on strain and growing method, soil or hydro. Then what style of hydro.. moving right along.
First things first, we need to put the cab together, just go by your manufacturers instructions, we'll be making a few changes along the way.
FIRST! before we get the back on, we're going to up the reflective ante, and make this cabinet a little more light efficient. Using automotive sun shades (similar product below) we're going to line the doors. As well leave a little hanging inside the cab so that blocks the crack on the far sides of either door, helping with light leaks.
You'll want to find something shinier than pictured above, more like pictured below. After you trim the sunshade to fit, leaving one side to over hang about 2 inches for overlap where the doors meet. Use double sided heavy duty mounting tape to attach the sunshade to the doors. Then on the outside of the overlapping piece, use velcro tape and add a 2 inch strip and leave outer adhesive strip exposed, close the door. You now have insurance that the doors will remain shut at all times. Sometimes the magnetic door catches are a little weak.
Now most of these do not have a true back panel, they come with a cheap floppy cardboard back. But thats ok!! We're going to use an oversized sheet of the sunshade and attach it first using the tiny penny nails that came with my kit, and then the cardboard to add a bit more rigidty. The plus side to this design flaw is it is not truly 100% tight, sounds bad, but this leads to better cooling as air is able to enter/escape through tiny gaps here and there.
Now for a little exhaust action. I picked up a small 4 inch personal desk fan, and went at it with tin snips to remove the stand. This is a very tedious process, and if you can drop some cash and pick something up similar at a grow shop thats ready to snap into place. First I measured for a precise size, and then used a hole saw attachment on my electric drill to create an opening for the fan.
If you can manage to get the cage apart, mine took some work, I found in local retail stores a product made for home air purifiers. They are carbon pre-filters treated with baking soda to help with odor control. Trim one of these down to fit directly behind the fan blade. Pulling the air through it, and aiding in odor control.
Next we'll want some power in there, you can choose to leave your power strip outside the cabinet, and run the wires to it. I wanted more or less everything hidden, so I placed it inside. Using velcro strips, so it can be removed for time adjustments (my strip has built in timers), place it where you think is best.
Alright, we have reflectivity, power, exhaust... now we need some lights!!!
As this was an AeroGarden grow, I started this grow with a modified hood from clone. Now that I'm flowering, I have this beauty to put out the flowering lumens.
Pretty simple design, layout your fixtures approximately where you would like them to be, then using a marker or pencil, dot either side of the screw in sockets as well as a dot on either side of the power strip, inside the bulbs on either end. See photo below for further clarification.
Once in place use zip ties and attach the fixtures at each point. I found I had to use two zip ties per attachment point, also easier to zip tie sockets first, then the power strip. Additionally, not pictured are the 1 inch holes cut using a drill attached hole saw on either end of the shelf, this is for passive air flow, the fan will pull the hot air up through these holes.
Once this is complete, hang your shelf and plug everything in!
Hope some future stealth growers enjoy this how-to guide, and utilize it their own grows!
Good Luck and Happy Growing
Shack
To give you a better idea where our starting point is, here is an image of the cabinet used in my project.
Not very pretty, but along with other furniture pieces in a room, it doesn't stand out, which is what you want anyway right?? Keep in mind, there are several other styles of these cheap pre-fab cabinets (the one used here was only 29.99) perfect for 2-4 plants, depending on strain and growing method, soil or hydro. Then what style of hydro.. moving right along.
First things first, we need to put the cab together, just go by your manufacturers instructions, we'll be making a few changes along the way.
FIRST! before we get the back on, we're going to up the reflective ante, and make this cabinet a little more light efficient. Using automotive sun shades (similar product below) we're going to line the doors. As well leave a little hanging inside the cab so that blocks the crack on the far sides of either door, helping with light leaks.
You'll want to find something shinier than pictured above, more like pictured below. After you trim the sunshade to fit, leaving one side to over hang about 2 inches for overlap where the doors meet. Use double sided heavy duty mounting tape to attach the sunshade to the doors. Then on the outside of the overlapping piece, use velcro tape and add a 2 inch strip and leave outer adhesive strip exposed, close the door. You now have insurance that the doors will remain shut at all times. Sometimes the magnetic door catches are a little weak.
Now most of these do not have a true back panel, they come with a cheap floppy cardboard back. But thats ok!! We're going to use an oversized sheet of the sunshade and attach it first using the tiny penny nails that came with my kit, and then the cardboard to add a bit more rigidty. The plus side to this design flaw is it is not truly 100% tight, sounds bad, but this leads to better cooling as air is able to enter/escape through tiny gaps here and there.
Now for a little exhaust action. I picked up a small 4 inch personal desk fan, and went at it with tin snips to remove the stand. This is a very tedious process, and if you can drop some cash and pick something up similar at a grow shop thats ready to snap into place. First I measured for a precise size, and then used a hole saw attachment on my electric drill to create an opening for the fan.
If you can manage to get the cage apart, mine took some work, I found in local retail stores a product made for home air purifiers. They are carbon pre-filters treated with baking soda to help with odor control. Trim one of these down to fit directly behind the fan blade. Pulling the air through it, and aiding in odor control.
Next we'll want some power in there, you can choose to leave your power strip outside the cabinet, and run the wires to it. I wanted more or less everything hidden, so I placed it inside. Using velcro strips, so it can be removed for time adjustments (my strip has built in timers), place it where you think is best.
Alright, we have reflectivity, power, exhaust... now we need some lights!!!
As this was an AeroGarden grow, I started this grow with a modified hood from clone. Now that I'm flowering, I have this beauty to put out the flowering lumens.
Pretty simple design, layout your fixtures approximately where you would like them to be, then using a marker or pencil, dot either side of the screw in sockets as well as a dot on either side of the power strip, inside the bulbs on either end. See photo below for further clarification.
Once in place use zip ties and attach the fixtures at each point. I found I had to use two zip ties per attachment point, also easier to zip tie sockets first, then the power strip. Additionally, not pictured are the 1 inch holes cut using a drill attached hole saw on either end of the shelf, this is for passive air flow, the fan will pull the hot air up through these holes.
Once this is complete, hang your shelf and plug everything in!
Hope some future stealth growers enjoy this how-to guide, and utilize it their own grows!
Good Luck and Happy Growing
Shack
thats truely awesome love the modifyed aero gared housing ten for ten no joke keep us posted
any help would be much apreciated.
