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View Full Version : New Bloke after some advice with cupboard grow.



bongojazz
28-07-09, 08:09 PM
Hi All, been reading the threads on here and have been inspired, particularly by sharks grow cupboard. I've learned a bit from the forums but never having grown before itd be great to know that i'm doing the right stuff and also get some input and ideas.
Started off planning an outdoor grow with some easy girl seeds, all germinated except one and they seem to be doing ok -ish outside but the way the weather has turned i'm not sure i wasnt too late planting them, (theyre only a couple of weeks old) and i might have missed the best growing weather.

So, i've adapted a cupboard that work were throwing away, bought a 250w cpl light and reflector and am planning to get a (ruck)? fan and maybe a filter in the next few days. I'm planning to paint the inside of the cupboard white and have the light in a fixed position as the cupboard isnt wide enough to have it moving up and down really. I'm not sure that the light wont be too hot for the cupboard though. Cupboard dimensions are height 75cm, width 49cm, depth 48cm.

My questions at this point are

*Shoud i bring the early girls indoors and try them in the cupboard, or would i be best getting some lowrider seeds and starting afresh with them(in view of the height resrtiction), leaving the earlies outdoors and seeing what happens?

*What size fan would i need to keep the teperatures decent and airflow good, or should i forget about the cupboard and obtain a small wardrobe? there wont be much room at the top of this cupboard for a fan.

*Theres a hum coming from the cfl light when switched on. is this something to be concerned about from a safety perspective?

*Im thinking of trying to grow 4 plants in there. is this a realistic ambition?


Have tried to attach some pics of what i have so far.

Thanks in anticipation for your help guys,(and sorry for all the questions) looking forward to getting going with this.

bongojazz.

JuJu
28-07-09, 10:51 PM
Hi m8, and yay another cfl grower. Nice little cupboard / compact. Comparing my dwarf auto's i think 4 would be ambitious in there tbh, but hell have a go:)
the buzzing i think is from the board it sounds like it will fail, i doubpt all the tubes will go so you can limp on fine till you get a new one.
This happened to me it happens in transit sometimes. Saying that i got a replacement sent out and its still running but a little dimmer than the new one. So i now use 2 x 250's but im sure it will go in some way at some point.
good luck and keep us posted. :)

BuddyBoy
28-07-09, 11:44 PM
If I am honest mate i would just use that cab as a veg/clone/bonsai mother space. 750mm less your light and reflector, not a lot of height when you have the plants in a pot.

My 125w (smaller of the two) is 250mm deep hanging straight, my 5L pots are 200mm high and the plant on top, you will be left with approx 300mm growth space, approx 3-4 weeks.

You could grow some autos in there, or maybe if you're brave a totally lst'd indie, short stout, budful, however sativa x and taller plants will be more of a challenge.

My veg cab is approximately the same height as yours, maybe a little shorter, I can veg up to about 4-5 weeks at an estimation, after that in a 5L pot, theres just not enough headroom for a natural grow other than an auto. But I have a flowering tent, so its no problem, i can also give the plants another couple of week on a veg cycle too if they are a bit tall for the cab. Its all new to me, well veg cabs is, however i have been growing for years, so my estimations are pretty accurate on the whole.

In my experience autos grow best if put straight into a 7.5L pot and left there, they grow to about 15-18" high, that combination will pretty much get you 14ish grams per plant in soil. However a 7.5L pot is bigger again, reducing the grow height you have again...

I would have a go at a mini scrog in there, 7.5L pot, top the girly 3 times acros her tops getting 20 or so growing tips, place the screen 5" above and flower her right on the button of 4 weeks, your stretch will fill the screen, and bud it out, and the colas should finish under the light restriction through the screen, you could do this with a regular indie strain, pure indicas are really quite short, and respond well to these conditions if cared for properly......job done :D.

Talk about rambling lol, what was your original question again? lol...

Oops..,Good Luck anyway...

BB :)

bongojazz
30-07-09, 01:33 PM
thanks for all the tips guys, i think to start off i'm going to try a couple of feminised lowriders in there but i like the idea of the scrog buddyboy, will perhaps have a go at that next. would this fan be sufficient to keep the temps down in my space or would i need something bigger?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100mm-RUCK-EXTRACTOR-FAN-CARBON-FILTER-KIT-HYDROPONICS_W0QQitemZ280378790526QQcmdZViewItemQQp tZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=it em4147e0d27e&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

also, what size inlet hole should i make? was thinking about 20mm?

cheers guys.

BuddyBoy
30-07-09, 11:57 PM
thanks for all the tips guys, i think to start off i'm going to try a couple of feminised lowriders in there but i like the idea of the scrog buddyboy, will perhaps have a go at that next. would this fan be sufficient to keep the temps down in my space or would i need something bigger?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100mm-RUCK-EXTRACTOR-FAN-CARBON-FILTER-KIT-HYDROPONICS_W0QQitemZ280378790526QQcmdZViewItemQQp tZUK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN?hash=it em4147e0d27e&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

also, what size inlet hole should i make? was thinking about 20mm?

cheers guys.

Way too pricey mate, try justfans.com, about £38 for the Ruck100 - high powered version, huge saving already...

Forget eBay mate, google is better :p

BB :)

bongojazz
03-08-09, 05:40 PM
Ok, so germed my lowrider 2's, ordered a ruck fan and carbon filter which arrived today, so i should be good to go. But no. The ruck fan is f***g huge! and the carbon filters not exactly a tiddler either. my own fault for not checking measurements and just assuming that a 10cm ruck would fit. what a muppet. that'll teach me.

i figure i'll keep the ruck fan as at some point as buddyboy says, i'll need a bigger space anyway and the size wont be an issue. but in the meantime i'd like to carry on as planned with the cupboard grow, any suggestions for something that will ventilate this size space adequatelt and something to get rid of the pong?

cheers guys.

BuddyBoy
03-08-09, 06:05 PM
A standard bathroon extractor for £14 from B&Q then, or maybe something cheaper from the original link I gave you...spec sheets are difficult to aquire, however the clever use of google usually provides. Search 'tech specs' for the product you want and you find dimensions somewhere.

BB :)

Well done on getting 'em going anyways :) No turning back now!

Grub
03-08-09, 06:45 PM
A standard bathroon extractor for £14 from B&Q then,

I'll second the bathroom extractor, they do the job well, take just a couple of minutes to wire up and are dirt cheap!

A small 6" clip-on fan inside the 'box' somewhere circulating air will also help.

'Bounce' sheets taped/tied to the exterior bit of the extractor, and changed once a week will keep things smelling fresh, until you can get a filter sorted. ;)

fightingblazed
03-08-09, 06:52 PM
If your earlygirls will fit maybe try half indoors, to avoid some of the damages that may be caused by a new system without all of the bugs worked out. As for lowryders, i get a nasty headache with anything ruderalis. You can do anything to your plants you want to keep em short and wide.

For your fans, you can buy a really nice 4 in. inline with a filter for like $150us and that be all you need pretty much just some ducting and my favorite aluminum tape. or you can get a few axial fans going in and a few going out, looks like you could do 2 or 3 on one of the sides down low, then a few on top or however.

I like the light i use the same style, the buzzing is from the ballast it may be going bad or it may not be a good brand of light. No safety problems should arise, if the bulb breaks the gasses could burn you plants, lol happened to a friend of mine.

Fit whatever you can, personally i would do just one in a larger pot and top and bend the hell out of your plant it slows down a bit but its fun and you will have a more large bud to small bud ratio.

you should look into an entertainment center its what i use. It has 3 main compartments, one is shelved so it is my veg chamber, drying chamber, and storage. then the other 2 compartments i made them one, they were over and under so i cut the wood sepparatig the 2 so i could get more height out of my plants, i use 2 of you lights in the budding chamber, with a couple small high velocity fans, along with my extraction fan which runs into the restroom. it is a 4 in inline setup. Ill try to put up pics soon for you to see.:thcleaf:

bongojazz
26-09-09, 07:50 PM
hi all, havent been on for a while but i reckon my surviving lowryder 2 is about ready? thanks for all trhe tips when i was starting everyone, made it all a lot less daunting. would like some opinions on whether its time to harvest as io think its only been about 7 weeks since seed.have attached a couple of pics. cheers!