Hi All, Thought you'd like to see the the contraption that I built over the last couple of years. Yeah, it's a bit of overkill, but it was fun and it kept me out of trouble. And, yep, I do know that one can grow using cheaper methods. LOTS cheaper, and LOTS less work. Being a little wacky, I didn't do it that way. I like to build stuff... Keeps me happy... This whole thing started when I read someone else's thread about the construction of his cabinet. I was impressed by his creation and figured I'd give it a try. Things snowballed from there. The goal was to make a flowering cabinet that wouldn't look too out of place in the house, that was quiet enough to not attract too much attention, secure enough to leave unattended around the casually curious, and completely self-contained. It also had to be able to operate for a week at a time, unattended. It had to be sealed well enough to keep bugs out, be light-tight, and be stink-free. It had to fit through a standard doorway and be able to be stood up without hitting an 8 foot ceiling. And most importantly, it had to be something that I could actually build, as my woodworking skills are pretty primitive. To make things more difficult, it had to be built from prefabbed sub-assemblies that could be easily moved around during fabrication, and then assembled quickly into a cabinet when a secure work space became available. I felt it was important not to have it on display to the neighbors as something that could be recognizable as a grow cab. After spending some time last summer learning about growing in Hempy buckets outdoors, the decision was made to use this method in the cabinet. But I didn't relish the thought of the constant attention that Hempy buckets require, so that meant watering needed to be automatic. Draining off the excess water from the buckets would have to be handled automatically as well. Mixed nutes for a week would need to be stored in the cabinet without going bad. The weekly flush would be handled manually in the cabinet, but would need to drain out automatically and keep up with the flush flow rate. Backups for the watering and draining systems would be a good thing too, so that a failure during a grow wouldn't be too much of a problem. Can't have nutes on the floor in the event of failure, either. It was assumed that the cabinet would be operated in a decent-sized room that had heat, air conditioning, a dehumidifier and a nearby drain. No air ducting was to be attached to the cabinet, as it would draw air from and exhaust air into the room. Gotta look right to the casual observer. It also needed an external switch to shut the light off so that the cab could be opened during the light-on time without looking like I was arc-welding in the house. With the design criteria and almost a year and a half of part-time cabinet building out of the way, here'e what I ended up with: At the very bottom of the cabinet is the air inlet, with a 12" x 12" furnace filter that protects the cab from dust and bugs. Above that, a labyrinth arrangement keeps the light in without restricting the incoming airflow too much. The labyrinth also helps support the floor of the cabinet where the buckets sit. Air enters the growing area via 4 3" holes on each side of the cabinet floor, 8 holes total. A black plastic tray that I picked up at the local hydro store fits nicely in the space between the air inlet holes and keeps any spills from the buckets contained. In this tray is a sloped trough that drains the Hempy runoff back to a small sump. This sump is equipped with liquid level sensor probes that control two pumps, as well as the inlet pickups for the two pumps. The pumps, which are self-priming and can be run dry, are set up to be redundant, so that if one fails to run for some reason, the other will still work. I would have liked to use gravity to drain the waste water but the buckets sit too low in the cabinet for this to work for me. Anyway, once waste water starts to accumulate in the sump, one of the pumps turns on and pumps it out of the cabinet. If the first pump quits or fails to keep up with the waste water flow, the second pump will take over or help out as needed. At this time, I have no house drain to pump the waste water to, so it's going into a 5 gallon plastic container, that's outside the cabinet. This setup keeps the trough pretty dry when water is not draining, so as to not form algae. Also in the tray is a spacer to raise the buckets off the bottom of the tray enough to provide room for a bulkhead fitting with a screen and an L on each of three Hempy buckets, which are actually 3.5 gallon black plastic wastebaskets. The Ls on the buckets fit nicely into the waste water trough. Above the air inlet holes on each side of the cabinet is a "shelf" that holds a mixed-nutrient container. The 2 containers are wrapped in Panda film and each contains a Little Giant fountain pump and an air stone. Each will hold 6 gallons. They are positioned in the incoming air stream in an effort to keep them cool. (So far, so good, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.) The containers are connected with 3/8" plastic tubing to a manifold that distributes the nutes to the Hempy buckets via 1/4" tubing. Both nute container pumps are independently controlled with electronic timers. An inexpensive (and noisier than I'd like) air pump supplies air to the air stones in the containers. On each side of the cabinet are two 6" AirKing fans. They clamp onto brackets that are attached with magnets to steel strips, providing height adjustment. Since these fans don't oscillate, I run two at a time, diagonally, on low setting and switch to the other two every ten minutes using a repeat cycle timer. This provides some variation in the airflow. I figured that this arrangement takes less room than any oscillating fan that I could find. The light fixture is an air-cooled Lumecool, with a 400w Digilux HPS bulb in it. The air inlet end of the fixture has a Dust Shroom on it to keep out the critters, with the other end plumbed via 6" flexible duct into the fan enclosure in the top of the cab. I modified the fixture's power cord with a quick disconnect fitting, so that it can be removed easily. The hangers on the fixture were also modified to provide an extra couple of inches of light height. The ratchet gizmos that hold up the light are mounted sideways on the ceiling of the cab, with the ropes running through a pair of screw-eyes to get the light up as high as possible. Also, 2 attachment points were installed on the light fixture so that I could hang a 4 bulb 2 foot T5 fixture directly underneath it, if the plants were real small. The top part of the cabinet, on the right side, holds a Panasonic 240 CFM Whisperline bathroom fan, with it's 6" inlet flange removed to save room. It's very quiet, very powerful, and it works well in spite of a lot of restrictions to the airflow. This fan seems to prefer a fair amount of inlet restriction; without it the airflow seems rough. In the sealed enclosure with the fan, is a Lumatek 400w digital ballast, and an air pressure switch that monitors the fan. No fan air pressure = no light. The left side of the top section holds a 6" Mountain Air carbon filter in a cloth filter bag, a three-output Intermatic digital pool pump timer, interval timers for the two nute pumps, a timer to alternate the small fans, and a timer that prevents the light from trying to restart until it cools for 5 minutes. It also holds the control modules for the waste water disposal system and relays to run the waste water pumps and the light. Everything is protected with appropriately-sized circuit breakers and is properly grounded. The concealed air outlet on the roof of the cabinet has another 12" x 12" furnace filter to keep the critters out. Note that the airflow through the carbon filter is backwards, but it does seem to keep the odor under control and it muffles the fan very nicely. With the cab's doors closed, there's no fan motor noise, just the muffled sound of gently moving air, similar to the sound of central air conditioning in action. The air pump is faintly audible. Putting one's ear against the cabinet does suggest that something's going on inside it, though. The cabinet itself was built out of 3/4" plywood, 2x2s and 2x4s, with 1/2" plywood on the back. It's a heavy beast, but it's very solid. It's painted inside the growing area with flat white paint, with all the joints caulked. It's 4 feet wide, 22" deep, and about 70" tall in the growing area. The plant height can be a little over 42" max.. We'll see how this works out in practice, though it appears that the plant tops seem pretty happy about 6" from the light fixture. The original intention was to fit 4 buckets in the tray, but it was just too tight, so 3 would have to do. I would like to eventually make scrog screen, maybe next time. All the metal parts in contact with the fresh nute solution and the stakes holding the plastic tubing in the buckets are 316 stainless steel, the waste water trough and sump parts are 304 stainless. As for how it works, seems pretty decent so far. The watering and waste water systems worked flawlessly. The plants are able to use the contents of one nute container in a week, with a two-day supply left over. While I designed this thing to be attended to weekly, I just can't seem to avoid looking in on it daily. Call it research and development... Temps in the cabinet suggest that I might have gotten away with using a 600 watt light as it's running only 4-7 degrees F hotter than the ambient temp. We'll see how things go as Spring progresses. I really didn't intend to run this cab in the summer, but that may change. One thing that needs sorting out is the noise and vibration from the waste water pumps. Sounds a little like a garbage disposal grinding up a potato, but fortunately it doesn't run too often. One other gripe is that it's hard to tell how high the water level is in the nute containers. That's gonna need work so I don't overflow a container when filling it, as that could be a disaster. Using a wooden dowel as a dipstick is kind of a pain. Also, I sure hope I never get bugs, because this thing would be a real bitch to clean during operation. Even though most of the stuff in the cab is easily removable, there's a lot of stuff in it, with lots of nooks and crannies. The first grow in this thing didn't turn out as planned. Apparently, one can't flower plants properly when they're freezing in an unheated garage. That's a little outside the design parameters, so it's not really the cabinet's fault. Next time, it'll be in a more controlled environment, as originally intended. There you have it…. My contraption. Oh, wait, I'll bet you wanted to see pictures. Here ya go. Please bear in mind that some of these crappy pics were taken during construction and don't show how some things turned out in the end. I wish that I'd taken more pics during the build, but, you know how that goes... And no, the cabinet doesn't really look like an hourglass; it's a cheap camera thing. Seems to make square corners look funny too. Enjoy, OS
As insane as that is, it's really cool. I'm a builder and tinkerer myself so I can appreciate all you put in to it. Very nice wire management and craftsmanship. Overkill is a colossal understatement but if you enjoyed designing and building it, so what. Very cool! :bravo:
I dig the inventiveness. That is one very custom grow cabinet. You're not gonna find that one available in any catalogs! That's for sure! I dig the trash cans as hempy containers, I used the same black trash cans as hempy containers as well and they work great. Looking at that electrical panel and wiring, it looks like you should be able to get inside and travel through time! LOL :thumbs-up: :kidding: You did a very :goodjob: :bravo:asssit:
Thanks for all the nice comments. Coming from experts like yourselves, they mean a lot. Looks like some more redesigning is in order: I took the white cap off of one of the nute containers this morning to drain out the remainder of the nutes before filling it with water for the final two week flush. Looked like an algae farm growing in there. It used to look nice and clean until I stuck the heater in front of the cabinet to get the temps up. I had hoped that between the Panda, the air stone and not recirculating the nutes through the buckets like conventional hydro, that the higher than normal nute temp wouldn't cause too much of a problem. So much for hoping... Back to the drawing board. Cheers, OS
it’s been a couple of years. Time for an update… No sooner than this cabinet was finished, it got exiled to the garage, where it’s design made it a little too hostile for my plants. I tried though. I’ve run two winter grows, in the less than optimal garage environment (39F a few times at night)) and while the yield was pretty dismal, everything in the watering and draining department worked mostly as intended. The cute plastic plastic nute storage tanks in the cabinet are long gone after an incident where one of the white plastic screw-on covers cracked and leaked. Really fortunately, I was right there when it happened and only a half cup of nutes leaked out. It easily could have been 6 gallons on the floor. The two plastic containers were replaced with a stainless steel tank; one not so likely to leak. This was mounted on the outside of the cabinet as the shape of the new tank ate up too much room. The external tank kind of messes with the stealth aspect that I was trying for but I’ll figure out something to hide it in plain sight. I was thinking a long coat on a strategically positioned decorative hook, but I’m open to suggestions. Family conditions have improved and now i’ve got a suitable location to get serious and see what this beast will do. I’m now able to reasonably control the environment, and though it’s not perfect, it should be a whole lot better than than growing in an unheated garage. My main issue is that the small wall AC’s thermostat doesn’t adjust below 74F, causing the cabinet to run at a consistent 80F max when the light’s on. It’s going to have to do for now. Now that the cabinet is connected to a nearby drain and water supply, I don’t have to tote water anymore. Much easier on my back and a lot less “third world.” It’s kinda nice to turn a valve and fill the tank. Not having to manually dump the waste water is nice too. There are two fountain pumps in the nute tank. One is used for feeding and the other for flushing the pots. In the past I was using a bunch of half gallon jugs of pH’d water for the weekly and final flush. Now it’s easy to fill the tank, pH the water, and flush manually using a hose with a small nozzle on it. Lots less work than before. I did learn that I couldn’t grow stretchy plants in the cabinet without some kind of plant training or I’d have a mess. So this time I added a screen for a SCROG, which will be a new experience. I’m not real happy about the location of the power outlets as they should have been mounted below the screen, As it is now, the screen is impossible to install in the cabinet with the plants in place and the plugs in the outlets take up valuable space above the screen. (It might have been helpful to lace the screen later, but I didn’t think of it until now.) Lowering the outlets might be a good project for the coming summer. I replaced my extra loud GH air pump with an extra quiet Medo pump, and though it’s way oversized, it does a real nice job mixing the nute solution. (I’m still not totally convinced of the need to aerate clean mixed nutes, as I’ve stored mixed nutes in half gallon jugs for three weeks without issue.) At the moment, the air pump is powered through a repeat-cycle timer, running it 10 minutes every hour. I noticed that when the pump ran continuously, the room humidity rose significantly. That might come in handy. OS Imagine that it has clothes in it… and shoes… lots of shoes… A somewhat less than discreet nute tank. It’s a foot in diameter, 25 inches tall and can hold ten gallons, though I fill it with 6.5 gallons. It’s not quite 5 days worth in flower. From the cabinet in the garage, two winters ago: Stretchy plants + “Let’s see what happens” = Jungle. There were two nights, about a week apart, that the humidity dropped below 10% and the plants stretched 4” overnight on both occasions. I guess I underestimated how much stretch that 4.5 weeks would produce also. When they said 4X, they weren’t kidding. Current cabinet grow (#3): Two green Sannie’s Killing Fields fems, with a Sannie’s Jack fem on the left. I had more trouble getting the cuts rooted for these plants than at any time in the past several years. That’s why the size differences. Got to work on that for next time. As for the screen, I’m not sure why I felt the need to have cross braces in the center. They’ve been removed.
that is very nice set up and looks very professionally built. nice work The KFs, is this your first time with them? They always seemed to want to out grow any space I put them in. But clean and very pro looking..women love shoes
Thanks, guys! This is the fifth time I'll be enjoying the KF. Twice outside, twice inside (sort of). The first time outside, it wanted to grow to seven feet. Unfortunately, the fence was only 6 foot. It got bent, broke and splinted to keep it under control. This time around, I decided I'd try tying the young plants down instead of the usual topping. That seemed to work really well to establish more tops. I noticed in the past that when I topped this plant, it didn't seem to accomplish much other than making the plant shorter. I was surprised at how much tying the plants slowed them down. I'll be doing it again. OS
