Stealth Grow Closet

Here's a better view of my seedlings under the T5. It's a 24" T5 high output at 6500K.

 

Here's an image of the junction box and outlets I installed that will be used for the flowering compartment. This will include the closet exhaust fan, oscilating fan for flower compartment, and future HPS lamp.


Now that the electrical is done I can start screwing down some more sheetrock.

 

two plants


So here's a pic of the two plants I have growing curently. They are under 24" T5 as well with the same style DIY reflector. The plant on the left is a clone of Sour Diesel. I don't know the size of the pot it's in. It was cloned on 4/8 but has had to endure some stressful conditions untill just recently when it went under the T5.


The plant on the right came from bagseed, the buds from that bag had some red hairs in them. Other than that I do not know the sex or origin of that plant. It sprouted on 5/2 and it is in a 6" white pot. The capacity of the pot is 3.4 liters.


Edit: Both plants are in FF ocean forest soil and are recieving the whole FF nute line.

 

a closer view


Here she is. I thinking of taking some more clones off of her soon.





And here's the other one...


A few leaves got singed when I accidentally let it grow and touch the light.

 

:roulette: Sadly there was a heat wave. Most of the clones in the red solo cups a few posts back have died. It was simply too hot.


Mrs. Gardener and I have two plants that are overdue for flowering.





As you can see the plants have grown a bit. The lower half of the plants are no longer close enought to the T5 and the lower fan leaves are falling off. They need HPS. I'll get it soon.

 

I've been working a bit on the closet.





I've been doing some drywall work. It was more complicated than just screwing in on. I had to use a planer to shave down some of the sleeper studs near the door so that they were even; and a lot more that I won't bore you all with but let's just say that it wasn't easy.





When I said I was done with all the electrical I lied. Here I took out that lame ass switch I had and replaced it with another outlet. Also, I properly ran the flex conduit to all of the double gang boxes and finished them with cover plates.





Where the 1 inch hole is now, I will expand that and run my 6" exhaust there through the wall and into the attic.





Ok, correction, I still neet to slap a couple of cover plates on. I also need to seal up the cracks around the door frame. The round, blue, junction box will just have a cover plate over it indefinitely. Unless I move that is, then I will pop in a standard socket with a pull chain right there. For now though, that will be the spot where the scrubber will reside.





I no longer plan to try and exhaust through the dryer duct. In fact, I now view it as an undesirable and additional source of heat for the grow closet. I now plan on encapsulating it with insulation. I used a jig saw to cut the semi-circular notch out the board on the right. I cut the notch once just large enought for the duct to fit. Then I changed my mind and recut it larger to accomodate the insulation that will enclose the dryer duct.





This image shows the whole mess of ducting, pipes, and conduit on the left side of the closet. You can see where I have screwed down the lumber that will be part of the frame for the compartments. That ugly mess will soon be out of sight. Near the bottom of the photo, about a foot off the floor, and a bit left of center, is where I will cut through the stucco, into the laundry room, and make my fresh air intake port. Being behind the washer it will not be noticeable.





Last but not least, I just got my hands on this baby. As you can see, it's a 400 watt lumatek electronic ballast. I'll be getting my air-cooled hood soon to go with it.


One step at a time...

 

It's been quite hot here this summer but I have been continuing to work on this closet nonetheless. Here is the latest update on the exhaust...


I removed the board covering the exhaust area...





Then I used a reciprocating saw to cut away the top 3 planks which were behind the board. You gotta love using the reciprocating saw!





Here is a photo showing the top planks removed as well as a bunch of insulation that was behind them.





Now inside the wall was where I encountered the big problems. There was a lot of timber to contend with. There was a 2 x 4 that I had to attack from inside the closet, then there was about a 10" space above that, then there was a 4 x 4 above that. In order to attack the 4 x 4 I had to crawl up into the attic and drill down at it from above.


Here is a pic of my first attempt at trying to get through the 2 x 4. At that point I just wanted to make a hole large enough for my reciprocating saw's blade to fit into. The area turned out to be too tight for that however. I was using a cordless drill with a 1" paddle bit.





Well, the cordless drill was barely doing it even thought it was a 19.2V so I used a drill with a cord, but that was too scrawny too. The wood was old and very hard, and the reciprocating saw wasn't fitting in there. So, I dug out the good old hammer drill, which has a 1/2" drive, and attached a 3.5" hole saw onto it, shown here.





Now I was finally getting somewhere. The work in the attic was hell. It was tight and cramped, I had very little room to work, I had to go through nails, and it was hot as Iraq in there too. The job was utterly miserable, but I perservered. I finally got a 3.5" x 10" space opened up for the exhaust air to pass from the closet on through to the attic.


Next, in order to finish off the wall inside the closet, I picked up a 6" flange kit. I measured and drew a 6" circle on my original board which covered up the exhaust opening. Then I cut the 6" hole using a jig saw shown here.





Then I screwed the 6" flange to the board and screwed the board back in place. One of the screws needed to go through the stucco so I pre-drilled with a masonary bit and used a concrete screw. Once the flange was installed I gave the whole room a coat of primer. Yes! The exhaust port is finally ready!

 

I've begun my work on the intake. Compared to the exhaust this job was a breeze. For this job I used an angle grinder with a masonry blade.





It was very dusty. I had to use goggles, not safety glasses but goggles. I also wore work gloves and ear protection, like I always do. I thoroughly believe that people should protect their hearing when working with power tools. I removed a rectangular piece of stucco and then a 1" board behind it. Then I removed the insulation and I was now inside the wall behind the washer and dryer.


I bought two 4" square outlet boxes. I went with plastic so I could more easily cut the backs off of them. I used a hack saw to cut the backs off. Then I cut two 4" square holes in the wall and screwed down a 4" piece of pressure treated 2 x 4. Then I secured the electrical boxes by screwing them into the wood. The two boxes together should be sufficient intake in comparison to the 6" exhaust. Being hidden behind the stacked washer and dryer the intake ports will be completely concealed. Also, should I ever move then all I need to do is stuff them with insulation, and pop a couple of blank cover plates over them and no one will ever think anything of them.


Another advantage is that whenever the washer and/or dryer is running that is only added background noise and a visitor is less likely to hear any noise comming from the closet. Here is a photo of the intake ports so far.

 

My next move on the intake system is to install some type of air filtration system so as to keep the dust down in the grow chambers. I will be making another stop at my local air conditioning supply store to see if I can find something suitable. I was kind of thinking of using a small sized return air box. I would install it in the rectangular opening cut out of the stucco. I could then use a cheap disposable air filter and change it once a month.


Unless someone has a better suggestion? I'm certainly open.

 

Since my intake and exhaust are essentially done I am quickly moving forward. As for the exhaust fan, I was really concerned about the noise it would emit. The Valuline 6" 424 CFM fan suggested by Skunky made me nervous. I know that it is quite powerful but I was a bit scared of the noise. I contacted the company by phone, spoke with several peaople in several departments, and they could not find any data about the noise level produced by the fan, either in sones or decibels. To me that meant that it must be pretty loud.


As for the 6" Panasonic Wisperline fan suggested by Gratitude, I was really satisfied with the noise, only 1.4 sones, but I did not think it provided enough CFM.


I ended up picking up a used 6" fan for a good deal. I think I found some middle ground there.

 

Well, my new fan is not all that quiet but it will have to do for now. Hopefully when I attach the ducting it will quiet down a bit. Working on the ducting now.

 

you could always use a duct muffler. they dont restrict air flow but lower the sound of your fans drastically. simple to install, but not too cheap. i have found 6" ones for about $80 on www.wormsway.com.

 

Or you could make one. But see how loud it is with the rest of the ducting in place before you do the extra work


Pretty sure there's a how to thread here on the muffler, really similar to the DIY Scrubbers ppl make.


Thanks for the updates!


Grat

 

I'll look into making a muffler. It looks like it would be very easy to do.


I'm finally opening up the box on my brand new reflctor. This is very exciting! It has hinged glass so as to facilitate cleaning the glass and changing the bulb. At 19.5" x 21.25" x 8" the unit is larger than some of the entry level units.

 

Haha! I just realized that I took the photo of the wrong side of the box. I hope everyone can read Spanish!

 

So here is the temporary setup. The sound level has actually dropped dramatically. At first I planned on using more hard duct and hard 90 degree elbows but after I heard the fan run I decided to use all insulated flexible ducting in an attempt to reduce the noise. I tried to keep the path as straight as possible so as to minimize the reduction in CFM.

 

As you can clearly see in the photos above, I have strung up the lighting system using bailing wire. There is a bit of vibration traveling up the wire I believe. I will try to find some very short bungees to hang the fan by.


As for the lighting system, I intend to very soon get rid of the bailing wire in favor of some chain, or better yet, a set of those specialized light hangers.


The carbon filter is not yet installed either. I had previously planned on building a DIY one but I have not ordered the carbon yet. Now I think I am just going to go ahead and buy one retail. That will save me a lot of work. Right now the end of the duct is just sitting at the highest point of the closet, right above the door. That is where the scrubber will be attached.





This closet has been a tremendous amount of work from the get go. I am getting burnt out on doing the labor. I really wish it was all set up to where I could just water the plants and let em grow but it's just not there yet. I still need to frame in the veg room. On the bright side, the work should be much easier than cutting the stucco or climbing in the attic to use the hole saw. Those jobs were hell.

 

Lookin good


I hear ya, I've been growing for a couple years now (that's when I realy started to do it right) and I'm still putting finishing touches on it, not totally satisfied, but when it's all done you'll thank yourself for it.


OR


you'll get bored by just watering and decide hey I need to make some additions and changes lol


Grow On

 

It's been a while since I last posted an update due to the many things that have been going on in my personal life. I've hardly had the time to log on and post.


Since I have installed the 400W HPS and created the intake ports I have had the new problem of light leaks through them as shown here.





If I were to have a visitor and he or she were to use the restroom and wash their hands, and they were tall or they leaned over a bit to take a peek behind the washer, then they may notice the unusual light coming from behind the washing machine. Not good. I had to come up with a plan and implement it pronto!


I needed to eliminate the light leaks while still allowing for proper air flow. My plan was inspired by a couple other threads (which I can't find now) in which there were PVC pipes (1" I believe) that separated the compartments in the cabinet. In that thread they had elbows of varying degrees attached to the pieces of pipe so as to secure the pipe in place. In another thread someone used couplers on the ends of their pipe to secure the pipe pieces in place.


As for me, I did not want to buy all of these various pieces. Instead, I bought some of these 2" 90 degree street elbows. They have a smooth end which slips into a hole easily and a bell end to hold themselves in place. This also eliminates the need to cut and glue pipe.





Next, I measured and cut a piece of OSB board and used a 2.5" hole saw to drill 10 holes. Nine would have been sufficient but I cut 10 just to be sure.





Then I inserted the 90 degree elbows into the holes...





This is how it looked when installed.