New 'micro' grow

[5tealthman]

Morning all! 

 

So I dabble in and out of growing every few years mainly sticking to micro grows (although I did an exceptional outdoor grow many moons ago!) 

 

 Had several successful micro grows in a old large pc case with a 125w cfl and a home made extraction carbon system with PC fans. I've since upgraded from the PC case to a cabinet and my 125w CFL won't cut the mustard.. 

 

The plan?... 

 

I have a huge old cabinet (roughly 120x80x40cm that I'm planning on using. The 125w CFL won't do for this but other options are difficult to fit. I'm currently thinking about picking up a mars Hydro SP 150. Not perfect but I think considering the space it has to fit it should flood it with light and has to be better than a CFL right? 

 

Extraction is where in struggling. My old DIY setup worked, but only just. I need something small that is as quiet as possible. Does anyone have any ideas? I've been out the 'loop'for a while so not sure what's on the market. There's loads of cheap slim fans that appear to only be the same diameter as the extraction pipe but I get the feeling they are pretty noisey. 

 

Any recommendations? 

[Keye]

Hey There!

 

My Telos 006 is like a 250w HPS type of thing. The Power supply is on the top, so my lamp actually fits in to my grow box through the top, the hot bit no longer being inside the growing area and most of its heat is allowed to rise away. This makes extraction for fresh air much more acheivable at low speeds and therefore low noise, crucial to me.

PC fans aren't going to suck through ducting; they're just not designed for it and don't have the power. As I always suggest, extraction/enviroment are more important to sort out than the lamp you're using. I would look at a 5inch EC fan and controller and an LED lamp. You have the same sort of size as I do, a bit taller than me and slightly wider at 80cm.

[5tealthman]

1 hour ago, Keye said:

Hey There!

 

My Telos 006 is like a 250w HPS type of thing. The Power supply is on the top, so my lamp actually fits in to my grow box through the top, the hot bit no longer being inside the growing area and most of its heat is allowed to rise away. This makes extraction for fresh air much more acheivable at low speeds and therefore low noise, crucial to me.

PC fans aren't going to suck through ducting; they're just not designed for it and don't have the power. As I always suggest, extraction/enviroment are more important to sort out than the lamp you're using. I would look at a 5inch EC fan and controller and an LED lamp. You have the same sort of size as I do, a bit taller than me and slightly wider at 80cm.

Cheers buddy. You'd be surprised how good PC fans can be - get the right server ones and rig them Into a bank and they don't half move some air. But yeah, they are loud! And require a lot of DIY. 

 

I've had a little look into things this morning and I think I'm in between two fans. 

 

1, the mars hydro 4" fan... probably overkill for such a small build but it has the bonus of being able to ramp the speed right down and with a thermostat I can set it to ramp up if the temp gets too high. Not too loud at 28db

 

2 envirovent 100t. Less than half the price but only 2 fan speeds but on the lowest speed it's only 21db. 

[Keye]

I know what you mean, but PC fans, server fans, AC ones, etc. I've used them quite a lot in my starting days. A proper fan for ducting will step your game up several levels.

 

 

I'd go with the bigger more adjustable option. I don't know if volume is a problem for you, it is for me. So I went much much bigger than I need, which means I can ramp the fan all the way down and still have it moving air at the capacity a smaller fan would be at higher speed, without the whining noise.

 

 

[MindSoup]

Yay micro grow. 

 

6 hours ago, 5tealthman said:

I need something small that is as quiet as possible. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

Have a look for a blauberg ducto 100 mate, they're about 25quid. I used one for my  micro grow box (first 2 diaries in my signature) with a fox hydro 100x150 CF (still stopping smell a year later) and it worked a treat, its unbelievably quiet, nearly as quiet as my AC infinity and is still happily sucking away in what is now the veg cabinet. It should be fine as long as the intake temps/humidity are stable, if not get an AC infinity s4 with the contoller 67 to help keep things in check (a lot more money but a huge upgrade)

 

Fuck off the mars mate, (fan and light) @Ledgrowlights-Adam will sort you out something much better quality for a good deal I'm sure. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by MindSoup

[Slippy One]

AC Infinity 4" with a Phresh 150mm (short)  4" filter. 

 

No idea about what light to use in that space, I've got a few Samsung strips that I'd use, but you've got 80cm so plenty of options. 

 

For stealth on the intakes, try the Secret Jardin 6" light baffles. No light or bugs can pass through.

 

A few other options to look at are Mylar vs matt white paint for the inside walls, self draining pots to make watering easier and look for the new smart switches for the electrics. I use a Meross 4 way with USB, all of which can be individually on/off programmed using an app. I would recommend using USB fans inside for circulation. I trialled half a dozen USB fans before finding the quietest one was a brand called OPOLAR, back frame with blue blades. USB fans are only 5v so I'm happy to use these, if they fail, they won't get hot like 240v would.. 

 

 

 

 

[Military Grade]

8 hours ago, 5tealthman said:

Had several successful micro grows in a old large pc case with a 125w cfl and a home made extraction carbon system with PC fans. I've since upgraded from the PC case to a cabinet and my 125w CFL won't cut the mustard.. 

Have any pictures of that old setup? I love seeing PC case grows.

[5tealthman]

14 hours ago, MindSoup said:

Yay micro grow. 

 

 

Have a look for a blauberg ducto 100 mate, they're about 25quid. I used one for my  micro grow box (first 2 diaries in my signature) with a fox hydro 100x150 CF (still stopping smell a year later) and it worked a treat, its unbelievably quiet, nearly as quiet as my AC infinity and is still happily sucking away in what is now the veg cabinet. It should be fine as long as the intake temps/humidity are stable, if not get an AC infinity s4 with the contoller 67 to help keep things in check (a lot more money but a huge upgrade)

 

Fuck off the mars mate, (fan and light) @Ledgrowlights-Adam will sort you out something much better quality for a good deal I'm sure. 

 

Damn, wish I'd seen this, managed to miss it somehow. I've ordered the mars light and fan, to be fair I'm competent with LED builds as I've but them in the past bit I got a steal on the mars light (£80) and whilst I could probably build something cheaper it would take too much time and the mars is the max size u can fit in that space so I don't mind. The extraction on the other hand I wish I'd gone with the ducto 100... looks like it would have worked perfectly - I only went for the mars because on some of the cheaper ones they over exaggerate DB and volume levels bit with your experience I could of saved a chunk!

[5tealthman]

On 20/09/2021 at 7:40 PM, Military Grade said:

Have any pictures of that old setup? I love seeing PC case grows.

this was Mk1 (2011) second case (which I still have somewhere) was far better. I'll see if I can dig out some pics!

Edited September 29, 2021 by Dodgee
Remove image

[MindSoup]

Awesome PC cases mate, shame you missed my post but hopefully the Mars kit does you ok, they don't have a very good reputation round these parts at all , they're definitely prone to over exaggeration, claiming their lights give better g/pw than the sun , anyway loads of people use their stuff and have no issues so I'm sure you'll be the same. 

[5tealthman]

Just now, MindSoup said:

Awesome PC cases mate, shame you missed my post but hopefully the Mars kit does you ok, they don't have a very good reputation round these parts at all , they're definitely prone to over exaggeration, claiming their lights give better g/pw than the sun , anyway loads of people use their stuff and have no issues so I'm sure you'll be the same. 

Yeah, I did a bit of research  into the LEDs theybuse and definitely don't put out what they claim, but for the money they will be OK, and a lot better than the CFL bulb I used in the old case (although I still have that so may incorporate it too.)

[Guest MysticMeg]

Experience proved the ability to use a dimmer switch is a big positive when growing Micro/stealth. Basically it costs pennies to veg plants, all with the ability to slowly increase the environmental conditions with little to no shock factor.

 

The same to be said about fan control, such little airflow needed in the early stages. Costs can be dramatically reduced if needed.

Edited September 21, 2021 by MysticMeg

[Military Grade]

3 hours ago, 5tealthman said:

 

Awesome job fella

[5tealthman]

So, having a play around with the layout today.... 4" fan is definitely overkill, the 6" one would have been insane!! Loosing a lot of space with the ratchets for the lighting too. 

 

 

Think I'm going to just hook the lighting directly to the top and do without the adjustability, I can place the unit forward of the fan and utilise all the space up to the bottom of the filter. 

 

 

Pictures are in wide angle so it looks like there's more space than there is. 

 

I'm half debating putting the 150w cfl in there too in the middle at the back of where both plants will be as I'm hoping that will slow the stretching to the front of the cabinet and add additional light underneath the filter. 

 

Not sure what to do about pots yet, I've knocked up a quick tray which I'm thinking of lining and using as the roots will have a significant amount of surface area but it would be harder to flush if I use standard pots I'll loose significantly more headroom that I can't afford to loose. 

With this setup as I have the space I'm looking at LST rather than a scrog for simplicity and as I have plenty of space at the bottom it shouldn't be too tricky. 

 

I'm open to ideas for any part of the setup! Have two seeds germinating now (found an old jackpot auto and blueberry auto kush for a trail grow) and hoping this will prompt me into finishing the cabinet by Sunday. Still need to route all the power lines, cut a hole for the exhaust and line it all......

 

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by Dodgee
Remove images

[MindSoup]

Yeah mate mount the light to the ceiling, you can always out things under your pots if you want to up your light intensity. I went for a washing up bowl when headroom was a problem, that or windowsill boxes.