# New grower, thought?



## BoxGrow (Feb 14, 2016)

I have been a member here a couple days however have been reading things for quite some time, ready to plunge on in. I have two file cabinets at work I could choose from, one is three drawers, but almost twice as deep as a normal depth cabinet, the others is 4 drawers, probably about 18" deep. Wanting to run a single 150w hps for lighting, which grow type would be easiest? I know it's all preference, but the water at home isn't that great so I may keep it at work, but would need to be able to go a weekend without watering. I could bring it home to my attic but I'm gathering thoughts first. Family business with an attached apartment in the building I may put it in. Thanks in advanced y'all!


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 14, 2016)

I think that you may be underestimating what it takes to grow a plant.  I do not see a filing cabinet as being nearly large enough, even one that is deeper than normal.  Also, you need to drill multiple holes for ventilation, cords, ect.  The metal will most likely retain more heat than something not metal--heat will be a huge issue.  What are your plans for ventilation?  Why have you picked a filing cabinet rather than say a tent?

I am not trying to discourage you, but do not want you to go into this with unrealistic expectations.  Using an apartment attached to a family business would not be a good idea unless* everyone *involved okayed this.


----------



## BoxGrow (Feb 14, 2016)

Considering its my business, I'm the person involved lol... I chose the cabinets just because they were there, and I've seen people use them, I could use LED lighting instead. For ventilation I was thinking a 150ish CFM squirrel cage fan, I was considering the taller one for more headroom, maybe have a Rez if I went that way, down there to cover it for weekends. With the right lighting and ventilation, people are growing in 5gal buckets, so a file cabinet wouldn't have a size issue. If you think I'm better off, I'll build something, the cabs we're going in the trash anyways lol. Thanks for your response though!


----------



## pcduck (Feb 15, 2016)

Do able. But with major heat issues.


----------



## Hushpuppy (Feb 15, 2016)

Welcome to The Passion Boxgrow: I have to agree with The Goddess on this. The reason being, that smaller grows are far more challenging to maintain the optimum elements of the grow. I don't know how much experience you have growing MJ but it is a very high energy plant that is also very "need specific". It is one plant that likes its environment to be "just so" for it to do its best. I know you have seen a lot of grows that have been done in a super wide variety of locations. I can tell you that the larger percentage of those types of grows fail, and only the small percentage of those that are successful are the ones put online for everyone to see. Often those that are successful are ones done by growers with years of experience.

That doesn't mean that you can't be successful yourself. It just means that for experienced growers, that type of grow is a real challenge. For inexperienced growers it is often insurmountable. Now, there are several easier ways to do a small grow that are far less painful. You can buy some very nice grow tents that are already set up with reflective walls that make the most of the light energy for the plants, and they are set up with ports of access for you, hoses, fans, etc, that make it so much easier to set up and go.

You must have very good ventilation for them to breathe and cool down from being under the intensity of light all the time. you have to have enough room for the air to move around the plants so that they can breathe and release the water that they do from their transpiration without it ending up running down the walls and getting all over trapped leaves that will rot and mildew under those conditions.

Lighting is probably the least of the issues that you would have to deal with in smaller grows now that we have LED lighting. But many people don't realize that LED lights have their own set of issues to content with when being used for growing in small spaces. An LED light will quickly burn up a plant in a small space if it is kept too close to the plants, due to the intensity of the light beams from each LED. With any other kind of light, the issue is ambient heat from the lights as well as radiant heat from lights too close to a stretching plant.

The grow tent will give you better control over everything, and make it far easier to enjoy a good grow.


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Feb 15, 2016)

If you are serious about growing, I would get something or build something to suit what you want to do rather than using something not suitable just because you have it.  A metal filing cabinet will be hard to drill and keep cool, and it is just so small.  If you have a permanent place that you want to use to grow, them I would say to build something.  Otherwise, I would buy a tent.  I wouldn't even consider a grow in anything smaller than 2 x 2.  And get a tent as tall as you can.  

As mentioned by hush, LEDs have their own "rules".  To get a good spectrum mix and to keep the plants from burning, the LEDs need to be about 18"-2' above the canopy of the plants.  This would be impossible in a shorter filing cabinet, especially is using 5 gal buckets as grow containers.  LEDs do run cooler, but they are far from cool.  An air cooled HPS will probably run about the same temps (or cooler) if you have a decent fan pulling the hot air out.  I would certainly go with a smaller centrifuge type fan with a speed controller on it rather than a squirrel cage fan--they are made for this and have enough power to handle a carbon filter.  I can also say to be wary about what the LED salespeople tell you an LED can cover.  After being told that I could replace my HPS with 50% less wattage and still get the same yield, I switched to LEDs.  Wanting to make sure I had enough light, I replaced a 1000W HPS with 700(actual) watts of LEDs.  This was my experience:  The LEDs did run cooler, but not that much cooler.  You still need good air exchange and may need to cool your space.  LEDs did not produce as much as the HPS and it took longer to flower.  On the plus side though, the plants do seem to have more trichs.  The difference in the wattage (electrical savings) was offset somewhat because I ran plants 10-14 days longer than normal.

It probably would help if you told us what yur expectations were with growing.  This will help us advise you.  Also, do you have budget constraints that need to be taken into consideration?  You can make this an incredibly expensive hobby or DIY a bunch of stuff yourself and keep it quite reasonable.


----------



## WeedHopper (Feb 16, 2016)

Listen to them my friend. If you been watching and reading here on Mp,,,then you know Hush and THG are very experienced growers,,and very knowledgeable.


----------



## BoxGrow (Feb 16, 2016)

Thanks y'all! After your advise I decided I'm going to build something, would heat cause an issue with partial board? Only ask because I have some around, if it will then I'd just get something better. Left my iPad at work n I've been sick so haven't been around, no service or Internet at home to check up on here! Back to the drawing board then.


----------



## WeedHopper (Feb 17, 2016)

I used RMax 4x8 sheets
Very easy to build with. They cut with a razor knife. Insulated and white on the inside.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Thermash...-Rigid-Foam-Insulation-Board-787264/100549260


----------



## yarddog (Feb 17, 2016)

I like that material you used there hopper. insulated, already white, and easy to handle.   good choice


----------



## WeedHopper (Feb 17, 2016)

Yep they work awesome Dog. Easy to cut but still very sturdy. You can see them in these pics in the thread below. 


http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showpost.php?p=958981&postcount=1


----------



## Hushpuppy (Feb 18, 2016)

Yep I use a similar material a lot of times. Its just too easy to work with, and you get the silver metal duct tape to seal it and yer done.  Just don't forget when you are designing the space that plants need to breathe just as much as we do. Ventilation is critical for a good grow.


----------



## WeedHopper (Feb 18, 2016)

Yeah i used black duct tape and screws with big washers. The door was made from the same stuff. No light leaks either.


----------



## Rosebud (Feb 19, 2016)

Brilliant you guys... I needed to know this. thanks.


----------

