DIY cabinet grow // LED // Autos

Hi folks! Welcome back to another grow diary. This one is gonna be quite different to my last runs. I am in a new living situation and having a tent setup isn't feasible, so I have modified a wardrobe / cabinet for my grow space with the concept of STEALTH being of the utmost importance. The cabinet has inner dimensions of (roughly) 50 x 50 x 150cm - a significant volume increase (about 50%!) over my previous 40 x 40 x 140 space, with the added benefit of me being able to position everything just how I want it. I've included some pics of the build. It's fairly straightforward. A white cabinet lined with reflective material (coming soon), with some intake vents cutout of the base and an exhaust system up top. Light proofing is accomplished with weather strips and gaffa tape (coming soon). The light is hanging from a clothes rail which came with the cabinet - handy! This gives me about a meter of vertical space to play with. The biggest decision was what to do with the exhaust system. I have mounted the exhaust fan inside the cabinet with the carbon filter outside, sitting on top in a decoy cardboard box. I added some baffling to the box with egg cartons and some foam to create some soundproofing from the "woosh" of the fan. The whole setup is pretty quiet, especially with the fan speed controller at low. The fan is extremely overpowered for the area - the total volume is 0.375 cubic m and the fan is rated at 277 cubic m / hour. Overkill, but it helps keep noise to a minimum. The fan is blowing straight into a Rhino Pro filter, with minimal ducting - see pics for more. For the plants I'll be running a mini SOG style setup - 4 small pots, 3 strains. The strains are Sweet Seeds Black Cream Auto x 2, Royal Queen Seeds Northern Light Auto x 1 and a rogue freebie called Jon Snow auto - I believe the breeder is "Cali Weed" but can't confirm. (The NL and Jon Snow are pretty old seed stock at this stage, so won't be surprised if they misfire.) They are all autoflowers, leaning toward indica heritage and will be living in 6L pots, 4 of which should just about fit inside the cabinet. I might amend this to 3 plants if it's too much, but 4 is the plan for now. The medium is a mix of Biobizz Light mix, some "hot" multi purpose compost and perlite. I will create a "well" of just Biobizz light mix for the seeds to start off in. The seeds are currently germinating via the paper towel method, placed in a glass food container atop a heat mat to encourage quick germination. Once the radicles are showing I will pot them straight into the 6L containers where they will live until they die. Food will be a mixture of mainly Biotabs and Biobizz, with some Vitalink CalMag in the mix from about week 3 / 4. The first few weeks will be entirely organic, but I'm not afraid to add some synth nutes during flower (Canna pk 13/14 to be specific). Thanks for stopping by, see you next week for potting up and the final touches of the grow area. Edit update: the seeds have (mostly) popped and I've done a bit more work on the cabinet, as well as the grow media. Media is now 33% coco, 33% biobizz light mix and 33% multi purpose "hot" compost, with some extra perlite added. I mixed this all together in a large container, with added "Startrex" from the Biotabs starter back. Each 6L pot was filled about 1/3 with this mix, then a biotab was added, then the remainder of the pot was filled. I created a well with a small plastic cup where I added pure Biobizz light mix as a starter environment for the seedlings. The sprouted seeds were watered in gently with a spray bottle containing water and "Mycotrex" from the Biotabs range and covered with small plastic cups with holes drilled in them for humidity domes. I also added a tube heater to the cabinet to try and keep temps up over the next few days until I turn the light on. The cabinet: I added 2 more intake vents. I attempted to plug some light leaks with weather stripping. It kinda works, but will need to tinker with it a bit more. My to-do list for the next few days is: add filters for intakes (likely carbon material from an extractor hood), install a proper floor / drip tray, finish the light proofing and attach a lock. Additionally I will prepare a baffle for the exhaust vent/carbon filter but not too concerned with that yet. I might leave the carbon filter off until flowering begins - it's had a few full grows (albeit small) already and might not be working at max efficiency, so I'll save it for when I really need it. I'll also add some reflective material to the walls over the next week or so. 02/10/21 : made some more minor adjustments. Added carbon filter covers to intake vents, added raised floor for the plants and sealed all gaps with silicone sealer. Still have some light leaks around the edge of the door, but hoping once I fit a lock that it will seal tight. Not too concerned since it's a full auto run, but I want it to be as discreet as possible. Turned the light on giving about 25 PPFD at pot level, will see how they are in the morning. 04/10/21: Jon snow broke soil today! One of the Black Cream also poking through so hoping for 3 / 4 sprouts in the morning. The NL was a bit behind in germination so will give that a few more days. Added the tube heater back into tent as it was getting a bit chilly.