New Grower A Noob's Stealth Grow Box

[OldManZombie]

Hello all, I am relatively new to the forums, but wanted to give a little background, and then get thoughts from those with more experience.

I have decided on a stealth grow. I have three kids, 15, 13, and 11. The youngest two are boys. The reason I have included that is that they are indoctrinated by the DARE program, and while there are many fallacies I am okay with it as I believe in the medicinal uses and not so much at least for me in recreational use. I am not here to debate my beliefs but just get help with my grow.

While I am not broke, expenses are limited. I resigned my position due to my overwhelming depression, and start a new one but @ a 40% pay cut. Reading different grow journals has inspired me to begin this new journey of growing. I have tried a few times in past and got to the seedling stage but got nervous and gave up. That was before there were places like AFN.

As mentioned above I need to keep it stealth, and looking around at old PC's I had decided not to go that route as they are all small towers. Our room is in the basement and the kids and my mother who we take care of live on the main floor. Looking through my stuff I realized I think I have a viable solution. We have a 29 gallon fish tank and it sits on handmade enclosed wood stand.

Now I need advice the base is 30"H x 30"W x 12"D. It is a 2x4 frame. I will include pictures at the end of this post.

1. I know Mylar works best, but I also know white paint works too. I am concerned about the 2x4 frame creating shadows. I am a bit of a perfectionist so everything worries me. Which way would be the best? is white paint good enough to save money?

2. My plan is too take fans out of the old CPU's and have two at the bottom rear of the cabinet, and then one at top as exhaust. Going to hardware all three together. Will use a handmade carbon fibre filter made out of PVC. Will this be enough?

3. Currently there is no top I will be putting a thin top and build a ballast with the lights. My plans is to us 4 CFL 26W 2 in the 2700k and 2 in 6500. What size wattage for each?

4. I will be ordering feminized auto flowering Nirvana Northern Lights. Mainly since it is my first grow and from my research it fits what I need medicinally. How many plants should I grow in the space I am trying to grow? 1 or 2? I know they are smaller plants, would I need to Scrog them?

5. On the lighting I am thinking I build the permanent ballast and just raise the plants on something. Thoughts?

6. I have seen where people put the soft side of Velcro around the door to prevent light leaks. The aquarium on top will cover the noise, and help with warmth too I think? I will set the aquarium lights on the same timer, so the light from the fans on the back will be on same as cfl's inside. And the bubbling of the aquarium pump will cover the sound.

7. Last question for now at least. Currently there is no bottom in the grow box, other than the 2 x 4s should I put a bottom so I don't lose heat against the concrete ground?



Again I am looking for input on all subjects. Does anyone see any major problems with my plan with the aquarium on top?

Once the grow box is done and I have ordered my seed i will start a grow journal.

And the reason I am ordering instead of using bag seed is that I am looking for plants that specifically meet my medicinal seeds. I go through about a half ounce a month so I can continue to grow as I harvest the first plants.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Will have pics up later of the actual box.

 

[namvet25]

Will wait for pictures.

 

[Carbon]

Hey OldZombieMan,

I'm really not qualified to answer all your questions as i'm only just starting out myself but i will say when building your box planning is everything.
Ive just completed mine and had some issues with temps ect so when building be sure to think about air flow.
Also ive tried to a few different ways of making a carbon filter using pc fans to exhaust the air however i found i couldn't get sufficient air flow dew to the fans lacking power, That said people do have success so it is a valid way of doing it.

 

[OldManZombie]

I've read both too, may just go with ona by exhaust fan. Only gonna be 1 or 2 plants

 

[Clyde Puffer]

Hey there, OldManZombie. Good luck with this. On the subject of paint v. mylar, I can say from experience there isn't much difference. I prefer using flat brilliant white emulsion paint - some folks prefer mylar.

To get a PC fan pulling enough air through carbon, you might try using a mesh tray with a couple of inches of carbon pellets on it. I've had success with this, but it's trial and error for your set up - area of tray v. thickness of carbon layer. the bigger the area, the easier to pull air through, but you need sufficient thickness to kill the smells. The efficiency of PC fans can be boosted by stacking them (as long as there is an inch or more space between each). Your' two fans at the bottom and one at the top' doesn't sound right. You'll be pulling more air in than you exhaust, meaning air will leak out the doors and cause odour problems. I'd be inclined to maybe use both fans on your exhaust and just make a passive air intake. As long as the intake(s) is/are big enough (a total of at least twice the area of the exhaust) you should be fine.

The main thing is to do a lot of trialing and get your set up right before germing your seeds. All the best, Clyde.