My First DIY Cab Grow: Using the K.I.S.S. Method

Hello, folks! I've been lurking for a while and I figured I'd show everyone my latest in DIY: my first Cab Grow. I've been doing a lot of reading/lurking and this is the end result. It's not fancy and it uses a K.I.S.S. method (since the best solution is usually the simplest).

I began this project by finding a nice cabinet at the local thrift store. The one I found was "old" and "broken" on the left side so they let it go for $15. Perfect for me.



Another picture



I decided to use a bit of wood finisher on the outside after cleaning the cabinet out. Once that was done, I spray painted the inside with high gloss white paint. I decided to use white paint instead of a reflective material because of heat, as well as the fact that white paint reflects light and I already had some on hand.



The above is a picture of the unfinished inside paint job (I later apply a second layer after letting the first one dry).

Here's a picture of the outside.



Obviously, I don't want anyone snooping inside of this cabinet, so I went to my local Casa Depote (Home Depot) and brought a lock latch to drill onto the front.



Since there will be light and buzzing coming from the inside of a locked cabinet, I'm going to put a list of "Server Content" in a plastic protector and place it on the left door. I'm going with the "Paranoid Server Admin" approach. It's made a bit more believable as well due to the fact that all of the electric work is housed in the top drawer.



The fans that cool the cabinet/exhaust the cabinet are ran by a power supply. If anyone's wondering, all you need is a staple or a paperclip to rig a power supply for turning on without a motherboard. This information's all over the net so I won't explain it here (just make sure you have electrical tape handy).



The top is the exhaust and the bottom is the intake. The intake won't have a fan attached to it, as I'm going with the "negative pressure" approach. Exhausting air out of the top will force air through the intake.

Now for the K.I.S.S. application. I figure the best way to mount the fans and lighting was with outdoor mounting tape.







The Fans are attached to mounting bars (using the outdoor mounting tape) that I drilled into the case. The exhaust fan is mounted directly to the wall using the outdoor mounting tape.



More electric work. The lights are attached directly to the timer (everyone loves automated light cycles. I know I do).

I'm using CFL's in this box and plug them directly into daisy chained power strips, all of which are connected to the timer. I added a thermometer to the box as well. I also decided to add a fan with the last mounting bracket that I had. Here's a picture of the final result:



Plenty of room for adding and adjusting lights (The mounting tap, with a bit of elbow grease, can be removed, meaning I can take it off and slap it wherever I need it) and lots of airflow and circulation.
There's only one problem... ODOR CONTROL...

So... I decided to use the "ONA Odor Bucket" idea...



It's a PC fan stripped and spliced to a 12v power adapter. I'd use the power supply, but I had this laying around from other projects that didn't require the power supply. Recycling at its finest. Not to worry about the exposed cables. They've been taped over.

The idea (and it's NOT my idea, but an idea that I decided to tweak) is to put the gel at the bottom with a bit of water (ONA is strong and it's best to dilute it). The fan pushes through the ONA mixture and forces it through the holes into the air of the cab, which neutralizes the smell of cannabis. If anyone can find the thread with this idea, please let me know so I can post it and give credit to the original creator.



And there you have it, folks. My first attempt at a K.I.S.S. DIY Grow Cabinet. I do plan on adding another power strip and maybe adjusting the ones that are currently there to provide more light spacing options for CFL bulbs. I also need to get an uninterruptible power supply/battery backup (just in case a power outage occurs).

RECENT EDITIONS:

I made a carbon air filter.

It's basically a canister with a hole cut out on both sides, using some activated carbon and Fish Filter Foam (making a carbon sandwich). The outdoor mounting tape sticks like a champ but is easy to remove. This and the ONA filter should work wonders for any smell issues.








Let me know what you all think!

Cool little setup man, I really like that cabinet.

I wouldn't use much tape if I were you unless you have something else to fasten it down, Like hot glue gun.

Looks pretty nifty! That's a good sized cabinet for a couple of well trained plants and I love the fact you're using the PSU for the fans.
I'm going to make one of a similar size but I'd have to keep it less simple since I have to keep the odours in the cabinet!

Looks nice man! I'd still suggest looking into a carbon filter diy or not it'd probably help and also ona may affect the taste of your bud so if you have a carbon filter in the box and ona outside the box it'll keep things nice and fresh

The BLaKsmith said:

Looks nice man! I'd still suggest looking into a carbon filter diy or not it'd probably help and also ona may affect the taste of your bud so if you have a carbon filter in the box and ona outside the box it'll keep things nice and fresh

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Today I learned! I do have some activated carbon around here somewhere. I'll probably make a makeshift enclosure and put it on the back of the cabinet (I read somewhere about using cloth and activated carbon to make a makeshift filter).

Thanks for the advice!

subed man your box is loooookin sweeeeet

kook420 said:

subed man your box is loooookin sweeeeet

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Thanks, bro. I'll be adding pictures of any modifications that I make to it!

hellyeah man grow onnn!

Updated with makeshift Carbon Filter.

Just posting a quick reply on how the box is working out. I need to make a few modifications to it... I need to add more fans if I'm to add more CFL's (using 3 70w equivalent's) to keep the temperature bearable. I'll keep you guys posted.

In the meantime, here's a bit of early LST eye candy of my Peppermint Kush. I'm aware that the top should be a bit lower, but I'm going for a bit of a "spiral" pattern. As this young lady grows out, it'll loop around the edge of the pot (as far as it can go until it's time to transplant).



Will keep everyone posted as things progress.

looking good keep up the great work and nice cab man ~! pce

Awesome cab deff watching this one

LST is definitely addicting... I've been at this for 2 hours. Think this'll net me at least 3 tops? They're roughly even in height now.

(small edit: That's all the LST I can bring myself to do for now. Anything else would be overkill and I'm curious to see how she'll turn out and what she'll prioritize. LEARNING!)



My next major post will show any modification's I've made to the box. I definitely need to go purchase some fans.
Until the next paycheck

Did you do a gagger before you did the LST session? Thats beyond overkill, sorry to be so blunt but thats going to do more harm than good. You need 1 string, IF that with a plant that size and you have like 7 LOL. I'd recommend cutting your exhaust hole to the size of the fan too before adding additional fans. You're probably getting less than half the effectiveness that fan could be providing with the right sized hole.

supchaka said:

Did you do a gagger before you did the LST session? Thats beyond overkill, sorry to be so blunt but thats going to do more harm than good. You need 1 string, IF that with a plant that size and you have like 7 LOL. I'd recommend cutting your exhaust hole to the size of the fan too before adding additional fans. You're probably getting less than half the effectiveness that fan could be providing with the right sized hole.

Click to expand...

I'll definitely work on the fan issue before installing new ones!

For the LST, I spent two hours slowly moving everything to make sure it was all flexible before tying them down, so there's actually a lot of give space even though the look of it would suggest otherwise. (The first picture with just two strings is from a day or so ago, which gave her time to adjust and grow up to the light).

I'm going to leave her alone now though and see what she does. (I've got a good feeling about this)

My friend, I think you rushed a bit to the LST. You should probably have given the plant a bit more time to grow before training it, as it looks way too tender right now. Also, consider using either fatter string or soft wire, as this very thin string will probably cut deep into your stems.

ak84 said:

My friend, I think you rushed a bit to the LST. You should probably have given the plant a bit more time to grow before training it, as it looks way too tender right now. Also, consider using either fatter string or soft wire, as this very thin string will probably cut deep into your stems.

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I'll take your advice and change to thicker string when it's time to transplant. However, I've seen several grows where LST was done when a second set of leaves were obtained (I've seen aggressively trained plants, trained from a very very young age, have redonculous yields). Since I'm getting so much conflicting information (seems to be a common thing here), I'm going to leave it the way it is, go with my gut, and let it do its thing.

We'll see how it goes. My aim is to keep it as low as possible to maximize my space (even if it takes a bit longer to grow).

I'll keep everyone posted. Sit back and enjoy the show. Popcorn's to the left.

I am more partial to a scrog than lst. Let her grow about 5-6" top her, than put a screen in and let her do her thing. You have a decent amount of space and I feel like a screen is a little more "low stress". Just the opinion of a newb grower

I've seen some experienced people who started to LST as soon as it got its first set of leaves (not cotyledons) so I think you could be ok. Being your first time I would be careful. I would still scrog though. Other than topping I didn't train until it made it to my screen.

bb61 said:

I've seen some experienced people who started to LST as soon as it got its first set of leaves (not cotyledons) so I think you could be ok. Being your first time I would be careful. I would still scrog though. Other than topping I didn't train until it made it to my screen.

Click to expand...

I'll make sure I exercise caution

The strings that are holding the stems are shaped like a lasso, giving the young lady plenty of room to expand and grow without cutting into her.

I'm going to research a bit more on scrogging to see if I can use it in my setup (most likey will be able to lol).

Thanks for the comment and happy growing.