Hey guys long time reader, first time writer. Heres a look at my first attempt at my own homemade grow box. I actually have a 1mx1mx2m mylar tent in my closet as well, but I was stoned and my minecraft server was down, and who would argue against more grow space?
I really wish I had started taking pictures as I was doing this. But I only have the finished product to show you, sorry guys but Ill try my best to explain the steps that I did.
Things you should know before hand: The only thing I had to go out and buy was the light fixture and the 65wt cfl. Other then that, I have not used anything that I did not have already in the flat. This is for the poor mans stealth grow, or the struggling university student (I feel your pain..
).
I bought this little sock drawer on ebay when I moved with my mate into my first shared apartment. Basically I disassembled it, and cannabilized the drawers. The objective was to just have one large space contained within the old sock drawer. The whole internal pieces of the drawer, have been removed, and Ive just kept the front face of the drawers.
Front View:
Back View:
Side View:
To support the facade that the drawer is still whole. I cut old pieces of the drawers, to use as support as seen in the back view in the red boxes screwed into each individual drawer, the blue lines show where the breaks in the drawers as seen from the front to support the door. Then I painted every internal face with a flat white paint to increase reflectivity (I'll replace with mylar when I get my hands on some).
Internal View:
As you can see Ive used some old computer fans for intake (Blue) and exhaust (Red), to allow circulation, these small ones used to cool cpus, make no sound if installed properly, I had the problem where it wasnt secured properly and it was screaming. Make sure its secured on all 4 points or it will vibrate and that makes alot more noise then you think
. The green points are the light fixtures, the one already there I plan on y splitting to have 2x65watts, and the other 2 green points are future fixtures, to install next time I go to the lighting store. Also the black points on the edges are the original roller points for the drawers, I took them out when I repainted, but I've put them back in as a guide to support the facade.
External Back View:
Heres an external view of the back, showing the simple circuitry, I employed. I duct taped it to avoid a mess.
Finished:
And here is my current 'finished' project. I use the term finished loosely, as you can clearly see the lines where its not secured yet, so light leaks out, which can be annoying if your trying to sleep. I havn't secured the front panel yet, its only propped and held in place by some rubber stoppers on the bottom and the top. Im still deciding whether to secure it via magnets? or install some hinges and have it swing around as a door.
Any suggestions would be hot, on how I can improve this possibly a height adjustment for raising and lowering the plants towards the light as they grow. How I can stop the light leaking from the sides so I can sleep (I have a few ideas already in the works such as placing a little inner border on the inside just enough to stop the light leakage around the side). Its all timed btw (not running at the moment as I don't have any plants to put inside, my closet tent is working fine), two timers, one analog for the lighting to work on a 20/4, and a digital timer to run the fans on a 30min on 30min off then repeat cycle.
Also for those wondering about how I got the computer fans to work have a look at mogies (or flowerman?) guide here: How to turn a PC fan into an exhaust or intake fan?
I really wish I had started taking pictures as I was doing this. But I only have the finished product to show you, sorry guys but Ill try my best to explain the steps that I did.
Things you should know before hand: The only thing I had to go out and buy was the light fixture and the 65wt cfl. Other then that, I have not used anything that I did not have already in the flat. This is for the poor mans stealth grow, or the struggling university student (I feel your pain..
). I bought this little sock drawer on ebay when I moved with my mate into my first shared apartment. Basically I disassembled it, and cannabilized the drawers. The objective was to just have one large space contained within the old sock drawer. The whole internal pieces of the drawer, have been removed, and Ive just kept the front face of the drawers.
Front View:
Back View:
Side View:
To support the facade that the drawer is still whole. I cut old pieces of the drawers, to use as support as seen in the back view in the red boxes screwed into each individual drawer, the blue lines show where the breaks in the drawers as seen from the front to support the door. Then I painted every internal face with a flat white paint to increase reflectivity (I'll replace with mylar when I get my hands on some).
Internal View:
As you can see Ive used some old computer fans for intake (Blue) and exhaust (Red), to allow circulation, these small ones used to cool cpus, make no sound if installed properly, I had the problem where it wasnt secured properly and it was screaming. Make sure its secured on all 4 points or it will vibrate and that makes alot more noise then you think
. The green points are the light fixtures, the one already there I plan on y splitting to have 2x65watts, and the other 2 green points are future fixtures, to install next time I go to the lighting store. Also the black points on the edges are the original roller points for the drawers, I took them out when I repainted, but I've put them back in as a guide to support the facade.External Back View:
Heres an external view of the back, showing the simple circuitry, I employed. I duct taped it to avoid a mess.
Finished:
And here is my current 'finished' project. I use the term finished loosely, as you can clearly see the lines where its not secured yet, so light leaks out, which can be annoying if your trying to sleep. I havn't secured the front panel yet, its only propped and held in place by some rubber stoppers on the bottom and the top. Im still deciding whether to secure it via magnets? or install some hinges and have it swing around as a door.
Any suggestions would be hot, on how I can improve this possibly a height adjustment for raising and lowering the plants towards the light as they grow. How I can stop the light leaking from the sides so I can sleep (I have a few ideas already in the works such as placing a little inner border on the inside just enough to stop the light leakage around the side). Its all timed btw (not running at the moment as I don't have any plants to put inside, my closet tent is working fine), two timers, one analog for the lighting to work on a 20/4, and a digital timer to run the fans on a 30min on 30min off then repeat cycle.
Also for those wondering about how I got the computer fans to work have a look at mogies (or flowerman?) guide here: How to turn a PC fan into an exhaust or intake fan?
