Mini Fridge Grow Box....NEED HELP W/ Ventilation

GreenMeter

Well-Known Member
I've been recently working on converting an old mini frige of mine into a working and sucessful grow cabinet, intended for a small SOG grow or a grow using autoflowering strains.

I've gutted the entire fridge inside and out, and even went as far as removing the inner door molding to help maximize the space of the fridge. The walls of the fridge are covered w/ mylar and i placed a water resistant covering for the bottom of the fridge where the soil pots or small scale hydro tub will be. I drilled a 3" hole in the top right section of the mini fridge where both power strip cords will be running through out the back of the fridge. I mounted two power strips; one on the top left side of the fridge and one on the top right side. I placed 2 socket adapters on each power strip (4 42w CFL's- 2 on each side).

My question i have now is what kind of ventilation would be sufficient for this small scale grow box (Pics will be up shortly to give you better insight)?

The biggest question i have is where should i place the fans to maximize air circulation? I know that the exhaust fan should be pushing more air out. Should i place the 6" inline fan facing and blowing the air outside of the mini fridge, and have 2 computer fans providing the inline fan power at the bottom of the fridge? Or is a 6" fan unecessary and i could probably get away with a 4" fan instead?

Another concern is how i should go about regulating odor control. I've heard mixed reviews about ONA Gel and have taken it into consideration, but I'm still skeptical about it. I've used carbon scrubbers in my past grows due to the fact i was growing more plants and had ample room to set one up nicely. Has anyone personally used ONA Gel and had good sucess, minus the minor taste of the chemicals absorbing in the plant?

I purchased a 6" inline fan at Home Depot and i have a numerous supply of old computer fans already rigged up individually to a 12V supply cord. I guess i'm wondering if the 6" fan is too much given the lighting i have. I plan to upgrade to either a low wattage MH or HPS light fixture in the near future.

I apologize for the excessive information i've given, i just want to do this right and not go ahead and do something and regret it later down the road. So any comments or any advice would be greatly appreciated :D
 
in a small space like that you have to optimize as much as possible. put a few big pc fans in there, 200mm which is 7.8 inches.
I would also put a couple fans just below the light to disperse the heat. circulation is the least of your worries. heat factor\ventilation will be the concern. pump that heat out.
 

desertrat

Well-Known Member
one obvious(?) tip would be to put the exhaust at the top and the input at the bottom of the fridge.

i've used ona gel for two years and can testify it does the job well.
 

GreenMeter

Well-Known Member
I'm glad to hear someone say that ONA Gel works well.

But, i did read about many people complaining about the finished product at harvest when smoked. They said that the chemicals from the gel absorb into the plant and you can taste it when smoked. Is this true or does it not really effect the taste of the final product?
 

GreenMeter

Well-Known Member
I'm glad to hear someone say that ONA Gel works well.

But, i did read about many people complaining about the finished product at harvest when smoked. They said that the chemicals from the gel absorb into the plant and you can taste it when smoked. Is this true or does it not really effect the taste of the final product?
 

hardroc

New Member
how many cfm's is your inline? You would only need 90 or 100 cfm's for cfl's, but you said you were gonna upgrade to hps, get a 250 switchable ballast and you'd be ok with the fan if it's 170 or higher cfm's
 

GreenMeter

Well-Known Member
So i've been thinking about future plans to make this a decent flowering box for a small SOG or a few plants using LST or even a few autoflowering plants.

My question is...how many autoflowering plants could i comfortably fit in the space given? Dimensions and pics of mini fridge will be up later today, i promise! I was thinking about 2-3 would be solid. I plan on installing LED lights, but im not sure what size would be sufficient for fridge. Any info on LED wattage or personal use and success would help out alot.

Oh, and i plan on purchasing 5 of both lowryder diesel and ak47 feminised autoflowering seeds if that helps with the first question above.

Pics of set up will be up later on today!
 
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