My first grow box designs and first indoor grow.

so i have been growing for a long time.. well not that long like 6 years but it has all been outside where we planted them in the spring come back a month later to check which ones germinated and come back in the fall when the were done and harvested. simple.

so after alot of research and learning what i need and how professional grow boxes are made and have come up with this design...

Dimensions:
W 4' x H 4' x D 2'

i am using a hydro system that is 12 3/8" tall so that will leave me with about 2 feet of growing room. i know thats not alot but first i am going to grow Diesel Ryder and Lowryder 2. from what i have read it is really each to keep them at a foot and a half or less and still produce about an 20g - 30g a plant. a friend of mine only grows the lowryder plants and he is averaging about 50g a plant / about 400g - 600g each harvest with the same 2 hydro systems and one 1 150w HPS and it is in the middle of a room so he is losing alot of light. i figured with the enclosed box with good reflective material to reflect the light, and good ventilation to keep the temp down, along with the extra 160w of floro light, i should be able to get that or more.

Lights:
i went with 1 150w HPS in the center. also 2 40w CFL on each side of the HPS. im not sure if that is going to be enough light

Hydro:
i am going to build a 6 site DWC/top feed drip hydro system based of of a friend of mines design that works beautifully

Seeds:
i have bought 5 Lowryder 2 and 5 diesel ryder seeds, all feminized. i also got the autofem strains blueberry, fuel, and soviet (all regular seeds) i got those in case this first grow goes well with the lowryders, i want to germ them all and grow them all at once (males and females\) and let them cross breed them (only the srtong ones of course) and see what i come up with

i have attached pictures of the plans for my grow box. i am very eager to get to building this but i would like some criticism on my design and plan. i know alot of people who grow indoors, everyone of them said that they had to go back and invest the same amount as the initially invested just to fix the problems they had the first time. over half of them said that they scrapped everything and just started over. i dont have the money like that to be wasting. i would at least get the design right so if i mess up the only thing that i have to start over on is the plants. i would absolutely love to go to them and ask for help but we are having like a mini cannabis cup amongst ourselves since it is really expensive to fly to amsterdam.

any comments and critiques are welcome good or bad i dont care

Very interesting, I am on the go to do something similar, let me know how it works for you.

What are you doing for ventelation?

i am using 6 120mm 52cfm.. 2 for intake about 1 foot from the bottom on both sides so that the plant get plenty of fresh air. 4 on the top above the light sucking the hot air out. i am going to make rails on the on the inside to put clip on fans to move to air around and help keep the temp down as well. on top of the 4 out holes at the top i am going to use 4 small home made carbon filters for the smell. my uncle is in air conditioning and he taught me how to make one that works with only spending like 20 bucks at walmart instead of paying hundreds for a air filtration system. i will show how i make them once i start construction.

the first post that i made i had a design where there was only 1 door that was 6" in from each side. the reason for that was so if there was any leaks in the hydro system the bottom would be sealed and there would be no damage to the surrounding area.

i went today to start buying the stuff i needed for the hydro system, and realized i dont know much anything exept what i have read about hydroponics. so i have decided to stick to my comfort zone.. SOIL.. it is what i have been using for years. it will be easy to convert it back to the original design with a couple simple cut to a piece of plywood.

i got my 150w HPS in today, along with the 4 40w CFL's, i need to get the fixtures for them.my fans should be here tomorrow. once they get here im going to buy the materials i need to assemble the box. i am making a list of everthing tonight. i will put a list of what im getting on here later tonight.

i also added a picture of the cuts of wood that is need to assemble the box

im still waiting on my seeds... they should be here by the end of the week.

i am going tomorrow or thursday to get the supplies that i need to assemble the box. im super excited... if this goes well i plan to build 2 more bigger cabinet and 1 smaller one. the bigger ones will be for flowering, the smaller will be for the mother plants, and the one that i am making now will be dedicated to veg.

over time with this 1 i plan make it as automated as possible to learn what i have to do for the bigger ones. today i got a rubbermaid roughneck 30 gallon bin from my mom, and i also picked up a inexpensive water pump. i also got 5' of black 1/2" irrigation line and 5' of black 1/8 irrigation line and 2 timers. 1 for the pump and 1 for the lights. i got all of that at lowes all for $25. if i had to buy the bin i would have spent like $35 - $40. not bad for an automatic watering system. i still have to get.an air pump and air stone to keep the water oxygenated. the good thing about all this is that when i decide to go towards hydroponics or even aeroponics, i will already have most of what i need. it will be an easy conversion.

when i get the other materials for the cabinet i will take pictures of the construction process...

DOES ANYBODY SEE ANY FLAWS IN MY DESIGN? PLEASE HELP...

i know that it has been a while since i have updated anything, but soon after i started this thread i had a water pipe break in my house and it flooded everything. i just got done repairing the damage from the flooding. now i am going to get back at it soon. maybe the middle of the week i will be going to get the lumber and supplies i need to build the box.

PLEASE IF ANYONE SEES ANY FLAWS IN MY BOX DESIGN LET ME KNOW. IT WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED...

Been toying with a box myself. I went looking at lumber prices and fukn gagged! My design was gna cost over $100 in just wood! I think your idea is solid. I actually found a cabinet at an antique store for $100. It measures 22x40x60. I was hoping to use it for clone/mother/veg. However, looks like I'll never fit all that in there. The cpu fans work well too. Since the box is so small, im thinkin passive intake is fine. Dont go soil!! hydro is so ez if you just stick to the numbers. My cabinet is hydro cuz i wont be remembering to water. That, and who likes bugs? not me. Best of luck to ya

Shanus said:

Been toying with a box myself. I went looking at lumber prices and fukn gagged! My design was gna cost over $100 in just wood! I think your idea is solid. I actually found a cabinet at an antique store for $100. It measures 22x40x60. I was hoping to use it for clone/mother/veg. However, looks like I'll never fit all that in there. The cpu fans work well too. Since the box is so small, im thinkin passive intake is fine. Dont go soil!! hydro is so ez if you just stick to the numbers. My cabinet is hydro cuz i wont be remembering to water. That, and who likes bugs? not me. Best of luck to ya

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hey thanks for the input. i had already decided to go hydro. the main reason i was going to go with soil is because it would be less expensive to start up. but after some math i found out that it would actually cost more in the long run..

I went out and bought all the materials needed to construct the box and also 2 6 plant DWC hydro systems. After a lot of research I think that I came up with a good shopping list to acquire quality materials at the absolute cheapest price. Anyone with a Lowes, Wal-Mart, and a hydro store locally will be able to follow this list if this build and grow goes well.

Shopping list of what I got where and the prices:

Lowes:
1. 2, 7/16” thick, 4X8 sheets of plywood. ($7.68 each)
2. 4 2X2 boards, 8’ long ($1.68 each)
3. 4 2” caster wheels ($3.98 each)
4. 2 sets of hinges ($1.98 each)
5. 2 hinged locks ($5.98 each)
6. Cheapest flat white paint ($5.98 )
7. 4 clamping 8” bell light fixtures ($8.88 each)
8. 4 ½” hole saw ($12.98 )
9. 4 40w CFL flood lights ($3.96)
TOTAL $123.82

Wal-Mart:
1. 2 Rubbermaid 10gal totes ($6.82 each)
2. Aquarium air pump ($9.96)
3. Air hose 25’ ($2.96)
4. 1 package of T air hose adaptors ($2.98 )
5. 4 6” air stones ($2.96 each)
6. 3 DC 12 volt adaptors (5.96 each)
TOTAL $60.26

Local Hydro store:
1. General Hydroponics:
a. Veg nutes ($11.99)
b. Bloom nutes ($9.99)
c. Micro nutes ($13.99)
2. 12 3” plastic net pots ($.50 each)
3. 1” rockwool cubes ($3.99)
4. Hydroton litre bag ($11.99)
5. Ph Up Down and tester kit ($14.99)
6. Propagation tray ($2.99)
TOTAL $75.93
GRAND TOTAL $260.01
(Totals do not include tax since it varies per region and city. Also the lumber prices may be off a little because it varies as well.)

Total cost from ground up to start to grow:
Materials $260.01
150w HPS $104.49 (shipping included)
Fans $38.42 (shipping included)
10 feminized LR2 seeds $121.68 (shipping included)

GRAND TOTAL $524.60

I will be putting everything together soon and I will do a BIG update with pictures and full description of the construction process.

My plan is if this grow goes well and I get my feet wet with indoor growing, I will be converting this box into a veg and prop box and build a big cabinet with at least 40 sqft. I am working on the plans for it now but it is hard to come up with a design with that much space and still be able to get in a regular sized door. I may have to break it into two cabinets but if I do the cost will almost double. Any ideas that will help me with this problem?

I wanna see what you can grow. Very interested!!! im growing with all cfls in my growbox

so i realized today that i got the wrong size rubbermaid totes. i ended up getting the 18 gallon instead of the 10. so instead of 2 6 plant hydro system i will be building 1 bigger one for the box because 2 wont fit. the box is like 47" wide on the inside and they are each 25 and some odd inches long. i will be putting the other together as well, but since i am growing LR2s that are supposed to be ready for harvest 60 days from seed, after 1 month i will be taking the last seeds that i have left over and starting the in the second hydro system in my closet. i may end up buying more LRs if i like them so that i will have 6 plants ready for harvest each month. from what i read i will be able to get 5 - 10 oz a month if i do things right.

Im very interested. Check my site for what i made has a video to. Only problem is height is becoming a big issue. I might steal your idea and copy it. Would like to see how your hydro system works with the fish air bubblers. Never seen a good post on that. Could you take pics of a step by step build? Its hard but would be well worth it to see. I would probably suggest something a bit higher. I bought mazar seeds supposed to be low and they are getting tall quick. I ordered them because i didnt want something as tall as me. My grow stealh cabinet is about 4 feet Check my pics and video.

monsterenergyaxe said:

Im very interested. Check my site for what i made has a video to. Only problem is height is becoming a big issue. I might steal your idea and copy it. Would like to see how your hydro system works with the fish air bubblers. Never seen a good post on that. Could you take pics of a step by step build? Its hard but would be well worth it to see. I would probably suggest something a bit higher. I bought mazar seeds supposed to be low and they are getting tall quick. I ordered them because i didnt want something as tall as me. My grow stealh cabinet is about 4 feet Check my pics and video.

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i will def take pics. i plan to document every step of construction of the box and hydro systems. from my experience it will be really easy to keep a plat short and bushy, especially if it is in the genetics, if the plant gets 2000+ lumen / sq ft. the reason i added the 40w CFLs is so that it will boost mt lumen / sq ft to well over 3000. somewhere in the vicinity of 3250. if the plants are getting less than 1000 they will begin to stretch. they stretch bc in the wild they compete for light. it is also really easy to train the cannabis plant. you can use NST or some advanced pruning techniques to keep it short. the problem i may have is that i am using a 150w HPS that i have to keep the plants from so that they dont get burned or to hot. if it soes get to hot in the box i have a small camping tent ac unit. it is only like 2000 btu but it will freeze you out of a 10' X 20' tent. (i got it at Bass Pro Shop and it was like $100, but that was 2 years ago, prices may have changed) to use it i will have to come up with a way to put in a thermostat in to control the temp bc there is only a on off switch, no temp gauge. i plan to put a SCROG screen in if it looks like the plant are going to get to tall. also if height becomes a big issue, the box will be 5.5" off the ground with the casters and the legs, so i can simply cut a hole the shape of the rubbermaid tote in the floor of the box and get another 4" of growing room. i have grown LR2s out doors and i have never had a plant taller than 14" except for 1 that didnt get 100% sunlight. from like 3:30 pm until sun down it was in shade. it was the first 1 i grew and i was kind of mad because it ended up being 3.5' tall. so i contacted the breeder and they help me alot with growing and placement of the plant to keep them short and bushy and produce the highest yields. i have a call into the breeder to talk to the about the best way to maximize yield and potency via hydro. i dont want to start growing until i talk to them about this. once i do i will update y'all with what they said.

I built a grow box and the most efficient numbers that i could come up with was 6' H, 4' W, 2' D. This only requires 3 sheets of plywood and 8 2x2 planks. All dimension are the difference from 8 eight foot to another which makes assembly quite easy. I also prefer organic soil in 10- 20 gallon totes due to the margin for error.

IndianaHome said:

I built a grow box and the most efficient numbers that i could come up with was 6' H, 4' W, 2' D. This only requires 3 sheets of plywood and 8 2x2 planks. All dimension are the difference from 8 eight foot to another which makes assembly quite easy. I also prefer organic soil in 10- 20 gallon totes due to the margin for error.

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what kind of lights are you using in your box? the reason that mine is short is because i really like working with lowryder seeds and they dont need much height to grow.. another reason is because if every thing goes well i will be converting this box into a 2 level veg box with floros. the measurements of you box is what i am planning to make 2 of for flowering. i also plan to make a box big enough for like 3 or 4 mother plants.

i would mix in a 90 watt LED light as i dont think 150s watt is good for more than 2 or 3 small plants.. i can do 10 plants under 1 400 mh/hps switchable and 2 led full spectrums and have great results