Hello everyone! I have decided to take on the challenge of building my own grow box so that i can start producing my own home grown herb. Im working with a limited amount of space since I live in a studio apartment, this box will be a simple 2.5 ft x 2.5 ft x 5 ft flowering chamber made to flower 4 clones at a time. My friend has a bunch of mothers so he will supply the clones, either that or ill get them from the collective. I made my plans based of some reading in the forums and a intractable on building a grow box. For ventilation ill install a ductless bathroom fan with a built in carbon filter (Ductless Ventilation Fan-682NT at The Home Depot) into the roof of the box and a adjustable fan inside the box for air circulation. Will i need a air intake? and if so how to i keep light from getting in through it and disturbing my light cycle? I dont know much about lights but Im thinking ill put about 120 watts of grow lights hanging from the roof so I can adjust them to just above the plants and have them hooked up to a timer. Then ill line the inside of the box with a reflective material to reflect light. That pretty much sums up my plans. Attached is a PDF I created that labels each part and lists pricing, based on home depot prices this should cost about $183 but if i know anything about projects, it will end up costing more. This is my first time growing so im sure iv made some big mistakes in my plans, please shoot holes through it, dont go easy on me! haha in particular i would appreciate input on the best kind of lighting for a small flowering box such as this and the best kind of reflective material to line the inside with. I see tutorials that use the reflective silver plastic, but other people have told me plain white paper actual reflects more light and keeps the box cooler. I will keep this post updated with photos and things that i learn along the way so that other people trying to do this can see just how i did it and hopefully learn from my mistakes. View attachment Grow Box PDF.pdf
OK, first things first.... Light requirements: 30w per sq ft is minimum.. 50w per sq ft. is recommended minimum.. L x W = sq. ft. Watts ÷ sq. ft. = watts per sq. ft. So you have a 2.5' x 2.5' = 6.25 sq. ft. 120 ÷ 6 = 20w per sq. ft. See where I'm going with this??? So I would suggest a 400w MH/HPS lamp for a 2-1/2' x 2-1/2' chamber.. 400 ÷ 6 = 66w per sq ft. (and perfect for a SCRoG)... Now, your spending a shit load of money on wood.. Is it really necessary??? I know you're trying to make the chamber lockable to follow the laws, but can't you just change the door knob on the bedroom to one that is a key lock (which is your lockable room to follow the laws), that costs $15 bucks??? If so, then I would just use some Panda Plastic with some tack boards and trim nails to make the chamber in the closet... Matter fact, how big is the closet you want to put this chamber in?? Can't you just use the whole closet for the chamber with a Panda Plastic door?? I see 4 buckets in the drawing, but you do not say if you're going to use soil or hydro... So what have you chosen to use??? Answer them questions and we can move on...
Ok cool so ill get a 400 watt lamp to hang from the ceiling. The wood is gonna kill me, it sucks because Home Depot doesn't sell 2.5 x 5 ft plywood, they sell 2 x 4 and 4 x 8 so i will have to pay for the larger and have them cut it down for me. I actually didn't even realize that the law was that i had to keep it locked up but id like to just so it doesn't get accidentally opened in its night cycle and so no one could snoop. My closet is pretty big, but its my only one since i live in a studio i need it to keep my cloths in too. Do you think it would work to build the frame of the box out of 1x1 piexes of wood with only the door and floor made of wood, and then have the other 3 walls and the roof made with Panda Plastic, That would save me a lot of money and I could still have a locking door. Im planning on using soil at least for my first few grows just because it seams so much simpler then hydro. Im trying to have as few variables as possible untill i figure out what im doin haha Thanks for your advice JakesterJammin i really appreciate it!
OK.... Well you're not going to open the chamber in the dark cycle because you're going to CLEARLY see that the lamps are off, thus the "do not open" sign will be there... Ya, let's save some money on the build and spend it where it's really needed to get a good crop... What I would do is partition the closet off using Panda Plastic... OK, now the "so no one could snoop", ummmmmm, they are going to know what it is if they go in the closet... You know this right??? I'm looking to do away with all the wood, as IMO it's a waste of money and time... Can you lock the whole closet somehow???
haha of corse id know not to open it but maybe not the other people who come through my apartment. Also the way my closet is built there is a large shelf about 5 feet up so I want to build this box that can fit under the shelf so that i can use the shelf for storage. I don't mind spending the $20 or so to build a wooden frame to wrap the plastic around instead of just sectioning off part of my closet with plastic. I was planning on lining the inside of the wooden box with mylar to reflect light inside the box. If the walls of the box are going to be a plastic wrap anyways should i just use the mylar as the walls or would it be better to use the plastic wrap and then line the insides with mylar? or is there something better at reflecting then mylar? So iv skimmed about $50 off my budget by getting rid of most of the plywood (thanks for that), how would you suggest applying that towards better yields?
OK, starting to get a better understanding now.... So, if you can do away with the locking box, and just tell people to keep their fucking noises out of your dam closet, then we're good... What I would do is build a 2-1/2' x 2-1/2' x 5' box out of 2x4s (they are like 3 bucks ea.), then for the walls tack up some Panda Plastic... The door can also be Panda Plastic, so when you want to access the chamber, you just roll up one of the walls... Now because we're dealing with 5' height, I would do a 1 plant SCRoG, which will give you the most budding sites (thus most bud in the end) for that small of an area... The SCRoG will also help with the limited height of the chamber as well... I would light it with a 400w MH/HPS digital ballast within a cooltube or sealed hood (the cooltubes are cheaper).. Keep the ballast outside of the chamber so we're not adding heat to the chamber.. Now we have to get rid of that heat, so I would do a 6" Inline Fan & Carbon Filter Combo... Setup the lamp, scrubber, and blower: Scrubber -> Blower -> 6" flex duct -> lamp -> flex duct out of the closet.. (checkout the way Dan Dare does how exhaust setup, you want the same setup https://mycotopia.net/forums/holding-tank/62894-lets-build-scrog.html) You want to vent the heat outside of the closet so the chamber's intake does not just suck the heat right back into the chamber.. I also would search the GrassCity forum for good soil (just water) mixes... I think that covers everything to get your going???
Ok cool so i redid my diagram with a 440 CFM fan with a carbon filter coming in from the top, the ventilation will go out of the closet. I found one for cheaper on amazon then the one you linked me its $110 for the combo [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponic-Inline-Carbon-Filter-Control/dp/B0051HDECS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ol_3[/ame] I also made the light a 440 watt MH/HPS, its one fixture that works with and comes with both bulbs so i can use MH for vegetation and then HPS for flowering. That is $140 on amazon [ame]http://www.amazon.com/LED-Wholesalers-GYO2002-Hydroponic-Reflector/dp/B003810CVA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&m=A2RE9P12YH19TJ&s=generic&qid=1323592102&sr=1-3[/ame] Both products got good reviews and seem like good deals compared to the others that i shopped out. The ScrOG method is really cool, i did some research and doing 1 plant with that method makes much more sense then cramming a bunch of small plants in there. So i added a net to my diagram to spread out the branches. Even after losing a lot of the wood these upgrades bring the total up to $324 but i think having this system will pay off. Any idea what this set up might yield? And the new diagram:
That lamp has a "batwing" hood... You need a sealed hood or a cooltube or you will have heat issues... Also, you most likely can do a 4" blower and scrubber.. What I would suggest at this point to try and save some money off the &325 cost (well higher now because "you need a sealed hood or cooltube"). I have bought a LOT of from The Hydro Source for 2-3yrs now and know the owner is REALLY a cool down to earth dude... So what I would suggest is for you to use their "Contact Us" form and email Keith (the owner) what kind of price can he do on the following.. GrowLAB Horticultural Grow Room - GL 60 (2' x 2' x 5.3') (the tent's zippers have holes so you can add a small padlock and so the zippers won't zip open..) 250w MH/HPS lamp with cooltube and both bulbs.. 4" inline blower and carbon filter combo.. OR if you can do a 5'11" high chamber: GrowLAB Horticultural Grow Room - GL 80 (2'7" x 2'7" x 5'11") 400w MH/HPS lamp with cooltube and both bulbs.. 4" inline blower and carbon filter combo.. The 2'7" x 2'7" x 5'11" tent and 400w would be my personal choice.. Tell them you're a medical marijuana patient trying to get going as cheaply as possible, and JakesterJammin that is doing the side-by-side grows (they will know who you're talking about) suggested you contact them... They might be able to give you a better setup, around the same cost, and save you building the chamber... You would just have to setup the tent and plug stuff in... Also would give you a tent which can be moved if and when you move.. Edit: Oh and I know they are closed on Sundays, so you may not get a response until tomorrow. Just a thought to get a better setup for around the same cost...
Thanks for the advice! I read your side by side comparison thread, sorry about the flood, but that is incredible that he gave you a free setup to replace it. What a guy! Well I used the contact box yesterday asking what kind of price he could do on those setups but im still waiting to hear back from him. I did add up the prices of each of the sets though and the larger setup is less then $40 more then the small one! In that case it only makes sense to upgrade but i might have to remove part of the shelving in my closet... anyways, heres the prices I got, hopefully Keith can give me a deal on them: 2x2 Grow lab with 250 watt GrowLAB Horticultural Grow Room - GL 60 Our Price: $111.99 250w - HPS - Hydrolux Cool Tube 6 in $198.98 Plantmax MH Conversion - 250 Watt Our Price: $31.96 6" Inline Fan & Carbon Filter Combo $154.99 7 Day Grounded Digital Timer Single Outlet Our Price: $12.99 Total: $511 2‘7x2'7 Grow Lab with 400 watt GrowLAB Horticultural Grow Room - GL 80 Our Price: $163.19 400w - HPS - Hydrolux Cool Tube 6 in $188.97 Plantmax MH Conversion - 400 Watt Our Price: $29.95 6" Inline Fan & Carbon Filter Combo $154.99 7 Day Grounded Digital Timer Single Outlet Our Price: $12.99 Total: $550 I might end up trying to save the $160 on the grow box by building it myself and get the rest from here. Thanks for your help jakesterjammin!
Ok so here is what i believe to be the final diagram of my grow box, its gotten quite a bit more expensive then my original but it has also improved equally and now i can feel good about doing it right!
Ok I have all the equipment set up and just put my clones in today. It feels so great to be finally starting! Heres a Link to my new grow journal thread: http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-g...s-scrog-two-raskals-og-clones-first-grow.html And heres a picture of how the setup turned out: