Hello let me start of saying I'm completely new to this forum and wasn't 100% sure if I should have posted this here or in the DIY section so I'm sorry if this is in the wrong spot.. I'm in the very early stages of growing my own plant indoors, I've never done this before and right now I'm still planning everything out. I've got a general grasp on ventilation and lighting and the other basics, I've read a lot of guides and watched some tutorials but I'm still a little iffy on the wiring part. I have a small closet I plan on using, it's about 3 and a half feet wide, up to 8 feet tall and only 1 foot 20 inches deep. My plan is to build a grow box that will fit inside the closet, my only concerns are will the fact that my closet has no access to outside air ruin the build and will I have suficient space to grow at least one plant. I've uploaded a few pics of the closet I'm working with so u can have an idea of what I'm talking about. In the pic you can see I have a small hatch in the ceiling that leads to the attic maybe I should utilize that for venting out the air or would that not be worth the effort? So far my plan is to build the box out of plywood and Mylar or flat white paint. I'm also considering a grow tent but I'm not sure I can find one that will fit the demenions of the closet. If you have any tips, pointers, ideas to share with me I would greatly appreciate it. I'm highly open to suggestions and guidance as I am still in the planning stage and I will post updates eventually as I move forward with my project.
Your space is fine for a plant (providing not kept on veg too long) or you can lots of micro grows, I've noticed you have like a shelf, so maybe if you added more shelves, you can do variety of grows stacked on top of each other but you would need more lights though of course for each section, don't build a box inside as it will just consume more space. There's some mesh material type on your door? what is it? maybe you can work around it and make some holes on the door or walls to get some air in and out, on the sealing you have like a door, where does that lead to? maybe you can push air up there or bring air from there.
Those are actually air vents. Lol. And I see what you're saying but my problem would be light shining through the vents into my bedroom. And the door on the ceiling leads to the attic/crawl-space.
That's easy box off or use duct pipes, as we all know light travels at a straight direction so if you have something curvy, light wont make it through, you can cover up the air vent, stick a duct pipe with some tapes or staples.
Good idea, So should I attach small PC fans to the duct pipes, to help draw fresh air in? And set a fan on the top shelf pointed at the attic to blow air out?
You could do, test it out to see how much strength they have, whether you can physically feel the draw on your hand, but I doubt it unless they have some high RPM's, ( Revolutions per minute) basically how many times it spins full circle in a minute. intake fans, they are some powerful shit with big blades. One thing you could do is create a box type nicely stack your desktop fans next to each other side by side, tape em up (make sure they are facing same way) then place em in a box cut 1 hole ( 5-6") this will make all the fans work together and use their strengths combined for in take or outtake fan, the box will build up the pressure and increase strength. It's worth while to try this first ^ could save you money, make sure it's completely sealed, 1 hole for draw and one at the front for blow. are your fans stock coolers or aftermarket.
Actually don't have any fans yet. I'm trying to formulate a solid plan for my build before I gather all the supplies ill need. Sounds like I should just scrap the pc fans idea and just go with intake fans?
Yeah, I recommend a rhino fan, I had some some cheap intakes they don't make a difference to the temp = not enough air flow, you want something powerful, and maybe couple of small fans depending on how many plants and how you're setting them up , also more air flow = more co2 = more food for your plants = bigger plants. It will be abit noisy though if you're growing discreetly from your household members, but you can sound proof the fan like I did.
As promised here is my update First off thanks a lot for the info you gave me I hugely appreciated it. For now I've decided against building a growing operation in my closet because I'm still new to this and even a closet seems a little to overwhelming right now. So instead I'm going to start off very small scale. That's why I've built my own PC grow box! I just finished building it today and it's ready to go I think. I intend to grow one auto flower in it, haven't decided on the strand yet. Something that will stay short enough for me to handle, I'll use the Scog method if I need to, but I've never done it before. Any recommendation on strain? Everything I used to put this together I bought at a hardware store, they didn't have the exact kind of bulbs I wanted so I had to settle on using two 2700k and one 5000k... I know 6500k is recommend for vegging but I couldn't find any of those. I only have enough space for 3 bulbs so I'm running about 63 watts total and I understand it's recommended to have 100 watts per plant so I'm a little low there. But from the information I've gathered it seems I should still get some kind of yield even if it is smaller than usual? Since I'm in the beginning stages and this will be my first grow I will be happy with any kind of yeild and I can improve from there. Here are some pics, let me know if u see anything I missed or should about, I hope this thing is big enough to actually grow something in, I'm still skeptical about that.
I had no clue you could even attempt to grow a plant in a space that size. On a more helpful note, I do believe you want your intake as low to the bottom of the space as possible and exhaust as high as possible. Heat rises and its best for the cool air to circulate up your plant as it is drawn out.
Thanks, I knew that but I was just to lazy to cut a hole in the bottom of the box for the intake fan so I left it where it was. The exhaust is on the top though so at least I got right lol. I did run it for a day to see what the temp would be like inside and it seemed to maintain at about 79/80 degrees F, which is a couple degrees high but it's not too terrible I think. I do have an extra PC fan that I'm not using though so I might wire that one in and just set it on the bottom to help circulate air if I need to but the air flow seems pretty nice right now. But I haven't attached the carbon filter to the exhaust yet and I bet that will not help any >.> The strain I'm thinking about using is lowryder #2 auto, (anyone have any experience with this) apparently it's pretty noob friendly and grows from 6-16 inches, which isn't very promising cuz my box is only like 1 foot tall lol but I'm willing to give it a try anyway and see what happens and learn from it. I'm already scoping out bigger cabinets and such at the local flea market I could convert for cheap later down the line.
Sounds awesome, I'm really interested in seeing how this goes. Make this thread your journal, I'm subbed up for the whole thing. Good luck man!
Sorry to necro this old thread like this but I just wanted to check in to let you know I am still planning on going through with this project. I was just delayed by a lot of drama I won't go into. I will be ordering some seeds very soon, if anyone has any recommendations of seed banks to order from (I'm in the u.s.) that would be greatly appreciated cause I'm really ignorant about who to order from.
Oh! I would like to add that I did use my grow box to grow some basil in a soup can. It worked like a charm and the basil is now sitting in my window sill above the kitchen sink and its huge! I don't see how it's still surviving in that little can tbh.
Ok time for an update... My seed arrived today! I ended up only ordering one seed, which I regret because I'm super nervous about this seed failing. But it's a Fem low Ryder kind of auto flower. Right now I've prepared the soil, meaning I watered it really good and placed it in the grow box to sit overnight with the lights running to, hopefully, heat up the dirt so when I plant the seed it will germinate more easily. The tray I'll be growing in isn't very tall but it's a foot long and six inches wide so it fills up the entire bottom of my grow box very nicely so I'm hoping that will give plenty of room for roots to grow. I'll post pics tomorrow morning when I plant my baby. Good night for now
I would recommend just placing the seed in between two wet paper towels. Make sure to check daily and don't let the paper towel get dry. Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Thank you for that insight. I will definitely do that on my next grow. Right now though, since this is my first time, I'm going for a more natural approach and taking the least amount of steps as possible just to get my feet wet as a grower.
Agreed. There's "natural" and there is "time tested and likely successful". That being said, there are folks on the forum who swear by the "moisten the soil and drop in" method. I, for one, don't plant without a short seed soak and a jiffy pod. But that is what has worked for me over and again. Either way and whatever germination method, here's to a successful grow.
That box looks a little small for a plant, but give it a shot! I would personally use the closet as it has vents on the door that you could pump cool air through. And push the hot air to your attic. I think it's more ideal. But whatever works for you, maybe in the future you could get your grow going in your closet. If you have a U-haul around you, they sell wardrobes. Which are about 3x5 plus they have a metal bar going across the top for lights etc. and are pretty sturdy. But give your box a chance first. Looks like your picking the right strain. Good Luck Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app