Here's another great article from TheCheapVegetableGardner.com...I just copies it over for ya'll... I enjoy when I can be rewarded by overcoming mother nature, so when my 6 year old mentioned she wanted to figure out why strawberries will not grow in the winter for her science project I couldn't have been prouder. Once she determined the reason was because it was colder and the sun wasn't up as much, she suggested using lights to help them get more light and warmth. The next obvious step was to create a grow box, now if this wasn't cheap vegetable gardener I would just buy a [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W9X7N6?ie=UTF8&tag=thecheavegega-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489"]commercial grow box[/ame], but by now you should know better than that Looking through my garage I found my first victim, an old PC case. After a few screws and a few drilled out rivets I had a good structure for the grow box. Next I added some styrofoam insulation which I got at HD on all 4 sides. Also at HD I picked up a [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQRFD8?ie=UTF8&tag=thecheavegega-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489"]cheap extension cord[/ame], [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HEFC3Y?ie=UTF8&tag=thecheavegega-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489"]lamp timer[/ame], and a [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KKNFRA?ie=UTF8&tag=thecheavegega-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489"]socket plug adapters[/ame] that allowed me to plug right into the extension cord. Followed by a small hole in the top and about 45 minutes my work is done. In January we had a strange couple weeks of 20 degree days so I also added an incandescent build for some extra light but more importantly little extra heat. Which I made from a old lamp taking up space in the garage. With all the sides up the box is able to maintain a 70-75 degree temperature even with the chilly conditions in the garage. After a little over a week we seemed to be getting some good results with our first blossom on the strawberry plant my daughter chose under snow in our garden. Old PC Case$ 0.00Extension Cord$ 1.252 - Socket adapters$ 5.00Lamp timer$ 4.002 - compact fluorescent blubs$ 7.00Small sheet of insulated styrofoam$ 2.50Total$ 19.75
Sorry the pics didnt come through so you might want to link over and read the article in its original format: http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/2008/01/cheap-pc-case-grow-box-for-less-than-20.html