I was thinking of building a grow box. Made of wood. 5 Feet deep; 6 feet tall; and 4 feet wide. Rectangular shape. I'm planning on keeping this in my basement. I'm the only person to go down there so it's my best bet. I was thinking of using a PVC rigged idea I saw elsewhere on here, with 4-5 CFL bulbs. I have access to about 4 Laptop fans, I could use within this grow box; unless I'd need a little higher power fan. Is wood a bad idea? I'd rather have this be a DIY project rather than order a phenomenal amount of items. I was thinking of using a timer for the lighting. The few problems I've come across, is would an air tight box, aside from the fans be fine to work with? I was planning on lining the inside with a reflective lining. I'm hoping to have maybe 2-4 plants in here. My main concerns with this project is, aside from the lighting, how else could I keep the heat up inside the unit? [I live in NY so it does get a bit chilly.] Also, how could I go about keeping the smell to a minimum? Any filters or anything to use? Other than that, the only other questions I have are few. Can anyone suggest any links to how to tell the difference between males and females quickly? Any suggestions, or ideas would be greatly appreciate
I know people use foil and other materials like that for the reflection, but I was told not to do that. I painted the inside of my grow cabinet flat white. Mine is about the size you are proposing to build. I have 3 lights across the top, and I have just added two clamp lights, one on either side, for more light on the bottom buds. I use a small space heater with a built in thermostat to maintain a temp of 75 during lights on an about 65 when the lights are off. As for sexing the plant, there are pics posted in the sticky threads. Just look there.
Wood is fine for construction. The box you are planning is much too big for 2-4 plants. I would suggest that instead you consider buying a cheap storage unit that can be found at Home Depot, Walmart, etc and converting it to a grow space, better dimensions for 2-4 plants and will look more in place in your basement in case anyone ever does go down there. You also are woefully underlit with only 4-5 CFLs. You will need intake and exhaust, not just fans inside blowing the same air around. At 120 cubic feet, you'll need a real fan, a laptop fan is puny. And you will need a carbon filter on the exhaust to control odor. You absolutely need a timer for the lights. Use a space heater outside the grow feeding to your intake to warm the box. There's a sticky thread on sexing at the very top of this here Beginners forum. Sounds like you still are shaky on a lot of the basics, I suggest you continue reading all the sticky threads and grow guides, check the links in my sig, scroll back through several pages of threads in the Beginners and Indoor sections and read all that, you still have a lot to learn.
The dimension's I'm shaky on. I'd really like to build it myself. Would 4 feet deep, 5 feet wide, and 4-5 feet tall be better? I'm planning on LST the plants. Also, if anyone has any recommendations otherwise I'll be taking pearl75's advice, and paint the interior flat white. Toastybiz, I did look at those storage units, but as is, my basements got a lot of junk down there. Wooden shelving, and wooden boxes filled with antiques, and you can tell they were all made by hand. I'd like to work with the wood I have also, otherwise it'll just rot away. As far as the space heeater goes, the box would be right near the heating downstairs, which while it does fluctuate the temperature, i think it'd be perfect. I may eventually get the space heater. Now I have no reason to hope for a lot of plants. I'd like to stay between 3-4 plants. So I'm looking for the perfect dimensions on this box. I was planning on using about 4-7 cfls at the top; and 2 on each side, about a foot apart, including the back leading for 10-12 bulbs total, unless for the same price range on these I can find less bulbs, that would do the same. [Any suggestions?]
The space can always be too big, but for 4 plants all you will need is 3x3 footprint or even a little less. 1.5 square foot per plant should be plenty of space for LST'd plants in 5 gallons or less.
A few ideas to bounce... If you're wanting a grow area that size in your basement, and you own your home, consider framing out a room instead. Having built a 30x60x72" box myself, I can tell you that it's a PITA to light proof. Next time, I stick to the dimensions of the lumber I use (48" max width or height). Consider building a 2x4 box at whatever height you can get into the basement. It'll be cheaper on the lumber needed, and still big enough for 2 or 3 5-gallon buckets or even 8 plants in 4 gallon buckets. On the lighting, you can start with CFL (I did), but by the time you buy all the fixtures and bulbs (you'll want at least 15x26W bulbs, 30 total), you'd probably be better off getting a 4' T5ho fixture with 8 bulbs. I have the Sunblaze 48, which measures in at 47x22.5", which is pretty tight, but it'll fit in a 2x4 box as long as you have a true 48" inside width (need some wiggle room for the cord). 8xF54T5HO will give you some 40,000 lumens at 432W. Once you have your box built, you're going to want to paint it to protect the wood from moisture, mold, and fungus. Use a super bright, flat white paint. This will give you all the reflectivity you need. You can glue or staple some mylar later, but I'm not sure it'll provide a noticeable difference. I don't have a lot of pics, but check out my journals to see my cabs in various stages of construction.
I like your idea, I wouldn't convert my whole basement to a grow room. My basement is really damn big, but its unfinished, Dirt floor, etc etc. Hence why i'd like to build a small little box. I don't mind growing all the time and what not. I'm thinking a 4 foot by 4 foot rectangular box, with a half door on the front, and 4 to 5 feet tall. As far as lighting goes, it seems to be my only problem. I have the wood, the paint, and everything except for fans, carbon filter, and lights. Which are the things I need the most help with. I'm liking the idea of CFL, just because this is going to be a small box. I'd rather keep it all small to be honest with you. Hence I wouldn't like to build anything bigger than 5' x 5' x 5'. Thinking of staying with my original 4' x 4'x 4'-5'. I'm wondering; if I use 8 CFL bulbs for the top lighting; and use 2 tube lights for both sides would that be sufficient? Or should I add one more tube for the back? Or should I go with a 3 tube light top; and single tubes for the sides & back?
Yeah, with a dirt floor, a cab or tent is the way to go! 16sq ft sounds small, but it's really not when it comes to providing sufficient light for your plants. I had 8 26W bulbs and 2 42W bulbs going in about 24x30" space (pics in my first journal). My plants turned out OK, but they could have been SO much better if I had more lights. In a 4x4' space, you should consider running at least 400W of T5 or a 400-600W HPS. I hear that man! For a personal grow, that's more than enough room for the plants, and as long as you can access them as needed, it'll work great. My next home will have an unfinished dry basement at the top of the list of features, and I will have a regular grow room that I can walk into. I just hope I don't talk myself into growing more than I really need. I've not played with side lighting yet, as my cab is way too small for that. With sufficient lights up top, I don't know that you'd really need it. Though, I'm sure it won't hurt anything. Good luck with your build, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.