I am wanting to buy a prefabricated cabinet for setting up a box to flower in. Does anyone know of a good cabinet that I could buy at a large retailer (Walmart, Target, etc.)? I want it to be as light tight as possible and not look wildly out of place with normal bedroom furniture. As far as size, about 5 feet tall would be best and around 4 sq. across the bottom. I'm open to any other ideas you might have. I just want a decent looking cabinet, ideally lockable, for under $100.
You better add another zero for anything that isn't going to be fucking obvious as to what your doing. Go look at outdoor sheds for garden storage.
I was thinking something like this: Mylex Single Door Pantry - Walmart.com but I'm not sure how well it would work. I don't think I'd need to spend $1000 for something like that. Outdoor sheds would be slightly conspicuous in my room, not exactly what I'm going for.
If you are gonna grow spaghetti, that one will work. Inside dimensions should be a 2' x 3' at least IMO. If you are concerned about looks, then get the tallest old refrigerator you can find and convert it. Those are cheap.
I used a $40 chest of drawers from a Value Village. Removed drawers and mounted the drawer fronts to a piece of finish plywood stained to match cut to fit the opening left sans drawers. 1/4" X 1/2" trim pieces lined around the inside and inset the thickness of the plywood false front act as a stop and help block light leaks. And a middle drawer front's knobs were easily modified into 1/4 turn stealth latches to hold the false front door in place. I powered it with 2-150w HPS mounted vert to an adj homemade hood. 2-12V PC fans mounted on the back at the top corners vented out heat. And 3-1" holes in the back along the bottom allowed fresh air in. I used a Big Blue Air Ball ozone generator (size of a softball, $150) to keep odors at bay. I had 4 Hindu Kush plants on each side to accommodate a monthly perpetual setup (2 mos. total) and got about a zip off each plant. It looked just like a chest of drawers innocently sitting there and even with bi-annual walk thru apartment inspections none was the wiser.
Yo bro i wonder how you managed to keep your temps stable in such a place with 2 150W hps! Pics or didnt happen!!!
I use a dog crate and it works pretty well...right now I have it covered with towels because I have seedlings in there and it gets kinda cold in my room. Trying to keep the temp at around 75 degrees. It's not that high but it does the trick, I'm going to move them outside when it gets a little warmer. But here it is... Well I can't post the attachment because it is already in my grow journal, go here. http://forum.grasscity.com/gardening/1021675-matts-small-garden-journal.html It's the last post I made on that thread. Good luck!
Picks or didn't happen? Lol! There's nothing so impossible about my description to require picks as proof. If you read my post I clearly said two 12v PC fans mounted on the back near the top corners vented the heat effectively from a space that small. There wasn't a 600 or 1000 watt HPS in there. The ballasts are mounted behind and outside the chest and 2 150 bulbs don't create too much heat for the PC fans to vent.
We have helped people refurb an old TV armoire into a grow box. You know, those big ones that were popular before flat screens came into being. They usually have a top section for TV and lower section for storing stuff. (You can use the lower section for storage, or for a clone starter area.) You can usually get them at thrift stores or Habitat for Humanity stores very cheap. You just need to add a new back to replace the old back that has the cutouts. Particle board or plywood work fine for this, as does the white laminated thinner board at home improvement stores. Paint the inside where you will be growing white for reflectivity. To solve the heat problem, use CFLs -- you can get 350w to 400w equivalents for about $25 or less. Put two in the grow box and you have plenty of light, without the heat issues. You should be able to get one and finish it off for around $100.