DIY DIY Projects

Outdoor Grow Box

Last fall I decided to build an outdoor grow box. My little indoor area can only fit 4-6 plants and the Mrs. wouldn't let me use the spare bedroom, so I thought, what the hell. It's 4' square and the side walls are 6'. The back is a foot higher, which gives me good run off and on the inside, a place to put my fan. I put the overhang on the front so I can work there when it's raining. It's 2 x 4 construction, 1/2" plywood on the outside, 1/4" on the inside, shingle roof, fully caulked and insulated.

I built the floor, walls and roof in my garage and assembled it on I site I had prepared next to my guinea fowl pen. If anyone asks, I tell em it's a brooder box for the hens. I had electricity running to my fence, about 20' away so just dug a shallow trench, laid some conduit and I had juice.

Inside I have a 4" fan hooked to both a variable speed controller and a thermostat. A small electric heater, also on a thermostat. For light I'm using a 600 watt HPS. It took a little while to get the temperature control dialed in, but now I'm running about 82-84 lights on and 74-76 lights out. I installed a remote temperature sensor so I'm able to monitor my temps from the house.

I'll be finishing up my first crop in another week or two. Six Onyx and 2 Auto Assassins. They got off to a rough start till I got the temperature control figured out but are looking read good. I'll be able to do one more grow before the weather starts to get too warm. I'll shut it down for the summer but will start it up again in the fall, soon as the weather cools. I'm hoping to do 3 crops a year of either 9 three gallon pots or 12 two gallon pots.

Total cost was about $700 but I already had the light, reflector and ballast. I did all the work myself, including the wiring. It was a fun project and I'm enjoying being able to pursue my hobby during the winter.

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Well done muddy! i've been thinkin of doin somethinl like this to expand my space... but I have neighbors a bit too close for comfort.... very well done though!
 
Thanks much. It's working out better than I expected. Of course, now I wish I had made it bigger!


Well done muddy! i've been thinkin of doin somethinl like this to expand my space... but I have neighbors a bit too close for comfort.... very well done though!
 
here in the next few months im going to be building a canna friendly edition onto my house:thumbs:
 
Temperature consistent Heavy duty CO2 generator-
Problems-Ferment CO2 gens need heat/warmth, often do not produce a lot of CO2 from gallon size containers

Solution- 5 gallon bucket w gasket lid or go all out with a big blue recycled chemical bin, aquarium water heater or bigger if needed, some fat hosing to make S water trap/ bubbler, bunch of yeast and sugar.

Ya'll are smart. Sure ya can figure out the assembly. you could attach reg aquarium hosing together and run to individual plants and tape to stem or hang to release CO2 right at the leaves.

Plan to get more yeast and sugar in about 2 weeks. Still cheaper than CO2 Can systems or even the boost buckets I've seen that are temperature oriented as well.
If you get a distiller you can make your own shine thereafter.
 
@Muddy

Clean and Organized, well done mate! :clap:

Very impressive skills as "builder" I must confess, wish I had such skills too! :drool:
 
I'm in the planning stage for a spring project, building a mini-greenhouse, more of a cold frame really. I'm envisioning a box, 4 feet x 8 feet by 4 feet tall. It will be a lean-to against the south side of my house. The sides will be plywood inside and out with inch and a half foam for insulation. It will have treated T&G 18 inches below ground, pole barn style. The low sloping top will be Solexx, hinged along the back edge. The front will be removeable for easy acess.

The soil is loamy sand and gravel, well drained, with a fair layer of top soil. I plan on digging down and composting and amending what is there and use that, raised bed style, at least initially.

The spot I picked to put it is over a basement window that doubles as the exhaust outlet for my inside grow room, so that 80f degree air can be put to good use. At some point I may hook up a rain barrel from the nearby downspout and plumb an irrigation system into the box.

I'm looking for a spring and fall crop out of it. The south side of my house is in full sun and even though its an area that is seldom seen, I would rather it look like a storage box than a greenhouse, less questions to answer.
 
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