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Im building a grow box

tony05

tony05

Hi folks.

With the whole fatalii "comparison :lol:" happening......... i got motivated to build something to grow chillis in under lights.

ITs not big enough to grow a full sized plant in but im not interested in that and dont have the room.

I mainly built this to start seeds in and get them mature through the winter so i get bigger crops earlier there fore needing less plants.

Im not interested in growing 7 million plants....... i can only use so much chilli, and hope to use this to get 6 to 8 plants up and running.

I have insulated it with 15mm foam and will be insulating the doors as well. Also going to put perspex inspection windows on the doors to avoid opening to look and letting any heat out during winter. I want to make it as energy efficient as possible.

I have a 50W electrical panel heater that i will hook up to a temp controler to ensure a constant temp in the box. Also going to go chase a 24hr timer tomorrow to run the lights.

Now to organise some big bad lights for it.

cheers

growboxopen.jpg


growboxcloased.jpg
 
Is that what they call stealth growing on forums for "herbs"?

I'd love to have something like that, but my apartment is too small. Or the books too many maybe:)
 
Good looking project, that should work fine....the timers are relatively inexpensive...I got mine at walmart and they have lasted one year so far...you can set them for any light period you want...
 
Not so much stealth, as i have nothing to hide. More energy efficiency. It will be 10 deg c in my garage over winter and i want it to stay at 28 in the box so the more heat i can keep in, the cheaper it will be to run. And with the rising cost of power....... will be worth the effort.

It cost me a total of $10 so far, using what i had lying around and had to buy the hinges, magnetic door latches and door handles today.

I dare say the cost will go up soon with lights.

Question about lights......... AJ, im hoping you can help.

I have seen most use 6300k lights to grow and around 2800k for flowering ect.

The closest i could get at the local bunnings (wallmart) was 5000k. Will these have too much green and not enough blue for good groath?

Im thinking of just buying the proper 6300k lights off the net.

any help would be great.

cheers
 
Tony, a lot of people have different opinions on types of lights...personally I use 6500K for seedlings, then when I move to my "grow area" I use a mixture of 6500K and 4100K, then when they go in the grow box (if they do, I use 2 to 1 ratio of 6500K and 2600K, 2 being the 2600K ones)

5000K should be good enough for seedlings I would think...the only reason I am using the others is they were readily available at Homus Depos...
 
mmm. Im going to go to the local lighting place tomorrow and chase up the real things...... 100W 6500k lamps.

Im just worried the 5000k lamps will have too much green and not the blue i want. But im not sure. I cant find anything to tell me.

cheers
 
Went into my local hydroponics shop today. Asked them if that has some ofthat reflective sheeting i could stick on the sides of my box. He only sold it by the roll and wanted almost $100 for it. bugger that!

I also asked him about lights. Tried to sell me a double 2 foot fluro for 3 times the price that are at the hardware stoor, and the big 100W fluro glrow lights were double what they want on Evilbay for them.

So i walked out...... decided to do a bit more research on lights and also decided to line the inside with tin foil! THe money i save will pay for the lights!

cheers
 
Hey Tony, just get a can of gloss white paint or two, it will work fine.

I really think you are going to be kicking yourself with the height of the deal though. It won't take long at all for the foliage to reach up to the lights! Nice job for ten bucks :)
 
Ahhhh mate...... im not interested in growing full sized plants through winter!
Im actually loosing interest in this comparison thing as well. I simply dont have the space for it, and whats the point when we have a long growing season.

The expense of it (and i just got a nasty power bill for 6 months worth) is prohibitive for the gains.

YEah it would be fun but i just want a box i can get 6 to 8 plants to 1 to 2 feet tall ready to put out in the warmth of spring.

The plants i got started in about april and grew under lights through winter are producing massive amounts of peppers but i havnt had a single pepper from the ones i started from seed come spring.......well super hots anyway!

thats my plan anyway.

cheers
 
Box looks good....

I'm doing the same as you but my box will be a bit taller so I can grow in winter.......but really my main aim is to have a good quality set up to prepare for next spring....
 
yeah....... thats my aim. GEr trady for spring through winter.

Why grow a plant or 2 during winter when i can produce about 800% more peppers than i need from just a few plants through summer and dry/picle them for winter use.

cheers
 
tony05 said:
Why grow a plant or 2 during winter when i can produce about 800% more peppers than i need from just a few plants through summer and dry/picle them for winter use.
Click to expand...

'Cause you can have fresh, homegrown pods during the cold months?

Is this a test? :lol:
 
Mmmmm true AJ.......... but i have seen the space you have and i have a similar space in my garage.

Mine is taken up by home brewing so i can have premium quality grain brewed beer on tap all year round for about 60c a glass.

Chillis come second im afraid!

Frozen pods make sauce just as good :)

cheers
 
tony, if you do decide to just paint the inside you would want to use a flat white, it reflects more while gloss white just looks more shiny.

Dale
 
Tony, frozen pods are the way to go in your off season. I filled a gallon size bag last fall and I eat those peppers all the time in everything I cook and the bag still looks full. Even though you want to keep the heat in to keep plant warm, air exchange is a key to healthy plants in a box.
 
tony05 said:
Mmmmm true AJ.......... but i have seen the space you have and i have a similar space in my garage.

Mine is taken up by home brewing so i can have premium quality grain brewed beer on tap all year round for about 60c a glass.
Click to expand...


Any chance we could get pics of that setup? Sounds quite intriguing man, i'm going to be getting started up homebrewing in a month or so. Another thing i'm using income tax return money for :)
 
THis setup took me years to build Tx.

I have this in my garage plus storage areas for barley grain, 2 fridges and a chest freezer for fermenting in (35 deg in my garage in summer) and holding a keg with tap out the door. There are also shelves that hold around 600 longneck bottles. You can see these on the right of the pics of the grow box.

I have a simple setup that i use to make smaller batches. I mainly use the brew rig for making 50 to 60 liters at a time as the pump removes the nacecity for lifting the weight.

check this thread. I will update it with pics of my simple setup soon.

cheers

http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=4719
 
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