Building a new grow box for my first grow, pics and descriptions.

Decided for my first grow I want a controlled inviorment so I took a look in the ol shop and found a bunch of old materials and put the noggin to work. I had a bumch of old OSB plywood that was cut in 8x2.5 strips, so I had to peice alot of the box together, made it look like crap but I cant complain. I am building this for free! Besides the caulking and mylar, everything else is free! The box is 4'x4'x2.5', and is almost complete. Figured I'd go ahead and post my pics so far so I can get some feedback. Let me know what ya think!

Framed up.


I made a square with the pipe wrap and for my door I just screwed a board over it making it light and air tight. Worked better than I thought it would!


I decided to mount the ballast outside the box to eliminate as much heat as possible, I am using a 6 lamp t5 HO fixture with 1 ballast controlling 2 lamps and the other controlling 4 lamps. The ballasts are mounted on top of the box with the wires going through the top. And after some hardcore wiring, here it is!



Ballast mounted on top.
[IMG]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd129/andygallet/IMG_20110905_145958.jpg

Let there be light!


I drilled 4 passive intake holes on the bottom, later I will use 2 PVC plumbing 90's painted black to eleminate light leaking out the bottom.



Now all thats left is putting the mylar on the walls and I'm waiting on my exauhst fan to come in. Soil and nuets on the way. I orded some Diavolo seeds and hopefully I can start this weekend! I will keep this post updated until the project is complete, then start a grow journal. Happy trails.

looking good so far dude. i have a 4 day old diavolo right now. nice truck. 6 in on 35's? ive got a f150 on 33's. if you are using t5's i would recomend lsting the plants heavily due to the lack of light penetration. i will be building a stealth dresser with a cool tubed 150w hps in it. you should look into that for later and possibly use the t5 for side lighting? just an idea, high and rambling ha. ready for deer season? i cant freakin wait

peace

looks great man love to see people make their grows instead of throwing away money
what u going to use for fans

Hey guys sorry its been a while since I've been able to respond. I finally completed the box today and after much trial and error I can now say that I have successfully created the perfect grow enviornment!

Crazy- Thx man, you are correct on the truck. I wouldnt mind using a HPS but I really want to try to keep the heat down as much as possible. My first test run with the new setup was at 108F! Also this light fixture was completley free and I think it makes it easier to grow 2 plants in a smaller and longer space. And yes I am f'n ready for deer season, only 2 more weeks till I start bow hunting. Keep in touch man.

Fab- This update should answer your questions buddy, thanks for the support!

NOW BACK TO THE BOX! OK, so after my first post I painted my box white and started doing some test runs. With my passive 4 hole intake and 1 exauhst fan that was 110 cfm I was getting temps of 108! So after some clever thinking me and my buddy who just completed his first grow started brain storming. I decided that 110 cfm was not sufficient enough for my liking so I searched numerous places and finally found the new fan pictured below. Suction was 5x better and it made a difference immediatley! After we got the temp down to 91 F, I decided that I needed more passive intake, so I connected 2 of my intake holes together and that got the temps down to 84 F! Finally I went and bought some cheap fans from walmart and attached velcro to the wall, putting 2 over my main intake and mounted 2 on the side wall blowing down my light fixutre, and also put one of the opposite side of the box blowing up to the fixture and exauhst. Now temps are staying at 81F all day and I think that will work perfect!

My seeds have been germinating for 24 hours now and still no sign of sprouts. I have my Fox farm ocean forest and light warrior ready to be put in the pots and start growing! Look for my grow journal starting this weekend hopefully!

Here is my new exauhst fan mounted, it worked out very well!


Here you can see the white paint, and how I connected the 2 holes making 1 big passive intake.


Here you can see my fans mounted on the wall blowing down the fixture cooling the bulbs.



Thats it fellers! Shes complete, with a perfect vaccum seal (well almost perfect) and a constant temp of 81-84 at 2" below the bulbs. I'd say she will make a perfect grow box, and hopefully my time and dedication will pay off! Thanks for looking, and look for my grow journal!

looks good man. post a link tot he new journal in here when you get it going. i hunt mainly in south tx. more rifle hunting there but none the less i cant freakin wait. nice job on getting the temps down. looks like you have quite a bit of light in there. is your exhaust fan mounted above the light fixture?

later

lol good job. your box seems like it was a lot of work to throw together. i just cleaned out a closet haha. ill be following this thread brother

Thanks guys, ya it was a lot of work but hell that's just the type of guy I am. I forgot to mention that my light setup is 6 t5 ho 54w, 2 2700k and 4 5000k. When budding starts ill be switching to 4 2700k and 2 5000k. Ill have a link for my journal up tonight cause my seeds finally sprouted and ill be planting after work!

Crazy do you have a journal for your diavalo going? Be cool to compair t5 to hps. Yes my exauhst is mounted above the fixture, with the fans blowing on the bulbs there's a huge difference just from feeling the bulbs with your hand. Ill be hunting on toledo where them deep wood bucks grow!

I need to do the same as you as far as exhaust and intake. I am using the same fans on the sides(except theyre target branded) as well as the same thermometer from WalMart haha. My temps/Humidity is exactly the same too (with some fluctuations depending on time of day.) I love the box size though. Mine is half the size.

Nice tires on your truck, what kind are they, look kiinda like the ones i have on my ford!

Krants- those little fans help move the fresh air from my intake alot. But I must say, none of my ventilation could be possible without my exauhst fan. It is literally perfect for this box! When I close the door I can hear it slightly bog down from the vaccum being sealed. Also I am a huge fan of the passive air intakes, i think it keeps the pressure off the plants pretty well. But I guess i cant give too much advice seeing as how this is my first box and my first grow. Thanks for lookin!

AK- ya man they are nitto trail grapplers 36". freakin love those tires.

Sorry to double post, but heres a link to my journal as requested. Thanks for looking!

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/466632-my-first-grow-diavolo-feminized.html#post6294344