Ideas for outdoor stealth trash can grow CFL

I just ended my first crop and wanted to keep some going outside. My general idea is to setup a 44g heavy duty rubbermaid garbage can with the top being 2ft and tapering towards bottem, outdoors with probably x4 26w cfl maybe switch to 42w when flowering.

I was originally going to put them in pots but now think i will just put soil right into the bottem.

i would probably cover the inside with mylar, put holes in the bottom for drainage as well as some rocks. I will most likely put vent hole, but the only thing im a little concerned with is light at night coming out of it.

I was also thinking of maybe doing a scrog and topping them.

The two major problems i think i will be facing are:

1.its going to be winter and probably will drop well below freezing, i think that the lights will be enough to keep them warm. Am I completely wrong on this?

2.Venting...will i need all that much especially with it being that cold? How can i have the adequate venting without light escaping?

Here are some pictures of the can. Any comments or ideas you can throw this way would be appreciated. Thanks -ITB

cmon guys, no ideas?

Floros prob won't keep the can warm enough to even grow in. Once the ground freezes, if that can isnt at least 24in... (or more depending on where you live) under ground it will be fighting an ice block around the can. Temps will never be high enough unless you use a termostat with better lighting (ie. large enough to actually heat something). The T-stat would be hooked up to an exhaust fan and turn on when ever the temps reached around 78 ish... or less depending on what you want.

If you could get this to hold a temp. then it may work. But even then your looking at watering it every so often and introducing freezing temps... might shock it if ur not careful

No matter how many heat lamps you cram in the can, it's very unlikely that you'll get anywhere growing outside in freezing temps, and even if you do manage it somehow, your power cost will skyrocket. Better to do it inside, where it's already warm.

or wrap the cans in insulation? Who knows. I've never heard of anybody trying this before and never thought of it as well. If you have a warm house or apt why go outside to plant ?

dude you can buy compact heaters , I had to live in a shed one winter with no insulation and it was brutal until i got a small little heater warmed the whole place up if you have thing thing on low you can totally get er done

A garbage can outside in the winter? Thats weak.

Im sure you can think of something better...

I had the same idea/problems. I was gonna grow outside in a 32gal "roughneck" can, but i decided not to. I thought and thought and thought about how to keep it warm and all, but eventually i just gave up. Find some crawl space or attic or basement area where a trash can won't look out of the ordinary.

Its also a bitch mounting flat/square fans on a round surface.

You can use ceramic infrared heaters on an electronic temperature controller to take care of air temps. It would obviously be beneficial to insulate it.

But don't forget, you also need to control root zone temps. You can use heat cables / heat tape for this (don't skimp on this, make sure you use plenty of it). You would probably need 2 ETC's (google: ranco etc) one for air, one for soil.
If you have a power failure, you'll probably lose your crop, though...

You also need a supply of fresh air or CO2 - maybe one of those co2 buckets? You wouldn't really need the vent if you keep up on the co2. If you do that, you'll really need a small fan (preferably oscillating).

Even then, you'll probably fight humidity with no vent fan. Maybe one of those humiidity absorbing buckets (like people use for damp basements)?

Like ME22 said, you will have to figure out watering. You will shock them with a blast of below freezing air if you open the lid.

Good luck.

thanks for all the comments everyone. Ya, I asked someone about it and they said the same thing, that its way to cold. I'm not trying to spend money on a bunch of lights or throwing a heater in there, so i guess the idea is scrapped.

I wanted to do it because i recently germinated a bunch of seeds from a plant i grew this summer that got a bit pollinated, so i had seeds from it. I was going to grow them in my grow box. But then bought some much better strains online that i will be putting in there instead. I didn't want to kill the little babies so idk. I might try something, anyone have any ideas on what to do with them???

In.The.Basement said:

thanks for all the comments everyone. Ya, I asked someone about it and they said the same thing, that its way to cold. I'm not trying to spend money on a bunch of lights or throwing a heater in there, so i guess the idea is scrapped.

I wanted to do it because i recently germinated a bunch of seeds from a plant i grew this summer that got a bit pollinated, so i had seeds from it. I was going to grow them in my grow box. But then bought some much better strains online that i will be putting in there instead. I didn't want to kill the little babies so idk. I might try something, anyone have any ideas on what to do with them???

Click to expand...

Wait 'till it's actually growing season, and plant them outdoors. Plants don't grow outside in the winter.

In.The.Basement said:

thanks for all the comments everyone. Ya, I asked someone about it and they said the same thing, that its way to cold. I'm not trying to spend money on a bunch of lights or throwing a heater in there, so i guess the idea is scrapped.

I wanted to do it because i recently germinated a bunch of seeds from a plant i grew this summer that got a bit pollinated, so i had seeds from it. I was going to grow them in my grow box. But then bought some much better strains online that i will be putting in there instead. I didn't want to kill the little babies so idk. I might try something, anyone have any ideas on what to do with them???

Click to expand...

Send them to me.

bluetick said:

Send them to me.

Click to expand...

Address??? I'll put in them in some pots too, ship it overnight, haha.