Grow cabinet made from pool-side storage box - Check this out!

I have this home-grown grow box that I constructed from a pool-side storage box. I bought the box at my local home improvement store for around $125.00.



I first added some swivel wheels to the bottom so that I can move the box around easily. I painted the inside flat wide to get as much light reflectivity as possible. I added a foam seal all around the lid to ensure no air escapes that way. I installed a 120mm computer fan at the bottom to push air into the box.



At the top of the box, I added a 75cfm squirrel-cage extraction fan. Mounted to the fan is a phresh 4x8 carbon filter to remove as much odor as possible. There is 25 cubic feet of volume in the box and with the filter attached to the fan (slowing air flow a bit), I figure I'm still replacing the air in the box at least twice a minute.



Above is a closeup of the inside top of the box showing the extraction fan and filter. I also installed a power-strip with integral timer. Four outlets are "always on" and feed my intake and extraction fans which run constantly. The other four outlets are controlled by the timer and are where I plug in my LED grow lights.

Below is a pic of the back of the box. Just wanted to show the intake fan at the bottom and the "exhaust port" at the top. I also installed a four-inch duct adapter so I can hook the box up to a dryer duct and extract the air to the outside if desired.



And here she is ready to go. Eventually, I'll get rid of the chains and add a light pulley system, but for now the chains give me plenty of control over light height.



I have a seed of "Blueberry Headband" germinating in a solo cup now and within a few days will take up residence in her new home for the next few months.

Tell me what you think. If you experienced indoor growers have any suggestions on how I can improve this box, please let me know!

Clean box I like it

Cool idea. Just right for a single plant 2'x2'x5'. That was some "thinking outside the box", you might say.

Very clean. I like it!

right on !

Only thing is they're pretty costly, usually about $250. I'm sure there's a cheaper why to get a box that size, but if you already have one or find a cheap one at a yard sale it might be worth it. Things made for storing clothes are usually about the right size and relatively cheap. I just used Walmart portable closets, made of fabric. I just put a solid support on the bottom of it and put it on rollers, put mylar inside. BTW if you ever use mylar emergency blankets for reflection I suggest crumpling it up in a ball first so it's not smooth. Smooth mylar causes too much burning. Crumpled is much more diffuse, almost like diamond texture reflectors. I see Walmart has a closet now with wheels already on it. Here's a page with various portable closets.

This is the one with the wheels, also has a metal support on the bottom so that's another plus, also another one near the top, probably good for mounting lighting stuff on. Just costs more than the others but I wouldn't mind getting a couple. Look like premium grow tents, good 6 footers.


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This one's a lot cheaper, about $10 believe it or not. Probably no shelves in it though. Nice dark color to keep light in or out. Can't go wrong with a $10 grow tent.

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That looks really nice. Very neat setup. And you've given it a fair bit of thought. Which is more than what I can say for my own cabinet. I could learn a few things from you.

Really nice and well thought out. And long lasting. Unlike my first grow tent.

John1961 said:

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Dude...what kind of fan is that? It's crazy small. Some type of blower? Is that a 4" filter? I love that setup. A link to where you got that fan would be awesome!

giantsfan24 said:

Dude...what kind of fan is that? It's crazy small. Some type of blower? Is that a 4" filter? I love that setup. A link to where you got that fan would be awesome!

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The blower is a Dayton model 1TDN5. It's rated at 53cfm, which is more than sufficient for the volume of my cabinet of less than 30 square feet. You can buy this blower on Amazon for less than $65. I then used a 4-inch PVC "pipe cap" as an adapter, mounting it to the intake flange on the blower. I then used a Phresh 4x8 carbon filter, mounting it to the PVC adapter.

Here are pics of a similar blower that I started out with, a model 1TDP7. This particular blower is rated at 148cfm and it ended up being far too powerful for my small cabinet so I replaced it with the 1TDN5 model. But the design is pretty similar.

John1961 said:

The blower is a Dayton model 1TDN5. It's rated at 53cfm, which is more than sufficient for the volume of my cabinet of less than 30 square feet. You can buy this blower on Amazon for less than $65. I then used a 4-inch PVC "pipe cap" as an adapter, mounting it to the intake flange on the blower. I then used a Phresh 4x8 carbon filter, mounting it to the PVC adapter.

Here are pics of a similar blower that I started out with, a model 1TDP7. This particular blower is rated at 148cfm and it ended up being far too powerful for my small cabinet so I replaced it with the 1TDN5 model. But the design is pretty similar.

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Wow.. Great add. Can it be speed controlled? Being a blower I assume so. Is it loud? Did you just wire up a power cord to it or did one come preinstalled? Does it work to control odor?

Thank you for the reply!

I've often thought about putting a speed controller on it but in the end I felt it wasn't really necessary for my application. The blower is not very loud at all, considering it is completely inside the cabinet. The hollow plastic walls of the box seem to insulate the sound quite well. The power cord I just wired up myself (one black wire, one white wire, and ground).

During veg, and maybe a couple of weeks into flower, the filter efficiently removes all traces of odor. But once flowering really kicks in, the odor becomes progressively stronger and the filter begins to have a hard time removing all of the smell. It's at that time when I hook up the outlet on the back of the cabinet to a dryer duct so that the air is expelled outside.

John1961 said:

I've often thought about putting a speed controller on it but in the end I felt it wasn't really necessary for my application. The blower is not very loud at all, considering it is completely inside the cabinet. The hollow plastic walls of the box seem to insulate the sound quite well. The power cord I just wired up myself (one black wire, one white wire, and ground).

During veg, and maybe a couple of weeks into flower, the filter efficiently removes all traces of odor. But once flowering really kicks in, the odor becomes progressively stronger and the filter begins to have a hard time removing all of the smell. It's at that time when I hook up the outlet on the back of the cabinet to a dryer duct so that the air is expelled outside.

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I've got just over 19 cubic feet and the size of this blower really appeals to me. My current fan is an ecoplus 4" but it's a little big. I'm going to give it a try to see out it goes size wise. I've got a Titan Mercury 4 controller which is nice but not that convenient not to mention overkill now that I've transitioned out of HID and into LED's.

Thanks for the info @John1961 !

Very well done. It doesn't get much better than that.

John1961 said:

I've often thought about putting a speed controller on it but in the end I felt it wasn't really necessary for my application.

But once flowering really kicks in, the odor becomes progressively stronger and the filter begins to have a hard time removing all of the smell.

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The lower issue is because of the fan. The fan is actually moving air too quickly, so as flower kicks in the air moves through the carbon filter too fast for all the odor to be removed.

Buying a controller and slowing it down a bit will actually help remove the odor.