Stealth grow in mini fridge. Help? I'm a newbie.!

Hey everyone..

Basically.. I'm new to growing. I've read alot of topics on other grows and watched video instruction, though, so I think I understand the basics.

Anyways.. I have a mini fridge in my room and I think it would be the perfect stealth grow site. I attached 2 pics, one of the fridge (excuse the mess on the bottom.. my brother just gave it to me..) and one of the fridge with edits showing how I would try to make it work.. Obviously I'm posting here for suggestions because I don't know if this is a good plan or a complete failure.

Main concerns are obviously temperature, lighting, and odor.

For temp:
I will have about 5 handheld fans going on the top shelf to cool down the lights directly pointed on them. Also I will have a big fan (3 speed honeywell) on the bottom pointed toward the mother plants to cool them out and give general circulation to the air. There will ALSO be 4 handheld (i have like 15 of these little guys) taped to the walls to give direct attention to the "normal plants" (not sure what else to call them?).. the air isn't very strong.. it would just give a nice cool breeze on them. ALSO** I will keep the fridge running very low (since i'm 95% sure i'll be using HPS lighting which i've read gets very hot) so it will give some cooling there. I think this will cover the temperature.. If not, give suggestions please.

For lighting:
I'm not sure where to even start here. I know I need HPS, but I don't know anything about installing them.. My current mindset is just to go to homedepot and find some HPS lights and install them easily in the top.. But I'm almost certain it wont be that easy. Can anyone fill me in on what I'm missing here? Or if I should just get different bulbs all together. The surface of the inside IS white and it's that sort of glossy type plastic, so it should reflect the light well.

For odor:
I'm gonna play it as I go with this one. I have a thing that sprays scent every 9 minutes and have like a years worth of refills. I guess I'll just keep that going on the outside of the fridge? Not sure what I could do on the inside to reduce smell, though. Any ideas?

Other things I should mention:
1) The fridge is 2 feet 5 inches tall, and 1 foot 4 inches wide. (measuring from inner wall to inner wall).
2) This is a super stealth grow.
3) Budget is around $300.
4) I'm going to start from clones, not seeds.

Thanks alot in advance haha.

No suggestions?

I have a friend who used a similar sized fridge and he uses it as a flowering cab. He has a 150w HPS inside and yields about 2-3 ounces each grow with 2 plants.

1.First he gutted the insides, removing the shelfs on the door and the freezer compartment.
2. Added a piece of glass sealed around the edges near the top where the freezer was to act as a barrier between the light and plants.
3. Two holes were cut on the top backside of the fridge for 2 fans. (one blowing air in over the light and another suckin air out.

So now you have a more spacious cab with an air cooled 150W HPS.

4. Below the glass is the area for the plants, so two more holes were made with 2 more fans. One blowing air in to bring fresh air to the plants and the other sucking the air out. (I recommend the intake being on the bottom and exhaust at the top to remove hotter air. You can achieve circulation with just one fan sucking the air out passively bringing fresh air through the bottom hole in the cab.)

5. Seal up the door if it doesnt already then maybe add some diy filters to keep out bugs, dust, mold and smell.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

when gutting he left the main walla inside of the fridge (even has that little shelf in the back), only removed the door shelves because they protrude into the cab and the freezer area for the light.

justsmoked said:

I have a friend who used a similar sized fridge and he uses it as a flowering cab. He has a 150w HPS inside and yields about 2-3 ounces each grow with 2 plants.

1.First he gutted the insides, removing the shelfs on the door and the freezer compartment.
2. Added a piece of glass sealed around the edges near the top where the freezer was to act as a barrier between the light and plants.
3. Two holes were cut on the top backside of the fridge for 2 fans. (one blowing air in over the light and another suckin air out.

So now you have a more spacious cab with an air cooled 150W HPS.

4. Below the glass is the area for the plants, so two more holes were made with 2 more fans. One blowing air in to bring fresh air to the plants and the other sucking the air out. (I recommend the intake being on the bottom and exhaust at the top to remove hotter air. You can achieve circulation with just one fan sucking the air out passively bringing fresh air through the bottom hole in the cab.)

5. Seal up the door if it doesnt already then maybe add some diy filters to keep out bugs, dust, mold and smell.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Click to expand...

I'm trying to do something really similar to the OP and your friends set up sounds great. What kind of tool did he use to cut through the back of the fridge, and what kind of fans were installed?

I'm planning on putting mine in the garage, and I'm thinking the smell won't be too noticeable out there? Or do you think I'll need a carbon filter?