Low Budget Mini Fridge LED Grow

Smscreations

Well-Known Member
Long time lurker, first time poster here. This is the start to a very low budget micro grow that ive been wanting to do for awhile now. I've got a couple closet grows under my belt and wanted to see what i could pull off in a small confined space.

To start out i acquired an old mini fridge with outside dimensions of 27"H x 19"W x 16"D

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Began the process of gutting the interior of the fride to maximize usable inside space. Process took all of about 2 hours.
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Next two images are of the mock-up for led light, pc exhaust fan and passive intake.
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With the compressor out of the way it left me room to mount my power strip and run all my wires through a light trap
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Not overly concerned with smell (now that its legal in my state) but still decided on a simple DIY carbon scrubber.
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After a failed germination of a pretty old Trainwreck bagseed i was gifted an Amnesia Haze Fast Feminized seed of Seedmans genetics from a buddy of mine. seed cracked within 24 hours in paper towel germination method, but upon waking up next morning the paper towels had dried up so off into a pot of Happyfrog watered with Ph'd water it went.
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Heres the whole setup as it sits right now. After a few weeks in veg will transplant into 5 gallon smart pot with Natures Living Soil concentrate filling bottom of pot and rest Happyfrog. Planning on trying a water only method thru entire grow with lots and lots of LST, as ive only got about 14 inches of vertical grow space above height of pot. also planning on Scrogging as well. Temps and humidity are pretty dialed in sitting at about 79 F and 65-70% humidity with no extraction fan running. with fan going full speed i can get temps down to about 73 and humidity levels down below 50%.
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As of today, the bean has sprouted! had an issue with taproot arching up through the soil so buried it a little further and this morning i woke up to it finally breaking the surface.
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fingers crossed for a successful grow through and through. any questions or comments feel free to ask. thanks for looking!!
 

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MrFlatbush

Well-Known Member
Very cool! Are the bare sides sheet metal? If so you can possibly take advantage of magnets to train, save space, manage wires, and to make things as adjustable as possible.

I like how you leveraged the space under the lower "hump". Smart
 

Smscreations

Well-Known Member
Very cool! Are the bare sides sheet metal? If so you can possibly take advantage of magnets to train, save space, manage wires, and to make things as adjustable as possible.

I like how you leveraged the space under the lower "hump". Smart
Thank you!! Yea, the sides are all sheet metal and I've actually got a whole bunch of magnets that I'm going to put to good use in here!! Not a whole lot of space so being able to have things adjust easily as the box fills out will definitely help in the long run
 

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
Worried all day at work whether or not the root was gonna pop back through the soil and shrivel up. Came home to her standing tall!!

Cheers!!


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I did something similar and kept it under my kitchen counter. It worked.
 

Smscreations

Well-Known Member
I did something similar and kept it under my kitchen counter. It worked.
Nice!! I like your setup you had going!
 

Smscreations

Well-Known Member
The seedling stage always makes me anxious just waiting around haha

So in the meantime, I started figuring out stuff to keep me occupied. Took all of 30 minutes to do, so wasn't occupied for too long lol.


Decided to build my Scrog system and figure out a plan for when it comes time for training. 8x7 grid with 1 3/4" squares.
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With the net above the passive intake, I'm hoping to draw my fresh air in underneath the canopy. From the top of the screen to the lights is sitting right at 12 inches. Got a feeling things are going to get really tight if I don't stay on top of the LST from the beginning.
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Planning on transplanting into a 5 gallon fabric pot with the edges rolled down to the height of the little ledge in the back. With it crammed in the rectangular area in the front it may come out to being about 4 gallons since i wont be able to fill it to capacity. Fabric pot sits about 5 1/2 inches to the bottom of the net from the top of the pot. Will also be planning on building a tray for it to all sit in that I'll be able to move whole plant, pot and net system out as one incase the need arises.
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Gonna be awhile to put it all to good use though (temp/hum meter was left outside the box for a little while before putting back in) Will definitely be interesting how low I can keep this sativa and hope she don't stretch into the lights.
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Can really only get the humidity up close to 60% with swings down to about 50% depending on if the outside house door has been left open with only the storm door separating the cold outside from the inside room. Anybody got any tips on getting the humidity up some more? Didn't really want to use wet towel for fearing they would dry out too fast. Was thinking one of those cool mist humidifiers that attach to a water bottle put on a timer so mist about every 30 minutes to an hour. Any input would be greatly appreciated!!
Cheers!
 

Smscreations

Well-Known Member
Very nice job my friend. I have always been a small space grower and take pride in these same sorts of projects... I'll be watching


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I keep my seedlings in a small spot.
Nice!! Yea, this will be my smallest grow yet. I've always played around building small cabs but never got to put them to use. Was more or less just trying to figure out a design of something so small. Had this old fridge lying around and figured I'd give it another shot.
 

Smscreations

Well-Known Member
Week 3/ Day 15

Still steady going! Moving on to her 4th node and getting some new growth at each internode. Natures Living Soil concentrate is on its way. Roots are starting to pop out of bottom of pot, so will probably transplant into my 5 gallon smart pot by end of week and start training her to keep her low. Fungus gnats have completely subsided after watering with peroxide solution. Still having issues with humidity staying steady at about 40% so may have to order a little travel humidifier and put it on a timer to combat that issue.



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Damn rosemary plant exploded in growth in its new home gonna have to take her out soon though to make room for the smart pot.

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Cheers!
 

Shaded420

Well-Known Member
You are a brave man! I grew in a carboard box around the same size years ago - you are going to be VERY height restricted. Keep in mind that yes you have 12"...but only about 6-8" of that will be usable unless you want to burn your plants.

Maybe I missed it but what light are you using? Is a 5 gallon pot even going to fit inside there? lol
 
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