mlano1
Active Member
I'm building a micro grow box to use in my bedroom. Researching the industry, there are many crappy designs that are insufficient or overpriced, usually both. I'm going to build a small box to house 25-30 plants this winter until come springtime when I can replant after a half year of reveg.
My experience
-grower for 10 years now (age 22)
-built my first computer at age 10
-studying HVAC at Laney College
-part-time backyard organic regular vegetable gardener for my father who is a private chef, growing arugula, tomatoes, and dandelions for my guinea pigs and rats
All my larger facilities have been offline for at least nine months now, and I'm growing in my friend's backyard some small plants. I want to re-veg them all winter long after harvest this fall. I'm growing males out because I want seeds, the volume of total yield is expected to be less than one pound from my thirty four-foot-tall outdoor plants. They're in a shaded area and weren't planted until June this year in Berkeley.
They're in small one gallon fabric pots and have formed extensive root systems through to the garden vegetable beds in which they are planted. The sole plant on concrete looks almost the same height as the others but has an increased internode length and all the leaves are tilted downward, droopy, whilst all the ones
in the garden bed are pointing upward happily. They're connected to 1gph drippers from a central digital irrigation controller watering at 10AM and 2PM daily for 5 minutes now.
I'll probably process the plants into hash or edibles, after extracting the seeds.
After harvest I expect them to be between 2-3 feet tall including the pots. When re-vegging they sit with no growth for one month
Key issues to work out
-how to keep the box from broadcasting light outside, so I can sleep with it in my room
-how to make it acceptably strong but not too heavy
-how to secure the box so it doesn't fall
-where exactly in my room to place it
-I wish to place the box in a very high or somewhat awkward position so as to use unused space in my room, but need to keep it accessible, so I don't hurt myself working on it
I've got six two foot fluorescent tubes for light already which should be sufficient for at least the first two months or until the reveg process is complete. I'm thinking of building it out of plywood, and putting it on a shelf about five feet up from the ground, and using computer fans for ventilation to keep it quiet. I'll mount the fans on opposite sides of the box and will use variable speed control compatible ones that are at least four inches, high quality models with fully sleeved ball bearings. I'm planning to use at least six to eight fans total, and I'm going to integrate a raspberry pi to control the temperatures, fan speeds, humidity, integrating web monitoring so I can check the box wherever I am, and an emergency shutdown function that will first shutdown the lights if the temperature gets over eighty five degrees and will eventually cut the power if it keeps increasing, in the case of a fire.
Whether I get replies or not, I'm going to post detailed plans, sketches, wiring diagrams, photos, video and blueprints of this once completed. I don't intend to profit personally monetarily, I wish to facilitate the open flow of information, improve my designs, and to finally give back to the community which created me. Thanks guys.
My experience
-grower for 10 years now (age 22)
-built my first computer at age 10
-studying HVAC at Laney College
-part-time backyard organic regular vegetable gardener for my father who is a private chef, growing arugula, tomatoes, and dandelions for my guinea pigs and rats
All my larger facilities have been offline for at least nine months now, and I'm growing in my friend's backyard some small plants. I want to re-veg them all winter long after harvest this fall. I'm growing males out because I want seeds, the volume of total yield is expected to be less than one pound from my thirty four-foot-tall outdoor plants. They're in a shaded area and weren't planted until June this year in Berkeley.
They're in small one gallon fabric pots and have formed extensive root systems through to the garden vegetable beds in which they are planted. The sole plant on concrete looks almost the same height as the others but has an increased internode length and all the leaves are tilted downward, droopy, whilst all the ones
in the garden bed are pointing upward happily. They're connected to 1gph drippers from a central digital irrigation controller watering at 10AM and 2PM daily for 5 minutes now.
I'll probably process the plants into hash or edibles, after extracting the seeds.
After harvest I expect them to be between 2-3 feet tall including the pots. When re-vegging they sit with no growth for one month
Key issues to work out
-how to keep the box from broadcasting light outside, so I can sleep with it in my room
-how to make it acceptably strong but not too heavy
-how to secure the box so it doesn't fall
-where exactly in my room to place it
-I wish to place the box in a very high or somewhat awkward position so as to use unused space in my room, but need to keep it accessible, so I don't hurt myself working on it
I've got six two foot fluorescent tubes for light already which should be sufficient for at least the first two months or until the reveg process is complete. I'm thinking of building it out of plywood, and putting it on a shelf about five feet up from the ground, and using computer fans for ventilation to keep it quiet. I'll mount the fans on opposite sides of the box and will use variable speed control compatible ones that are at least four inches, high quality models with fully sleeved ball bearings. I'm planning to use at least six to eight fans total, and I'm going to integrate a raspberry pi to control the temperatures, fan speeds, humidity, integrating web monitoring so I can check the box wherever I am, and an emergency shutdown function that will first shutdown the lights if the temperature gets over eighty five degrees and will eventually cut the power if it keeps increasing, in the case of a fire.
Whether I get replies or not, I'm going to post detailed plans, sketches, wiring diagrams, photos, video and blueprints of this once completed. I don't intend to profit personally monetarily, I wish to facilitate the open flow of information, improve my designs, and to finally give back to the community which created me. Thanks guys.