Who would suspect that beneath this unassuming exterior lives a horrifying Garden of Madness? Yes, girls and boys, the DEVIL’S WEED! Well, the cops didn’t. Nor the detective, paramedics or coroner but, that’s another story.
This is the story of a fridge named Shed. Shed first saw action some 14 years ago, long before I’d heard of the innerwebs. I’d heard of people growing indoors under huge lights but, had no such facilities of my own. Then I met Shed and thought, “What is this, if not a small room? All I need do is find a small enough light” So I searched and I searched til I found a 150, cut some vent holes, jury rigged a simple flood and drain and, for 14 years, that was good enough.
Then I found OG, just before the crash. More importantly, I found NGB’s now famous cab. This guy’s getting 3 times my yield in 1/3 the space!?! It’s gotta be the roots. I needs me some roots! But my first attempts at DWC and aeroponics all end in disaster. The fervor died.
Then I find you’se guys. I develop a serious Jones for root porn. You can’t all be making this stuff up. I try another DWC grow on the side. It works! The DWC, under 46 watts of CFL, is outperforming the rockwool under 150 watts of HPS!
So Shed’s getting a makeover. I’ve swapped out the HPS for a 250 CMH and rebuilt the ballast. As a NON electrician, it was relatively easy. Don’t let the idea scare you if you’re thinking of doing ballast work. Here's a shot of the naked cab. Heavy duty ext cord comes through the freezers drain hole and connects to a power strip. The fan is a Toyo (100-120 CFM?) it’s been running almost non-stop for 14 years. I should get a backup, huh? Fan and intake holes use clothes dryer vent kits, the kits flex hoses (on the back of the freezer) provide light baffles.
The ballast used to live inside the freezer. Now it lives outside, underneath the freezer, with the wires running through the intake vent. Looks like I need some new filter material. This is screwing with the hose’s effect as a light baffle. Tomorrow, I should enlarge the drain hole and run the wires through there.
So, here’s where Shed’s at now. The wooden table is because the freezer floor is only flat halfway back and then slopes up. This prevents my using buckets with the door closed. With the table, the buckets can slide back. The shelf goes out when the buckets go in. They still have silicone drying so this setup is temporary.
I recently went 0-10 trying to germ some Sensi Seeds Silver Haze. I’ve had 4 more under a dome for 2 weeks, still hoping. The last 2 just started a 2 month cold water stratification process. Cross your fingers for me.
I know I’m supposed to give away the freebies I got with them but, so far I’m $100 for nuthin’ with the Silver Haze so it looks like I’m growing ThaiHaze x Skunk#1 instead. Planted all five, three cracked (so far) one died (RIP Carrie) and here are Betty and Wilma (Betty’s the taller one in blue)
With so many to thank for inspiration and guidance, I’m just going to say “Thank you everyone.” I hope those more knowledgeable than I (most everyone here) will stop by from time to time to keep me from screwing up. I hadn’t planned on making my first official DWC garden a 160 day grow. Yikes!
Keep cool,
FreezerBoy
This is the story of a fridge named Shed. Shed first saw action some 14 years ago, long before I’d heard of the innerwebs. I’d heard of people growing indoors under huge lights but, had no such facilities of my own. Then I met Shed and thought, “What is this, if not a small room? All I need do is find a small enough light” So I searched and I searched til I found a 150, cut some vent holes, jury rigged a simple flood and drain and, for 14 years, that was good enough.
Then I found OG, just before the crash. More importantly, I found NGB’s now famous cab. This guy’s getting 3 times my yield in 1/3 the space!?! It’s gotta be the roots. I needs me some roots! But my first attempts at DWC and aeroponics all end in disaster. The fervor died.
Then I find you’se guys. I develop a serious Jones for root porn. You can’t all be making this stuff up. I try another DWC grow on the side. It works! The DWC, under 46 watts of CFL, is outperforming the rockwool under 150 watts of HPS!
So Shed’s getting a makeover. I’ve swapped out the HPS for a 250 CMH and rebuilt the ballast. As a NON electrician, it was relatively easy. Don’t let the idea scare you if you’re thinking of doing ballast work. Here's a shot of the naked cab. Heavy duty ext cord comes through the freezers drain hole and connects to a power strip. The fan is a Toyo (100-120 CFM?) it’s been running almost non-stop for 14 years. I should get a backup, huh? Fan and intake holes use clothes dryer vent kits, the kits flex hoses (on the back of the freezer) provide light baffles.
The ballast used to live inside the freezer. Now it lives outside, underneath the freezer, with the wires running through the intake vent. Looks like I need some new filter material. This is screwing with the hose’s effect as a light baffle. Tomorrow, I should enlarge the drain hole and run the wires through there.
So, here’s where Shed’s at now. The wooden table is because the freezer floor is only flat halfway back and then slopes up. This prevents my using buckets with the door closed. With the table, the buckets can slide back. The shelf goes out when the buckets go in. They still have silicone drying so this setup is temporary.
I recently went 0-10 trying to germ some Sensi Seeds Silver Haze. I’ve had 4 more under a dome for 2 weeks, still hoping. The last 2 just started a 2 month cold water stratification process. Cross your fingers for me.
I know I’m supposed to give away the freebies I got with them but, so far I’m $100 for nuthin’ with the Silver Haze so it looks like I’m growing ThaiHaze x Skunk#1 instead. Planted all five, three cracked (so far) one died (RIP Carrie) and here are Betty and Wilma (Betty’s the taller one in blue)
With so many to thank for inspiration and guidance, I’m just going to say “Thank you everyone.” I hope those more knowledgeable than I (most everyone here) will stop by from time to time to keep me from screwing up. I hadn’t planned on making my first official DWC garden a 160 day grow. Yikes!
Keep cool,
FreezerBoy
!
