Rubbermaid Tubs Garden Complete

Here is a new project.

This is the second one of these I've built. The idea isn't originally mine, I borrowed it & adapted it to my needs.

What you need:

2 Rubbermaid style tubs (the same size), fairly deep. You don't need the lids.
Mylar or emergency space blankets to line both tubs
A blower or fan for extracting air
A smaller tub for the carbon scrubber unit
Light sockets (I used pre-wired sockets encased in solid rubber)
1 or 2 extension cords for wiring the lights (9' to 15' long depending on how many lights you will be using)
Screw-on type wire connectors; 2 for each bulb + 2 to connect the power cord
"R" and "P" shape rubber weatherstripping
Fiberglass window screening
A piece of thin quilt batting (optional)
Pelletized activated carbon
1" PVC elbows (2 for each passive intake) and about 1.5" of 1" PVC pipe to hold them together
Roll of foil tape
4 ea 1/4" x 1" bolts with nuts

Top Portion of Garden

First, figure out how big you want your garden. My first was made with smaller tubs because I'll be using that for sprouting seeds and rooting clones; I don't need a large or tall garden for that. The second was made with larger tubs that are 15.5" tall each, giving me a 31" tall garden to handle larger plants when needed. The smaller unit will hold 2 shoebox sized Cornerstone brand plastic containers; the larger unit will hold 3.

You want containers that have a flat lip on them broad enough to be able to balance on on top of another. Some brands of these tubs have rounded tops that won't balance together. The Rubbermaid brand tubs I used have a lip that is about 1/3" wide.

In the tub that will be your top, figure out how many lights you want to use. I put them in the front and back staggered so that the lights won't touch.


I find that spacing the lights 6" apart and staggered by 3" works well with almost all compact fluoros.

This is the light socket I use. It is available at Lowes for about $2.75 each. Warning: half of these sockets were faulty when purchased and did not work. I ended up buying twice as many as I needed and returning the faulty ones after I tested them. Test the sockets before you install & wire them in order to save yourself some time & hassle!


After I figured out where I wanted the sockets to be, I traced around the outside of the socket to give a pattern for cutting the hole approximately the right size. Since I traced around the outside of the socket, I made the cut just inside the traced line, not on the traced line. Remember to mount the socket far enough down from the top of the tub that your bulbs will screw in - the bulbs are "fatter" than the socket alone.


I cut the holes for the sockets and then lined the tub with mylar. I used foil tape to fasten the mylar to the tub. Also place strips of foil tape on the mylar inside the tub directly over each hole to strengthen the mylar - you need to slice the mylar open in order to get the sockets through the holes and it will tear very easily if it is not reinforced.

Use a knife and cut the mylar covering the light opening into 8 wedges (pretend you are cutting a pie). Pull the wedge pieces to the outside of the tub. Place pieces of foil tape over the points to secure them in place and smooth the edge of the tape down to the inside of the hole. This will secure the mylar lining and keep it from contacting the socket or bulb.


After you have opened and secured all of the bulb openings, insert the sockets into the holes from the inside. Push the socket as far out as you can, making sure to keep the ground & hot wires lined up so it is easier to wire the sockets when you are finished.


Take the extension cord you purchased and cut the outlet end off - you don't need this. Then cut off a piece of wire approximately 8-9" long to go between each of the lights. In the sample shown, there are four lights, so I need 3 joining wires this length. Strip off about 1/2" of the insulation from each end of the pieces. Use these pieces to connect the sockets.

Start at one end and connect a wire to each of the socket wires using the screw connectors. Pull the other end of the join wire to the next socket, grab another wire so you can connect this socket to the third, and wire the second socket. Where you had only two wires going into each connector on the end light, you will have three wires on the remaining lights. Make SURE you match the wire connecting the ground & hot wires from socket to socket; you don't want to cross them!

If you want all the sockets connected to a single power cord, cut a longer piece of wire to connect to the last light on this side and leave the other end free for the moment.

If you want each side on a separate power cord, then connect the plug end of the remaining extension cord as the "second" wire from the last socket on the side.

Repeat the wiring process on the other side of the garden. If you chose to use a single power cord, bring the two longer connecting wires together on the side of the box and connect them to the remaining portion of the extension cord that has the plug on it.

It is a very good idea to cover all connections with electricians tape to help water proof them (this has not yet been done in the photo below). For safety, I taped the wires out of the way to the tub.


Bottom Portion of Garden

Put the containers you plan to use to hold the plants in and see where you have space to insert the PVC elbows for ventilation. I fit two on each end of the garden and two on the front and back between the containers; a total of 8 holes. I traced around the outside of the elbow the same as I did the outside of the light socket.


If you will be using bubblers or a system that needs to have air or nutrient/drain lines installed, figure out where the holes for these need to be and cut them out, too. Line the tub with mylar as you did for the top. Reinforce anywhere there are holes with foil tape and cut/secure them as for the light holes. Small holes (such as for air lines) don't need to be secured; just pierce through the mylar & tape.

Paint the elbows black so they can't pass light through to the inside of the garden (this is only necessary if you will be flowering inside the container). Insert one elbow through the hole in the container from the inside. Put the 1.5" piece of pipe inside the second elbow and then push it into the elbow that is protruding out from the container. Twist the elbows so the inside one is facing upward and the outside one is facing sideways or down (depending on how close the hole is to the bottom of the container). I use a piece of duct tape or foil tape to hold a circle of fiberglass window screen over the opening on the outside to keep pet fur & other solid debris out of the garden. (Clean this off every so often to keep free air flow going.)


That's it for tonight. I'll post directions on building the air scrubber and finishing touches to the garden later - it's after 2 am and I want some sleep. Yawn!

Man once again Im beaten to the punch lol....I was just dreaming something similar up a bit smaller for as you said,starting seedlings and cloning... a sort of mini stealth box like that toolbox one Geeeeza did at OG...
whoops, forgot to say great idea...

Harry-

Go ahead a post yours, man! You'll probably do some stuff different than I did, so it will give people ideas for variations on the design.

I've seen a couple of seedling/cloning chambers that were made of a single container instead of two stacked; they could be easier to use (removing & replacing the top container from these is a pain in the a** sometimes, especially once the plants have grown tall enough to have leaves that want to stick out).

I've designed a rack that I'll be rigging up a system to raise & lower the lid on the big one. I will probably need to do some tweaking on the design after I have the basic system in place because I'm not sure how balanced it will end up being.

Since I want to put a SCROG setup in the large one, the rack will also allow me to put a reservoir underneath so I can set up a recirculating bubbler system - that way, I can do all the nutrient maintenance from the res instead of needing to access the containers under the screen, which would be a pain.

I'll get the next segment of instructions posted shortly. I've already got the photos uploaded, so all I have to do is write the text.

what Im planning is only small...

Nice one Ambre - I have one of these too, a little different, I use it for my bonzai clone mothers. I only use one tub though and train them down real hard. Two long CFLs are mounted with epoxy to the lid with passive intakes on the bottom and a muffin fan for exhaust. It holds 8 clone mothers. Good show!\

I call it the Bonzai Mothership.

mS

mS- I see I'm not the only one with a new avatar today.

My small one has a muffin fan for exhaust pulling through a small carbon filter. Since it won't be used for flowering, it doesn't need a lot of filtration.

I thought about using a light fixture, but I like the flexibility of being able to change the light intensity and type just by screwing different bulbs in as needed. The disadvantage of my fixed lights is that I can't lower them when the plants are small; a fixture that could be moved up and down would be more versatile, but would use more of the limited vertical room in the container. The decision should be based on each person's needs.

Defintely - it's a great way to get some stuff rolling, adaptable to suit any users needs! I would have rather used coil type CFLs, but stealth was really important for me and the coil type took up too much room in a single rubbermaid with a lid, so that'swhy I went for the low profile fixtures on this lid. In my example it works perfectly for clone mothers. Heck, I could even stack another Mothership unit on the one I have now and I would be able to hold 16 mothers! 16 mothers in a small space like we are talking about is pretty damn good I think. LSTraining manual required of course...

edit - i am faced with the same problem as the light still cant be moved down close to small plants. I just build little stands to bring the plants up closer to the lights. I'm sure that's what you do too but just thought i'd say it :

Carbon Filter

Carbon Filter

I am using one of the Honeywell brand Turbo Force style fans to exhaust this unit. Since I want to mount just the fan into the carbon filter unit, I removed the stand.

Use a straight screwdriver to pop the covers off of the mounts (they're just held on by a couple of posts). Remove the screws and slide the base off of the fan.


I used a 3 gallon Rubbermaid container for the carbon filter unit. Cut a 9" diameter circle into the lid to hold the fan (or whatever diameter needed for the fan you are using).


Cut a rectangle out of the bottom, leaving about a 1.25" rim. The rim will be used to glue and tape a piece of window screen in to hold the carbon.


Cut a hole in the top of the garden unit the same size as the rectangle in the 3 gallon container. Clean the rim of the hole with rubbing alcohol to remove any oils or dirt and put a piece of "P" shape weatherstrip around the hole. Also clean the bottom of the 3 gal bin with alcohol and place a piece of weatherstrip around the outer edge of the bin so it will fit around the outside of the weatherstrip on the garden.


Set the 3 gallon bin in place and use foil or duct tape to secure the two together all around the opening. Don't catch the mylar - tape the two containers together directly. Lightly pull the mylar lining up into the the filter unit and tape it in place.

Cut a piece of window screen a little larger than the bottom of the 3 gallon bin. Place a bead of glue all around the bottom of the filter unit. Use a glue that will work on plastic and fiberglass (I used fiberglass screen). Set the screen in place, put a piece of plastic wrap over a finger to protect your skin from the glue, and push the screen down into the glue. Make sure to spread the glue out a bit as you are pushing. I also used foil tape around the edge of the screen to hold it in place as the glue dries. The glue I used needs to cure for 24 hours before being used.


Once the glue is cured, place a layer of quilt batting in the bottom of the unit. If using thin batting, use two layers. The batting serves two purposes - to keep dust from the carbon from falling down into the garden and to catch any dust or particulate matter before it reaches the carbon (the carbon lasts longer if it doesn't have to deal with particulate matter). You can use a piece of furnace filter instead of batting.


Put the carbon in on top of the batting. I used a layer about 1.25" deep.


Put a piece of window screen over the top of the carbon to keep the fan from pulling it out. Since the fan distorts the shape of the lid on the 3 gal container, I put a strip of "P" weatherstrip around the rim of the container to prevent any air from getting pulled in between the container and lid. The cat who couldn't keep her nose out of the project is Dora (short for Adorable).


Since I'm just setting the fan into the lid and not fastening it in place, I also put a strip of weatherstripping around the rim of the fan where it fits into the lid. This way I can just lift the fan out of the container to change fan speed.


Here is the fan fit into place and the unit is complete.


Here are pictures of the garden unit from the front and side. There are still a few details to finish, but this is about ready to take plants.

thats looking awesome ambre,keep the sweet pics comin'

Finishing Details

Finishing Details

Here is the remainder of the assembly on the basic garden.

First, in order to keep the top & bottom aligned and stop the top from slipping off if it is bumped into, I put a nut & bolt in. To do this, align the two carefully and use a drill or a soldering iron to make a hole large enough to hold a 1/4" bolt. I put two in the back and two in the front about 6" or so in from the ends. Slide a bolt through each hole before making the next hole - this way, the two pieces won't slip and they will all be aligned.

Once all four holes are made, remove the bolts and take the top off of the garden. Insert the bolts into the holes from the bottom side and screw the nut on the top.

Then put strips of "R" style weatherstripping along the top of the lip between the bolts to fill in the gap that the nut will make. This also makes the garden about 1/4" taller. Clean the top of the lip with alcohol to make sure there aren't any oils or anything that will interfere with the adhesive.


In this next picture, you can see that I put the mylar in the bottom of the garden so that it sticks up above the level of the top by about 1.5". This is to help prevent any light leaks and reflect as much light as possible back to the plants.


Put the top of the garden in place, sliding the ends of the bolts through the holes. The larger your unit is, the more difficult this is likely to be, which is why I am going to be building a framework with ropes I can use to lift the top of the garden straight up with pulleys.


I still need to get the PVC elbows for the passive air intakes (I didn't make it to the hardware store today) and the PVC pipe & fittings to make the stand for it. I'll be putting together a small recirculating DWC to use in this unit; the planters will be 6-quart shoebox size plastic containers that will hold 1-2 plants each. This unit will hold 3 shoebox containers, so it will accommodate 3-6 plants depending on how large the plants are.

Clone & Seedling Unit

Here are front and side pictures of my small garden. This one has the PVC elbows with the screen on them in place but not yet tightened, which is why white is showing. I used a smaller plastic container and a muffin fan for the ventilation & filtration. I cut holes in the front of the unit for lights but have not put them in place yet, so the holes are covered with foil tape temporarily (this is being used for seedlings & clones, neither of which needs much light).



Variations

There are many possible variations on this design depending on what it is going to be used for. You can use a vanity-style 3 or 4 light bar fixture hung from the top of the unit with rope so it can be raised & lowered; use the "Y" splitters to put two bulbs in each socket to spread light more evenly. You can use a single container with bar-style fluorescent fixture(s) mounted on the lid as mentioned previously by m.steelers. You can also mount the bar-style fluoro fixtures to the sides for vertical lighting rather than or in addition to the top lighting.

These are handy for seedlings, clones, mothers, and just about anything else. My large one is going to become an auxiliary flowering unit for short plants; I'll most likely be making a SCROG setup to fit in it.

Really neat setup. I may have to try to make something like this.

Kudos Ambre,, very, very nice. I will use some of your thoughts and ideas in my current constuction, and have forwarded a link to this thread to a very dear friend, So Thank You Ambre,, and by the way, congrats on the "Guru" status, you earned it.

VERY COOL!!!!!! I am so glad you did this thread. I am preparing my first grow in a set up similar to yours. I would love to follow your grow also? This is very exciting.

Your DIY looks PROFESSIONAL!!!!

Your DIY looks PROFESSIONAL!!!!

ambre again i feel compelled to tell you that your DIY creations look professionally done and IC magazine should be honored to have you aboard .....these threads with step-by-step plans are truly valuable to the IC community and one day when you have compiled many of these kinds of threads we should string them togerher and create.....

THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF GROWROOM DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY by Ambre the Cat Lady......A Journey in Do-It-Yourself Projects For the Cannabis Cultivation Enthusiast......

(live well & smoke well- your perpetual pal Guineapig)

Thanks for the compliments everyone. As I said, the basic idea isn't mine, but borrowed, the serial numbers filed off, and repainted to disguise it

GP- I love that title. You have a great imagination!


Design Notes:

In the original small bin, I mounted the lights too close to the top of the bin. They fit just fine, but the heat from the ballast and bulb melted the mylar and had the plastic of the top of the tub VERY warm. I moved the lights down (covered the old holes with foil tape) and added some insulation & foil tape above the lights. I also added the insulation & foil tape to the big one and tilted the lights downward away from the top just in case; I might end up moving the light mounts down in that, too.

The number of passive intakes in the large one was not enough (as I suspected), so I had to add more air intake. I deliberately kept the intakes low in the original build because it's easier to add holes than it is to remove them!

As I said before,, KUDOS Ambre, I recognize the concept and the origin, but IMHO, you surpassed them,, ok?

I used a "Sterilite" 55 with a hinge top,
a 4 socket bathroom fixture with "Y" type adapters.
I painted the interior with "Krylon Fusion" paint, flat white of course.
Tomorrow I will pick up the fan you used, 10$ @ "Menards", lol
and the charcoal, tub, and screen, for the odor control.
Excellent design adaptation skills you have lady, Thank You for this thread.
It will make a great "Mothership"

Do you move the plants closer to the lights? I have a setup like this and its taking for ever for the babies to grow and I think its because of how far the light is from the plants. Thanks

Kreat:

Many people use vanity-style light bars to mount their light so they can be raised & lowered. I have mine permanently mounted at the top. If I need to get the plants closer, I put a box or something under their container to raise them up.

If your plants were reacting to light that's too far away, I would think they would be stretching out to reach it rather than staying small.

I've discovered that some varieties of cannabis are very slow growers at first; when they reach a certain "critical mass," they seem to suddenly explode.

Well my setup I have a bathrom fixture holding the CFL, but I don't have it moving up and down. I'm thinking of making it adjustable somehow, i'm just not sure yet.

I have the fixture of HD with the three lights, and each has a splitter on it, There not streching at all, just taking a long time to grow. When I vegged my last plants under my HPS(before my flowering box was made) the same strains grew pretty fast, so i'm not wondering if its the lights.

garden? you meant time machine yeah?