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My first grow

H

HighStakes

Member
So I decided to grow for personal and its been very exciting to say the least. Have a good friend guiding me along the way and so far its going great.

First I wanted to build my own box. I ended up going with a mini fridge. Stealth was key so it had to seal shut.

Found this beauty on craiglist a few days in.


Decided to first cut the hump out so that i could have an even floor and provide maximum grow height.




Next I cut the door clean and then used aluminum tape to basically recreate the wall and seal it from the insulation in the door.




Filled in the hole with sheet metal and aluminum tape. The holes are for the intake. My exhaust fan is 4" so I decided to used 2 3" intakes to create vacuum but reduce noise.

 
H

HighStakes

Member
continued

continued

Painted the insides of the intake with a flat black spray paint.



Partially assembled and painted with FLAT WHITE outdoor paint and primer in one. Please dont suggest mylar.












So it turned out pretty awesome. already on week 2 of my first grow and its going awesome. Ill do another thread on that later.

IF you have any other questions let me know. I can make a parts list later if you guys want. This wasn't cheap but it was fun and its built to last.:biggrin:
 
Gnz

Gnz

Member
Looks really good! Following.

I see you're running LED, how many watts?

Planning to run soil/coco or hydro?

Looking forward to seeing how this comes along, working with similar dimensions.
 
H

HighStakes

Member
Ill make it short an sweet for now.....

Ill make it short an sweet for now.....

Gnz said:
Looks really good! Following.

I see you're running LED, how many watts?

Planning to run soil/coco or hydro?

Looking forward to seeing how this comes along, working with similar dimensions.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much!:tiphat:

Its a 300W LED putting out maybe 130 true watts full spectrum. Ill list a full parts list next. I am currently using Fox Farms Light warrior as my soil medium. Seems to be working well. I will have a separate thread for the grow coming either later today or tomorrow. Ive got 2 Blackberry Kush going right now.

 
H

HighStakes

Member
Partls List

Partls List

Ok so here is a full list of the parts to build just the fridge. Saving grow details for its own thread.

Light:
BOSSLED 300W $109.00
11,000 Lumens
PAR 380umol/1m
LUX 13,000lux/1m

Fan:
iPower 4" High speed fan 190 CFM $65.00

Filter:
Phresh Filter 4" x 12" $85.00

Fridge $10 on craigslist
Inside dimensions are 27" tall with a floor of 17" x 17"

I do loose a bit of space from the intake, hasnt been an issue yet.

Various items:
4" ducting hose $10
Hose clamps $12
Lock hinge and master lock $8
Paint $15
Used FLAT WHITE for interior and a FLAT BLACK for the light trap.
Brushes $5
Aluminum tape $10
Hardware $10
Light hanging clips 1/8 $5
Fan speed controller $20
Sheet Metal $13
4" PVC connectors for intake and exhaust $20
Timer GIFTED!
Surge Protector SALVAGED!


So looks like $392 just to build the fridge itself. I am pretty happy with it.
 
Gnz

Gnz

Member
Damn! If stealth was important to me something like this would be top of the wish list.
My setup is a bit more basic and consists of 2 individual 12x16x36 flower cabs and a 32x16x32 veg, just running a single plant in each flower so will be interested to see your difference in yield with a second plant and a little more space!
 
H

HighStakes

Member
Gnz said:
Damn! If stealth was important to me something like this would be top of the wish list.
My setup is a bit more basic and consists of 2 individual 12x16x36 flower cabs and a 32x16x32 veg, just running a single plant in each flower so will be interested to see your difference in yield with a second plant and a little more space!
Click to expand...



https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=327757

Here is the grow thread to follow, I am very excited myself being my first time. So far I'm happy with the progress. Did a lot of research and planning before I got started.
 
MiniFridgeLED

MiniFridgeLED

Member
Excellent job on the mods to the fridgge

Excellent job on the mods to the fridgge

I did a huge amount of research for my own mini fridge grow and the individual wattage of the led bulbs concerned me because 300 was my original idea too but I found by reading a lot of different peoples opinions that the 5 watt diodes needed 24" minimum from the plants at all times. I went with 2 100 watt UFOs seems they like it a lot and no bleaching or light issues yet
 
H

HighStakes

Member
MiniFridgeLED said:
I did a huge amount of research for my own mini fridge grow and the individual wattage of the led bulbs concerned me because 300 was my original idea too but I found by reading a lot of different peoples opinions that the 5 watt diodes needed 24" minimum from the plants at all times. I went with 2 100 watt UFOs seems they like it a lot and no bleaching or light issues yet
Click to expand...

Honestly I was worried about distance but I read somewhere on here basically a challenge when it comes to LED panels in small places like mine. It was "If your not bleaching your plants at all, you aren't trying hard enough." Which is correct, im not going to maxmimize yield until i find the light saturatiin point. So I lowered the light to just 2 to 3 inches above canopy and the ladies are loving it with no discolor issues after a few days. The entire fridge runs between 70 and 78 fsrehnheit. You can touch the light fixture itself. Heat is zero issue. It's almost too cold. :tiphat:
 
MiniFridgeLED

MiniFridgeLED

Member
Well I will surely be loving to watch it go as you grow. I have somewhat of the same setup on another thread but I had to have all of my goodies internal so I left the hump in mine. As long as I can get 1.5 zips out of my grow I'd be shit happy. I love what you did for your set up very solid.
 
S

SuperSativa

Member
Nice Job

Nice Job

Nice Job HighStakes... Good luck on your 1st grow. I'm on my first too and things seem to be going well. I'm looking forward to seeing what that thing produces :)
 
F

f2b

New member
What did you use to cut the holes?

Also, Do you have negative pressure with this box?

I want to make a box from an old minifridge i have, but i don't understand how i'll be able to get wiring from the lights & fans from inside the box, to outside without losing negative pressure....

sorry, i'm a noob :D
 
H

HighStakes

Member
f2b said:
What did you use to cut the holes?

Also, Do you have negative pressure with this box?

I want to make a box from an old minifridge i have, but i don't understand how i'll be able to get wiring from the lights & fans from inside the box, to outside without losing negative pressure....

sorry, i'm a noob :D
Click to expand...

OK so the holes were actually a really big pain in the butt. I ended up buying some diamond cutting wheels off amazon for my rotary tool. Basically a dremel.

I did cut a hole for my wires. I sealed it back up using the same aluminum tape I used for everything else and then painted over it. After extensive research I have learned that flat white is the best surface to use because its reflective but minimizes heat spots and is also super easy to clean and spot any mold growing before it gets bad.

The exhaust is a 4 inches so I made the intake 2, 3 inch, holes and used 2 right angle PVC pipes to make a U essentially and painted the insides. It creates a bit of a vacuum which is what I wanted without it being too much. I cut a filter and put it on each of the intakes to minimize any foreign debree or bugs coming through.

I am currently on about week 4 of veg. Looking fantastic. I have my 2 Blackberry Kush very bushy and branched out. giving it a few more days before I think im gonna flip the cycle and flower. I know if I do this right and wait and be patient I can easily exceed my goal of 2 oz. I will be excited if I can reach that with quality flower. I have another thread for the grow.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=327757

Dont worry about being a noob dude this is my first try. I just took my time and had a good friend to help spitball ideas back and forth. Now hes looking to convert from his lights to LED. :tiphat:
 
F

f2b

New member
HighStakes said:
OK so the holes were actually a really big pain in the butt. I ended up buying some diamond cutting wheels off amazon for my rotary tool. Basically a dremel.

I did cut a hole for my wires. I sealed it back up using the same aluminum tape I used for everything else and then painted over it. After extensive research I have learned that flat white is the best surface to use because its reflective but minimizes heat spots and is also super easy to clean and spot any mold growing before it gets bad.

The exhaust is a 4 inches so I made the intake 2, 3 inch, holes and used 2 right angle PVC pipes to make a U essentially and painted the insides. It creates a bit of a vacuum which is what I wanted without it being too much. I cut a filter and put it on each of the intakes to minimize any foreign debree or bugs coming through.

I am currently on about week 4 of veg. Looking fantastic. I have my 2 Blackberry Kush very bushy and branched out. giving it a few more days before I think im gonna flip the cycle and flower. I know if I do this right and wait and be patient I can easily exceed my goal of 2 oz. I will be excited if I can reach that with quality flower. I have another thread for the grow.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=327757

Dont worry about being a noob dude this is my first try. I just took my time and had a good friend to help spitball ideas back and forth. Now hes looking to convert from his lights to LED. :tiphat:
Click to expand...



Thank you so much for the info! I've done lots of reading since yesterday. lol. The only thing i'm dreading at this point is cutting those holes...Other than that i'm excited as **** !!

A diamond dremel you say?? Never used one before but i'm sure it won't be too hard...Were there any sparks flying? I know goggles and a face mask will protect me & i'll probably wear a hoodie for skin as well. Safety is definitely always #1..... I guess now i need to be googling "Cutting Steel tutorial" :biggrin:

But thanks again man,definitely subbing to your grow thread as well. You seem like a nice guy so i won't hesitate to come ask any other questions i may have :D

PEACE
 
H

HighStakes

Member
f2b said:
Thank you so much for the info! I've done lots of reading since yesterday. lol. The only thing i'm dreading at this point is cutting those holes...Other than that i'm excited as **** !!

A diamond dremel you say?? Never used one before but i'm sure it won't be too hard...Were there any sparks flying? I know goggles and a face mask will protect me & i'll probably wear a hoodie for skin as well. Safety is definitely always #1..... I guess now i need to be googling "Cutting Steel tutorial" :biggrin:

But thanks again man,definitely subbing to your grow thread as well. You seem like a nice guy so i won't hesitate to come ask any other questions i may have :D

PEACE
Click to expand...

Just take your time while cutting. Do not put a bunch of pressure, let the wheel do the cutting. Speed needs to be high for cutting metal. If you push hard the wheel will slow down and not work as well. It will get warm. There will be sparks. Gloves and some safety goggles is all you need. Be prepared for sparks inside the fridge hitting insulation. It shouldn't burn but you will smell it singe. Have fun dude.
 
justanotherbozo

justanotherbozo

Active member
Veteran
...back when i was coming up in this hobby and building cabs of my own we had a member here named 'FreezerBoy' who has sadly gone silent in the last few years so you've probably not seen his work.

FreezerBoy threads

...anyway, he was a gifted builder, grower AND communicator so his threads are all well worth the read, ...pay particular attention to his 'Destroyer on Ice' thread when he first started sharing.

peace, bozo
 
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