iaguy

My problem is this: Don't really want to grow in the house, worried about smell, and don't have any suitable spaces (if I were to grow indoors I'd be limited to a cabinet 4' wide, 4' tall, and only 1' deep). I've got a garage separate from the house, two levels, essential un-used (other than a car being stored all winter). The problem is, it is unheated, and because I'm in the northeast...it can get pretty chilly during the winter.

So, can I build a box that can keep the plants at the optimal growing temperature even when its 0* outside? I know HPS create a lot of heat....so rather than having this heat work against me (as is normally the problem), I was thinking I could harness it to keep everything up to temp.

So, say I've got a small box made of plywood (I'd like to start small...). Say 4x4x5 tall, with a 400watt HPS light, along with maybe 2 fluorescents for good measure....is it going to stay warm enough? I'd rather not have to use an extra heater..but I guess this is a possibility too.

Let me know what you think, this would be my first grow, and I'm not sure just what kind of heat the lights put out, or if it would be enough. I've already ordered some seeds, and I'm determined to grow some herb one way or another.

starskunk

1 MAJOR problem:

How do you intend to keep the plants warm when the lights are out?

I have toyed with this very idea myself as I live in a cold climate, too. I haven't really come with a good way to it. The only thing I could think of was to have a space heater running when the lights are off.

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bushsolo

I grow in an attic which is really seeing the cold now, I have to use a heater with a thermostat to maintain a fairly stable temperature in the room. It's an electric heater so it gobbles juice but otherwise my plants would freeze when the lights are out, I have got the night cycle running through the daytime to use some of the days higher temperature and keep the electric bill down.

bushsolo

iaguy

oh man, I forgot you had to turn the lights OFF...

Well, I know the plants need constant fresh air, but what about when the lights are off? Could I vent the box when the lights are on, but close it up to retain heat while they are off? Will this cause any problems with the cycle? Thanks for the input

hvymtl

This exactly what I do. I use a 1500W space heater. With proper ventilation in my room I still see lights off temps in the 60's.

I've tried this also, all grow rooms are different but, with my room this caused a lack of O2 in the room and my plants have suffered! Your plants need lots of fresh air!!

The best I can say is try to find a GOOD heater. something with a real thermostat on it. Not one of the cheap ones with just a 1-10 setting. vent incomming air through the heater and set light times so that lights go out durring the day. Beyond that I don't believe there is anything you can do. You (depending on the size of your room) should use a oscilating fan to keep room temps a little more consistant.

Good luck

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wanderingwaldo

grow in a fridge, you could get a broken one for free as people often don't know what to do with them after they're dead. A large one could hold a few plants, and in the garage it wouldn't look out of the ordinary. It would also take care of your insulation issues, and would only require some modifications, not as much work as building from scratch. the only issue I can think of with that would be how to account for heat leakage from ventilation when the light is off, maybe something to automatically cover the vents with foam insulation. Perhaps you could simply have a thermostat activated heater come on when the lights go out and just write off the heat loss. whatever you do you would need a thermostat to control the ventilation for sure.

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TurbulentHigh

An excellent idea. Modify it to be the ultimate grow chamber. It could end up being far better than a "regular" grow room. Since it is much more in closed thus you can regulate temperature and O2 levels as aposed to having displace the amount of heat and O2 of an entire room. You would probably want to use an industrial fridge since you wont have an icebox and a fridge section and it will be taller. They also tend to just have removable trays inside so it will require a lot less work than a residential fridge.

- TurbulentHigh

n_d_shadows

for additional heat you could place a 5 gallon black container of water in the space. during lights on it would heat up and when lights go off it will radiate the heat it has collected in the space. Smaller green houses use this technique as well as a cheap way to add heat in a space.
Insulating the box with r-19 will allow it to hold the maximum heat in during lights off.
If you hook your fan to a timer you could have it cut off 15 minutes before the light. In 15 min the heat could jump to over 100 deg. for the short amount of time the plant has to sustain that temp, it should not affect it at all.

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hvymtl

Now I do like that idea. I never thought of that one.

I just got back from wally world with $40 less in my pocket. I picked up one of those 1500W digital thermostatically controlled ceramic oscilating heaters W/ built in timer. Dang aint that a mouth full! I finally opted for one of these becouse I can just set the temp for 70F (or what ever) and leave it. atomatically comes on at set temp. unlike my old one that just ...... didn't cut it!

Later

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LyTdYgiT420

Turn light on during night, and get a heat lamp to leave on during the day. Pet stores usually sell heatlamps and they arent expensive at all