OK! So this is my first grow journal. I wanted to grow but I didn't want it to be too suspicious and I wanted to do it very cheap so I built my 2x2x2 grow box experiment. I didn't have much money to spend so i tried to do it with $100 budget! So hopefully this works! I know that this is very small but I might just get a small yield (anything to help save $$!) Comments are more than welcome!

The Setup $25

I bought a sheet of osb board for $11 at lowes. I had them cut it into 8 pieces of 2x2 (there was 2 extra pieces) I then lined the 6 pieces with the dull side of aluminum foil ($3) and cut 3 holes on each side (see pic) and cut a 7x9 inch hole on top (see pic) After that I took weather stripping ($3) and insulation foam ($6) to the cracks and to secure the lights. I put hinges ($2) on one piece for a door.

Lighting $35- $120

For lighting I bought 4 75 watt sockets for about $25 bucks and put 13 watt cfls about $10 bucks for an 8 pack (I got a coupon) in them. They each produce 880 lumens of cool white (good for veg growth) so total about 3500 lumens. Also on the top of the box I have a 150 watt hps (about 15000 lumens) which will produce warm light good for all stages of growth! (I was given the hps for free usually they are anywhere from $50-$80 may include ballast) I added up the lumens 18500 and divided it by my total amount of sq. feet which was 4. So
2x2=4---------------------------My sq. ft.
15000+3500= 18500--------Total lumens
18500/4=4625----------------meaning I will get about 4625 lumens per sq. foot

Air $10

I attached 2 fans (sale! $3.96 each!) to the square holes I had cut. I put the exhaust fan on the top left and the intake on the bottom right to push hot, stale air out and cool, fresh air in. I just took some duct tape to them and tightened up the air flow
I placed one more inside (sale $2!) for more air flow and to strentgthen stems. The temp varies from 75 F to about 85 F.

Soil $3

I just bought some miracle grow seed starting mix. But I sifted through it to get more perlite and added it to my soil for better pockets. I will be getting some nutes when they grow out a bit.

Watering $...free!

I poured some of my tap into a spray bottle and let it sit out for about a day to release chlorine vapors.

So for a total amount I was able to build my setup for about $75! But realistically it would cost about $200 without all the sales and free hps!

The Grow---From germination to end!

Thurs. Aug. 20, 2009

I placed some of the better looking seeds I had into a wet paper towel and folded it up to germinate. Within about 24 hours the seeds had cracked open with stems and I was ready to plant.

Fri. Aug 21, 2009

I mixed together my soil and made it nice and fluffy with lots of perlite. I planted 3 seeds about 3/4 inch from top then I watered them and placed peat moss on top of soil then lightly watered again. I began my 24/0 lighting schedule for veg growth.

Sun. Aug 23, 2009

One has sprouted! So far so good!

Fri. Aug. 28, 2009

The one sprout seems to a type of sativa because its leaves are very fat and large. The sprout is very healthy with a dark green color to the leaves and purple stems. The temp is about 80 F. Although it has a new set coming in, they seem a little yellow near the stem. I figure that this is because I accidentally watered too much yesterday!
As they grow up I will transplant them into larger pots and I only plan on growing 3 plants at most.

Attached Images

	germinating.jpg (29.3 KB, 13 views)
	outside of box.jpg (35.8 KB, 15 views)
	exhaust.jpg (54.6 KB, 16 views)
	intake.jpg (45.6 KB, 13 views)
	inside of box.jpg (51.5 KB, 14 views)
	side view.jpg (55.2 KB, 11 views)
	top view.jpg (55.2 KB, 9 views)
	150hps.jpg (45.5 KB, 13 views)