1st rubbermaid cfl grow box, check it out tell me what ya think

J

jerrod

Member
Hey everyone just wanted to show the new growbox i built an get some feedback... its 38 inches tall 18inches wide and 18 inches deep..built from a 50 gallon rubbermaid container standing on end(i did not want to make a stacked rubbermaid box,they look like too much of a hassle to acess.. 16 bulbs 2700k 26 watt each about 28000 lumans.. 6inch canfan 235 cfm for ventilation and 5 2inch passive intakes at the bottom in the back they provide as light traps aswell(box stays around 10 degrees hotter than outside temp)..... i got a 6 inch elbow peice ontop of the fan painted flat black on the inside to trap a little of the light its gives off about as much as a night light in the dark. two layers of flat black paint and 2 layers of flat white paint( i used spraypaint from lowes made for plastic) its around 95 percent light proof id say..Plan on using a lowprofile pot to grow in to maximize the height of the plant..
i made this box for fairly cheap too..
no idea if anyone is interested in the price it took me to build but..
*50 gallon rubbermaid container-$20
*Lights (including surge protectors, y splitters, bulbs, ect..)-$70
*Fan-$30
*Paint-$15
*Misc-$30(pvc elbows an elbow on fan, Caulking and wires for the back.)
*Total $165 give or take a few $$

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sine143

sine143

Well-Known Member
looks decent man! I wouuld have gone for Pll 55 bulbs and fulham worhorse ballasts for em, theyr 24" long, 55 watters, 4 to 5k lumens a piece, and you can power 2 on each fulham workhorse (and more importantly keep the hot ballassts out of your grow space). def looks AS good if not better than my first cfl grow box though. whatever you do, throw a booster seat in there to keep the plant close to the lights (withing 2 to 3 inch), and as it grows gradually reduce its height.
 
J

jerrod

Member
Thanks man, yeah i defintally would of rather used t5ho or somthing for a more even light spread would just be a little difficult to find ones that fit in there cause its only 18 inches wide =[ and yeah i will for sure put them close if that makes the grow better =]
 
sine143

sine143

Well-Known Member
can probably keep em about 4 inches off till you hit 2 to 3 nodes. but if you have them on the bottom of the chamber right after they pop they'll stretch like mad.
 
J

jerrod

Member
it doesnt act like it wants to tip at all its really fairly sturdy... i got bolts in the back propping it up to keep it even so it sits nice anyhow.
 
I

IndicaDom

New Member
jerrod said:
Hey everyone just wanted to show the new growbox i built an get some feedback... its 38 inches tall 18inches wide and 18 inches deep..built from a 50 gallon rubbermaid container standing on end(i did not want to make a stacked rubbermaid box,they look like too much of a hassle to acess.. 16 bulbs 2700k 26 watt each about 28000 lumans.. 6inch canfan 235 cfm for ventilation and 5 2inch passive intakes at the bottom in the back they provide as light traps aswell(box stays around 10 degrees hotter than outside temp)..... i got a 6 inch elbow peice ontop of the fan painted flat black on the inside to trap a little of the light its gives off about as much as a night light in the dark. two layers of flat black paint and 2 layers of flat white paint( i used spraypaint from lowes made for plastic) its around 95 percent light proof id say..Plan on using a lowprofile pot to grow in to maximize the height of the plant..
i made this box for fairly cheap too..
no idea if anyone is interested in the price it took me to build but..
*50 gallon rubbermaid container-$20
*Lights (including surge protectors, y splitters, bulbs, ect..)-$70
*Fan-$30
*Paint-$15
*Misc-$30(pvc elbows an elbow on fan, Caulking and wires for the back.)
*Total $165 give or take a few $$

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This is very cool. I like that you flipped it on it's end as opposed to most people growing into their rubbermaids. I don't agree with the other people's light recommendations though. Honestly I would of rather just seen (2) 105W CFL on one socket split instead of having the (2) splits and 4 bulbs. However that should be nice and once you upgrade will be great for a bonsai mother.
 
dubba86

dubba86

Active Member
could of bought a 4 foot 4 bulb t5 and done it in a closest or a corner instead of building that thing.
 
B

big bud 56

Active Member
Hey man,
I would have done mylar for the inside and two computer fans mounted on each side,one towards the top and one near the bottom.That would have been plenty of ventilation.Use one for intake and the other one for exhaust.
That way you would be able to put three or four plants in there.
I have a set up like the one I just described with a 100w cfl dual spectrum bulb and two 60w veg cfl's that I can change to flower bulbs when the time is right.
 
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