Chest freezer grow, NEED SECOND OPINION

sigurd

New Member
Hello! im making a little pre-season germination and seedling grow box out of an old chest freezer in a barn, it has a small heater with a fan, and im making two holes for air ventilation(4"x4" behind heater on floor) (3x3 at the top on the other side) this should provide ample airflow. Im using a 4 ft fluorescent lights and it is a 5x2 ft chest freezer, is this enough light?? Ill get some pics up shortly.
 

sigurd

New Member
If your only going to germinate some seeds and get a few seedlings going it should be fine. I would go get a dome to put over your plants tho. Then u could just sit your flouresent light ontop of the dome. I used to do that for mine an it worked great.
thanks for the help i think the closest i have to a dome is those trays for peat pucks but it should do fine
 

sigurd

New Member
well its not set up yet and i havent got any girls germinating in there yet, but heres the rough set up ti date. the stand in front of the small heater is going to hold one side of a plywood board that will hold the seedlings and im in a tight sitch for money right now so i am going to go with what i already have but theres plenty of stores nearbye. I also plan to clean it up a fair bit more and paint the rust away or something
 

pazuzu420

Well-Known Member
I"ve built quite a few different varieties of boxes, stealth and not, one of those being a freezer like this. I took the compressor, ect. out of the raised corner which then allowed me a space to vent the box out with a bathroom fart fan. I used a few different lighting setups depending on stage of growth. Starting with CFL's attached to the lid then progressed into long added florescent low profile fixtures to the sides. i think it actually has T5 H.O. on the top and sides where it currently resides. The bathroom fan also ran on a duct down into a carbon filter. You can most likely get an inline and the filter in the compressor compartment pretty easy. For intake I took and drilled 1'in holes on the back side on the opposite side of the cabinet till there was sufficient back pressure sucking the lid gently closed. it will clone/veg and flower.
With plenty of options for medium. Use the existing drain plug with gravel and screen which will allow you to use it as a giant planter box or as I had intended to cut a piece of plexi to fit inside on a runner screwed to the edges to make a cloner. Which I intended to make into 2 sections enabling you to get at the manifold/sprayers for aero and the pump. You could cut one side into small cups and then progress into large cups on the other. Endless possibilities as far as moving forward in the grow while utilizing the same space for each stage. The current owners are ecstatic with the results and have inquired about me making another.
Don't forget to drill the vent holes inline so that you can make a slender and long light block to keep it from shining out the back and letting light in of course.
I was able to raise it a little without notice and attach a drain pipe which ran to the back to a valve to drain the bottom.
Plenty of room on the side for a couple of outlets and a thermostat for the fan and places to plug lights in.

Sorry, as it is no longer in my possession and isn't here locally I don't have pictures. I'll see if I can get a hold of them to snap me a few. Hope my rambling helps further your endeavors in some useful fashion.
 

sigurd

New Member
I"ve built quite a few different varieties of boxes, stealth and not, one of those being a freezer like this. I took the compressor, ect. out of the raised corner which then allowed me a space to vent the box out with a bathroom fart fan. I used a few different lighting setups depending on stage of growth. Starting with CFL's attached to the lid then progressed into long added florescent low profile fixtures to the sides. i think it actually has T5 H.O. on the top and sides where it currently resides. The bathroom fan also ran on a duct down into a carbon filter. You can most likely get an inline and the filter in the compressor compartment pretty easy. For intake I took and drilled 1'in holes on the back side on the opposite side of the cabinet till there was sufficient back pressure sucking the lid gently closed. it will clone/veg and flower.
With plenty of options for medium. Use the existing drain plug with gravel and screen which will allow you to use it as a giant planter box or as I had intended to cut a piece of plexi to fit inside on a runner screwed to the edges to make a cloner. Which I intended to make into 2 sections enabling you to get at the manifold/sprayers for aero and the pump. You could cut one side into small cups and then progress into large cups on the other. Endless possibilities as far as moving forward in the grow while utilizing the same space for each stage. The current owners are ecstatic with the results and have inquired about me making another.
Don't forget to drill the vent holes inline so that you can make a slender and long light block to keep it from shining out the back and letting light in of course.
I was able to raise it a little without notice and attach a drain pipe which ran to the back to a valve to drain the bottom.
Plenty of room on the side for a couple of outlets and a thermostat for the fan and places to plug lights in.

Sorry, as it is no longer in my possession and isn't here locally I don't have pictures. I'll see if I can get a hold of them to snap me a few. Hope my rambling helps further your endeavors in some useful fashion.
thanks, man. some really good info and when i have the resources ill try to put something together like that, but right now im just starting off 15-25 plants right now so they have a head start this season. At the moment ive got a 3 inch hole behind the heater and the light is on the 2x4s, and they are going off of black gold soil mix until i move them to the guerrilla locations.
 
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