Pics of my $100 growroom

Here it is ... I posted these in another thread, but thought I'd share them with everyone by making them a little easier to find.


I built my growroom using 3/4" PVC and draped the frame with panda plastic (black on the outside, white on the inside. Am going to add a roll of mylar down lower to cover the bottom of the plants better. I used a half a sheet of 1/2" plywood for the floor -- I strategically placed extra PVC under the floor for extra support. The room is about 4x4x7 1/2. I grew 3 large plants in there with room for another. So far your into it for about $50.00 bucks, depending on if you can salvage some board for the floor.

I used two 5' pieces of dog chain (about $5 for chains and hooks) and some 's' hooks to hang the lights from (that was the only expensive part--the lights that is)

I mounted (ingeniously I might add) a 100 CFM bathroom fan (you can get a fan for about $13 -- I spent more on a good one like $50.00) to continuosly vent the room -- the plastic wasn't secured at the bottom, plus the front flap seemed to provide adequate air intake.

Finally, I took a house fan we already had and stuck it in there -- blowing whever the light was on. I just upgraded to a standing fan, with random variable speeds ($40.00). I like the 2 and a half foot vertical flow it puts out.

If you go with cheap fans, you can do the room for under $100 easy. Use any extra plastic to make a liner for the floor. Tape it to each corner -- in case of spills.

Thats an awsome setup for people like me who pay rent.
You could easily pack it up and take it to your new house when the lease is up.
mate You should Make portable grow Kits and sell em..:D

I've been thinking about that -- but they're SOOOOOO easy to make. Portable as hell depending on what you decide to glue together. I just glued the top and bottom frames and cross-bracing. The upright poles are not glued. Can be disassebled in minutes.

Self tapping pan head screws will hold the pipes together and save the glue so you can re-use this over and over again.

Good idea Zandor ... I'll add that to my upgraded version.

Here's some other future mods ... maybe

1. With a little pre-planning and perhaps some larger diameter PVC you could actually run all your wiring, and perhaps even hydroponic lines for an ultra clean, no tripping-over-everything look.

2. Since the frame is PVC, it could be used as a water delivery system itself

3. Heavier PVC -- stronger cage. Mine is in the corner of a room, so has two walls supporting it. Still, it's fairly stable on its own. Heavier PVC also creates more stable mounting areas for fans, shelves, or whatever.

4. With more room, I'd probably create a peaked roof and cover it with Mylar.

ok my question is why didnt you just cover the whole thing with mylar? was it because the panda plastic was the only thing available atm? or are there benifits with the panda plastic? ive only found mylar rolls that are 2 mils thick and i know the panda plastic is at least 6 mils thick so i guess the panda plastic is more durable and rugged.

im just wandering im a newb grower and i was looking for a cheap grow room/box design and this one so far takes the cake just for the sheer ingeniousness. let me know. thanks.

I was originally going to use the mylar on the roof, but didn't. The Panda plastic comes in 10ft by whatever length, so it was real easy to wrap and fold the excess over the top to create a nice shroud.

What I should have done right then is wrapped 4ft wide roll of Mylar around the inside about two feet off the floor to give extra coverage to the body of the plant.

Don't think you'll get as good a growrrom effect without the plastic. You could if you wanted just make your shroud out of 3mil or greater black plastic, and hang it over the top after you attached your Mylar to the frame, thus giving you Mylar reflectivity all the way, but with all the benefits of the plastic shroud (humidity/co2 containment).

The other reason I didn't put the Mylar up is that you have to be very careful not to wrinkle it, or you get hot spots from the crinkles that can burn your plant. So I held off on the first grow as I'd heard white is just about as reflective. This time I'll put it in, and try to be careful to get a nice tight pull -- and we'll see how she works on the next grow.

ok so your saying that the panda plastic is the way to go then on this type of grow room?

or would you go with a mixture of the two? and if so how exactly would you go about doing it? would you just use it on the bottom and roof portions as mentioned? or would layering the mylar all the way around then the plastic over the outside have any benefits? or would it just be a waste?

Panda plastic is the cheapest way to get the room up and running. The Mylar is an upgrade not included in the under $100 price, but it generally runs about $1 a foot for a 4 foot wide roll. You'll need about 16ft or so for a 4x4 square room. Or double that if you want to do the walls all the way to the top.

I don't know exactly how much more reflectivity you will get with the Mylar over the Panda plastic, but Mylar supposedly is the most reflective -- so theoretically you could wrap the frame in it (the roof isn't too important as your lights reflect the light downward) -- but if you did, Panda plastic would be redundent.

If I did the frame in Mylar, I'd just get cheap gardening plastic to shroud it and cut out any light leakage. Get thick plastic to keep it nice and dark in there when you want it dark, and leave a big flap overhang for the doorway.

I do believe the plastic shroud maintains the "hothouse" effect better than just Mylar would -- but I have no proof on that theory as I have not built a Mylar room yet.

thanks alot. i look foward to trying to make and run a room of this type.

Here's a diagram of the frame. The four-way crosees for the top and bottom are the hard parts to find.

When you wrap the shroud on, fold the top just like you were wrapping a large X-mas present (which in a way you are) and tape it in place well. The design holds up well.

Mylar does have a transparent backing to it and is very fragile to use in that manor. The panda is perfect for what you are doing. Black on the outside and white on the inside is the way to go. There is a new book coming out by the end of the year with several diagrams and plans to build grow rooms with PVC and other common elements.

Very nice job OR FREEBIRD!

This link is for you and anyone who want to use PVC pipe and panda plastic

http://www.snapclamp.com/prices.htm

you can buy the hard to find parts here
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/d.html

Like sxsxs side out 90° they don't sell them at HD.

Man, never saw those snap clamps before, I was just thinking of designing something to do exacly that using radiator hose or something. Thanks for saving me the time.