Fridge grow log, first timer

[travisgrn]

Ok, yes, I am a first time grower. Because my Sheriff is a butthead, I have decided to try to grow indoors. I have gutted an old fridge and am building literally from the ground up. I have some bag seed that I am germinating right now. I have some pics of the fridge as it is right now.
I need help though.
I will be growing in soil so any soil suggestions are great.
I will probably be growing with LED. This is where I have the greatest questions. I was thinking 4 bulbs would suffice, two white grow bulbs, and a red and a blue. Or should I just do two red and two blue since these are the specturms that photosynthesis uses the most efficiently?
Heat is a problem as well, not too much, but too little as the fridge is in my garage and I live in Zone 6 of thehardiness zone. It will get cold in my garage so I need to know how to keep the temp in the fridge steady while the lights and such are off. I was thinking of a little space heater, maybe ceramic. Any suggestions?
I will be putting the vent in the bottom of the fridge to draw in air, CO shouldn't be an issue as it is in the garage. I will be putting a vent fan in the top. Over each vent hole I have cut out tent fabric that will flap down over the hole when not running.
Here is the caveat: I am on a budget so suggesting $100 heating elements is out of the question. This is a shoestring op designed to get me some sticky punch. Nothing fancy. Also, no hard wiring, must be able to be plugged in. Thanks for any help I get. Keep track of my progress and enjoy. Try not to laugh to hard!
:rastasmoke:

travisgrn Reviewed by travisgrn on 10-01-2007. Fridge grow log, first timer Ok, yes, I am a first time grower. Because my Sheriff is a butthead, I have decided to try to grow indoors. I have gutted an old fridge and am building literally from the ground up. I have some bag seed that I am germinating right now. I have some pics of the fridge as it is right now. I need help though. I will be growing in soil so any soil suggestions are great. I will probably be growing with LED. This is where I have the greatest questions. I was thinking 4 bulbs would suffice, two Rating: 5

[Opie Yutts]

I'm not laughing at all. I'd really like to see this progress. I am a little worried that you are trying to get any kind of meaningful yield using LED lights. Sure you can veg with these, but unless every inch of surface area is plasterd in LEDs, and that would be real expensive, you'll get maybe probably sort of a tenth of the yield you could with HID lights. I would do a scrog or sog (search) with 2-4 plants. Fluorescents for clone and veg, and 250 watt HPS for flower. Whatever you choose you are going to have to cut at least two holes in the fridge for ventilation. You certainly would not have to worry about things being to cold with HID lighting, and probably not with fluorescents. Normally the problem, especially with sealed grows, is temps being too high. Make room for a mother section so you can use clones; way better than seeds.

Good luck. Please send pictures.

[travisgrn]

What about the LED and CFL's? The problem is, the HID will drain a lot of electric right? Also, I am not good with wiring and start up costs are an issue. I would put a nice HID in there if I had the money and knowledge but it seems complicated. Can I flower with a 100 watt (not equivalent, but actual 100 watt cfl in there?

I guess the thing is, money! I got low start up funds for this so any guidance as to how to do this cheap would be great.

Thanks so much!

[psteve]

Can I flower with a 100 watt (not equivalent, but actual 100 watt cfl in there?

Yes, you can. But you'll be disappointed.
You need at least 50W per square foot.
And even then, the difference between CFL and HID is huge.

[travisgrn]

Is there an HID package that plugs into a wall outlet? I cannot hard wire from the fridge in the garage.
Thanks

[dodohead]

im thinking you may want to watch out for mold, so keep an eye on your humidity level. ive personally never seen a fridge grow before, im excited to watch this progress.

good luck!

[Opie Yutts]

For our purposes, nearly all HID lights are sold with a ballast that you plug into the wall. From the ballast is a cord to the light. There are also ballasts attached to the light, but since the ballast can represent a major portion of your heat build up, it is best not to have it in with the plants. Outside the fridge somewhere would be even better. No wiring.

The problem with HID's is not how to get light, but how to get rid of the heat. Also is stealth an issue? Kind of a dumb question considering your sherrif, but you will need to grow a non smelly weed, or use some kind of odor control, preferably a carbon filter. I and most people are not going to tell you how to build your set up from scratch. You'll need to research this forum and perhaps other web sites. Try to figure things (especially the basics) out for yourself, then post specific questions. Look at other peoples grows and grow logs. There is even a grow log section of this forum.

You are correct about sucking in air from the bottom. Heat rises so you'll want your intake near the floor to get cool air. I know you said you're on a tight budget, but Zandor, a former mod said if you go cheap you'll grow cheap, and that hit the nail on the head. Try to get a digital ballast for just a little more money. It has many advantages, including paying for itself within a year as opposed to a traditional ballast.

[Opie Yutts]

Also I really would like to see you do hydro. You'll get much more weed that way for your effort. A simple DWC Deep Water Culture is extremely easy. Search the web and/or this forum for Emily's Garden. That's how I started and it is real simple, about like soil. I was used to growing leaves as big as my hand in soil. When I switched to an emily's garden my leaves were as big as my head. Also you can build an Emily's garden for around $35. Just copy what they have and get your parts from Home Depot.

[travisgrn]

I know you're right about all these things, I have been researching this for months. In a perfect world I would love to get HPS lights, hydroponic system and carbon air scrubbers and humidifier/dehumidifier setups. But now we are up to $500 just to set up the grow closet, and with hydroponics, and lighting and fans etc, I am greatly increasing my electric usage. As I said, my sheriff has a hard-on for weed and illegals. Since Sancho isn't hiding at my house, my concern is weed. I would not be surprised at all if he did not blanket monitor electric usage for the rural parts of the county. The man had 3 helicopters at one time!
My intention was to start small and add components over time. This was more fiscally viable and would also show a graudal increase in electric usage. Also, I have one grounded electrical outlett to do all this on. Smell is not an issue as it is in my garage and I am hundreds of feet off the road. My only concern about detection would be the stray neighbor ( which I don't get) or the heat plume in my garage that they could see with FLIR.
I think I have decided this:
HPS system, 250 wtt with reflector etc. Ballast atop the fridge.
One medium sized fan at tthe top of the fridge to vent the heat
One lower vent
each vent will need flaps to keep heat in when light is off. When light on, temp should be fine in there if I vent, when light is off, the plants are in a fridge with three holes cutin it in my garage, it will get cold in there.
I need a little ceramic heater for when my light is off durng flowering.
And I am going to go with soil for now. Will go hydro next grow when the funds build back up.
What do you all think?
Thanks guys.
PS-Is ebay safe to purchase lights?

[Opie Yutts]

Sounds good, but I'm not sure you'll need a heater. I think the daytime temps could be kept reasonably close to the same at night in a sealed system. Ebay is fine, but I'd pay attention to the sellers feedback rating. Sometimes people get screwed, but I never have, except once when the seller said a used product was new.