Grow boxes are special closed racks or cabinets for growing plants in an ordinary apartment. Ready-made devices of various sizes and configurations can be ordered in specialized online stores. And you can make it yourself with much less cost from scrap materials. As a frame, that is, the main container for a growbox, unnecessary cabinets, cabinets, used refrigerator chambers and used system units are used.
After several simple manipulations and small financial costs, a finished greenhouse in miniature can come out of skillful hands. Engaging in progressive plant growing will be equally interesting for adults and children.
Plants will thrive equally well in potting soil, individual pots, or in a hydroponic setup.
Is it possible to make a growbox from a closet
Of course you can, because the furniture factory has already done most of the work for you – they have assembled a frame that is durable, aesthetic and comfortable. It remains only to “pump” it, bringing it to the required parameters of illumination, ventilation and heat.
The most common wardrobe – a wardrobe – is ideal for these purposes. It is spacious, high enough for growing medium-sized plants. It is easy to make the necessary holes and niches in it for life support devices and climate control. The shelves of the cabinet will be supports for containers with soil.
In addition, such a growbox belongs to the “stealth” category, that is, its true purpose will be hidden from prying eyes by an ordinary furniture facade.
In the closet, you can create a mini-greenhouse or greenhouse and grow vegetables, herbs, flowers, strawberries, etc. On an ordinary windowsill in winter conditions, low light, dry air, temperature fluctuations, it will not be possible to achieve good growth and fruiting of domestic vegetables and berries.
In the grow box, with experience, amateurs even grow mushrooms and strawberries.
Which wardrobe is right
To assemble a growbox with your own hands, any complete, serviceable cabinet with all walls and tightly closing doors is suitable. Furniture with open shelves, glazed facades cannot be used.
The main requirement for suitable furniture is opacity. It should not have slits, holes through which light will penetrate inside.
It will be good if it will have several compartments – a technical one for placing devices and wires, and a worker – directly for plants.
The larger the cabinet in size, the more spacious your plantings will be placed in it and the more choice for a houseplant breeder. It is important that parts of different plants do not touch each other. A spacious room can accommodate more green spaces.
So the best parameters of the cabinet, which is planned to be equipped for a grow box, are:
height from 1,8 to 2 meters,
width – 0,8 meters
depth – 0,5 meters.
If there is no extra free furniture in the household, you can always help a friend and accept a good thing that has become unnecessary, or buy it for a pittance at an ad.
The costs will be small compared to the benefits and pleasure to be obtained.
It just seems that the growing process is long and tedious. In fact, watching your plants grow in size day by day is fun and even reckless when it comes to harvesting.
System build order
The approaches for equipping a growbox system are the same for all structures. The growing cabinet should have the following equipment:
- lighting;
- ventilation;
- reflective and diffusing inner surface;
- heating device;
- humidifier;
- carbon filter;
- climate control devices.
Also, to assemble, fix and connect the equipment, you will need wires, switches, starters, capacitors for lamps, a pilot extension cord for at least three sockets, glue, tape, nails, screws, a drill or a jigsaw, a corrugated pipe, etc.
Interior decoration of the cabinet
Plan ahead for your grow room. Think about where it is better to install ventilation lighting devices, a filter, how many holes for wires are needed. The number of holes in the housing will depend on this.
The inner walls should be coated with a special reflective matt paint for grow boxes. Glossy does not diffuse artificial light as well. White water-based paint is easy to apply, dries quickly. It is non-toxic and safe for humans and plants. It should be interior paint that does not smell when heated.
You can use a special reflective material such as foil mylar or foam. A furniture stapler or double-sided tape works well for this. It will be possible to “put” the insulating material on the glue if it does not corrode the polymer fabric. A glue gun works well under these conditions.
It should be taken into account that these materials have additional thermal insulation qualities, which is good when used in cold rooms and creates a danger of overheating and the need for air humidification in warm apartments with dry air.
There are tips for pasting the walls of the growing box with ordinary food foil. But in practice it is very difficult to apply them. Foil is a fragile material; it will not be possible to cover the entire surface evenly and without gusts. The resulting creases can refract the light of the lamps so that they will burn plants and negate the entire effectiveness of the most powerful lighting device.
Correctly reflected light can save 10-20% on energy costs when lighting your grow box.
The bottom of the box must be covered with a waterproofing film. Since the plants will have to be watered regularly, water leaks cannot be avoided.
After the interior finishing work in the growing box is completed, we proceed to the installation and connection of the equipment.
Ventilation and other equipment
Remember that warm air always rises upward. Therefore, we make a hole in the top or side wall of the growbox to fit the size of the fan channel. It is necessary to install it on rubber pads, which will dampen vibration and, accordingly, reduce the noise level. We install the fan itself.
Its capacity is calculated in such a way that the air in the grow box is completely renewed within 3-5 minutes. If the volume of the cabinet is more than 2 m3, then we divide its actual value by 120, if less – we divide by 60. The resulting figure will show the recommended fan power.
A corrugated hose can be connected to the outside of the fan to remove exhaust air and generated vapors outside.
At the same stage, a carbon filter is installed on the ventilation duct if the plants planned for cultivation have a specific smell.
In the lower part of the cabinet, at a level of 10-15 cm from the floor, it is necessary to drill holes for air circulation. Their total area must correspond to the dimensions of the fan duct.
Holes for electrical wiring will also be needed.
How to choose electrical equipment
Light is the most important prerequisite for growth. There are two options for installing your own growbox lighting.
- The lamp is rigidly fixed to the ceiling. In this case, the proximity of the plants to the light source is regulated by means of stands, the height of which changes as they grow.
- The lamp is suspended on a cable with an adjustable length, a system of chains and carabiners is also possible. So the distance from the lamp to the plants is increased by raising the lamp closer to the ceiling.
It is important that the mount is secure and can support the weight of the fixture. Determine the height of the suspension of the lamp can only be empirically.
It is necessary to carefully monitor the condition of the plants. If the leaves start to turn yellow, then the lamp is too low. It needs to be raised urgently before the plants get a dangerous heat burn.
An equally crucial moment is the choice of the lamp itself. Most commonly used by growers are tubular sodium gas discharge lamps (HPS). They are the most effective in terms of price-quality-efficiency ratio. The power of such a lamp for a cabinet with plants should, on average, be 600 watts. In addition, the spectrum emitted by such a lamp (bright yellow color) is excellent for green spaces.
Recently, energy-saving lamps, fluorescent and LED installations are becoming more widespread.
Additional appliances that are used in grow boxes help to optimize the process and make the task of growers easier.
- Thermometer.
Helps control day and night temperature in a grow box within the specified limits. Typically + 21-270 C. - Air conditioning.
Used to cool the incoming air. Required in summer when the temperature is outside the growbox not much different from the temperature inside it. - Heater.
Required if the grow box located in an unheated cold room – on a balcony, veranda, garage, basement, etc. The microclimate inside the unit must be unchanged at any time of the year. - Humidifier.
Apparatus required to create different air humidity. During the growth of seedlings – 80-95%, vegetation – 65-70%, flowering – 60-65%. For prophylaxis, a simple bowl of water is placed at the bottom of the cabinet, often this simple measure is enough. - Timer (time relay).
Helps to automate the temperature regime, turns on / off heating, humidification, adjusts the illumination according to the day / night program. - Hygrometer.
A small device for measuring air humidity.
Making a growbox from a cabinet with your own hands will be interesting for practical people, lovers of plant growing and progressive unusual solutions. Thus, you will ensure yourself an exciting experience for a long time and will be able to provide your table with natural, home-grown products.
