Grow Chamber Decisions.

[BioZest]

Hey guys!

So I have a bit of a problem on my hands. I have no room for hl plants anymore:

(yes that is an aquarium heater in a cup. No I don't think its dangerous and yes it does work well)

10 gal is just not working.

So I was thinking about getting a grow chamber, but I am not going to pay someone more than like $200 for one. I think that I should make one. I was thinking about having a PVC frame and just wrap that with the reflective fabric. Or maybe I will just get some nice metal shelving, wrap it in clear wrap and aluminum foil and stick some lights on top or better yet just get a bigger aquarium. Any comments, safety warnings about my ghetto heating method, stories about when you hit this point in the hobby or whatever else you want to say pls. post.

 

[That One Guy]

Thought you said it was a HL tank. Looks like a LL tank especially with the heater.

 

[amphirion]

start using square pots. circular pots waste so much space.

 

[Jcal]

You can build a grow chamber for around $20. And a huge chamber at that. Details can be found at nepenthes university.

 

[East_to_west]

I just (almost) finished building a terrarium from scratch. It was based off of this awesome one that I found super inspiring: http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/inde...+ampullaria +martin&fromsearch=1&#entry212190

Its for amps which are LL obviously but my point is that its not too difficult to create something similar. Any of the ideas you just said would work well too I think. I just bought a 4 tier mini indoor greenhouse online for $35 and with a bit of cooling it would be perfect. I use it also for LL plants and I grow my Hl just on a desk in a windowsill. The CPUK forum gave me a bunch of great ideas I want to try out when I actually decide to build a HL grow chamber which will be at some point in the next month or two. Some guy build the frame out of styrofoam and added some wood pieces and a glass or plexiglass front. Acrylic is good too if you aren't worried about scratching it.

 

[BioZest]

Thought you said it was a HL tank. Looks like a LL tank especially with the heater.

The temps are about 55 nights and 75 days (the tank is in my basement). IMO that is a highland

start using square pots. circular pots waste so much space.

Yes I have thought about this, and it is probably a good idea, but it seems to me that circular pots are somewhat the standard. Not that I want to conform to that standard, but it seems that almost every pot I get is circular. It makes no sense. I feel that even if I did transplant them all into square pots I would still need more space soon.

 

[That One Guy]

Oh well in that case, you have a HL chamber. Sorry.

 

[BioZest]

You can build a grow chamber for around $20. And a huge chamber at that. Details can be found at nepenthes university.

wow! my friend just bought one for like $200(I think). Thanks so much for this info.

 

[Jcal]

wow! my friend just bought one for like $200(I think). Thanks so much for this info.

Like he comments in his detailed breakdown, " it ain't pretty but it works". I have used a chamber made with 2x4s and plastic for awhile now and all of my plants are happy. So happy in fact that my 4 by 2 grow space is now over grown and I'm back in the position you are in. I guess I will just have to make it bigger! Everything can be found at lowes. I just use the thick plastic drapes they have in the painting department.

Btw it might be slightly more than 20. I always have wood scraps laying around. Lighting and cooling not included

 

[bootheatsbugs]

Im building a chamber made of a PVC frame, and the reflective bubble wrap from home depot. compared to the 4x8 grow tent you can get from hydroponic stores, mine is about 1/4 the price if not less.

 

[Sundrew]

I'm about to do something similar for myself. I'm going to buy a cheap storage shelf like this (I can't find the one I'm going to get atm, it has 4' x 2' shelves): http://www.sears.com/rapid-rack-5-s...684682001?prdNo=10&blockNo=110&blockType=G110

I'm going to take the second to last shelf out and use the bottom shelf to hold my HL neps. I'm going to wrap it in reflective bubble wrap: http://www.lowes.com/pd_409818-5629...rentURL=?Ntt=reflective+bubblewrap&facetInfo=

I'm going to hang two t8 light fixtures above the plants, and connect my cooler to it. I don't know if you cool that terrarium. My cooler can be found here: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...ive-Cooler&highlight=cheap+evaporative+cooler

 

[Api]

I'll post a pic of my grow shelf ASAP, but its basically the grow shelf thread with reflective bubble wrap. Its a 3x1x5, and it looks great so far!

 

[BioZest]

I'm about to do something similar for myself. I'm going to buy a cheap storage shelf like this (I can't find the one I'm going to get atm, it has 4' x 2' shelves): http://www.sears.com/rapid-rack-5-s...684682001?prdNo=10&blockNo=110&blockType=G110

I'm going to take the second to last shelf out and use the bottom shelf to hold my HL neps. I'm going to wrap it in reflective bubble wrap: http://www.lowes.com/pd_409818-5629...rentURL=?Ntt=reflective+bubblewrap&facetInfo=

I'm going to hang two t8 light fixtures above the plants, and connect my cooler to it. I don't know if you cool that terrarium. My cooler can be found here: http://www.terraforums.com/forums/s...ive-Cooler&highlight=cheap+evaporative+cooler

Sounds like a great plan, and nice cooler! I do not cool the tank, I heat it actually because it's in my basement. Like I said, I have temps 55 nights and 75 days.

Oh well in that case, you have a HL chamber. Sorry.

Thats fine

I think I am going to devote the rest of the thread to the building process of grow chambers (of any kind). I see that lots of people are in the process of building their own chambers. pls. post some pics and keep the ideas coming!

 

[richjam1986]

Per square foot, the foil faced foam panels are cheaper than the bubble wrap at Lowes or Home Depot (looks nicer too). I just made a 2 foot deep x 4 1/2 foot wide x 6 foot tall lowland growth chamber using these and I'm very happy with the results.

 

[richjam1986]

Here's some pics of my 'mostly' finished chamber. I literally finished this just a couple weeks ago, so the plants still have to 'flesh out' the empty space

View from the outside:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68248217@N04/8449726857/" title="184_2539 by richjam1986, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8048/8449726857_7890772a55.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="184_2539"></a>

And some shots with the doors open:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68248217@N04/8449712507/" title="184_2540 by richjam1986, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8330/8449712507_41b6f4f309.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="184_2540"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68248217@N04/8450798958/" title="184_2541 by richjam1986, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8232/8450798958_3387d4f080.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="184_2541"></a>

And a warm mist humidifier to keep things warm and humid. It gets anoying to refill the bucket of water every few days, but I think I'll try to set it up with a automatic refill float valve connected to a water source... at some point.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68248217@N04/8449723005/" title="184_2547 by richjam1986, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8098/8449723005_67411a3fba.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="184_2547"></a>

 

[BioZest]

Nice! looks like a great setup. I think I will head to home depot or lowes soon (whenever I get time) with my camera and take some pics of the options for structure and reflector materials. BTW great looking plants.

 

[hazedshaman]

I built all my grow chambers out of 2x4's and panda film. Bought a 100' rool of panda film for around 75 including shipping and the 2x4s are about 2.50 to 3.50 depending on grade and quality of the lumber you wish to purchase. Sometimes you can even salvage perfectly fine 2x4 from construction sites. I can not justify building out of pvc due to me hanging all the lights and pots from the ceiling. I feel as if i would have a mess on m have very quickly. You really need no construction experience at all to build one. Simple square building. not hard to build. Ive build a few so far and have gotten it down to building one in about 2 hrs from start to fininsh. This does not include filling it with plants and hanging the lights tho.

here is the grow chamber from the outside wrapped in panda film. its pretty thick and durable. to me its worth the money.

The door.. lol a heavy duty tarp zipper. max of 10 bucks at a local hardware store.

here the ceiling. framed it with lots of places to hang things.

these are the corners,as you can see the from and side framers are infront of the lateral stud to ensure more surface area for the legs to sit on and maximize as much space as possible.

good thing about wood is additons are easy just make a small nailer and continue on you can also see example of being able to hang things.

more examples of being able to hang things. have yet to have anything rust. had the one chamber up for about a year now.

can even hang a bathroom exhaust fan for more air circulation or whatever else you want to hang.

this might help on your desicion and you build it as big or as small as you want. its up to your imagination.

 

[RL7836]

In addition to the suggestions already posted in the thread, I would recommend looking at what others have done. Swords did this one (although it's missing the pics?? ), Av did this one (which has a very interesting auto-watering setup), and Jeremiah created one modeled after Av's & I know there are several more out there ...

 

[BioZest]

@hazedshaman awesome setup. Sounds like it is working well for you! Thanks for updating with pics.

@RL7836 thanks for all of these references, they all look like some awesome projects.

 

[BioZest]

Here are some pics of the cramped plants:


N. lowii

H.minor:

(nectar spoon damaged from terrible lighting accident.)

little ceph:

might be time for a moss trimming soon

misc nep cuttings: