Mini-Fridge Stealth Grow (First Timer)

Gemini8555

Gemini8555

Active Member
Ladies and Gents!-

Howdy howdy all and welcome to my first time grow. I'm decided to shake it up a bit and make a stealth grow using a mini-fridge I had lying around from the good ole' days of yore.

That bein' said:

Pull up a chair, read the specs and check the progress from nursery building to graduation. (Constructive comments are always appreciated, too!)

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The Crib: A Sanyo Mini-Fridge (4.4 ft^3). I haven't seen one on the forum yet (if you seen one, hit me with a link) and decided to take a walk into unknown territory since most of the peripheral parts could double as grow parts.

Ze Lights: I got two sets of them for the different phases: 4x 27w CFLs 5000 lumens for seedling/vegatative; 4x 23w CFLs 3000 for flowering. POWER TO THE CFL CREW!

Flo' Ridin': Installing two 120v 3' muffin fans from Radio Shack. I will also be using Wolfman Zen's Carbon Filter Guide (Thanks for the effective and cheap ideas!) If this will not provide enough flow, gimme a heads up.

WWCraigChristD?: Hydroponics, of course. I want to do something like Wolfman Zen's Cloner Container but with a pump. Any DIY guide suggestions? I'll be using the vegetable crisper at the bottom of the fridge as the tank. How appropriate.

The Babies: Some bagseed. Yes, I live in California. Yes, I know bagseed is the red headed step child of growing. I don't want to blow an assload of money on my first time. I'm more concerned about learning and then gettin' down 'n' dirty with the good stuff.

If you want further details, hit me up!

:joint:G
 
Gemini8555

Gemini8555

Active Member
Just gutted the damn thing all day and came up with a pretty clean case thus far. If you want the details on how I gutted it without freon killing me, I'd be glad to share the details.



To get power inside the shell, I spliced the thermostat wiring to a 6 plug extension cord. This will be my main power source. It will connect to the two fans, a hydro pump, and a light timer. The light timer will connect to another extension cord (daisy chaining) that will be mounted to the bottom of the black tray the other extension cord is sitting on. What is also nice about using this fridge is that the black tray can move up and down the brackets as deemed necessary through the various plant stages.

The veggie crisper at the bottom will end up being the tank for the hydroponics (if the engineering permits). I intend to put 3-4 3' holes in for the plants. If the engineering does not permit, I will using what Ms. Gaea provided and findin' me some jiffypots.

Within the next two to three days I will be:

- assembling the fans, cutting the space in the chassis and the mounting the fans

-lining the inside of the shell with mylar from the hydro store
 
Gemini8555

Gemini8555

Active Member
A quick update on the nursery.

Day two was cutting fan holes and cleaning them out.



After breathing more insulation than any man should, I drilled holes so air could come in and out of the case.



The final product was an intake fan on the left wall and an exhaust fan on the back wall. I know my air flow will be a lil funky since the intake isn't lower but given the circumstances I think it'll fair well in the end.



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Day Three consisted of many Home Depot, Hydro Store and Wally World runs to get the remaining materials. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the surge protectors I put on the top for flowering and a moveable shelf for vegetative since it was too dark to take pictures. :/ On the bright side, I did complete my bubble box and took a picture of the bad boy! All that's left is mylar and puttin' the plants in!



:joint:G
 
ElephantRider

ElephantRider

Well-Known Member
Subbed and repped! That's awesome work, man. I'm jealous as balls! For the record, with all that space, have you considered maybe running 2 200W cfl's? You'd get monster nugs, I think. And, yes.. duct tape the res. w/ mylar on top and you should be set.
 
Gemini8555

Gemini8555

Active Member
ElephantRider said:
Subbed and repped! That's awesome work, man. I'm jealous as balls! For the record, with all that space, have you considered maybe running 2 200W cfl's? You'd get monster nugs, I think. And, yes.. duct tape the res. w/ mylar on top and you should be set.
Click to expand...
I've considered higher wattage but I live in an area that has bad energy spikes during the summer and I want to try to consume as little electricity as possible. If the 3 CFL's (5000 for veg, 3000 for flower) don't cut it, I may hafta move up for the next harvest.

Thanks for the rep and I hope to hear from ya more!
Knowledge=Smokage

:joint:G
 
Gemini8555

Gemini8555

Active Member
This is the final day before the big move into it's permanent secret Fortress of Solitude (read: bedroom closet).

Let us start with the finished product of the work from Day 3. Day 3 saw the construction of the water reservoir and bolting of the surge protectors to the top and moveable shelf. (Picture below is sans reservoir)



With that being done, all that was left was adding Mylar to the various flat surfaces of the case. YES!

Here is the moveable shelf with mylar applied.



The door all pretty n' shiny.



Now this part is my pride and joy. I have 5 different adjustable light settings for the plant's various life cycle stages. The surge protector screwed and liquid nail'd to the top is "setting 5" (it is for sure not dropping mid grow!). The shelf below it is "setting 4" and then it descends from there. Setting 0 is meant for lighting the water and various electrical hazards if the 5-0 roll. ;)



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And now... without further adieu, I am proud to announce the birth of the newest Gemini family member...

The Nubian Princess!

At first glance, she seems innocent enough. Possibly meant for chilling food from the latest grocery run or storing red bulls for the pre-party.



But upon opening her up, you'll be enticed by her superb beauty and ability to grow the shit outta anything you throw in her.



Be in awe of seeing what she does best...



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Now that the Nubian Princess is complete, all that is left is going to putting seeds in her belly! I'll have an update about that come Sunday/Monday. I hope you enjoyed seeing the nursery project and I hope ya stick around for the real fun!

:joint:G
 
j h

j h

Well-Known Member
you got a really nice setup gemini anyways ill be keepin an eye on it subscribed
 
ZongedOut

ZongedOut

Active Member
Interesting setup... very stealth. What are temps going to be like when all three cfls are on? are you really planning on growing three plants in there?

looks like you're ready to go. i'll also be watching what happens... looks pretty neat man. good luck!
 
Gemini8555

Gemini8555

Active Member
ZongedOut said:
Interesting setup... very stealth. What are temps going to be like when all three cfls are on? are you really planning on growing three plants in there?

looks like you're ready to go. i'll also be watching what happens... looks pretty neat man. good luck!
Click to expand...
I'll be starting out with 1 or 2 pending germination and then I'll see how climate control goes. I'm hoping to put a screen in for ScrOG when I hit setting 5 for lights.

I put three in for vegging other plants in my garden so I can transplant faster. :) Right now the temps have been running around 85. The temp shouldn't matter as much since it is in hydro and not soil, correct?
 
H

hokey hombre

Active Member
OK, so I have a mini fridge left over from college, and I want to try this. The inside is even white plastic, so I wouldn't have to Mylar the fucker.

So do tell - how did you gut the actual refrigerants? Do you have pictures of the process?
 
Gemini8555

Gemini8555

Active Member
hokey hombre said:
OK, so I have a mini fridge left over from college, and I want to try this. The inside is even white plastic, so I wouldn't have to Mylar the fucker.

So do tell - how did you gut the actual refrigerants? Do you have pictures of the process?
Click to expand...
All the pics I have of the project are already posted. Most of the construction was dremel and drill work. If you plan on making a fridge case, get a dremel otherwise you will end up hating life.

PM me with pics of your fridge and I'd be glad to give you some insight on a best course of action!

:joint:G
 
Shackleford.R

Shackleford.R

Well-Known Member
i just fell into this thread myself. i see my pal dopewear made it here first. I dont know what to say, this is the most beautiful thing i've seen.. of course i said that to growman yesterday when i checked out his outdoor grow. but this... i mean, i'm speechless really.

DIY = awesome

Stealth = awesome

Pot = awesome

Growing pot in a DIY stealth system = SUPERAWESOME!

+rep and a definite subscribidiblo!!
 
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