Indoor marijuana cultivation is regarded as the more popular choice among many cannabis growers today and yesterday. That is true even though marijuana use has become more popular and accepted in society today. More people in today’s society prefer indoor cannabis growing over outdoor. And there are good reasons why.
First of all, you can control the ideal growing conditions of a cannabis strain when they are grown indoors rather than outdoors, where you are a slave to whatever nature gives you. Second, indoor growing is a lot safer for your plants because they are not exposed to as many harmful elements. And third, cultivating indoors is stealthier.
Even though cannabis is becoming more popularly accepted by society and by laws, people will still prefer stealth growing over cultivating these plants out in the open. In that sense, any stealth indoor grower needs a good tool to use such as a grow box.
What is a Grow Box?
A grow box, as the name itself already implies, houses marijuana plants as they grow. They are made to protect the cannabis plants and to allow them to grow in a safe environment. These grow boxes are usually sold commercially as kits or as a whole but some growers actually construct their own ones right in their own homes.
These boxes are usually light and odor proof and have everything you need to produce healthy cannabis plants. This includes grow lights, ventilation, fans, temperature monitoring, and even hydroponics system.
Grow boxes are preferred over grow tents by a lot of cannabis growers even though they technically function the same way. The reason for such is that grow boxes are solid and rigid. In that sense, they provide more protection than grow tents because of their hard-walled structure and environment.
Depending on the size of your grow box, these containers can house several cannabis plants and are great for anyone looking to save up on indoor space. Imagine yourself purchasing a one-bedroom apartment for five to eight of your marijuana plants.
Why Use a Grow Box?
Now that you already know what a grow box is, there are several reasons for you to choose a grow box over any other types of housing structures such as growth tents. These are the advantage of using a grow box for your indoor cannabis operation:
1. They are Hard and Durable
One of the best reasons why you should choose a grow box over a grow tent or any other housing structure is that they are hard and durable. While the durability depends on the material you used for your DIY grow box or on where you purchased an entire grow box kit, you can be assured that the structure stays solid and rigid.
In comparison, grow tents are made out of fabric that is far from being as hard and as solid as the materials that make a good quality grow box. This means that your grow box will not only stand the test of time but will also be able to survive whatever the elements or a fortuitous even throws at it.
2. No Need to Assemble
The problem with grow tents is that you need to assemble them and figure out how to put everything together. You no longer have to worry about what part goes where and where the wires and the different fixtures need to go to. If assembling things is not your specialty, this can be a difficult task for you to do.
But, if you use a grow box, there is little to no assembly required. Your DIY grow box might have already been constructed out of an old used cabinet. In that sense, you no longer have to assemble the entire structure. You probably only need to put a few things together to complete the entire grow box. That is not the same as grow tents, which need to be constructed from top to bottom.
3. They Last Longer
Because they are not made out of fabric and are constructed out of durable materials, these grow boxes last for quite a long time. If you have a DIY grow box that was made out of good hardwood or was constructed from a cabinet, you can be assured that it will last just as long as your cabinet at home would. It will not be subject to as much wear and tear as the fabric that grow tents are made out of.
What this means for you is that you will be able to save up on expenses in the long run. One grow box will last for a very long time and will ensure that you do not have to purchase a new one every so often if the older ones get run down.
4. Better Fans and Ventilation
When you buy a grow box, they usually come with built-in fans. Most of these fans are made to be a lot quieter compared to the ones you see in grow tents. In that sense, they are generally better. And when it comes to ventilation, since grow boxes are solid, the exhaust windows work better and do not bend out of shape unlike grow tents.
5. They are Stealthier
Grow boxes are not as conspicuous as you might think they are. They look like any normal everyday box that can be found in most homes. Some look like mini refrigerators while others look like your regular filing cabinet. And, if you made your grow box out of a drawer, it will most likely look like an ordinary drawer as well.
On the other hand, a grow tent really does not look like it belongs in an ordinary household. It generally stands out and will attract unwanted attention. So, if your goal is to make your indoor cannabis operation as inconspicuous as possible, your best choice is a good stealthy grow box that you can make out of ordinary materials you can find at home.
Why Go for a DIY Grow Box?
By now, you probably are already convinced that going for a grow box is your best choice when it comes to growing your own cannabis plants at home. And, in that regard, you can either go for a commercially sold grow box or you can actually build your own one by yourself. Here are the reasons why we believe you should opt for a DIY grow box:
1. You Build it According to the Size You Want it to Be
Commercially sold grow boxes come in pre-made sizes that can fit all sorts of different types of cannabis strains. There are some that are made to be small for casual intermediate growers that are just starting out. And there are bigger grow boxes made for those who want to grow more cannabis plants.
While that normally is not a big problem, the issue here is that these sizes do not come in the exact dimensions you want them to be. You may want a grow box that is made exactly to your specifications due to different reasons such as the dimensions of the available space you have set for the grow box or the size of the cannabis plants you are planning to grow. That said, a DIY grow box might be the best for you in this case.
2. You Can Choose Whatever Components Your Grow Box Has
Pre-made grow boxes usually come with components such as exhaust fans, hydroponics system, temperature and moisture level monitoring systems, and grow lights. However, there are boxes that have more components than what you actually need. Or, in any other case, you may have components that are better than the ones in the pre-made commercially sold grow boxes. In such cases, it is better for you to go for a DIY grow box because you can control and choose the components you want to add
3. It is More Affordable for Starters
Commercially sold grow boxes are not the most affordable tools that a beginner grower can afford. It can be pretty heavy on the budget to start out with pre-made grow boxes especially if they come complete with all sorts of expensive components that beginner growers might not want to use yet. That said, building a grow box from scratch can be an affordable endeavor for beginners because you control the parts, materials, and components you want to build the box out of.
4. You Can Recycle or Repurpose Household Items
If you have that old filing cabinet or a drawer that are still in good shape, you may not want to throw them away just yet. Instead, you can repurpose those things and even recycle some other household items to build your own grow box. Since grow boxes are technically made to look like cabinets or drawers, why not use cabinets or drawers to build one instead? That way, you are hitting two birds with one stone because you do not have to start the structure from scratch and you also repurpose an item that is still very much usable.
Building Your Own Grow Box
1. The Most Important Components
- Grow light – provides the light and the heat necessary in an enclosed grow box
- Intake and exhaust fans – Fills the grow box with air and filters out the excess heat and also the stench out from your grow box
- Pots and soil – your plants will grow in the pots and the soil
- Others – humidity and temperature control systems and hydroponics systems are not essential but they can be really helpful if you are a more advanced type of cannabis grower
2. Size
The size of your grow box depends on how many plants you are planning to grow. For example, a grow box with a width and depth of about 3 x 3 is already enough to house nine cannabis plants. Of course, the bigger the box, the more plants you can grow. The ideal grow box should always be at least 62 inches high because some cannabis strains tend to grow tall enough.
If you have a cabinet that you think is already big enough to fit those dimensions, then you can simply use that instead of building from scratch. But, if you want to pick out the materials and create a grow box that fits specific dimensions, then it might be better for you to build one from the ground up. However, make sure that your grow box looks like an ordinary cabinet on the outside if you want to make sure it is as stealthy as possible.
3. Setting Up
Setting up a good grow box is actually easy as long as you have the components ready. Make sure that the lights are situated above. The distance between the lights and the grow box depends on the type of lights you use or the size of the lights. A standard 600W light might need to be about a foot and a half above the plants to make sure they do not get light burn. You can use a reflector to make sure that the lights go straight to the plants without dispersing all over the grow box.
Of course, the pots should be placed at the bottom of the grow box. You can build a catch basin below the pots so that you can easily collect the excess water from the plants without making a mess.
There should be an intake fan close to the plants so that they get enough air to thrive well inside an enclosed space. An exhaust fan should be placed near the heat source (the light) so that excess heat immediately gets filtered out of the grow box. The intake fan should be bigger than your exhaust fan so that not all of the air gets ventilated out of the grow box. Cut out holes big enough to contain both the intake fan and the exhaust fan.
The ballast for your lighting system should be placed outside the grow box so that you can easily turn them on or off without opening the entire box. Of course, both the lighting system and the fans should be connected to a power source outside the box.
There you have it. That is the basic structure of a standard stealthy grow box. As you move up in experience and as your budget increase, you can add more components to your grow box or you can build an even bigger one.
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