Tag Archives: grow box

DIY Indoor Grow Box

Posted on by
2

In February, Sarah pulled out our grow box–I had made it last year–and got our seeds started. I should have written this post then, so that others could have made their own this year, but unfortunately I didn’t. A friend asked how I made it, so I figured I’d post about it now so that you can build yours for next year. It’s quick and easy.

What you need:

  • plastic Rubbermaid-type bin with lid (the under-the-bed size works well)
  • 4 – 2 x 1/4 inch bolts, with 4 nuts, and 4 – 1 1/2 inch washers
  • 4 – 18 x 1/4 inch pieces of all thread rod, with 8 nuts, and 8 large washers
  • board (plywood or shelving) approximately 24 x 12 inches (dependent on your lid size)
  • 2 aquarium light fixtures with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs

Assembly

1) On the inside of the lid, attach the board with the bolts and nuts, put the washers on the outside of the lid so the bolts won’t pull through the plastic. Line the board up in the inside center of the lid and drill a 1/4 inch hole through each corner of the board, with a matching hole through the lid. This board provides the stable surface to mount the light fixtures.

2) In each corner of the lid drill a 1/4 inch hole and put through the all thread with a nut and washer on each side of the plastic lid. The all thread will be the adjustable “legs”.

 

3) Mount the light fixtures, per the directions, to the board on the inside of the lid.

 

 

Once Completed

Plant your seeds – the container you choose doesn’t really matter, but make sure there are holes in the bottom for drainage. Place the containers in bin, adjusting the all thread so the light is close to the plants. As the plants grow larger the light can be lifted higher by adjusting the nuts on the all thread.

(I used 10 inch all thread, it was high enough when I first started but not enough when the plants grew bigger, so I cut blocks to put under each all thread leg to make them higher.)

After you’ve transplanted all of your sprouted plants, disassemble the legs and slide the entire box under the bed to neatly store until next year.

Simple and it works.

(Wednesday: We Still Want Coffee)

What We Did This Week To Prep 4/6/12

Posted on by
9

The greenhouse project continues forward, not nearly as fast as we had hoped or planned (my projects are never as fast as planned), but forward. At this point it’s all framed and ready for it’s plastic coating. This weekend Sarah and I will select what plastic to use, borrow a friend’s truck (can’t wait to get our own) and HOPEFULLY finish it and move plants in early next week. It has been a good learning experience. We’re pleased with how it came out and excited about the options it will provide for us. Next building project: rabbit hutch.

I say “move plants” because Sarah planted the ones that needed to grow the longest, and put them in the grow box I made last year. It doesn’t fit a lot, but they’ve sprouted and are on schedule to be the size they need by mid-June when they’ll go into the ground.

This week was our kids’ spring break, so taking advantage of the lack of school and sports practices, Ryan and Brynn had all four of their wisdom teeth pulled last Friday. Not an especially fun week for them (and us by association), but now it’s done. This got me to thinking how miserable it would be to have impacted, painful wisdom teeth in a collapse world. Even if you could get them out, what a horrible experience it would be without any/or only minimal pain control during and after the procedure. I then thought about other surgical procedures that maybe we’ve been thinking about and/or know we ought to get done – but have been putting off. Perhaps it’s time to get them done. Things like root canals and other dental work, knee/joint repairs (surgical or non-surgical), even Lasik eye surgery. There have been discussions in the comments section about the value of having extra glasses; while nothing surgical can be done for the farsightedness that comes with age, Lasik surgery can completely repair your eyes for life. I had radial keratotomy done on my eyes in ’93 (the surgical precursor to the Lasik laser eye surgery) and it completely corrected my nearsightedness. In this chaotic economic time, when there seem to be very few ‘safe’ investments, maybe it’s time to invest some money to take care of yourself.

As mentioned, when Kate (our Border Collie) and I go for our regular walks, I carry my weighted backpack as part of my workout routine (walking in my hiking boots, off-trail, carrying extra weight). My pack isn’t huge (ia Maxpedition Falcon II, with 1500 cu. in. capacity), and after I put in some good GHB type stuff, I filled the remaining space with large rocks to make it weigh more. I was thinking it weighed about 50-60 pounds. (note: We didn’t own a scale. I’ve never felt like body weight is a good measurement of fitness, so I never bought one.) This week I broke down and bought a scale, so I could weigh my pack. Anyway it only came in at 40 pounds. I was a bit disappointed because I want to be carrying closer to 65 pounds –  which is how much our BOBs weigh (and close to 1/3 of my body weight which is the recommended maximum amount to be carried for any distance). Since I didn’t have room for any more rocks, I took out the rocks and put in three 10 pound weights (they take up less space and are less abusive to my pack) taking the total weight up to about 60 pounds (when the CamelBak is full of water). Yesterday’s walk resulted in some tired muscles, but I was able to keep the same pace. I’m going to keep that weight for a couple of weeks them put in the final plate to take it to 70 pounds; I’m still trying to follow the old military (and hopefully prepper) mantra of “train like you’ll fight, fight like you trained”.

What did you do?

(Monday: Stop The Bleeding)