Making a Grow-box for Seed Starting

[CactusFanDan]

Update: You can check out the finished product and the plant products in this thread http://cactiguide.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=28291

Well, one day a few months ago I woke up and I said to myself: "I could do with a good, consistent way of raising plants from seed!"
A little pondering and sketching later, I came up with an idea to make a grow-box. The idea was to have a large surface area for growing plants from seed for at least the first two years of their life. Initially I wanted to just have a large, flat, self-contained box with lights and heating and all sorts of fancy things for growing nice young plants. But that takes up a lot of space, so i've opted for a multi-tiered plan instead. Kinda like a young cactus hotel!

Now let's have some pictures from day 1 of building!

Cheeky lizard in the corner ;) Yep, it's a board alright! You've gotta start somewhere

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My foot in the foreground and some gravel to the side. :) Two boards! and a bunch of brackets.

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I'm building it out of 9mm MDF if anyone's interested, steel/zinc brackets (and lots of screws) and using 2 4ft fluorescent lights in each compartment for the moment. (I might add more lights to one of the sections later, for plants which like more light) I'll probably use white printer paper or cooking foil to help reflect light. I might need fans to stop the ballasts on the lights from overheating as well, and heat mats or bulbs might be needed to get it nice and toasty inside.

Also, I know some people have already built their own growbox (at least I think they have ) so if anyone has any tips or advice for me, then that would be greatly appreciated!

[peterb]

This looks like an enjoyable little project. If you really fill that whole box with seed pots you could start a small nursery.

I have never built a propagator, having used plastic trays with dome lids that are sold at the local hydroponics store. I do like to use a heat mat in the bottom of the tray and I have relatively high intensity lights on an 18 hour on/6 hour off cycle.

peterb

[Daniel]

You will have your very own desert by the end! I just have mine in little propagators all around.

[CactusFanDan]

Progress report! Well there still isn't very much to see, but I've added another 3 sides to my box and it's starting to take shape now. Hopefully i'll have the main structure finished in a day or two! Then I can add lights and stuff.

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[CactusFanDan]

It's day 3 of the build and things are shaping up quite nicely and I should have the main structure finished soon, with lights as well.

Attaching the lights. The white stuff is printer paper, intended to reflect more of the light than just the wood.

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The view inside the box with the lights on.

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The view from outside of the box. In a fully lit room, might I add. It's really quite bright in there! :)

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[Daniel]

Looking good! I personally would not be making something like that inside, but hey its freezing outside!

[Ivan C]

Well, one day a few months ago... snip....
Also, I know some people have already built their own growbox (at least I think they have ) so if anyone has any tips or advice for me, then that would be greatly appreciated!

Hey CactusFanDan

This is just a thought but keep in mind that you will probably have to have some air circulation of sort. If nothing else but to cut down on some of the humidity. And most plants like moving air.

Ivan

[CactusFanDan]

Well, one day a few months ago... snip....
Also, I know some people have already built their own growbox (at least I think they have ) so if anyone has any tips or advice for me, then that would be greatly appreciated!

Hey CactusFanDan

This is just a thought but keep in mind that you will probably have to have some air circulation of sort. If nothing else but to cut down on some of the humidity. And most plants like moving air.

Ivan

I mentioned that i'll be using fans to prevent the ballasts on the lights from overheating, since it's in a confined space. The plants are probably going to be started off in individual bags for the first year (or two) of their lives and then taken out, so with a fan in each compartment it should be a nice environment in there. That's the plan, anyway!

[Ivan C]

Sorry.. Senior moment.

[promethean_spark]

Mine gets by with a few vent holes. Unless they're particularly hot burning lamps I would just make a few holes and see what happens. You can cover some of the holes when it's winter and it's colder. A fan of any size would keep it room temperature inside, and that's too cold. Should be 80-90'F.

I'd have made it a bit taller, my pots in bags are about 10" tall, and you don't want the top of the bag to be close to the bulb where it'll get hot and degrade in less than a couple years. A bit more height will also allow you to put grafts on pereskiopsis in there.

The ultimate in baby cacti keeping is to have bottom heat as well (such as a reptile mat) however the bottom heat should be on a timer opposite the lamps. That will cause moisture to go down in the pot during the day and rise to the surface at night (condensation makes water move away from heat), mimicking the daily dew that many species live on and allowing you to run the bagged pots with less moisture - reducing rot issues. If you stacked these boxes and had their lights on opposite schedules you could achieve the same effect without a heat mat!

[Daniel]

OHHH shiny! If I had something like that my house would be raided by police on suspicion of me growing cannabis!

[CactusFanDan]

Thanks for the information, promethean_spark. The bags I will be using are quite short, so I think they should be fine. In terms of the heat bulb, I was thinking of using a ceramic heat bulb used for reptiles to provide some extra heat and have the fan blow air over the bulb to provide the seeds with some warmth. Bearing in mind there will be a front on the box when it's done, so it should be an enclosed system, it'll either be too hot or too cold. But having lots of things to change the temperature in there should be able to remedy all that.

[promethean_spark]

The space blanket was only something like $1 at walmart, but as you can see it's breaking down over time (about 7 years old now). I'd just go with white paint if I started over.

I only burn about 250W, so I think I'm under the radar- though I'm sure they'd be chagrined if police tried to bust me. Actually my GH would probably attract more attention.

[CactusFanDan]

I haven't thought about attracting police attention, but I doubt it's something I should worry about. I've already got a lighting unit in my bedroom window, which is clearly visible from my street and i've heard nothing so far.

I've made some good progress today! Managed to get the main structure finished, now I just need to add some finishing touches and work out all the electronic components. I'd like the temperature to be around 75-90 degrees inside during the day and drop to maybe 60-70 degrees at night. Is that a good temperature cycle for germinating most cacti?

Anyway, here are some pictures of the last few steps and the finished article!

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The finished box with the front up.

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And with the front down.

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[Daniel]

Looking good! have all your seeds arrived yet?