I live in a small house in a cold climate in an unenlightened country and would like to do a stealth space bucket grow.
We use every room in our 1800 sqft (170 sqm) house and I have two teenage sons so an inside grow is risky because of the smell. We also have an unheated outside storage room that is partially subterranean (about two feet), walled with cinder blocks and abuts the house and where my sons never go because it’s where to yard tools are kept. The room is dank. I have a 100 gallon (380 liter) plastic barrel and can easily procure 4 gallon (15 liter) buckets for cheap. I would like to do the grow in the winter and spring since neighbors are not outside much and we don’t go into the storage room to fetch tools.
My main concern is temperature. I was thinking of encasing the space bucket build inside the larger barrel and insulating the space between them. I have already cut two large holes in the lid of the barrel (an attempt at a centrifuge dust collector for my ‘shop’) so I would like to use those for air intake and exhaust and I would reverse the airflow so the intake blows down from the top past the lights and exhaust would be from the bottom of the space bucket in order to take advantage to the heat generated by the cfl lights. I would also put a tube through the barrel and bucket for watering to minimize how often I need to open the unit.
My question is would the lights alone be warm enough to enable plant growth in the confined space? I’m worried that even if the lights generate enough heat, the air intake and exhaust would cancel it out unless I could somehow warm up the intake air before it goes in. We are having warmer winters but we still go below freezing for days in a row. Related to this is how often I need to tend the plant. Even if I the lights warm up the space enough for growth, if I need to open up the lid, the plant may get blasted with cold air. Will this shock the plant and kill it? If it is exposed to cold air for five minutes is that too much? I suppose I could throw a tarp over myself and the unit when I need to open it up and use a space heater, but how often do space bucket grows need tending especially if I can water from outside? I’m not too concerned about the smell in the storage room because as I said, we and the neighbors are not outside much in winter and early spring and it would be confined to a rarely accessed area at the back of the house.
My other option is to grow inside in my ‘shop’ which is in the utility room in the basement where I have all my wood and tools and which is accessed through the downstairs bathroom/laundry room. I could convincingly hide the unit in a corner and my boys who rarely go in there would not bother it but in this scenario smell is a big concern. In order for the indoor grow to work I would need zero smell and low noise. I could build an activated charcoal filter for the exhaust and hide it in a tote and I could possibly even blow the exhaust out a vent to the side of the house but the vent is right where we keep our bikes and the boys use them in winter sometimes and it’s on the side of the house where our entrance is and only 12ft (4m) away.
I have zero experience doing a grow, let alone a stealth grow, and would appreciate any advice on these two scenarios— ie, growing outside in a cold room or inside with no odor. Also how often does the plant need tending using the space bucket method especially if I water from the outside using a tube. Thanks and cheers
We use every room in our 1800 sqft (170 sqm) house and I have two teenage sons so an inside grow is risky because of the smell. We also have an unheated outside storage room that is partially subterranean (about two feet), walled with cinder blocks and abuts the house and where my sons never go because it’s where to yard tools are kept. The room is dank. I have a 100 gallon (380 liter) plastic barrel and can easily procure 4 gallon (15 liter) buckets for cheap. I would like to do the grow in the winter and spring since neighbors are not outside much and we don’t go into the storage room to fetch tools.
My main concern is temperature. I was thinking of encasing the space bucket build inside the larger barrel and insulating the space between them. I have already cut two large holes in the lid of the barrel (an attempt at a centrifuge dust collector for my ‘shop’) so I would like to use those for air intake and exhaust and I would reverse the airflow so the intake blows down from the top past the lights and exhaust would be from the bottom of the space bucket in order to take advantage to the heat generated by the cfl lights. I would also put a tube through the barrel and bucket for watering to minimize how often I need to open the unit.
My question is would the lights alone be warm enough to enable plant growth in the confined space? I’m worried that even if the lights generate enough heat, the air intake and exhaust would cancel it out unless I could somehow warm up the intake air before it goes in. We are having warmer winters but we still go below freezing for days in a row. Related to this is how often I need to tend the plant. Even if I the lights warm up the space enough for growth, if I need to open up the lid, the plant may get blasted with cold air. Will this shock the plant and kill it? If it is exposed to cold air for five minutes is that too much? I suppose I could throw a tarp over myself and the unit when I need to open it up and use a space heater, but how often do space bucket grows need tending especially if I can water from outside? I’m not too concerned about the smell in the storage room because as I said, we and the neighbors are not outside much in winter and early spring and it would be confined to a rarely accessed area at the back of the house.
My other option is to grow inside in my ‘shop’ which is in the utility room in the basement where I have all my wood and tools and which is accessed through the downstairs bathroom/laundry room. I could convincingly hide the unit in a corner and my boys who rarely go in there would not bother it but in this scenario smell is a big concern. In order for the indoor grow to work I would need zero smell and low noise. I could build an activated charcoal filter for the exhaust and hide it in a tote and I could possibly even blow the exhaust out a vent to the side of the house but the vent is right where we keep our bikes and the boys use them in winter sometimes and it’s on the side of the house where our entrance is and only 12ft (4m) away.
I have zero experience doing a grow, let alone a stealth grow, and would appreciate any advice on these two scenarios— ie, growing outside in a cold room or inside with no odor. Also how often does the plant need tending using the space bucket method especially if I water from the outside using a tube. Thanks and cheers
