Re Grow boxes

Houston, James A. (JH2@scires.com)
Thu, 05 Jan 95 10:11:07

Hello again gang,

I must say that first of all, the "grow box" plans are *not*
mine, I'm not even positive if it's called a "grow box" either.
I'm not making a dime here, honest. Also, with all of the
incense nonsense, I'm a bit gun-shy about trying to "sell"
anything. I'm just passing along some information
because I thought you might be interested.

I just saw this box, and I was *so* impressed with it, that I had
to tell someone who might be interested. I realize you can build
a grow box, or a light box for a lot less money, but I've seen
those types of contraptions, and I wasn't impressed. This grow
box really impressed me, that's why I had to mention it to you.

>Why buy plans for $20 if you can build a grow box yourself for
>$16? I grow my lowland Nepenthes in one and they love it!

I hear you on that. The major difference with this box I saw
was that it gave somewhere between 8 and 10 plants about 1 square
foot of intense light. The pots the plants were growing in were
not big at all, and contained a good nursery mix of soil as a growing
medium. That's all.
The pots could be pulled out, and replaced easily at any time, as
there were "cutouts" which the pots seated into. With that idea, one
could easily spin the plants, but really, there was no need to do
that, the peppers were surrounded with intense light from all sides.

>Care to expand on your grow box i.e. what is it made of, how big
>etc.?
Again, this is *not* my grow box; the one I saw was made of simple
plywood, 4' high, 4' long, and 2' deep. It was painted white inside,
and stained and finished on the outside, and it looked nice. It had
two doors which opened, and gave access to the box from the front.
When the doors were closed, you couldn't see the plants. Depending on
what you decide to construct the doors from (e.g. plastics) you will
be able to see the plants inside. The box wasn't very big/obtrusive.
I suppose, you could use plastics on all of the outside walls, but
again, the one I saw was strictly plywood, and not very heavy, I would
venture to say that it weighed around 30 - 40 pounds. My friend told
me he had around $200, maybe $250 with the plans, etc. tied up in the
project. The amount of bang for your buck by doing it yourself was
what impressed me the most. If you can handle a jigsaw, screw driver,
and a paint brush, you can build this thing, and it will last a
lifetime. Essentially, once you have the plans, you can substitute
the building materials, _the interior lights_, etc., will be a fixed
cost though, I think around $175.00. From what I can determine, there
are smaller plan models available, and obviously, those grow boxes
would cost less to build. I haven't seen the plans yet, but they are
all $20.

Anyone can email me off-line about further info, as soon as I get it,
I'll be happy to pass it along to you. Just send me your email
address.

Happy Growing,
Jim Houston
jh2@scires.com