The Port-A-Closet

by Ed Rosenthal

Don't let the price of pot bum you out.... Fight back! For less than the going price of an ounce of decent connoisseur herb, you can build your own portable skunk factory follow ing our Poor Starving Graduate Student's design. It's neat and discreet and capable of producing six ounces in less than four months.

I recently met a grower who had a unique and innovative method of cultivating. He also had a number of problems to overcome before he could put it to use. Poor Starving Graduate Student (PSGS), as he wishes to be known, needed a discreet and unobtrusive system, but he had very little space in which to work. To make matters more difficult, he would have to relocate three times during the year to complete his post-graduate research. Lacking time and money, PSGS designed his "Port-A-Closet."

MATERIALS

To build it, PSGS had to do some shopping at thrift stores, and visited three before finding a metal closet the right size: 38" by 28" by 6'. After sanding away the rust spots, he spray-painted it a color matching the room in which it would be placed. He also purchase 25 pounds of aquarium gravel, 10 1-1/2 gallon plastic plant containers (each measuring about 8" across at the top) and 25 3" containers.

PSGS also found scrap wood, including 1" x 3"s, 2" x 4"s, and 4" x 4"s. He followed sales at home improvement and discount stores, where he bought eight ceramic incandescent sockets, on 50-watt high pressure sodium lamp (HPS), two six-plug outlet strips (with circuit breakers), a heavy-duty 6" extension cord, a 24-hour timer, plastic houseware trays measuring 14" x 9" and a heavy-duty plastic drop cloth. He had planned to buy some aluminum foil to line the closet; instead, he found a torn "space blanket" someone had left on the street.

While gathering the materials to build the system, PSGS was constantly on the lookout for discarded potted plants. Most of these were poinsettias tossed after the season. Different pots contained different mixes, mostly wood bark and compost, vermiculite, perlite, peat moss and coconut hull. The various grow media were shaken from the roots of the discarded plants into a large box. Last to be added to the mix was a discarded bag of unused foam rubber bits.

CONSTRUCTION

The inner walls of the cabinet were lined with the 6' x 5' space blanket. (Areas not covered by the blanket were lined with aluminum foil.) Next, the lights were installed: The 50-watt HPS lamp was hung from the built-in hanger bar using several pieces of nylon cord. The side-lighting, comprised of four 8" circular-tube fluorescent fixtures, was then added. Each light was screwed into ceramic light-bulb sockets spaced 15" apart and secured on 1" x 3" boards. Two of the lights were hung from the bar; the other two were hung along the back wall using eye hooks screwed into the top of the cabinet. To do this, PSGS drilled two holes through the top of the unit, screwed hooks through the holes and held them in place with thin pieces of wood.

Using a hacksaw and a pair of metal shears, a 6" hole was cut in the top of the closet, and a small fan (held in place using the technique used to hold the hooks) was installed for air circulation. Vibration noise from the fan was eliminated by placing a piece of foam rubber between the wood and metal. To allow fresh air into the grow space, a 4" hole was cut in the lower back of the closet.

The lights and fan were plugged into two six-outlet exten sion cords with circuit breakers, also hung from the hanger bar. These, in turn were plugged into a heavy-duty exten sion cord run into an outlet near the closet. The bottom of the closet was lined with two layers of 4 mm polyethylene, attached to the sides of the closet with duct tape. This helps prevent spills from leaving the closet.

IMPLEMENTATION

PSGS mixed his pot-luck medium thoroughly, adding 25 pounds of aquarium gravel. The result was heavy. When he added water/nutrient solution, the medium felt very porous, moist ... almost wet but nonetheless airy. The medium was poured in the small containers.

PSGS had been planning to grew for about six months and had been saving seed. A few were found in some stash sinsemilla, and some were collected from friends. All were domestic.

The seeds were planted two per container, about 1/4" deep. The pots were placed in trays under the HPS lamp only. (The fluorescents were loosened in their sockets and left off.) The containers were watered with a diluted nutrient solution; to keep them moist, plastic bags were placed across their tops. The seeds germinated over a two-week period.

PSGS used two very popular brands of fairly complete fertil izer purchased at a local garden center. He noticed that neither of them contained magnesium (Mg), so Epsom salts were added to the nutrient solution.

About two weeks after germination, when the plants were about 8" tall, the lights were turned down to 12 hours per day to force sex. All the plants began to flower 10-15 days after that. The males were pulled, leaving 16 pots with females and 21 plants total. Only eight females were need ed. Five of the plants looked less vigorous than the rest and were pulled immediately. The eight best were planted in the large containers and the light was then put on continuous illumination.

When the plants were between 10" to 15" tall -- about five weeks after germination -- the bottom layer of fluorescents was turned on so that the plants received light from the side as well as from above. At the same time, the tops of the plants were cut to even out length and to encourage branching. When the tops were between 18" to 24" tall -- about two and a half months after germination -- the second group of fluorescents were turned on and the plats were pruned again. Two weeks later, the light cycle was reduced to 12 hours per day to induce flowering.

THE WICK SYSTEM

PSGS wanted to try the wick system of irrigation. He began by cutting a 4" x 4" into wood blocks, which he place under the containers to raise them above the trays. (The trays served as reservoirs). He then cut eight pieces of 3/8" nylon cord -- the water wick -- long enough to run across the bottom and out both sides of each container to the tray's base.

To get the wick system going, PSGS simply filled the trays with water/nutrient solution. However, since he enjoyed hand-watering so much, he used the wicks only once during a five-day period when he was away.

FINISHING TOUCHES When the plants started to flower, they turned quite odor- iferous. PSGS solved the problem with a negative ion generator, which he purchased at a thrift shop for $15. He placed the unit on top of the closet, and it zapped the odors as they blew out of the fan hole.

PSGS harvested the plants 70-85 days later. His yield was about six ounces of very high quality bud. Soon after, his post-graduate research at the location was complete....PSGS temporarily shut down his " Port-A-Closet," packed it up along with his other furniture, and set off for a new loca tion.

EQUIPMENT AND COSTS

Metal closet: $25
Spray paint: $2
Aquarium gravel: $3
1-1/2 gallon containers (10): $2.50
3" and 4" pots (25): $2.50
Incandescent sockets (8): $7.92
50-watt HPS unit: $39.95
Screw-in fluorescents (8): $39.60
Six-way strip w/breaker (2): $15.96
Extension cord: $5.99
24-hour timer: $6.99
Negative-ion Generator: $15.00
Plastic houseware trays: $11.92
Drop cloth: $2.99
Planting medium: Free
Space Blanket: Free
Aluminum foil (75 ft.): $2.21
Fertilizer (1 lb each of two popular brands): $6.34
Epsom salts (2 1/2 lb): $.99
Tax: $15.27

Electricity (852 kWh) @ $.12 kWh: $102.24

TOTAL: $308.36