Used furniture moving dollies should be available cheap and readily adaptable. Or just attach wheels to a rigid plywood bed sized for your soil bed.
Indoor Atulip's Auto Adventures
- Thread starter Atulip
- Start date
Yeah I ran the numbers for it, Grassroots bed is a little shy of 2'x4'(22"x46"x18") and at a maximum will hold 70 gallons of soil. It should weigh around 350 pounds moist. I found an 800lb 30"x18" dolly at HD for $16, attach it to $6 worth of 3/4" plywood and add a $20 dolly handle to it and you've got a mobile platform for under $50.
Take it a step further and screw a 2 by 4 frame to the brim of the plywood, add pond liner to it, fill it with perlite and you've got a giant mobile earthbox for around $100(+$100 for the grassroots bed).
Or consider garden carts. Could a fabric walled garden cart be used as a bed, filled with soil/media? For ex., could this be filled with soil/media and used for our grows? -- https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oumilen...on-Portable-Garden-Cart-HD-701-WELA/333382341
Or could a heavy duty unit with steel sides be adapted, such as https://www.walmart.com/ip/VEVOR-90...Mesh-Removable-Sides-Convert-Flat/16552862542
Or could a heavy duty unit with steel sides be adapted, such as https://www.walmart.com/ip/VEVOR-90...Mesh-Removable-Sides-Convert-Flat/16552862542
Last edited:
The first one could probably be used as a small fabric bed(about half the cu ft of the grassroots 2'x4'). Second option is just as pricey as making your own with built in sub-irrigation though, but would be closer to the same cubic feet if you built an 18" bed on top.
From what I understand though the grassroots pots are better since they don't dry out along the side walls. Though on a wick bed that may not be an issue.
This is the 4'x8' wick bed I had... 9 years ago... Just some EPDM pond liner stapled to a 2x4 frame, filled with perlite.
I used to just cram them in there sea of green style in 3 gallon pots... about 1 per square foot, all autos on a perpetual cycle. Only watered from the top initially, just filled the bottom wick bed and let them ride. Water only coots soil.
I'm hoping for similar simplicity but this time on a whole 70 gallon fabric bed, maybe just having to top water a bit when applying castings and nutrients.
I'm leaning towards the 6 foot by 3.5 foot by 8 foot tall tent more now. Doing all the math, a standard 78-80" high tent only leaves about 2.5 feet of plant height allowed, and I have no idea how tall a couple/few autos will get in a 70 gallon bed... my experience is mostly with 3 or 5 gallon pots, even then they reached that height regularly for me.
Bonus, here's a shot of one of those old $50 mars blurples I started with I converted to Cree cobs later.
I'm a duct tape engineer.
Last edited:
Final Plans...
New
I think my manic bender is finally coming to an end, and I've settled on some plans... As much as I like the idea of a 6'x3.5'x8' extra tall tent, I'd have to put it in a sub-optimal location in the grow room... I found a 5'x3'x6.5' tent for 100 bucks, which allows me to place it back in the original corner of the room I wanted to, and it's slightly larger than a standard 5'x2.5' tent.
The corner of the room is about 8.5' long by 5' wide, big enough for a drying tent to fit beside the grow tent, which can double as an intake fan if needed. Here's a layout I slapped together:
Here's the costs breakdown; not much has changed besides the tent, added an extra bag of perlite in to mix half in with the soil for maximum aeration on the wick bed, and increased the misc budget a bit for unexpected costs.
$ 220 - Viparspectra XS1500 Pro x 2
$ 104 - Zazzy 36"x60"x78" Tent
$ 128 - Vivosun T series 6" Fan and filter kit
$ 47 - Vivosun clip fan x2
$ 100 - Grassroots 2'x4' Fabric bed + PVC needed
$ 40 - DIY pond liner wick bed
$ 54 - Perlite 2 cu ft x 2
$ 231 - Build a Soil Light Recipe x 7
$ 64 - Colorado Worm Castings(free worm eggs)
$ 32 - Straw mulch
$ 28 - Craft Blend
$ 50 - Misc
$1098 Total
Drying tent runs another $150 or so with 4" fan and filter and 2'x2' tent, but can be purchased a little later. I'm almost in the original budget of $1,000... Now to just to save the money, and not blow it on a dirt bike or something. I'm aiming to be growing in 3 months. I'll be happy if I get it in 6 months with my money management skills... Check out my new book Manic Money Management - "You got money? Just spend it already!"
The corner of the room is about 8.5' long by 5' wide, big enough for a drying tent to fit beside the grow tent, which can double as an intake fan if needed. Here's a layout I slapped together:
Here's the costs breakdown; not much has changed besides the tent, added an extra bag of perlite in to mix half in with the soil for maximum aeration on the wick bed, and increased the misc budget a bit for unexpected costs.
$ 220 - Viparspectra XS1500 Pro x 2
$ 104 - Zazzy 36"x60"x78" Tent
$ 128 - Vivosun T series 6" Fan and filter kit
$ 47 - Vivosun clip fan x2
$ 100 - Grassroots 2'x4' Fabric bed + PVC needed
$ 40 - DIY pond liner wick bed
$ 54 - Perlite 2 cu ft x 2
$ 231 - Build a Soil Light Recipe x 7
$ 64 - Colorado Worm Castings(free worm eggs)
$ 32 - Straw mulch
$ 28 - Craft Blend
$ 50 - Misc
$1098 Total
Drying tent runs another $150 or so with 4" fan and filter and 2'x2' tent, but can be purchased a little later. I'm almost in the original budget of $1,000... Now to just to save the money, and not blow it on a dirt bike or something. I'm aiming to be growing in 3 months. I'll be happy if I get it in 6 months with my money management skills... Check out my new book Manic Money Management - "You got money? Just spend it already!"
Amazon (US) has perlite 4 cubic ft. for $37.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Norcal-Perlite-Horticultural-Organic-Certified/dp/B0DWZGX23G/) with free delivery.
Home Depot/Vigoro 2 cu. ft. not that long ago was the best deal at ~$18/bag, but now it's 50% more ($26.97).
This Amazon Nor-Cal (cited as "California's Leading Perlite Supplier) mined and processed in CA perlite seems like good stuff. At least my bag (shipped to East coast) has essentially no dust!; seems less prone to forming dust with handling; and the particles seem more consistent is size, lighter/airier and be more rounded (brittle dust-forming edges removed; flows/pours much better) vs. other perlites. Plants growing in it in now (coco/perlite) are in mid bloom and doing fine.
Last edited:
I'm upgrading the fan to AC infinity 6inch with smart controller for now. Dropping the Grassroots pot in lieu of Gardzen 2x4 fabric pot found on amazon with precut pvc for $60 less. Dropping CoWoCo in exchange for $16 worth of red wigglers. Reduced straw mulch quantity. Budget is about the same, fan kit is better(regardless of brand, now has a fancy AI assisted smart controller), fabric pot is arguably worse(smaller pvc and no liner(may not matter on our wick system)), no castings for top dressing(live worms instead), and a sufficient amount of straw mulch instead of bulk.
$ 220 - Viparspectra XS1500 Pro x 2
$ 104 - Zazzy 36"x60"x78" Tent
$ 260 - AC Infinity T6 AI smart fan and filter kit
$ 47 - Vivosun clip fan x2
$ 40 - Gardzen 2'x4' fabric bed
$ 40 - DIY pond liner wick bed
$ 38 - Perlite 4 cu ft
$ 231 - Build a Soil Light Recipe x 7
$ 16 - 100 red wigglers
$ 16 - Straw mulch
$ 28 - Craft Blend
$ 50 - Misc
$1090 Total
So far I've saved nothing towards my new tent, and I am instead waiting for a bill from the car mechanic lol. Fingers crossed it's a loose wire or something simple.
$ 220 - Viparspectra XS1500 Pro x 2
$ 104 - Zazzy 36"x60"x78" Tent
$ 260 - AC Infinity T6 AI smart fan and filter kit
$ 47 - Vivosun clip fan x2
$ 40 - Gardzen 2'x4' fabric bed
$ 40 - DIY pond liner wick bed
$ 38 - Perlite 4 cu ft
$ 231 - Build a Soil Light Recipe x 7
$ 16 - 100 red wigglers
$ 16 - Straw mulch
$ 28 - Craft Blend
$ 50 - Misc
$1090 Total
So far I've saved nothing towards my new tent, and I am instead waiting for a bill from the car mechanic lol. Fingers crossed it's a loose wire or something simple.
Similar threads
