Roofless shipping container

[TokeMcLeod]

I am planning setting up a grow in a shipping container with the roof cut off.

My concerns are:

*Heat build-up from the sun heating the steel walls
*Sufficient light to the plants, since they will be shaded at certain times of the day as the sun passes over

Anybody with experience/thoughts/ideas/nitpicks- please help

 

[lushgreen]

What's the idea behind the container? You're neighbours will still be able to smell it from miles off and any cops in a helicopter will be able to look right down into your grow.
This will also be an outdoor grow so you will have no control over the day length. Plants will grow pretty big if you plant too early in the season. Also you would need to orientate the container East - West so the walls won't shade the plants as much as the sun passes across the sky during the day.

 

[PeytonManning]

Your best bet would be to put it in the ground. I have similar plans, but leaving the roof on and bury it. Gonna make a grow room/tornado shelter lol.

 

[lushgreen]

Your best bet would be to put it in the ground. I have similar plans, but leaving the roof on and bury it. Gonna make a grow room/tornado shelter lol.

Mould and mildew will cause you no end of grief under ground.

 

[PeytonManning]

I grow in straight perlite, so that's not really an issue. Plus a little ventilation will go a long way

 

[Alienpus]

I don't see this working well at all, even if you lived on the equator. The elevation of the sun changes from month to month so I can't imagine getting enough light in there even with proper orientation. There will be no breeze and the rain will drive up humidity turning your container into a breeding ground for mold mildew and any bugs that find their way inside. It will stand out like a sore thumb for law enforcement.

 

[TokeMcLeod]

Hey lush- thanks for the feedback.

Idea with the container: My location is such that I can not grow under lights connected to the grid due to the power consumption involved. Solar panels are in the planning (have a large enough flat roof to mount enough of 'em), funded from the first harvest (don't have the money for them now). I can also not grow in the open for obvious reasons. So while I understand that some shading will occur inside the "box" due to the sun's angle, I intend supplementing on the shaded side with lights and painting the container a flat white inside. The container will only be used as a flowering chamber, i.e. the lights will only be on during daylight hours. I'll measure and fine-tune this aspect once up and running.

Re the smell: Yeah, I thought of that and am considering fans exhausting air through carbon filters at the bottom. The fans to be sized sufficient so no air escapes over the top- i.e airflow will be over the top of the sides and down into the container and out at the bottom.
If needed, I could also add ozone generation and an ionizer. I've also read about simple pans of vinegar being very effective smell removers. (Sad state of affairs that we have to dampen that gorgeous smell, isn't it!)

Re cops in choppers: I'm not in the US and thankfully the cops here are under-funded and corruption (surprise-surprise) means that available funds get siphoned off into personal pockets. I have it on good authority and personal observation that they do not fly cameras as a routine- only when chasing a suspect...and then it has to be a REALLY serious case. Still, I will be erecting 30% reflective white shade cloth over the entire container.
(Anyone with feedback of how that performs under a camera? Other options?)

Re plant size: I will be growing exodus cheese clones, kindly provided by a fellow grower. These will be veg'd for about three weeks under lights (18/6) and then they will automatically go into flowering once placed in natural day/night cycle. I plan to cope with the height issue by a) veg'ing to a specific height and then b) scrogging at a uniform height. Harvest for this strain is after 8 weeks of being in the flowering cycle.

Fortunately, I'm in a temperate climate with PLENTY of sunshine and we are still in summer.

 

[TokeMcLeod]

Your best bet would be to put it in the ground. I have similar plans, but leaving the roof on and bury it. Gonna make a grow room/tornado shelter lol.

Yep- I also like that and in fact it was my first idea, but the complexity and cost of it is prohibitive for me at this time. Plan is to, from profits of first harvest, equip a 30 sq meter indoor grow. This container is only a one or maybe two time grow.

 

[MassMedMan]

I want a shipping container. I'll bury it if need be... Good luck with your plan.

 

[TokeMcLeod]

I don't see this working well at all, even if you lived on the equator. The elevation of the sun changes from month to month so I can't imagine getting enough light in there even with proper orientation. There will be no breeze and the rain will drive up humidity turning your container into a breeding ground for mold mildew and any bugs that find their way inside. It will stand out like a sore thumb for law enforcement.

Please see my reply to lushgreen- it deals with the lighting and also the ventilation issue. I also intend providing plenty of drainage holes in the container floor to cope with rain.
Mildew should not be a problem with the amount of rain we get at this time of the year as well as the exhaust fan/s I intend installing.
Re the "sore thumb"- the container is in a location where it seems natural to expect to find one, so it should not look out of place. It is behind 8 foot walls with coils of razor wire on top. There is no posibility of anyone being able to look into the container from anywhere around and it will also be covered by shadecloth (see my reply to lushgreen).