Here’s a project I just finished, inspired by a few of you all and your drying boxes. This DIY drying cabinet ended up costing about $60 to make, most of which was buying another humidistat. Basically I took an old 18x18x28 “dish barrel” moving box (very similar to the wardrobe boxes but double thickness for for a heavier load) and started by lining it with panda plastic, duck taped in place and sealed up decently at the seams. I then traced three holes with a Sharpie around a roll of tape that had a 3.75" diameter, two at the bottom on one side and one at the top on the opposite. Everything got ducted with cheap vinyl spiral duct from the hardware store, it screws right in the holes then I sealed it up with more duck tape to, again, try to make it mildly pressure tight.
The two holes on the bottom are for intake, and lead to a homemade intake filter box constructed from a double thick box that held emergency water rations, with the front cut out in an open grid then covered with MERV13 filter cloth from a commercial HVAC supplier. I have a bunch left over from making masks with it in the early pandemic and sending some to friends out west to make wildfire smoke filters with box fans and a cardboard filter box like this. The single top duct runs out to a 4" inline booster fan I had leftover from a project, hooked up to an Inkbird humidity controller. I have it set so it stays between 62-64% RH inside the box, and it turns on often to exchange air, as my basement stays a controlled 60-65%. It’s strapped to a chair in case it rains and we get some water on the basement floor, and the wiring all runs off the ground.
I didn’t get pictures of the inside before taping it shut, but the branches are just hanging on braided mason line that was sewn in a loop through four holes each at two levels (13" and 26" from the bottom of the box) then pulled and tied taut enough to twang like a guitar string. Didn’t put a circulation fan inside this time, but it’s also not particularly full and crowded, and I’m hoping the cross draft combined with frequent exchanges is sufficient. Next time I’ll add a set of 80mm AC Infinity USB fans set on low inside to let me load it up with more than a single plant at a time.
I’m hoping that between this automation and switching to Grove Bags for curing this year I’ll be able to spend more time growing and also just doing other stuff besides growing (blasphemy, I know!). If this setup works well this year, I’ll probably make a more permanent one out of plywood this summer. By lining it with plastic and using a filter box with an easily replaceable face, I figure it’ll be pretty easy to give it a bleach inside and in the ducts between rounds to keep things squeaky clean and mold free in there. Between bud washing and using strong UV throughout flower, I haven’t encountered any mold yet and I’m hoping to keep it that way.
