The other day I got sick of winter and decided to grow some plants. As a kid my parents had set of seed starter greenhouses. They would plant different veggies in there just before spring so they could have a head start. I figured that this would be a good idea for a simple greenhouse that I could keep and maintain in my apartment. After some searching on Google I found that all the nice mini green houses were too mini or too expensive. I am a creative person so I set out to the hardware store to get some ideas on how to make a custom greenhouse.

I found a 60qt clear storage box by Rubbermaid.

The storage box was the right size to place three cooling racks side by side. This made a surface that was about two inches off the ground for my pots to sit on. I figure that if the storage box is water tight then the plants don't want to sit in the water that accumulates at the bottom. I allow picked up a two foot florescent grow light, 10 three inch ceramic pots, potting mix, and some seeds.

At home I cleaned the storage box with a little soap and water, just to get any toxic stuff out(if it wasn't already gone.) I then placed the cooling racks on the bottom of the storage box. After planting the seeds in the pots I put the pots in the storage box. After spraying the sides of the storage box with water I put the top on. The storage box has little plastic latches that keep the top sealed, so very little humidity gets out.

The herbs that I planted sprouted in about five days, and the peppers and tomatoes took a little longer. When the sprouts were about an inch tall we got a big snow storm, and my room got chilly. I headed to the plant store and found a seed starter heating pad. I placed the heating pad under the storage tube. A few hours later I checked on the sprouts, and couldn't see them through all the condensation on the sides of the storage box. To make sure I wasn't drowning the plants I picked up a temperature and humidity sensor from PetSmart, in the reptile section. After attaching the sensors I found that the temperature was 80°F and the relative humidity was 90%.

Since the mini greenhouse is setup as a tropical environment currently I decided to get some exotic plants(at least for Colorado) and see if they would grow. I grabbed some Banana and Pomegranate seeds. Currently they are just seeds siting in the ground, but I will have updates as they grow.