Building Grow Room

[Hey Bud]

Hi all. I started seeds in a 10x10 spare bedroom under T5s, planning to flower in a 9x5 tent in the same room. Due to ventilation and temperature control, as well as the need for more space and proximity to water/drainage, I'm building a 10x13 room in the garage. I will ditch the tent and just split the room into veg/flower sections. I'm keeping the T5s for veg and will add a second 1000w HPS to the flower area. Since this is a custom room (I'm building two walls in an existing corner), I'll be able to add all the correct ventilation ports for the room and the vented hoods as well as a port for a window unit AC that will jut into the garage space. I had a new 240v 20a dedicated circuit installed for the lights. I'm running DWC and have a reverse osmosis filter that I want to move to the new room. I'm aiming for a sealed room where I can run CO2 later. Because this is a garage, I'm hoping to have the digital ballasts outside the room to help with cooling.

The two walls will be standard 2x4 framing with R-13 fiberglass and 1/2" drywall. Ceilings are 9.5' and I'm going to run some 2x4 up there to anchor lights, mounts for ducting, etc. I'll put a vapor barrier on before the drywall. I think the AC will be blowing into the flower area and I'll just have a light-proof vent between the two areas. I'm thinking I'll separate the two areas with simple 2x3 framing with cheap paneling on one side. The concrete floor should help keep it cool. It doesn't seem like I ought to insulate the floor. I'm in a hot arid climate. I'm in a legal state and, as far as I know, am doing everything safely and to code. I'm also thinking of putting in a small sink with simple hoses to bring water in and drain it to the yard. Hopefully everything will fit in the new room and leave me with room to maneuver.

I've been doing lots of reading on grow room setup. Any feedback or advice is appreciated!

 

[str8smokn]

Welcome to the Farm first off, it sounds like you have done some research. so it's more as you get started will you notice if you need to add anything.
STR8

 

[truvalca]

Sounds like a champ of a room. Can't wait to see some pics.

Good Luck Brother!!

 

[Hey Bud]

I am shopping for an air conditioner right now... The framing is complete. I want to get the wall unit AC in before hanging the drywall. I definitely will post pics when the room is done!

Meanwhile my white widow seedlings are two weeks old and are looking forward to their new home.

 

[Hey Bud]

As promised, here are some room pix. It's mostly done. I'm now pondering ventilation/air exchange. There are two HPS lamps, 1000w, with their own fan/ducts. I'm thinking a 10" passive intake low on the floor with a home HVAC air filter over it and an 8" exhaust near the ceiling with a charcoal scrubber. Room is about 1250 cubic feet. That's a 12,000 BTU window AC. Pondering and researching... Input welcome. Gotta get it done well before moving those girls to flower.

 

[orbiter252]

Wow now that's a nice grow room, looks like the build was intense, but I bet will pay off nicely. Those plants look happy. Just curious about the ac tho, will the condensation be an issue? Mine would always leak out the back

 

[Hey Bud]

Thanks. It was a fun build. It takes up almost half a two car garage. So far the AC has no leaks in the rear. I'm keeping an eye on it as I know they are supposed to produce condensate. I have a big tray ready to put underneath it should it start to leak. The girls are doing well. Here's a pic. They are in their 8th week (from seed). Strain is White Widow. I topped them twice for four mains each and have been scrogging but am not 100% happy with my scrog techniques yet. Scrog is new to me. I want to get all the bud sites fully exposed but don't want to take off too many fan leaves. Not overly worried about that right now.

I figure I'm going to move these girls to the other part of the room under a 1000w HPS in maybe a week, week and a half. I want the scrog screen mostly full before I do that. Two weeks max, I think. Hopefully by then my carbon scrubber will have arrived and I will be able to get it set up right with the fan. It's a 750 CFM filter with an 8" 745 CFM fan. This is a bigger project than I'd initially planned. First a spare bedroom. Nix that. Now it's half the garage. But I can see how the extra space will be handy when tending to these girls. And the space was filled with useless junk before, so all good.

BUT here's something maybe weird, I don't know... Sunday I found the TDS levels down to like 110, so I upped them to around 1000. Tuesday they were down again to 110 or less. So I upped them again. Today is Wednesday and TDS is down once more to, yeah, less than 110! I'm only seeing very very slight signs of nutrient burn on a few leaves of one of them -- just a few yellowing tips. So I don't think I've gone overboard with the notes. Are they really sucking up that much nutrients? I don't think my TDS meter is broken. I'm going to get another one just to be sure, but I don't know... is it normal for them to suck up that much juice?

 

[Ignignokt]

This is a bigger project than I'd initially planned. First a spare bedroom. Nix that. Now it's half the garage.

LOL

Ain't scaling to practical a bitch? As others have noted, seems like a well executed effort. Kudos. Do it well to the best of your ability.

TDS meters are cheap. Why are you wondering if the one you are using is busted? Get a Blue Lab Truncheon ( as they call it ) as the backup and mediator for those measurements. It is the most reliable PPM/TDS device I own.

 

[GT21]

Thanks. It was a fun build. It takes up almost half a two car garage. So far the AC has no leaks in the rear. I'm keeping an eye on it as I know they are supposed to produce condensate. I have a big tray ready to put underneath it should it start to leak. The girls are doing well. Here's a pic. They are in their 8th week (from seed). Strain is White Widow. I topped them twice for four mains each and have been scrogging but am not 100% happy with my scrog techniques yet. Scrog is new to me. I want to get all the bud sites fully exposed but don't want to take off too many fan leaves. Not overly worried about that right now.

I figure I'm going to move these girls to the other part of the room under a 1000w HPS in maybe a week, week and a half. I want the scrog screen mostly full before I do that. Two weeks max, I think. Hopefully by then my carbon scrubber will have arrived and I will be able to get it set up right with the fan. It's a 750 CFM filter with an 8" 745 CFM fan. This is a bigger project than I'd initially planned. First a spare bedroom. Nix that. Now it's half the garage. But I can see how the extra space will be handy when tending to these girls. And the space was filled with useless junk before, so all good.

BUT here's something maybe weird, I don't know... Sunday I found the TDS levels down to like 110, so I upped them to around 1000. Tuesday they were down again to 110 or less. So I upped them again. Today is Wednesday and TDS is down once more to, yeah, less than 110! I'm only seeing very very slight signs of nutrient burn on a few leaves of one of them -- just a few yellowing tips. So I don't think I've gone overboard with the notes. Are they really sucking up that much nutrients? I don't think my TDS meter is broken. I'm going to get another one just to be sure, but I don't know... is it normal for them to suck up that much juice?

Welcome and well done!!!