dirtyoldman
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- 43
Kudos to your project and I can't believe I missed this thread for this long. Good luck to you and I will watch what happens. It's going to draw a lot of attention because I'm sure there are people like me that have tinkered around will all kinds of stuff in their lives and will be very interested in watching this develop. And, like me, will not be able to resist putting in their two cents worth. Don't think I'm sticking my finger in your eye in any way. It's just my personal observations. The old "what I'd do" thing. I don't pretend to be an engineer but I have built a few things and I have some education in various fields. Including drafting and design. And, of course, I've been an outlaw scheming about marijuana for decades. I love this project because I'd like to do it myself. I can't, though, I rent now. I was intrigued by how everybody and their brother is selling these containers and you can get them cheaply. I just saw that recently. It kind of popped out at me how easy they are to get. I wish I was younger so I could do this. A couple things registered on my mind almost right away in reading the thread.
- If there is even the slightest threat of it not being watertight I'd take drastic measures to address that. I'd spray the inside of that, use that flex seal stuff if it works, whatever to get the job done. Tar doesn't appeal to me. Common sense is telling me tar will crack over time. It's corrosive. I'd blast that thing with rubberized coating inside and outside and then try to encase it in foam like they blast insulation into homes. What would stop you from encasing it in foam like a caterpillar in a cocoon? Is that possible? How expensive is that? My mind just wouldn't tolerate the thought of moisture gathering in there and I would want complete control over that with my ventilation. Because for me? Fungus is the biggest pain in the ass in growing weed. It seems like there are many of these diseases. And so I like a dry environment. I would be paranoid that water from condensation or a leak could pool anywhere in there. When some one mentioned a pump and a back-up, I thought uh-oh. Are they talking about water gathering under the structure? That would suck. Because I'd be worried about it causing a shift.
- I don't like the idea of complicating the structure with so many multiple compartments. I'd like one main pocket of air to regulate. And I'm a bang-for-your-buck guy. And a keep-it-simple guy. With those multiple rooms you've got multiple applications. You're duplicating systems. You're complicating how air moves in that structure and what temperature it moves at. Duplicate systems means duplicate expenses. It blows up your budget. I see it as a waste of space. I'd transport starter seedlings from another location. Or start seeds right there. A grower of autos might just put seeds right into 5 gallon pots and let them rip. I'd have one entrance at one end with a room where control systems might be. A little area for my stuff. A little table and compartment maybe. And the entire rest of the structure would be a flowering room to maximize potential weight. Wouldn't be that much additional work to haul plants in there. What would you need? 30 or 40 plants in there? That's no big deal. I tend to think you're building a laboratory in which to have fun. I would be building a commercial operation. Outlaws want to make money. Not play around. I want weight. A big weight coming all at once for a big payday. A big mother and clone operation isn't necessary with the seed market we have today. You should utilize the genetics that are available. Forget messing around with a lot of cloning. I love cloning, but it takes time. Seeds are quick. And I see bulk offerings of seeds from brokers all over the place. The Ruderalis is gaining in prominence and there are going to be some high-yielding, ass-kicking Autos out there. I don't grow them myself, but I'm watching.
- Lighting. It looks like you're going with LED's. There is a reason 68% of all growers of everything have not abandoned HID lighting even though it uses 45% more power. The 25% who switched to LED are mostly growing microgreens. Although I see some of them growing grape tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. Using a fascinating technique of wrapping LED strips around the plants kind of like decorating Christmas trees. But you get more product with the big HID lamps. Every time. I Love the 1000 HPS for productivity. You can grow the plants tall because it punches effective lumens at least 4 feet down into the canopy. However your structure is better suited to the 600W. It's the most energy efficient of the HID lamps anyways. I'd switch out between Halide and HPS bulbs during the grow. I'm sure you'll do fine with your LED's. But you would do better with HID. Still must add a good word for the HPS 1000 for your structure. The footprint is 7 feet. 3 HPS 1000's in that structure is about perfect. That's economical lighting. They're cheap as dirt. The "super lumen" bulbs are like $27. Think about the ridiculous weight you could do with that configuration with a big flowering room. If you couldn't get 100 ounces there's something wrong.
and the expectation that this thread goes nowhere.
