dirtyoldman
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- 133
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- Joined
- Sep 9, 2020
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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.
Barn doors would not prevent light contamination. Pocket doors would be space savers and would be easier made to contain most light out of flower room. Personally id go with 2'0 6'8 full weatherstripped doors. They only 2ft wide and easy to set and no worries about that.what if you did barn style sliding doors in the work space area. that way you don't lose a bunch of space having room for the doors to swing open.
I hate that I left followers hanging.I was watching this project with interest and then a 5-month lag. A great idea since these shipping containers are so easy to get. It's unlikely to happen for me but I have a fantasy of running twin 1000 HID's in a set up like this. Those lamps would throw some serious heat, that's for sure. With a ventilation failure those lamps would take the temperature probably up to 120F. A question about the intake. I don't know your climate conditions. What is the quality of the air you would be bringing in from the crawl space? In my climate here that is asking to suck in fungal spores. Here the air would be high humidity and present the danger of liquid pooling. Are you planning on treating that air? Will it be consistent quality or with variable humidity and temperature levels depending on the weather? And you are right to be careful about buying seeds. Some of these seed sellers are really sloppy about how they send them. When I bought seeds from I (heart) marijuana the idiots sent them in a way that was not even disguised. They were loose in little pill boxes. You could shake the flimsy envelope and feel them rattling around in there. Sloppy people. I deal with BCSK in British Columbia. I won't detail what they do, but they disguise very well. Even using methods to foil imaging technology they can use to see inside packages.
Let me make a suggestion for your intake. Install an airconditioning unit with decent filters in the crawlspace. That way the air will not only be cooled but also filtered for fungus spores and dehumidified. And at least filtered even if the thing won't kick in at lower temperatures. I don't know if there are variable setting A/C units that will kick on at lower temperatures. My little AC's cold function won't kick in until there is perhaps a 72F environment surrounding the unit. What do they call that? I've forgotten. The condenser? The air going through the pipe into your underground facility will be drier than any untreated air. And possibly of a more consistent temperature. And at least filtered for fungus spores. I use an air conditioner to cool my tent during warmer months. I actually need to treat the system with anti-fungal agents because some type of mold invaded my AC unit one time. But you will need a way to deal with the water drippage from the unit. A great cover story for anyone who saw what you are doing is that Vladimir Putin scared you into building a fallout shelter!I hate that I left followers hanging.
winters are harsh up here and these old bones don’t do so good in the cold. Spring is starting to break here so I’m getting back to it. Humidity is not much of a factor here but you do ask a valid question. If worse comes to worse I will find a way to pull from the inside of the house for intake.
Another possibility is running an AC unit in the main part of the house, installing a hose on it, and running it down to the crawl space. My cooling system is basically a hose hanging from a window air conditioner. I also have an intake vent from outside and that's what i'm using right now because it's still cold here. There is some exterior condensation problem on the hose. I mitigated that by tying bandannas around the hose to absorb the moisture. It has worked really well for me. I might be running two rooms in flowering at some point. Both cooled by the same AC unit. There is room to attach two hoses to the unit. When it was a closed system? Far too much condensation. It was ridiculous. I constructed a device to completely trap all the cold air. I had liquid condensing all over the place inside and outside the system. One last point-I think it is a good idea to treat the interior of your hose by spraying an anti-fungal agent. People might think I'm paranoid about fungus diseases but these diseases are such a bitch and so hard to control once they get started! The lesson I learned is prevention is the key. I hate fungus.Let me make a suggestion for your intake. Install an airconditioning unit with decent filters in the crawlspace. That way the air will not only be cooled but also filtered for fungus spores and dehumidified. And at least filtered even if the thing won't kick in at lower temperatures. I don't know if there are variable setting A/C units that will kick on at lower temperatures. My little AC's cold function won't kick in until there is perhaps a 72F environment surrounding the unit. What do they call that? I've forgotten. The condenser? The air going through the pipe into your underground facility will be drier than any untreated air. And possibly of a more consistent temperature. And at least filtered for fungus spores. I use an air conditioner to cool my tent during warmer months. I actually need to treat the system with anti-fungal agents because some type of mold invaded my AC unit one time. But you will need a way to deal with the water drippage from the unit. A great cover story for anyone who saw what you are doing is that Vladimir Putin scared you into building a fallout shelter!
Or given you're such an expert. You could maybe add something constructive maybe to help OP out?pulling up with someand the expectation that this thread goes nowhere.
general observations so far:
- big project without clearly defined scope
- problems identified early on with no clear solutions, because of lack of scope
- realizations that lighting, humidity, heat, cooling, ventilation haven't been figured out
- plant count/scale not defined
- trying to be discrete yet massive hole in the ground
looks like a trainwreck and likely a dead thread in a month, but signing up for the show. godspeed to OP, just hope lessons are learned and a successful end comes from the means expended.
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