Growroom Setup

[lostandhopeless]

We're using an inclosed space of 3.5x3 and roughly 9 feet tall. We're using a 400 watt mh. since it's inclosed what do you advise we do with ventillation to make sure the plant grows healthy?

 

[dank.frank]

well, it depends on how what you are planning on doing with the rest of the room.
From what you say, I already see SEVERAL problems...

If you plan on flowering in that room, you could use MH, but you would do better to use a HPS...hope you have a digital ballast so you can just switch it up.

I hope you are not planning on actually needing 9ft. of growing space vertically...you will NEVER penetrate that canopy with only a 400w bulb at those extreme indoor heights. 400w'ers are better used for shorter plants. I wouldn't try to grow anything taller than 3.5' personally; if you do, all you are going to have is a bunch of small, loose and airy popcorn wads.

Now...for the more constructive part of the post...just wanted to let you know the other things first.

If you are planning on running any Co2...well you want to ventilate the cab using an AC...for something that small a 5000btu window unit is more than enough. Place your AC about so the top of it is about 5-6" below the final canopy height...this will allow fresh air to flow freely under you buds...and allow for the air to be pulled upwards.

If you are not running Co2, then I recommend using passive intakes...and this is probably the route you are going to take. A passive intake is air that is drawn inside the cab by negative pressure, which is created by the pull of your exhaust fan. Ideally, you want double the intake as you have exhaust...for example, if you have a 6" exhaust fan...you would want 1 - 12" intake or 2 - 6" or 3 - 4"... I would suggest using 3 4" that way you can have an intake on the left, right, and rear of the cab...allowing for a more even air flow that doesn't create hot or cool spots inside the cab.

HOWEVER, I personally recommend for ANY passive intake that you spend a bit of extra money on an adequate size darkroom louver...don't know what that is...then just do a quick google search. I would use 2 8"x8" intakes...one on the left, and one on the right sides of the cab...

I would place my exhaust in the top, center of the cab, with a carbon scrubber attached. I would use a 6" in-line fan, attached to a speed controller, as you may not need to run the fan at full strength, and this would help cut back on noise as well.

I personally, believe in air-cooling ALL bulbs, simply because it allows you to place the bulb closer to the canopy of the plants. I would get a vented reflector hood and hook up 6" to 4" reducers and run a 4" in-line fan on a sealed hood. This would keep any bulb associated heat out of your grow room, and make things easier to control and dial in. The more steady you can keep your temps....the more your plants will thank you in the end.


SOOOOO, in conclusion...

1.vent a sealed reflector independently of the room itself with a 4" in-line
2.exhaust the entire cab with a 6" in-line fan...drawing the air through a carbon scrubber
3.use passive intakes at the lower portion of the cab to allow fresh air to enter freely, I would suggest looking into darkroom louvers, as they are fairly affordable...and you don't have to worry about light leakage or plants getting stress due to photo sensitivity..

 

[lostandhopeless]

Alright Dank Frank thanks for your information. Got a few more questions to ask. Right now we have 5 seeds germinating in a touperware container with damp paper towels. We are about to start germinating the rest. Once a seeds roots starts coming out were going to put it into a biodegradable cup of dirt. Should we start putting lights on it and if so how long?

When are we able to put the biodegradable little cup into our main pot of soil? Were using an organic mix type of soil that cointains spahagmaum peatmoss, limestone, will we need to add anything to this, and later on how will we add fertilizer to our soil and what type of soil?

Our grow temperature is about 84 F after a 1 hour test, were about to add a vent to the door. Do u think a 1x1.25 ft vent with a fan behind it blowing air out will lower the temperature to the adequate growing level?

Any other comments or help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[lostandhopeless]

Alright so a little update:
Two of our seeds that we were germinating has a root coming out so we put them into the biodegradable pots and added a very small amount of water to them. We placed the pots on the middle of a box fan pointing upwards from the ground with our light hanging a few feet above with another, smaller fan blowing on it. Tomorrow we are going to place one or two vents on the door. The temperature is roughly 82-88 degrees without vents so we're hoping it drops to about 78 or so. We found some pH strips and the water we're using is about a 6.8-7. We plan on placing the biodegradable little cups of soil into our main pots when we see it sprout above the soil. Should we add any fertilizer or anything certain to these pots besides the soil itself? And will we need to in the future and how? Anything you guys see that needs to be different or any advice is very appreciated as we are noobs.

 

[lostandhopeless]

so here is what the room is looking like:

400 watt mh bulb & hood with 3 seedlings:
http://img5.invalid.com/img5/3828/dsc00189a.jpg

organic soil mix and biodegradable cups for the seedlings:
http://img5.invalid.com/img5/8153/dsc00190s.jpg

top vent with 6" fan blowing out:
http://img22.invalid.com/img22/5675/dsc00192o.jpg
other view:
http://img13.invalid.com/img13/3256/dsc00194itc.jpg

intake vent and fan:
http://img13.invalid.com/img13/9333/dsc00185fgz.jpg
http://img13.invalid.com/img13/7216/dsc00193yxc.jpg

 

[Bodhi Roach]

vertical on one side only, with an up and down light mover

build shelves and flip with lots of little guys, or veg longer, and vscrog the bitches

this will give you the highest sqft of space along a wall

 

[lostandhopeless]

thanks for the help bodhi but i think that would fry the plants even with a light mover, the closet is only about 3.5ft wide...

 

[dank.frank]

I can recommend that you get SERIOUS about your equipment when it comes to you exhaust. Get your self a nice 6" in-line fan with a carbon scrubber and a speed controller. Then start trying to see where you temps are going to fall.

Not to be mean or rude, but the questions you ask in your second post...ie, lighting cycles, soil mixes...all that kinda stuff...I recommend you spend some SERIOUS time reading and researching and getting to know cannabis from the inside out. It is true that experience can be a great teacher...if not the best one...but the more knowledge you have before trying to get that experience, can make all the difference in how much money you waste on genetics or equipment in the long run. Check out the Grow FAQ here on this site...see if you can't answer some of those questions yourself, and once you have a base understanding of what you are attempting (and please, not saying you don't...)then it will be easier to address your questions in a more direct and less generalized manner...

Placing the pictures up really helps people get a better understanding of what you are working with...thanks for that.



dank.Frank

 

[grindin.grinda]

if u were to have 10 1000 watt lights and a room 24 x 24 and all the other good stuff... how can u maximize the amount of pounds grown? how much plants
will be ideal to grow the most amount of pounds of white widow and sour diesal (or how much plants per light)? whats the best spacing for growing in
this room? how much pounds would u be expecting? don't worry about the lighting cost or being bait* that will be tricked. and please add any tips or
secrets u may have for maximization of plants growth... will be grown in soil

 

[sdgrower]

Do you have light leaks with that set up? I can't tell if you have any light baffles over the air intake/exhaust.
Venting up into the roof can also help. What is above your closet? You could put some passive air intakes at the bottom and vent out the top. This would allow the outer door to remain on the down low.
As long as your temps remain in control you should be all good. The set up looks fine so far.
Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing!

Cheers!

 

[sdgrower]

Alright so a little update:
Two of our seeds that we were germinating has a root coming out so we put them into the biodegradable pots and added a very small amount of water to them. We placed the pots on the middle of a box fan pointing upwards from the ground with our light hanging a few feet above with another, smaller fan blowing on it. Tomorrow we are going to place one or two vents on the door. The temperature is roughly 82-88 degrees without vents so we're hoping it drops to about 78 or so. We found some pH strips and the water we're using is about a 6.8-7. We plan on placing the biodegradable little cups of soil into our main pots when we see it sprout above the soil. Should we add any fertilizer or anything certain to these pots besides the soil itself? And will we need to in the future and how? Anything you guys see that needs to be different or any advice is very appreciated as we are noobs.

You won't need to add any fertilizer for awhile. pH isn't as important in soil as it is in hydro but I would still invest in a pH meter. If you can get one that also measures ppm and temp the better.
Are you planning on going organic or using synthetics?

 

[lostandhopeless]

sorry for the late reply. we are using organic and so far out of 4 seeds, (2 la conXG13 haze &2 chocolate chunk) have germinated and sprouted are 1in. we are keeping the temp roughly 83-88 at all times and keeping the 400w mh bulb on 24/0. will post pics of the progress later, any tips/advice are appreciated....

 

[Trillion]

83-88 seems a bit high to me, 75-80 is what you want.
after a light and medium, an exhaust fan is the most indispensable part of an indoor grow.
As dank.frank said order a fan/filter combo immediately, otherwise you will run into many problems.
Best of luck

 

[grizz]

83-88 seems a bit high to me, 75-80 is what you want.
after a light and medium, an exhaust fan is the most indispensable part of an indoor grow.
As dank.frank said order a fan/filter combo immediately, otherwise you will run into many problems.
Best of luck

exactly, heat is going to get higher in the months to come, as sd grower said vent into attic if possible with a 6 in inline fan and carbon scrubber , myself I would go with a 600 either in a cool tube or a sealed hood with exaust out of the room.

 

[grizz]

bro I just saw a thread at ic with a single 600 hung vert with a wire cage around the light all the way to the floor with a fan in the middle on the bottom of the light on the floor, plants all around he cage, might fit your area well.

 

[lostandhopeless]

well cool tubes are off limits compleatly because i have already invested in the setup and am not changing it anytime soon. but as for an inline/exhaust fan do they make much more noise then a box fan (like the one i posted)? and can anyone point me in the direction of a heap 6" inline/exhaust combo?

thanks for the help

 

[acubus]

A can and filter is a good idea, but I know it should #1 on an indoor grower list when purchasing equipment......yup I think it's more important than the light or the seeds lol. My 1st setup looked much like your's and I didn't make 3 weeks from crackin and even small vegging plants can stink up a whole house. Then I was off for some serious odor control.

 

[lostandhopeless]

also we are currenty keeping our 400w mh bulb and hood about 4ft away from the seedlings, should it be closer? if so how much closer could i adjust it to without killing the seedlings?

 

[lostandhopeless]

http://img21.invalid.com/img21/6750/dsc00209xjl.jpg
so we have gotten all 4 plants to sprout and show atleast a few leaves. only problem is that one of our plants is growing very quickly and the other 3 have not grown much if any. as i have stated before im running two differant strains, 2xchocolate chunk and 2xla con.XG13 haze. we are using miracle grow organic mix for all 4 plants and in the 3 that appear to be in trouble include an awkward mixture including wood chips. also in the one that is growing quickly it is in a smaller bucket with a few inches less on the bucket rim as picture, maybe that could be the problem.....

 

[grizz]

get the lights no more that 2 ft away and closer if ya can, you should really check that thread at ic, just hang bulb vert, put a big 12 to 14 inch fan on the floor ubdernegth the light, put a wire cage around the fan extending up at least 3 to 4 feet, place all plants around cage and light, that way you can drop that light right down in the middle of your plants, the cage will keep plants from getting to close to light and the fan will push the heat up and away from your plants, simple effetive system and cheap