Mandelbr0t
- 25
- 3
Hey everyone, this will be my first grow. Or at least the first one I have built and done myself. I've been friends with 8-10+ commercial growers over the last 15-20 years, and helped them numerous times/worked with them as business partners on a granular level. It's always been with soil up until this point, however. I feel like the hydro coco and drip and waste is a more ideal, streamlined, and efficient way to go though, so that's what I decided to go with. Here's what my setup is:
Lighting/Environment (24) total lights:
The drywall mud should all be done in the next couple of days, then it is full steam ahead. I already have all the equipment ready to go. We will be using angle iron to hang lights/dehumidifers etc from. I added 2x6x14 and 2x8x14 supports, spanning 3-4 rafters/bottom chords each, to support the weight of the LED's and dehumidifiers hanging from the ceiling. It was my understanding from talking to an inspector that unless they are engineered specifically otherwise, most bottom chords aren't designed to support more than 5lb's per sq.ft. of dead/hanging load. Either way, I now have plenty of support to hang anything I want anywhere I want in any of the rooms.
Would love anyone input/advice/feedback any of you guys have. My friend/former business partner will be helping me. He has some experience with hydro setups, but not much. I believe the largest setup he has done previously is 8 lights, and it was not closed environment like this. He has a ton of experience on the hill in Mendo though, doing the outdoor thing.
Lighting/Environment (24) total lights:
- (4)Phantom Photobio MX LED 680w for veg -- Roughly 200sq.ft.
- Controlled from Autopilot PX2 lighting controller
- 24k BTU mini split with heat pump, low ambient temp model (works 100% efficiently for cooling down to 5*F outside temp)
- Controlled and connected to the other units by controllers/app from the manufacturer
- Way over-sized because I was originally planning on doing all Gavita's
- Quest 105 dehumidifier
- Room + plugs for 2 more lights/1 more 4x8 table if needed.
- (6)Phantom Photobio MX LED 680w for "from seed" room (I've spent years collecting genetics all over LA, SF, and all my contacts) -- Roughly 200sq.ft.
- Controlled from Autopilot PX2 lighting controller
- 36k BTU mini split with heat pump, low ambient temp model
- Controlled/connected to the other units by controllers/app from the manufacturer
- Again, way oversized because I was originally planning on all Gavita's
- Quest 165 dehumidifier
- (14)Gavita DE 1000w for main flower room -- Roughly 500sq.ft.
- Controlled from Gavita Master Controller EL2
- (2) 36k BTU mini splits with heat pump, low ambient temp models
- (1) 18k BTU mini split with heat pump, low ambient temp model
- Total of 90,000 available cooling BTU's
- All of these also controlled/connected to other units by app from manufacturer
- Quest 225 dehumidifier
- Insulation:
- 2" closed cell spray foam on all exterior walls
- 3" closed cell spray foam on roof
- R-15 roll insulation in between interior walls
- 16" of cellulose insulation on top of ceilings, for roughly an R-50 value
- 2" closed cell spray foam on all exterior walls
- Paint:
- Thinking of going with "High Reflective White" from Sherwin-Williams, which has a LRV (Light Reflective Value) of 93.
- Originally was planning on going with flat white, but think this may work better for the much higher LRV?
- Thinking of going with "High Reflective White" from Sherwin-Williams, which has a LRV (Light Reflective Value) of 93.
- Tables/Trays:
- I am looking at the Botanicare slide bench systems, but have not firmly decided yet. Would love any input anyone has for tables/benches.
- Fans:
- Would love input from people on what fans/how many (size/cfm's etc) you recommend. I put plenty of plugs all over the walls in every room, so that I can re-configure the fans as necessary.
- Carbon scrubbers:
- I forget the size of each off the top of my head, but I calculated the CFM's needed for each room, then sized the scrubbers accordingly when used in recirculation mode.
- Walls:
- Moisture-resistant drywall
- Dosatron, using the recommended configuration from Athena for their Pro line
- Co2 bottle tanks in each room
- Controlled by Autopilot APC8200 monitor and controllers
- One thing that is still up in the air is what to do with the wastewater from the drain and waste system. I don't have an existing drain. Since I've never done a drain and waste system, I don't have any clue exactly how much waste will come from 130-150 plants per week/month? Would love any input on this from people doing similar size setups.
- Coco, thinking of going with Pro-Mix HPCC, as a friend has had good results with it.
- I will be pre-charging the coco in 4.0 EC before the clones are transplanted into coco, then feeding 3.0 EC, as recommended to me by Ryan at Athena.
The drywall mud should all be done in the next couple of days, then it is full steam ahead. I already have all the equipment ready to go. We will be using angle iron to hang lights/dehumidifers etc from. I added 2x6x14 and 2x8x14 supports, spanning 3-4 rafters/bottom chords each, to support the weight of the LED's and dehumidifiers hanging from the ceiling. It was my understanding from talking to an inspector that unless they are engineered specifically otherwise, most bottom chords aren't designed to support more than 5lb's per sq.ft. of dead/hanging load. Either way, I now have plenty of support to hang anything I want anywhere I want in any of the rooms.
Would love anyone input/advice/feedback any of you guys have. My friend/former business partner will be helping me. He has some experience with hydro setups, but not much. I believe the largest setup he has done previously is 8 lights, and it was not closed environment like this. He has a ton of experience on the hill in Mendo though, doing the outdoor thing.