grow room

[lungs]

i am setting up a grow room on tuesday, i am able to make it 6'x10' it has a window about 1'x2', it is in the basement 2 walls cement and two walls waiting to be built. there is also no hazardous traffic in the basement. i am willing to spend between 150-350$. and i only want to have to go to a home depot and a walmart if possible. i just have a few questions that i would like your opinions on.

1)the place is in town, so if the window is open how do i stop the smell outside?

2)what type of walls should i put up and what should i do to make it kinda air tight, including the door?

3)39 square feet will be used for plants on a table, i want younger plants under the table (i am building the table so if you have design ideas please share) for constant growing, i want to know the best fan to use, lights and wattage?

please excuse any mistakes, i'm baked.

 

[bizzy323]

Lungs you should close the window, make sure your grow room is light prove from outside. Try to get some mylar for your walls, or paint flat white. As for what kind of light you need, it depends on how many plants you want to grow. For veg use MH and for flower use HPS, or you can get a dual spectrum bulb and use it throw out the plants life. You will need good air circulation so your plants can grow healthy.

 

[lungs]

as far as plants i have about 20 1 1/2 ft tall plats ready to go in there and about 30 newbies, i want it to be kinda packed, speaking of that how crammed is to crammed for the plants, all my growing in the past has been done outside in the summer so i am not new at growing, just new at indoor growing, it gets annoying running out at the end of spring thats why i need to go indoors.

 

[bizzy323]

You will need 1000watt system, maybe even two.

 

[GanjaGuru]

-I always constructed by growrooms out of a 2" x 4" frame, with 1/2" plywood walls (with a door cut in) and 3/4" plywood for the ceiling (to hold the weight of the lights). Then I'd either mylar or flat white paint the interior walls.

-6' x 10' = 60 sq/ft. At the recommended 50 watts HPS per sq/ft, you will need 3,000 watts to adequately light that space.

-You'll need ventilation, for both heat control (3,000 watts HPS put out about the same amount of heat as a 3,000-watt elect. heater), and to bring fresh air to the plants (they need the constant refreshment of CO2).
That means an intake and exhaust, installed in-wall. To determine how much cf/m size fans you need, multiply l x w x height. That's your cubic feet. Then get fans that are rated to move that much air per minute.

-For odor control you'll need a ozone set-up. I don't know about these systems. It's best to exhaust up through the ceiling if possible. Used in conjunction with an negative ion generator and carbon filters that would probably solve the odor problem instead of ozone.

-Forget about getting the lights you need at home depot or wal-mart. You'll need to go to an industial lighting place (not recommended) or a grow shop. You can do a search on indoor gardening, find out how much what you want is inc. tax & shipping and send them a postal money order for that amt. You can have the equip. shipped to a non-growing friends or relative's place if you wish.

-I don't quite "get" what you mean by having plants under a table.

Tip: remote the ballasts outside the growspace if possible to cut down on the heat inside the growspace.

You owe me $6.00 (I'm easy but not cheap).

 

[lungs]

well, thanks ganjaguru, you answered most of the stuff, but what about an air sealed door?

oh and i want to start the plants under the table with seperate lights and everything, thats what i was talking about.

and when i figure out how i could pay you, i will, just keep a tab till then...lol

 

[GanjaGuru]

-Unless you're using CO2 augmentation, you don't need an air-tight (assuming that's what you mean by air-sealed) enclosure, only light-tight.
You want it to be close-fitting, to allow the fans to work at max. effecency(sp).

-So you're gonna have some plants sitting on a table, and then lights attached to the underside of the table-top and plants there as well?

P.S. keep in mind that if you live in an apt., an extra 3K watts of elect draw may get you busted. I wouldn't use that much extra power unless I lived in a 3-BR house, at least. If the elect co. calls and asks you for a "free energy audit" (used to detect shorts) do what I did--tell them your sister, brother-in-law and their 3 kids are now living with you.

 

[lungs]

ok, and i am doing the grow in a 5 bedroom and 3 bathroom house, so with a house that size they shouldn't notice anything, right?

 

[bizzy323]

Ganja with CO2 is venting necessary?

 

[lungs]

oh, and how much aproximately would that 3000 watt light system cost per month?

 

[GanjaGuru]

Lungs, get out your calculator. Then look at your elect. bill, see what they charge you per Kw/hour. A kilowatt is 1,000 watts. You want the lights on 24/0 during veg (4--6 weeks), then 12/12 for 8--10 weeks. Do the math.

Tip: spend the extra $20 or so per light and get the air-cooled models.

Bizzy, you always need ventilation.
Plants "eat" CO2 and "exhale" O2 (oxygen). So after awhile, in a sealed room, CO2 needs to be added and to do that you need to exhaust an equal amt. of CO2-depleted air.
One main drawback to using CO2 augmentation is the atmospheric ppm meter. They cost $500.00 and you should have one to monitor the amt. of CO2.
Also CO2 isn't used during lights out, and after the first 3 weeks of 12/12 is useless.
CO2 doesn't mean bigger buds. It just means you'll get them earlier.
For the average home grower, excellent flo-thro ventilation is more cost-effective that CO2 augmentation.

 

[skunk]

hello mr lungs .if you dont mind i would like to give you lil info that may be a little helpful. 1st of all i would not pack your plants tightly together for light exsposure reasons .second as you were told by ganga and bizzy about using mylar or painting walls flat white . i would also paint topand bottom of your table flat white also the floor to reflect light to your under foliage but you need little spacing for that also . 2nd you can go to lowes or home depot and buy 150 watt hps or 175 mh that is the highest wattage they sell there . the 150w hps is $79 a piece for set up you would need 20 of them for your sqft of 3000 if you go to a electric suply place like i did you can get a 400 hps for $139 or a 1000 watter for $169 so all and all you have to do the rest of the math and fig out whether you can afford or not if not i would divide your space into smaller sections .and what you cant fit in just FED-EX me the rest i have plenty of room lol. good luck.

 

[lungs]

ok, with my math for 3000 watts at 0.08223/kwh it comes to 177.62/month, does that sound about right?

 

[lungs]

the grow room is nearly done, but i have a couple more questions

1. is a full spectrum light like a dual spectrum light, if not what is the difference.

2. how many lumens of light does each plant need (i got the wattage figured out, just not the lumens)

and i would also like to thank everyone for all their help

 

[GanjaGuru]

A full spectrum set-up is 1 bulb that, as thne name implies, provides the correct spectrum of light for both veg & grow.
A dual-spectrum light sometimes refers to a switchable ballast that can handle both MH & HPS bulbs.
IMO, a full spectrum bulb is better than 2 different lamps.

HPS lights emit 125 lumens per watt.
You need 50 watts HPS per sq/ft.
Get out the calculator again.

 

[FrostyNugz420]

A full spectrum set-up is 1 bulb that, as thne name implies, provides the correct spectrum of light for both veg & grow.

Do you have a link to where i can Find a HID full spectrum bulb. All i can find is flours.

 

[GanjaGuru]

Any grow shop.
Here's one: foothillhydroponics.com. Check out their on-line catalog.

 

[lungs]

ok, thanks ganjaguru, you have been a great help, and when i take pics of the grow room i am going to post them.

p.s. lol did you figure out my tab ganjaguru?