attic grow op.

ok so im going too grow in this attic space in my house. tell me what u guys think.

lighting: 2x70w H.P.S, 1x150w H.P.S= total 360w

ive always wondered about the attic growers, do you get snow where you live and when your roof is covered with snow is there a square spot on the roof where the snow melted away from the heat???

looks good man make some walls and get growing prolly do a nice lil 3x3 area good luck

nope no snow here on the central coast of Cali. usually doesnt drop below freezing. just did last night though. but with those warm H.P.S lights it stays aroung 70-75 F.

AZHIAZIAM said:

nope no snow here on the central coast of Cali. usually doesnt drop below freezing. just did last night though. but with those warm H.P.S lights it stays aroung 70-75 F.

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optimal daytime growing temperature. sounds like your envirnmnt is comming together for you

yup. im pertty excited to get my plants up there. i've got about 10-15 plants still in veg about 6 in. tall i'd say. just finished the attic today, so i'll get em under those lights a.s.a.p. do u think it would be ok to veg under those hps? and do u think those light would be enough???

AZHIAZIAM said:

yup. im pertty excited to get my plants up there. i've got about 10-15 plants still in veg about 6 in. tall i'd say. just finished the attic today, so i'll get em under those lights a.s.a.p. do u think it would be ok to veg under those hps? and do u think those light would be enough???

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i have veged under hps with great results, some will say it will streatch the plants but i didn't see it

how big of a room did you make did you use mylar. thats a lot of plants for those lights unless you use small pots and only veg a short time. figure the 150 w is good for a 2x2 area and the 2 70 w are good for another 1x2(just a estimate i didnt do the math but its a good estimate) i would do 12x12 square pots vege just to like 10-12" and flower em

AZHIAZIAM said:

lighting: 2x70w H.P.S, 1x150w H.P.S= total 360w

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2x70=140
140+150=360? hmm
it's really dangerous to grow up there... look at all those fiber glass cotton things and heater or w/e. if something gets on fire, everything will just collapse.

sorry about the shitty math, i meant 290w
and are the walls really necessary?

xmegademonx said:

2x70=140
140+150=360? hmm
it's really dangerous to grow up there... look at all those fiber glass cotton things and heater or w/e. if something gets on fire, everything will just collapse.

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i got what your lighting is and thats about the size room you want 2x2 for the 150 and 1 sq ft for each 70 thats 2x3 6 square feet

AZHIAZIAM said:

sorry about the shitty math, i meant 290w
and are the walls really necessary?

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walls with reflective matirial are not nessesary but you wont be useing all of your light and you need all the light you can get, and it will make it safer you could do somthing as simple as panda film stapled up to the rafters and floor.
be shure to have some sort of drip pan down too so you dnt have water issues

ya all my plants are in a shallow plastic drawer, and i guess i'll put up some walls then what is tha panda stuff??? never heard of it.

...looks flammable

AZHIAZIAM said:

ya all my plants are in a shallow plastic drawer, and i guess i'll put up some walls then what is tha panda stuff??? never heard of it.

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panda film is the reflective sheet that's used as a reflector.

AZHIAZIAM said:

ya all my plants are in a shallow plastic drawer, and i guess i'll put up some walls then what is tha panda stuff??? never heard of it.

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plastic sheeting like 9 mill i think, black on one side white on the other to reflect light you should do walls to kut down on the fire hazard

AZHIAZIAM said:

ya all my plants are in a shallow plastic drawer, and i guess i'll put up some walls then what is tha panda stuff??? never heard of it.

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on an attic grow walls are more important than ever. the reason is you have vents on your roof, whether little slits or whatever, but at night that light on those slits stick out like a sore dick.

You can do it but I wouldn't recommend growing in an attic unless you are in a climate where the outside air never goes more than a couple degrees below the temperature of the grow space for two reasons.
#1- If it is near 32 overnight where you are and 70-75 degrees inside you will get condensation slowly building up on the plywood roofing because of the cold outside air and warm inside air meeting and the humidity in the warm air condensing on the cold plywood surface. Over time the water will build up and drip down onto your ceiling and will look like you have a roof leak. Also mould will start forming on the plywood because it is constantly wet/damp.
#2- And possibly more importantly. On a cold night a police helicopter with infrared will see your hot attic and the police may start watching you more closely. They cannot obtain a warrant from a hot attic alone because you could have simply removed all your insulation or one of your furnace ducts may have fallen off or something but i wouldn't want to risk bringing any attention to myself.
These are also two reasons why you should never vent your grow directly into an attic.

If you are set on growing in the attic build a well insulated room in the attic and vent it to the soffit (overhang) of your house or through a roof vent to outside. This will at least get rid of #1 and could help avoid #2 as well. The room will also help you control humidity in the grow and keep pests out. This will also contain the lights and cut down on fire hazard as others have mentioned.

I'm a noob grower but i know buildings inside and out, literally.

J.

MrJ well said.

need to make a room up there with venting to outside.

you could possibly do a grow tent and add insulation to the outside of it... this way it will be easier to disassemble and hide if you ever have to get that furnace serviced... but follow Mr J's advice and run the exhaust to the edge of the attic so most of the air goes outside...

and turn the lights off before you open the tent

ok so i just put my babies under the three HPS and hopin they will like....

you should go outside at night while your HIDs are on... see if your roof glows.