First Grow - Build Journal - SuM

I thought I would start a build journal in the event I have future questions about the grow. This is our first "REAL" run at growing indoors and want to get off on the right foot. The first post will be roughly 2 weeks of progress.

After much thinking we decided to build under the stairs, this is a stealth grow.

Here is an idea of the area we are working with. Currently there is no plans to use the space directly under the stairs. Our thoughts are a small area for clones on the second grow.



It all starts with drywall saw and hole in the wall. The room is covered in dust, nails, drywall, and even a coke can. After a good vacum we are here.



Next we paint and begin framing in the door. We went with an eggshell paint because its easier to clean.



Next on our list was the floor, we decided on the cheapest vinyl we could find at HomeDepot along with some square trim. In addition at this point we are toying with the idea of ventilation. In the picture we are using 2 Suncourt 4" inline fans. Also added power to the room.



The ballast and lamp arrived;
- Lumatek 600w digital ballast w/ cord and socket $196.01 - delivered
- SunMaster 600w Super HPS DLX bulb and Cool Tube 6" sealed reflector $159.85 - delivered

Here is a shot from under the stairs with the light lowered. By pulling back the carpet on the landing above we secured the light using eye hooks, washers, and bolts.



Now we begin concentrating on ventilation and getting a nice consistant temperature. The current setup can best be defined as a single circuit broken in the middle.



Here are a few pictures of starting point and end of the circuit. The fans we are using are the SunCourt 6" inline fans and they run about $30.00 a piece at your local Homedepot.



The above ventilation was not working as planned and relied heavily on the use of the AC unit. At night when temps dropped outside the AC unit would not run and temps could get in the upper 90's in the grow room.

Racking our brains on the temp issues we decided to seal the room. We used liquid nails, plywood, and shelving materials to seal up as best we could.



Today we put the final 2 coats of paint on.



The door was fun and has been a challenge. Thankfully I didnt save any pictures from the first prototype. I used drywall, flat trim on the inside, and wall trim along the outside. The trim on the outside really gives the illusion the entrance is not manageable. The door is completly sealed, its amazing at just how quiet everything gets when you close the door. This entire closet including the door are going to get a good painting in the near future to blend everything.





We still have ventilation issues and know we are wasting power with the four 6" inline SunCourt fans. We also want to cut the amount of AC this room needs so we ordered at Can-Fan 270 HO inline fan. The new ventilation will look something like this.



While waiting for the Can-Fan we are getting warmed up on some bag seed, germinating, getting them into cups, and experimenting with the distance between the plant and the light. None of this crap seed will make it to flower.

Feel free to post comments and suggestions, I will happily answer any questions.

SuM

Nice job dude, i love your handy man work and also your artistic work with the drawing and stuff. Hope you get the temp problem solve because everything else looks neato perfect. Nice job on everything.

Question : Did you break a hole through that wall to find out thats where a staircase closet is at or there was already a storage area there before?

And also if u want to take this into consideration you can put a small carbon filter(diy in the diy area of this board) where the air is sucking in from the reflector that way you have a output air that doesn't smell like weed and also doesn't suck all of your cool air out of the grow space too fast.

'Question : Did you break a hole through that wall to find out thats where a staircase closet is at or there was already a storage area there before?"

We broke the hole in the wall.

We have also thought about an air filter and left ourselves open to add easily if need be. I appreciate the reminder. There is 1' of space between the floor of the room and ceiling of the garage which would be perfect to hide the filter and or muffler.

Nice job. You can help with your ventilation problem by sealing both ends of the light. Pull outside air into and out of the cool tube. The light doesn't need air conditioned air. Its also easier to push hot air up. If you can vent it to the roof you could use 8" ducting instead of 6" and it will fit right in a normal roof vent. This will increase your capacity for exhaust by almost 50%
Your light cooling and air system need to be seperate if you are going to run a 600 watt light in that space. Four fans will do it. Intake and exhaust for the light, intake and exhaust for the room. You will also want an oscillating fan gently blowing around your plant to keep fresh air around them. VV

wow, impressive. one of these days i will attempt something on a higher scale like this, but right now i have to make do with a smaller less advanced grow room, but its working.

Awesome effort, simply awesome! Building a room like that would have to be a very well thought out project.




Dizzy

VictorVIcious said:

Nice job. You can help with your ventilation problem by sealing both ends of the light. Pull outside air into and out of the cool tube. The light doesn't need air conditioned air. Its also easier to push hot air up. If you can vent it to the roof you could use 8" ducting instead of 6" and it will fit right in a normal roof vent. This will increase your capacity for exhaust by almost 50%
Your light cooling and air system need to be seperate if you are going to run a 600 watt light in that space. Four fans will do it. Intake and exhaust for the light, intake and exhaust for the room. You will also want an oscillating fan gently blowing around your plant to keep fresh air around them. VV

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. If the above drawing with the Can-Fan does not work we will no other choice but to add a 2nd circuit to cool the lamp on its own. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will not have to go this route. My hope is the Can-Fan can pull enough air from the lamp and room.

it will be limited to the amount of air it can pull in. For a passive intake make it twice the size of the exhaust, ie 6" out, 12" hole to draw from. VV

Im back with a little better news. I have concluded that ciruclation was my problem. I have cut the rooms AC by 50% and removed 1 x 6" SunCourt booster and added a Can-Fan.

Here is a little sketch of what the room looks like now.



My goal is to maintain 84f in the room and its been hell getting there. The outside temp right now is close to 100 and the house is set to 79. I have accepted achieving 78-80 under the light is not possible in the summer.

Here is how the Can-Fan and the additional intake look.



The trick was to place the intakes behind the box fan, within seconds the air was flowing nicely. Tonight the seeds go in the cups and grow begins.

yep, its like I said the light cooling and air circulation should be seperate systems in that space. Keep it up, we will be watching you. VV

How noisy is the Can Fan. Can you hear it on the other side of the wall or when you are walking up the stairs?