Grow Room Build. Need some advice!

well id like to start off by saying thanks for stopping by and i hope you stick around!

so i have this small room in my basement that i think would be perfect for a small grow room. its basically just 2by4 and one cement wall right now so construction needs to begin. i am posting this thread a little soon because although ive had thought this out, i still have questions..

so to begin, my room is 4'9"x4'7"x7'1". give or take an inch or two after drywall installation. this room is going to be like any other room, which means not stealthy( theres spaces where the door is that leaks light/air). im planning on using HPS for lighting, So will i need insulation? the summers here get hot around 100 degrees. and the winters get very cold like 20 degrees and sometimes below zero. (its in my house though so will the house heat/air condition make it to the room?) im planning on insulating the one Cement wall when i add 2by4structure and drywall but will the rest need it?

just wanna get this sorted out before putting drywall in, which is my next step!

I would get a 6ooW HPS light and a 3x3 flood table system and grow 9 plants. Look at other peoples threads and do some reading. There are different ways to grow, just gotta find out what works best for you. So, load a bowl and do a lot of reading.

1k light.

Pick your reflector (cool tube or Magnum XXXL 8" would be my choices) Because of your 7' ceiling, I would want to know what strains and what mediums you plan on using.

Air cool it! Put two 6" or 8" ducts into the drywall and route ducting to and from the outside of the house.

I would definitely insulate. You'll need an A/C for summer. You'll have to get creative with heat during winter. Perhaps the A/C will heat as well, or you can exhaust air (from the light) into the room to help keep it in temp.

watercooled@ said:

1k light.

Pick your reflector (cool tube or Magnum XXXL 8" would be my choices) Because of your 7' ceiling, I would want to know what strains and what mediums you plan on using.

Air cool it! Put two 6" or 8" ducts into the drywall and route ducting to and from the outside of the house.
.

Click to expand...

well ive been reading a lot before acutally preparing this and i was thinking about going with the cool tubes. i was thinking i could run two 400W or should i just run one 1k hps? also for the ducting how would i even go about to start that. i mean i know itd be a vent but how would i get it to the outside? im guess drilling holes in my floors and walls would be necessary to get outside correct? throw me some ideas ill be posting pics of my room tomorrow so you guys know what i have to work with. thanks man i appreciate the advice. please stick around id love for you to help me out when i start this off.

By the way Watercooled.. do you know of a good place to buy a 1000W cooltube or HPS lamp for a great price? if so please let me know man. plus i read your threads and man i cant wait to see that room finished! let alone the Trailer! u should invite me to the private thread id love to see it finished.

Yes, for an inexpensive setup, checkout htgsupply. Ebay has the cheapest ballast as well even if you're looking for higher end stuff.

If you're going with a cooltube would run a single 1k, get a 6" cooltube and a 6" carbon filter.

Put the filter on the floor, run duct straight up to the cool tube, then run duct through the (somehow) "attic" (by cutting a whole in it) and route that to whatever exit you want.

It'll stay cool and you'll be recirculating air. Temps should stay in check.

If they don't, you'll have to route the intake from outside the room, through the cooltube and back out while keeping the A/C on.

During the winter, you'll need to drop some or part of that heat into the room using a motorized dampner on a thermostat of some sort.

At least that is how I would do it

watercooled@ said:

Yes, for an inexpensive setup, checkout htgsupply. Ebay has the cheapest ballast as well even if you're looking for higher end stuff.

If you're going with a cooltube would run a single 1k, get a 6" cooltube and a 6" carbon filter.

Put the filter on the floor, run duct straight up to the cool tube, then run duct through the (somehow) "attic" (by cutting a whole in it) and route that to whatever exit you want.

It'll stay cool and you'll be recirculating air. Temps should stay in check.

If they don't, you'll have to route the intake from outside the room, through the cooltube and back out while keeping the A/C on.

Click to expand...

ok i think what im going to do is run ducting from the grow room to the basement. this would create smell problems im assuming correct? and if i do this how would i set up my carbon filter? im pretty sure thats a dumb question but i guess it means im dumb :/. lol and thanks for the site looks great.

Buy a carbon filter with a matching fan, once you see it, it'll become obvious on how to do it.

Post pictures here and people can confirm if you did it right.

ok thanks thats what i thought.. but i have some very bad news. i contacted my lanlord and asked him if i can but in these walls and he said no. so what i am thinking of doing is create walk in grow box.. here is what i mean by this. The extra space is the extra space in the actual room. ill have plywood as the walls and panda plastic (or w.e its called) going around the inside of it. ill have one wall be the actual room wall which this is where the door is. then ill be drilling a hole for fresh air to get to cool the light. and also ill be having a vent to get fresh air into the room. so basically its like a room, inside a room. easy to take down, easy to build. should be cheap as well.

i would think that he wouldn't need the insulation in the basement because its automatically about 10`-20` degrees cooler under ground.. the dirt around the room acts as insulation. no? he must use air conditioning unit, i know this. air cool-water cool reflectors yes! the "ice box" reflector radiators are cool than a mug if you use huge water chiller recommended.. not so cool with small one and pointless without one... at trade show, through six 1000w h.p.s. without ac mid summer, air was exiting light reflectors at amazing 55` degree!!!! so it was used to cool room as well as lights. yes on carbon filter and fan. good to filter fresh air along with spent air.. 2 filters may be needed. co 2?? burner?? timers and control module may be a lil pricey now that i think about it.. better get a few harvest under your belt first

grow in these:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Storage-Cabinet-Alder/11061206

and grow in 3 gallon pots. use the pegs for the shelves to install a chicken wire screen and scrog that shit to maximize the yield.

instead of needing a 600 watt lamp, a 250 will do, and controlling the temps might be easier.

that way it's modular, and in case shit happens, you can break it down quick.

personal opinion.

redivider said:

grow in these:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Storage-Cabinet-Alder/11061206

and grow in 3 gallon pots. use the pegs for the shelves to install a chicken wire screen and scrog that shit to maximize the yield.

instead of needing a 600 watt lamp, a 250 will do, and controlling the temps might be easier.

that way it's modular, and in case shit happens, you can break it down quick.

personal opinion.

Click to expand...

yes but why grow in something small when i have a room ready to be used!! and with my space now being shrunk i think what i am going to have to do is settle with a 400W or 600W not sure of which yet. and ,, if "shit happens" all i have to do is move the plants, get rid of the smell, and put up pics of buddha and say its my meditation room . of course ill have a better plan then that but all im saying is if shit happens, im ready for whatever comes. and i like the idea of scrogging. im looking into that right now but if i have the room to grow 4' plants should i scrog with wire net going up.. ive seen it before and it looked like grapes growing on a wall but with BUD! ill try to find what im talking about. any info on scrog you would like to inform me with. maybe a post i can read or something..

Your basement gets up to 100 degrees in the summer? I'd be far more concerned with the winter temps than the summer. As stated before your temps in the ground are going to be 10-20 degrees cooler. That means the 20 degrees outside temp is going to make your basement is a FREEZER in the winter. Does it have any heating or cooling vents down there already? Most unfinished basements I've been in have zero vents as those seem to be added as you finish the space. Good luck!

ColoradoLove said:

Your basement gets up to 100 degrees in the summer? I'd be far more concerned with the winter temps than the summer. As stated before your temps in the ground are going to be 10-20 degrees cooler. That means the 20 degrees outside temp is going to make your basement is a FREEZER in the winter. Does it have any heating or cooling vents down there already? Most unfinished basements I've been in have zero vents as those seem to be added as you finish the space. Good luck!

Click to expand...

no the temps outside get to 100 and sometimes up. . i have A/C in my house and the basement is finished, just not this room since it was suppose to be a bathroom just never got plumming or anything else. the room has a vent line in the ceiling i can use but it wont make it to the "box" itself just the outer area. and yes the basement has vents already which push out a/c and heater air. but they are on the ceiling which is a pain in the ass to heat becase heat rises. although i do have mini heaters i can put into the room with temps at 65-70-75-80. it wont keep pushing out hot air it will make the room temp rise to the temp its on and if its too hot or perfect it shuts off. would it be safe to have this inside the box? the basement is pretty cold though. so winter will be a pain in the ass i can already tell. but i have a lot of time to figure something out.

KushisSweet said:

yes but why grow in something small when i have a room ready to be used!! and with my space now being shrunk i think what i am going to have to do is settle with a 400W or 600W not sure of which yet. and ,, if "shit happens" all i have to do is move the plants, get rid of the smell, and put up pics of buddha and say its my meditation room . of course ill have a better plan then that but all im saying is if shit happens, im ready for whatever comes. and i like the idea of scrogging. im looking into that right now but if i have the room to grow 4' plants should i scrog with wire net going up.. ive seen it before and it looked like grapes growing on a wall but with BUD! ill try to find what im talking about. any info on scrog you would like to inform me with. maybe a post i can read or something..

Click to expand...

i thought you hadn't built the room yet.

scrog you just set the screen at the desired height, and as plants grow through it you pass it over/under/over the wires to keep the canopy even. when the screen gets covered in foliage, you switch to 12/12 to induce flower.

the idea is to keep the canopy even so that the plant gets confused into which is it's tallest cola, since the growth hormones of the plant naturally get diverted to it's highest point to get more light. so the colas that grow through the screen should be thicker.

LST also works really well.

so does topping.

and remember the smell will be very pungent.

redivider said:

i thought you hadn't built the room yet.

scrog you just set the screen at the desired height, and as plants grow through it you pass it over/under/over the wires to keep the canopy even. when the screen gets covered in foliage, you switch to 12/12 to induce flower.

the idea is to keep the canopy even so that the plant gets confused into which is it's tallest cola, since the growth hormones of the plant naturally get diverted to it's highest point to get more light. so the colas that grow through the screen should be thicker.

LST also works really well.

so does topping.

and remember the smell will be very pungent.

Click to expand...

ok awesome i really want to look into that. i feel once i get started with a few harvests i can feel comfortable with what im doing to start scrog. and about the smell is there a easy/cheap way i can not have my basement leak odor? im thinking a whole room would be better for that than a box? and thanks man i really appreciate the help.

redivider said:

i thought you hadn't built the room yet.

Click to expand...

and sorry no i havnt yet sorry what i meant to say is id rather use as much space as i can. if i need to get stealthy that would be great. thanks for the site.

CaliSpiceTrade said:

i would think that he wouldn't need the insulation in the basement because its automatically about 10`-20` degrees cooler under ground.. the dirt around the room acts as insulation. no? he must use air conditioning unit, i know this. air cool-water cool reflectors yes! the "ice box" reflector radiators are cool than a mug if you use huge water chiller recommended.. not so cool with small one and pointless without one... at trade show, through six 1000w h.p.s. without ac mid summer, air was exiting light reflectors at amazing 55` degree!!!! so it was used to cool room as well as lights. yes on carbon filter and fan. good to filter fresh air along with spent air.. 2 filters may be needed. co 2?? burner?? timers and control module may be a lil pricey now that i think about it.. better get a few harvest under your belt first

Click to expand...

Just in case... since my username gets misinterpreted all the time... I did not recommend any water cooling for this guy.

KushisSweet said:

no the temps outside get to 100 and sometimes up. . ....

Click to expand...

I had read your post to be descriptive of your grow area, not the outside temps...

watercooled@ said:

Just in case... since my username gets misinterpreted all the time... I did not recommend any water cooling for this guy.

Click to expand...

trystick should be here any time now calling you out

watercooled@ said:

Just in case... since my username gets misinterpreted all the time... I did not recommend any water cooling for this guy.




I had read your post to be descriptive of your grow area, not the outside temps...

Click to expand...

sorry bout that chief. the room area in the summer will be getting around the 80's maybe a little warmer without any direct a/c to the room. in the winter the room should sit around 60 without any extra heating. although i have small heaters i can put in the room so the temp can climb up to around 75 degrees. but watercooled i have another question for you. since im shrinking my grow space to about 3'6"x4'x6'. should i jump down to a 600W bulb with cooltube? what do you think would be the best. im planning on having atleast 4 plants at a time and a max of 9.