Total Noob...Appreciate your thoughts

SSS2015 said:

guys I don't want to commit a grievous error here....

But is there any way we can design this box, so that the grow room, becomes the drying room, when it comes time to harvest and dry buds?

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Of course. I just run wire, like a clothes line, above the lights. Hang them upside down.

At least the 5w emitters are in common use. now.

SSS2015 said:

is there any way we can design this box, so that the grow room, becomes the drying room, when it comes time to harvest and dry buds?

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I'm not up to this bit yet, but I plan on doing exactly that. Would like to hear from more experienced people too. It would mean 2 weeks downtime between grows cos the buds need to be in the dark

I can't comment on LEDs, hope some else can guide you there. It will still produce heat (every watt of power used generates heat in the end) but its easier to cool and you can ignore all the air-cooled hood stuff which makes your ventilation simpler.

Doer should have cleared up the confusion I caused,
-does it make sense that HID lights in a small space should be cooled with outside air through a sealed subsystem (shed or outside air>duct>fan>duct>air cooled light hood>duct out) so you clear a lot of the heat. You shouldn't get any smell in this airstream. If you only have 1.65m height you will benefit from this cos you can keep the HID lights closer to the plants than otherwise.
-the main exhaust fan has to PULL through the carbon scrubber (this is debatable but my hydro shop guy says this is the most efficient way to use a filter) so thats why we get the complicated setup to filter both spaces outake

If you get high humidity/cold temperatures (check Bureau of Meteorology past data for your area) budget for a dehumidifier (~$350). I tried to get away without one but decided I can't risk my crop to mould. That, a few oscillating fans for circulating air, and cleanliness are the biggest things you can do to stop mould. You will never filter out ALL the mould spores. They are everywhere.

One last tip, google your local water company's annual water quality report. They publicly release testing data which could help you decide if your tap water (after you let it sit out for a bit) is good enough to use without filtering and crap. Mine is great, you want a low EC.

Doer said:

Hey that is pretty cool, but, he said he got 1.32 grams per watt. Well, isn't that what HID gets?

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Yeah, if you're like really good at growing weed lol. Still a far cry from led's not being able to grow...anything over 1g per watt is pretty impressive. And if that doesnt convince you watch this time lapse it's pretty awesome

It has gotten better. And when you add the ballast heat for 1000w HID, I am sure the LED are cooler, longer lasting with less maintenance. But, $1500 for the real deal, 1000w HID replacement. Apache, Blackdog or KIND, etc. I don't think those $350 ebay panels are real.

tightpockt said:

You could do that if you get an air sealed hood. It would solve a lot of your heat issues. How quiet does all of this have to be?

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would be good if it was quiet.

so I control humidity by either adding more water, heat or air, or less of the 3.

I live in austrlaia, the humidity is fairly high, but not huge, I think i can control it by dissipating the heat, watering more frequently, and turning up or down the air. If i get a fan that has variable control I can increase air flow during flowering to reduce the humidity.

With the cloning box i'm sure it'll be fine, I'll use a cloning box to keep humidity high.

more reading, and regular checking.

God i hope I can dial in this set up so it isn't much hassle.

I smoke an ounce a fortnight at the moment, and i imagine that this will increase if I have it on tap. I really need to get this grow to work fast so I can have a constant supply.

SSS2015 said:

would be good if it was quiet.

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my bro sleeps right on top of my 270cfm fan and dehumidifier and he doesn't complain. Just be careful how you mount your fans so there is no vibration/reverb. Insulated ducting also quietens the fan noise as well as carrying out heat.

Chester da Horse said:

my bro sleeps right on top of my 270cfm fan and dehumidifier and he doesn't complain. Just be careful how you mount your fans so there is no vibration/reverb. Insulated ducting also quietens the fan noise as well as carrying out heat.

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Better yet, dont mount it, hang it. I have 4x 440cfm fans always on in the room I sleep in, when done properly and with speed controllers for the fans, they cant be heard outside my room.

Yes i like the idea of veg and bloom boxes hooked for ventilation, you shouldnt need a y peice if you have the intake with scrubber inside the shed blowin b into the flower room, then your exhaust fan up top. Then down at the bottom make a 4 or 5" square hole inbetween the veg and flower box, this will act as a passive exhaust bringing fresh air in through the cracks of the clonebox lid. Where you insert your t5.

The apollo brand i sent you is cheap and has a warranty in case it shits out, better than magnetic though. Doesnt produce any heat either unlike some ballasts.
the free hps bulb with the kit is the only thing i dont like, has too much red in my opinion. I personally use plantmax bulbs since they aee cheap and deliver the spectrum i want.

SSS2015 said:

with the computer fan for the clone box, is that to blow air around? weren't we going to use the 220CFM Duct fan to exhaust air out of both boxes? how would I use the computer fan? are they easy to hook up?

if I use foam board do I use the poly to line the foam board? or is that overkill? also how do I build doors out of foam? do I use duct tape for hinges? what can I use as a seal for when I close the doors?

With my plants, Once i've trained them a little, they're touching the sides, I switch to flowering, they'll keep growing for a time. Will the cycle be shorter because my box is shorter? or is that wishful thinking?

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Easy to make foam door, make foam srtucture minus the sidewall adjacent to the door your makin, so you can get in and out. So your box is 3/4 the way framed in.Get som large washers, hinges, som nuts and bolts long enough to go through yout 3/4"foam box or w/e width. Simply put your hinge up on the outside with the washe underneath it, poke the bolt through the foam, repeate with the door side of the hinge, repeate with x ammount of hinges. Then go inside, put your backing washers on, then nuts, tighten and boom door, or almost. Now just cut out the door, and she should swing open with a little love. Make it easy on yourself by making measurements for your hinges so they are exact and likewise for your cuts on your door. I wouldnt overkill with poly. Maybe blanket to cover the cracks in the foam door, ya know light leak.

Chester said:

-the main exhaust fan has to PULL through the carbon scrubber (this is debatable but my hydro shop guy says this is the most efficient way to use a filter) so thats why we get the complicated setup to filter both spaces outake

All carbon filtered are PULLEDed thru, I can't see another way to do it. If you try to push the air thru a filter then you have over pressured and so heated the space.

We want a negative pressure in the grow room to pull air in. We do that by pulling air out thru the carbon filter.

marquezmurder said:

Easy to make foam door, make foam srtucture minus the sidewall adjacent to the door your makin, so you can get in and out. So your box is 3/4 the way framed in.Get som large washers, hinges, som nuts and bolts long enough to go through yout 3/4"foam box or w/e width. Simply put your hinge up on the outside with the washe underneath it, poke the bolt through the foam, repeate with the door side of the hinge, repeate with x ammount of hinges. Then go inside, put your backing washers on, then nuts, tighten and boom door, or almost. Now just cut out the door, and she should swing open with a little love. Make it easy on yourself by making measurements for your hinges so they are exact and likewise for your cuts on your door. I wouldnt overkill with poly. Maybe blanket to cover the cracks in the foam door, ya know light leak.

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I just hang a wide loose curtain of poly over the door, on the inside. That way it covers all the cracks and makes a light lock. You can shut the door behind you before you open the inner curtain.

SSS2015 said:

so I control humidity by either adding more water, heat or air, or less of the 3.

I live in austrlaia, the humidity is fairly high, but not huge, I think i can control it by dissipating the heat, watering more frequently, and turning up or down the air. If i get a fan that has variable control I can increase air flow during flowering to reduce the humidity.

With the cloning box i'm sure it'll be fine, I'll use a cloning box to keep humidity high.

more reading, and regular checking.

God i hope I can dial in this set up so it isn't much hassle.

I smoke an ounce a fortnight at the moment, and i imagine that this will increase if I have it on tap. I really need to get this grow to work fast so I can have a constant supply.

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It will be etiher an enormous hassle or a labor of love, but nothing easy about it.

IMo humidity isnt that big a deal...the relative humidity surrounding the plant through medium evaporation and leave transpiration is usually good enough...too high is worse than too low, I mean, for me at least it's not a big enough problem to worry about and start fucking with humidifiers and temp controls etc...Im preeeeety fucked up right now. Those ebay led's are garbage. I build my panels using 50w cree diodes (44% efficient!) with all the help from the diy led forum...umm, what else...You never said what the climate was like in your area. I don't know why Im so invested in this one particular newbie thread...I got a parking ticket today

When I was in the navy and went to Australia we asked this lady if they ate kangaroos and she was like "oh yeah..kangaroos are everywhere around here..they're like pests..like deer in america since we wiped out their natural predator" and i said "what was their natural predator?" and without any joke she said "aborigines!" lol, that's fucked up. Besides that australia was cool as shit

Dr.Pecker said:

If you have several connects then you should use them all. Get into botany in general, learn how to grow other things. start planting things in your yard that way when the neighbor looks your way he thinks man those are some nice tomatoes.

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Great advice, this nube agrees.

tightpockt said:

When I was in the navy and went to Australia we asked this lady if they ate kangaroos and she was like "oh yeah..kangaroos are everywhere around here..they're like pests..like deer in america since we wiped out their natural predator" and i said "what was their natural predator?" and without any joke she said "aborigines!" lol, that's fucked up. Besides that australia was cool as shit

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Lol, thats fucked up but probably true,..

Question, if i where to make my own led light like you, what would I need? And diyled.com? I want the magic ways of led.

tightpockt said:

IMo humidity isnt that big a deal...the relative humidity surrounding the plant through medium evaporation and leave transpiration is usually good enough...too high is worse than too low, I mean, for me at least it's not a big enough problem to worry about and start fucking with humidifiers and temp controls etc...Im preeeeety fucked up right now. Those ebay led's are garbage. I build my panels using 50w cree diodes (44% efficient!) with all the help from the diy led forum...umm, what else...You never said what the climate was like in your area. I don't know why Im so invested in this one particular newbie thread...I got a parking ticket today

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50w DYI. Now you speaka my rangwige! DIY forum link? I could do a project like that.

You are invested, the reason is the same as me. These guys seem to listen, and not just cause an argument over nothing.

I got a speeding ticket, yesterday and I was so nice, so chagrined, etc. He really let me off. I was doing 67 in a 45 mph zone. But, he changed the vehicle law I was charged under??? He said the safe speed was 65.

Doer said:

All carbon filtered are PULLEDed thru, I can't see another way to do it. If you try to push the air thru a filter then you have over pressured and so heated the space. We want a negative pressure in the grow room to pull air in. We do that by pulling air out thru the carbon filter.

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I totally agree with pulling being recommended, but on a couple of other threads here on RIU people have discussed using push through, and Phreshfilter say you can push or pull with their filters.

From what i've read, good reasons to pull are: using the prefilter properly, using all the carbon in the filter equally, pushing can result in odour leaks...

But I've never heard of the pressurising/heating issue you raised. Could you explain this for me?

This horse thirsts for knowledge

PS: sorry to hear bout ur ticket. Do they do roadside drug tests where u live? Cheek swabs that pick up weed/amphetamines and MDMA have rolled out here. Just another reason to be paranoid in my jurisdiction