First Grow Room Build

Well I figured I might as well not let the late season get the better of my summer growing fun so I decided to build an indoor grow box. I started off with some 2x4's and figured I would build a grow box that was big. The height is 6'5" tall by 5' wide by 4' deep. I started out by building the top and bottom sections first and bringing them into the house. I then cut the 2x4's for the height and brought them in and assembled them to the base. I then placed the top on and screwed everything together, I added some braces which are now in place at the top to support the fans as well as a center brace to support the light. I am using a shop light set up with grow lights installed and will add more if needed. Learned not to look at those lights when you turn them on... man are they ever freakin bright. Way brighter than your average florescent bulbs... damn near blinded me. After getting the frame built I cut some 1/4 inch OSB to size and put the sides on. As it stands right now the structure is very very sturdy, once the back, floor, roof and front doors are put on it should be damn near bullet proof...lol. I will keep updating as I get everything together and adding more pics along the way. I plan on running a 4" inline exhaust with home made carbon filter out to the window. There is a vent coming up from the basement that will provide cool fresh air from the bottom. I have two more 7 inch fans as well to place in the lower areas if more air flow is needed. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them... first time indoor grow for me and first time building a grow box as well.

Cheers,
BR.

30 views and no suggestions.... surely someone has something to add.

Hey...nice lookin box.

Might i add a few suggestions? Like that vent blowing air directly into the bottom...I would advise against this, unless you have a fine mesh over it, and a light baffle on the underside to prevent light leaks to and from the basement. Also...Id recommend adding a bottom to it...Make sure everything is airtight. After you've got it all built, wrap the inside with some heavy duty white "visqueen" plastic, or "Panda Film". This will make everything relatively airtight and lightproof.

Your construction and fan/light setup looks good...I hope you dont plan on using that light for anything other than vegative stage...wont do for flowering.

For that square footage, id recommend either a 250w, or 400w HPS...There are "dimmable" lumatek ballasts that can be switched from 250 to 400, theyre pretty reliable. ANyways...good setup man, srry no one else is replying...Work on it more and upload some more pics after you do...

Cheeuhs Moit!

looking good so far. Don't forget to cut holes in the sides for intake/exhaust.

LetricBud said:

Hey...nice lookin box.

Might i add a few suggestions? Like that vent blowing air directly into the bottom...I would advise against this, unless you have a fine mesh over it, and a light baffle on the underside to prevent light leaks to and from the basement. Also...Id recommend adding a bottom to it...Make sure everything is airtight. After you've got it all built, wrap the inside with some heavy duty white "visqueen" plastic, or "Panda Film". This will make everything relatively airtight and lightproof.

Your construction and fan/light setup looks good...I hope you dont plan on using that light for anything other than vegative stage...wont do for flowering.

For that square footage, id recommend either a 250w, or 400w HPS...There are "dimmable" lumatek ballasts that can be switched from 250 to 400, theyre pretty reliable. ANyways...good setup man, srry no one else is replying...Work on it more and upload some more pics after you do...

Cheeuhs Moit!

Click to expand...

dude he could totally use a 1000w for that area. 400w would be the bare minimum!

He could, and yes...a 1000w lamp would meet the "50watts per sq ft" rule, but in an enclosed box, there may be alot of heat buildup.

My suggestions are based on experience...in my experience, high wattage in small spaces = alot of heat.

LetricBud said:

Hey...nice lookin box.

Might i add a few suggestions? Like that vent blowing air directly into the bottom...I would advise against this, unless you have a fine mesh over it, and a light baffle on the underside to prevent light leaks to and from the basement. Also...Id recommend adding a bottom to it...Make sure everything is airtight. After you've got it all built, wrap the inside with some heavy duty white "visqueen" plastic, or "Panda Film". This will make everything relatively airtight and lightproof.

Your construction and fan/light setup looks good...I hope you dont plan on using that light for anything other than vegative stage...wont do for flowering.

For that square footage, id recommend either a 250w, or 400w HPS...There are "dimmable" lumatek ballasts that can be switched from 250 to 400, theyre pretty reliable. ANyways...good setup man, srry no one else is replying...Work on it more and upload some more pics after you do...

Cheeuhs Moit!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input.... the vent on the bottom is passive no forced air through it at all and the basement is not used other than to add salt to the water conditioner every few months. I will be putting a floor in the bottom but just haven't gotten to cutting it to size and fitting it in yet. The lighting on the other hand is where I am wondering what to put in. I am on a really tight budget and can't afford to be spending big bucks on a ballast and HPS light. I am going to take a look and see what I can find in my area and post up what I have available to me.

I will be cutting a hole in the top panel *when I install it* to run my exhaust out and the bottom panel will also have a hole cut out with a vent put in for airflow from the basement.

Cheers,
BR.

Could I add some CFL's to this set up and if so how many would I require?

hey man.. nice set.. i like the air duct on the floor. but ya u gotta b careful of the light nd musty air..

To be honest, you'd probably end up with the same electricity usage/heat if you went with cfl's vs. a 400w hps/mh.

You can easily put in a 400w hps ballast/light for under $100. Are you any good with the basics of wiring electrical stuff? You could do an DIY ballast and get a CMH 400w all for under $100.

DIY 400w HPS Ballast

Yea I am not to electrically inclined so to speak... plug and play is my thing to be honest. I can do some basic stuff but that is where it stops..lol.

The vent that goes into the basement can be run to a vent that goes directly outside to bring in fresh air. The only problem is that it would be a long run of piping to get to the other outdoor vent. It would more than likely take a couple of inline fans to get it to work properly. I may just run the fresh air vent to the outside via the window and some ducting. Not sure how I am going to set that part up yet.

[video=youtube;-PM-KYh75u0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PM-KYh75u0&feature=related[/video]

This guy gives a good idea of how to make the window into an intake.

For the ballast, there is a great picture of how to wire them, even if you aren't electrically inclined. It's pretty basic, twist the wires together put some heat shrink tubing on them or wire nuts and you're good to go.

here you go man here's a good site to get some lights from
400w should work in that size of space with good results. 1000w would generate excessive heat which = more fans = more moneys imo
http://htgsupply.com/growlights.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155&typeID=55
instead of the fire hazard of wiring your own stuff (unless you know what your doing) this is a good site to get stuff from.
good luck

Ok so after searching far and wide I found a 1000 w dual HPS/MH system for like 180 bucks used... it felt like Xmas when I found it sitting there. The system checked out fine and is in excellent shape. As for construction on the grow box I now have the top, back and 1 door finished... time has been a factor as of late with work... I haven't had any..lol. I also picked up a nice power bar with a built in digital timer, temp/humidity gauge and got the majority of the interior fitted with my reflective covering. Sorry I don't have any pics to show you but out of everything I picked up today can you believe I forgot to buy freakin batteries...lol. All I have left to purchase is my inline fan and filtration system and I should be good to go, I have 5 little ones on the way as I write which are doing quite well right now. Just did my transplant to the larger pots and will have the complete system up and running within a week.

Question... with the 1000 w HPS system how far away from the plants am I going to need to keep it?

Cheers,
BR.