mopaNi
Well-Known Member
First of all I'd like to say hello. I've been lurking here for about two months now gathering all the information that I can before I start asking for advice. I've been an avid forum member on many forums over the years for many different things and Lord knows I hate when noobs come in and want hand fed advice. So I hope I'm not one of those.
Secondly, I'm not entirely new to growing my own herb. I grew bud in the house we rented in college. You know...when the white cabinet grows from Home Depot were popular back in the early 00s. I was an immature, broke, full-time job + student back then. So I had little resources to devote to growing and I'll be frank, it showed. Still, under the 400w MH/HPS, I grew some decent candy.
Zoom forward 12~14 years and I am in a much better place. Married, big house, time and resources. We (wife and I) are ready to not burn up $3000/year for slightly better than average herb. So it's time to get back to cultivating!
What really prompted this endeavor is we are remodeling our basement. The basement is split into three areas, a big finished room (A), a half finished HVAC/storage/work area (B), and then a crawlspace that is under our large den room above (C). There was a solid wall that ran down the basement stairs. We tore that out to open up the room a little. And then my idea was born.
Here is a picture from area B looking under the stairs into area A. This is where the wall was...heck you can see the floor color difference of where the wall ran. Ignore the refrigerator...it's a DIY kegerator that will eventually be tapped into a wall on the other side of the room where our bar will be.
A
Another picture of the proposed grow area.
B
And another...
C
That is a four foot level for scale. Initially the idea was to frame in basically right down the middle of that protruding column of bricks. That is where the wall line is for the wall that separates areas A and B that's behind us in the pictures. In framing down that line, with where the stairs are, most would never put it together that there can be space there. Ideal right? Not quite. The problem is if I framed down that line I would have very little space. Like two feet in width. To be honest, that's not big enough to warrant this whole thing IMO. I know I could grow some fine medicine in a 2x2 but I just don't feel it would be worth it. Not when the only thing restricting me there is the idea people would never put two and two together that there is hidden space there. So if I bumped this new wall out a little, on the other side of the brick column / big metal i frame on the ceiling, I can get almost 3.5 feet if I want.
So here is a quick photoshop of my idea on how to frame this hidden grow room.
A few quick things...
As for the actual growing...I plan to use LED for the veg area and HPS for flower. I've been eyeing the Mars Hydro 96 reflector for veg (supposed to be a perfect 3x2 footprint) and an air cooled, sun system hood, 600w EYE Hortilux bulb, with a 600w Solistek dimmable digital ballast. I plan to SCROG. I plan to use Promix HP in smart pots. I plan to use the entire Elite line from Blue Planet Nutrients. I plan to pop some beans to start but will likely clone after that until we are tired of the strain on hand.
Now onto where I need some advice. Ventilation. This whole area will be entirely sealed up. And I mean SEALED. I am going to use acoustic rockwool insulation in all of the walls and ceilings and I may use DOW Tuff-R boards for my walls (anyone watch Mr Tight on Youtube?) in leu of drywall. Everything taped up nice and clean. The problem I'm having trying to conceptualize this is how to handle airflow because since I'll have veg and flower in the same "room" I plan to frame in a wall that separates the flower area from the rest. That way I can light seal it off easily. The door is orange in the diagram above.
I can have passive intakes wherever I want. One coming in from the side of the veg area, one coming in from the side of the flower area. They can be passive, they can be powered. The world is my oyster. I've been looking at the Can Max Pro fans, Phresh carbon filters, and I'd even like to use a muffler. The good part about ventilation here is my duct runs *should* be very short. I mean so short I may not even use ducting but some hard PVC piping to smooth out the airflow. We'll see.
So my questions are relatively simple.... do I use one fan, one scrubber, for this WHOLE area? I know vegging plants don't really smell but that area will need airflow. If so... how should I handle that with the wall that separates the flower area from the rest? If I do something clever there to allow airflow but not light through that wall, how does that affect my fans CFM requirements? In my reading I've seen answers about CFM all over the place. Replace the entire area once every 3-5 minutes all the way to replace the air in the area twice every minute... That's a HUGE difference in CFM ratings. This area totals around ~250 cubic feet I believe...a bit less. But I want this done RIGHT. Even if that means a louder fan or extra cost. BTW the basement is very cool in both summer and winter. 70* easily. With a good fan I don't see a 600w air cooled hood with short duct runs causing me heat issues. But who knows?
Is 600 watts enough? Too much? If heat isn't an issue...would squeezing in a 1000w light make sense? Or provide that much more yield? I'm going to assume 600w is about perfect for this space.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I apologize for the long post. If you have any tips, tricks, or clever ideas for this proposed space please write a comment. I'd love to hear them!
Secondly, I'm not entirely new to growing my own herb. I grew bud in the house we rented in college. You know...when the white cabinet grows from Home Depot were popular back in the early 00s. I was an immature, broke, full-time job + student back then. So I had little resources to devote to growing and I'll be frank, it showed. Still, under the 400w MH/HPS, I grew some decent candy.
Zoom forward 12~14 years and I am in a much better place. Married, big house, time and resources. We (wife and I) are ready to not burn up $3000/year for slightly better than average herb. So it's time to get back to cultivating!
What really prompted this endeavor is we are remodeling our basement. The basement is split into three areas, a big finished room (A), a half finished HVAC/storage/work area (B), and then a crawlspace that is under our large den room above (C). There was a solid wall that ran down the basement stairs. We tore that out to open up the room a little. And then my idea was born.
Here is a picture from area B looking under the stairs into area A. This is where the wall was...heck you can see the floor color difference of where the wall ran. Ignore the refrigerator...it's a DIY kegerator that will eventually be tapped into a wall on the other side of the room where our bar will be.
A
Another picture of the proposed grow area.
B
And another...
C
That is a four foot level for scale. Initially the idea was to frame in basically right down the middle of that protruding column of bricks. That is where the wall line is for the wall that separates areas A and B that's behind us in the pictures. In framing down that line, with where the stairs are, most would never put it together that there can be space there. Ideal right? Not quite. The problem is if I framed down that line I would have very little space. Like two feet in width. To be honest, that's not big enough to warrant this whole thing IMO. I know I could grow some fine medicine in a 2x2 but I just don't feel it would be worth it. Not when the only thing restricting me there is the idea people would never put two and two together that there is hidden space there. So if I bumped this new wall out a little, on the other side of the brick column / big metal i frame on the ceiling, I can get almost 3.5 feet if I want.
So here is a quick photoshop of my idea on how to frame this hidden grow room.
A few quick things...
- Ideally this would be all encompassing. Seedling/clone area, veg area, and a flower area for a pseudo perpetual grow. Not constant but it'd be nice that when one run is done flowering another run is ready to go. I'd also like to be able to store my nutes, all the little gizmos and gadgets, and possibly even have a built in drying area. All inside this 'hidden' area. This whole area will be behind one locked door that separates rooms A and B, and also behind it's own locked door (where the 51" designator is).
- Funding is really not a restriction. Although I'd like to come in, building materials and growing items, under $2000.
- I have all kinds of access right there. A power line I can tap into easily that is it's own line from the breaker. The far right wall of the flower area is a foundation wall. So I could exhaust straight outside if I want. Our washer/dryer is literally right above the flower area... Or the upper wall of the flower area is right beneath the garage. So I could exhaust out to the garage and neatly tuck the exhaust port under the stairs in the garage. There is an AC duct right next to this area in the ceiling. And heck there is even a water line that runs to an outdoor spigot that is in the garage (by said stairs).
- BTW I plan to not trim out the door going into this hidden room. That way I can literally throw a giant piece of pegboard over the door and you'd never even know it is there! Perfect! Not like people are ever in that area of the basement, no kids here, so this is just being extra pre-cautious/creative.
As for the actual growing...I plan to use LED for the veg area and HPS for flower. I've been eyeing the Mars Hydro 96 reflector for veg (supposed to be a perfect 3x2 footprint) and an air cooled, sun system hood, 600w EYE Hortilux bulb, with a 600w Solistek dimmable digital ballast. I plan to SCROG. I plan to use Promix HP in smart pots. I plan to use the entire Elite line from Blue Planet Nutrients. I plan to pop some beans to start but will likely clone after that until we are tired of the strain on hand.
Now onto where I need some advice. Ventilation. This whole area will be entirely sealed up. And I mean SEALED. I am going to use acoustic rockwool insulation in all of the walls and ceilings and I may use DOW Tuff-R boards for my walls (anyone watch Mr Tight on Youtube?) in leu of drywall. Everything taped up nice and clean. The problem I'm having trying to conceptualize this is how to handle airflow because since I'll have veg and flower in the same "room" I plan to frame in a wall that separates the flower area from the rest. That way I can light seal it off easily. The door is orange in the diagram above.
I can have passive intakes wherever I want. One coming in from the side of the veg area, one coming in from the side of the flower area. They can be passive, they can be powered. The world is my oyster. I've been looking at the Can Max Pro fans, Phresh carbon filters, and I'd even like to use a muffler. The good part about ventilation here is my duct runs *should* be very short. I mean so short I may not even use ducting but some hard PVC piping to smooth out the airflow. We'll see.
So my questions are relatively simple.... do I use one fan, one scrubber, for this WHOLE area? I know vegging plants don't really smell but that area will need airflow. If so... how should I handle that with the wall that separates the flower area from the rest? If I do something clever there to allow airflow but not light through that wall, how does that affect my fans CFM requirements? In my reading I've seen answers about CFM all over the place. Replace the entire area once every 3-5 minutes all the way to replace the air in the area twice every minute... That's a HUGE difference in CFM ratings. This area totals around ~250 cubic feet I believe...a bit less. But I want this done RIGHT. Even if that means a louder fan or extra cost. BTW the basement is very cool in both summer and winter. 70* easily. With a good fan I don't see a 600w air cooled hood with short duct runs causing me heat issues. But who knows?
Is 600 watts enough? Too much? If heat isn't an issue...would squeezing in a 1000w light make sense? Or provide that much more yield? I'm going to assume 600w is about perfect for this space.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I apologize for the long post. If you have any tips, tricks, or clever ideas for this proposed space please write a comment. I'd love to hear them!
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gets up to high eighties with 280 cfm when temps are 70 outside where I pull fresh air, running a 1000 watts. Watch your veg height as you quickly run out in stretch lol.
