Underground Dream Garden (Construction and Troubleshooting)

psychadelibud

psychadelibud

Well-Known Member
Alright fellars, I have already made one related post on here called "Underground Potential" and that thread seemed to start going in so many different directions that it became confusing.

Let's start by saying that I am an experienced grower. I have been growing indoors and out for around 15 years now. I recently moved from my old location and purchased a new home and land, very secluded here in the beautiful mountains of Eastern My.

I have an underground (storm cellar, root cellar, wine cellar, mini basement, storm shelter, fallout shelter) hell... whatever you would like to call it haha on my property. It is pretty good size compared to most storm cellars. It measures 18 feet in length, 8 feet in width and 6 foot and 4 inches tall. The walls and foundation is very well built and sturdy. It is constructed of cinder blocks and the roof is solid concrete/cement. The "bunker" Is submerged underground all except the front wall which is partially exposed. So the back wall (completely underground, sides conpmetely undergound and the top is underground as well. About a third of the entrance in the front is exposed.

There is one entrance which is a walk in opening in the front which I will build a frame and install a sturdy door onto it. The problem with that is that the door needs to be 6ft tall and 32 inches wide, however I cannot for the life of me find a good door under 80 inches tall. So I am looking at possibly needing to build and construct my own door.

Then there is a window as well that is a bit over a good tall and a couple feet in length. I will likely seal that off and gill it in. There are 2 small holes in the wall I could use for intake for fresh air in. Just need to figure out how to keep the sunlight from beaming through those holes, I believe I have that part figured out.

I also spent $220.00 for 10 gallons of flat white drylok masonry sealer/paint and put 3 thick coatings on all of the walls and ceiling as well to help with the humidty, even thought I have not seen any wet areas or leaks at all in the entire Weller except for around the windowless window lol which will be sealed up anyway.

I have a very close friend who owns a plumbing and electric business and he has agreed to wire it for me.

My original plan was to grow openly inside the cellar, meaning to use the entire cellar at one time, running 4 to 6 1000w hps at one time. But however, It is winter and heating it during lights off will definitely be an issue.

So... that brings me/us to plan B.

I then decided to split it in half and run a "flip flop" using two 4x8 tents. Then got to thinking... My ceiings are too short for tents unless I remove a few inches off the poles and rods and do some customizing and also there is space lost as well. Now what I could do since the floor in the cellar is just gravel and dirt, is dig the floor a few inches deeper and the tents would work great.

Now my reason for a flip flop is so that when lights are off in one and running in the other, is that I can vent the hot air from the "lights on" tent to the "lights off" tent and that way heating will not be an issue and it will also cut back on electricity usage as well by not having to add a heating source to the room, It will basically heat itself. Now come next summer, this may be a whole new issue and may need to be reconstructed/designed but I will worry about that when the time comes...

Then option 3 hit me... Isn't it possible that I could just save money and have more room as well by trashing the tent idea and using panda film, maybe doubling it up to split the two rooms and then it can be easier rearranged as well of needed??? Now I have never used panda film so I am not sure about how "light proof" this stuff is.

Now at the moment I want to put this out there.... I am VERY open to ideas and I need those ideas flowing from your guys brains. There are some intelligent people on this forum and I know there are some folks out there that can help me along with all of this wether it be DIY architecturl advice, electrical advice, constructive ideas, just whatever is the most simplest and easiest low budget ideas you have in mind. Please help me with this. I need to get this operation built as soon as possible, like functioning/functionable/operational within a week max. I have been so busy lately with work I have not been able to do anything at all with it but now I am free daily for a while.

So far all I have done is drylok the cellar, purchased the main wiring and a 100 amp breaker to install in there as well. Going to find and be using me a good dehumidifier as well. So my list so far equipment wise is this...

4 1000 watt bulbs and ballasts
4 air cooled hoods
2 phresh filters
110 feet of wire
100 amp breaker box

I still need to get me a dehumidifier, an inline fan once I figure out how much cfm I need and how many fans I will need, and basic construction of the cellar.

Folks, I am lost... Help me go somewhere with this. I promise once constructed and operational, I will get a beautiful informative thread started immediately provide plenty of bud porn and detailed grow logs... also you will know as you read through them, that thanks to you, the grow journal and grow op itself would not be existent if it were not for you brilliant minds and will to help. Thanks guys.

Here is the slow progress so far... Before and After..

Screenshot_20171120-083312.png Screenshot_20171120-083303.png
 
psychadelibud

psychadelibud

Well-Known Member
Well I would not say they are "too low".. They are 4 inches shorter than the average grow tent bud. I have been growing in tents for 6 years now and never had a height issue. However if you are not an experienced grower and do not know much on the training side of things then I could easily see where that height could become and issue.

On the other hand... I have grown so many landrace sativas, including the stretchiest thais you could imagine and they have all done just fine and dandy with some topping and LET. Height is not an issue unless I decide to run tents in the room.

Yes the floor is dirt and gravel, I had listed that information in my original post. However, before I lay plastic on the floor I am giving the ground a good soaking of long acting insecticides. Then, by time next run comes around after the first big harvest I am going to dig the floor a few inches deeper and concrete it. But for now this is what we are working with.
 
Roger A. Shrubber

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
its 9 block high, unless those are weird block, that's 6 foot. you can work with 6 foot, people grow in 2 foot high cabs. i don't quite understand how they do it, but they do.
i'd just go ahead and stud out a wall to divide your room like a T, and get some foam panel insulation to block light. you can staple your panda film directly to it, its cheap, and easy to work with. its also easy to remove later when you want to modify anything.
 
psychadelibud

psychadelibud

Well-Known Member
Roger A. Shrubber said:
its 9 block high, unless those are weird block, that's 6 foot. you can work with 6 foot, people grow in 2 foot high cabs. i don't quite understand how they do it, but they do.
i'd just go ahead and stud out a wall to divide your room like a T, and get some foam panel insulation to block light. you can staple your panda film directly to it, its cheap, and easy to work with. its also easy to remove later when you want to modify anything.
Click to expand...
Now that is some good info Roger... Sounds like we could be going somewhere now. What type of foam insulation do you recommend? And are you saying to put the panda film over the foam?

As far as ceilings they are 6'3 tall. Now should I drill rings or something directly I to the concrete ceiling to hang the lights from? Or maybe drill support rods or bars across ceiling?
 
ChaosHunter

ChaosHunter

Well-Known Member
psychadelibud said:
Now that is some good info Roger... Sounds like we could be going somewhere now. What type of foam insulation do you recommend? And are you saying to put the panda film over the foam?

As far as ceilings they are 6'3 tall. Now should I drill rings or something directly I to the concrete ceiling to hang the lights from? Or maybe drill support rods or bars across ceiling?
Click to expand...
Could always do 2x4s up there, that way you have anchoring options.
 
ChaosHunter

ChaosHunter

Well-Known Member
Roger A. Shrubber said:
its 9 block high, unless those are weird block, that's 6 foot. you can work with 6 foot, people grow in 2 foot high cabs. i don't quite understand how they do it, but they do.
i'd just go ahead and stud out a wall to divide your room like a T, and get some foam panel insulation to block light. you can staple your panda film directly to it, its cheap, and easy to work with. its also easy to remove later when you want to modify anything.
Click to expand...
I would do this too since you have the space. Gives a lot of options down the road.
 
evergreengardener

evergreengardener

Well-Known Member
psychadelibud said:
Now that is some good info Roger... Sounds like we could be going somewhere now. What type of foam insulation do you recommend? And are you saying to put the panda film over the foam?

As far as ceilings they are 6'3 tall. Now should I drill rings or something directly I to the concrete ceiling to hang the lights from? Or maybe drill support rods or bars across ceiling?
Click to expand...
First thing i would be worried about is who built this cellar?? did they know how to build concrete ceilings? is that ceiling stable or is it going to cave in on you. lose a few inches and frame it so your not drilling into the concrete
 
psychadelibud

psychadelibud

Well-Known Member
Corso312 said:
I would tapcon 2 x 4 to ceilings and hang lights from that..you gotta pour concrete on floor, you will never keep bugs out.
Click to expand...
That's what I am going to do. Probably chance it and wait on next run to pour the floors. This time put down some landscaping and plastic.
 
psychadelibud

psychadelibud

Well-Known Member
evergreengardener said:
First thing i would be worried about is who built this cellar?? did they know how to build concrete ceilings? is that ceiling stable or is it going to cave in on you. lose a few inches and frame it so your not drilling into the concrete
Click to expand...
This cellar was built by my uncle back around 1997. Very sturdy and yeah I am just going to hang equipment from the lumber instead of putting more gravitational weight on the concrete ceiling itself. My uncle at the time built houses and had a construction business so I would assume it' built fairly well.
 
psychadelibud

psychadelibud

Well-Known Member
Oh and before I throw down plastic on the floor for now I am going to soak the ground in a long acting insecticde 3 to 6 month killer and probably top that with some kind of insecticide pellets as well.
 
evergreengardener

evergreengardener

Well-Known Member
psychadelibud said:
This cellar was built by my uncle back around 1997. Very sturdy and yeah I am just going to hang equipment from the lumber instead of putting more gravitational weight on the concrete ceiling itself. My uncle at the time built houses and had a construction business so I would assume it' built fairly well.
Click to expand...
i thought you found this cellar on property you just bought?
 
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