3 - 12x6 rooms build out

I don't know if I'm posting this thread as a place to ask questions (which I assure you if there isn't any in this post they're a comin')... A journal to post my progress... I don't know...

But anyhow let me start by saying I've been doing this long enough to have a masters degree had I chose that route, however I weighed out (no pun intended) my options and decided one day while I was reading a high times magazine on the way back from picking up a bag of buds that a family member and I just shelled out $500 for... And thought to myself...."this is where it's at" as I stared at the oz. of dank (I'll say dank cuz at the time it was probably some of the best nuggage id seen or smoked living in a non legal state at the time)... But even though it was good I knew I could do better (eventually)... But I knew I had to do this.... I don't remember the date obviously cuz I was baconed to the max but I went to bed and woke up thinking about how to get myself started for weeks/months I have no idea... But the seed was germinated and planted; speaking figuratively and pretty much literally too... The only way I wasnt gonna do it is if a stray bullet split my dome...

So here I am x years later.... X years older....x years wiser (somewhat wiser anyhow)... And let me state one thing very clearly.... I got into this to make a living AND to help others..... I don't wanna take credit for curing individuals I've met and helped but I have seen the true power of this plant because there's a whole lot more to it than getting high....but that day with that zip and high times in my hands I was kinda leaning towards the dollar sign side of this game... Now that I've put my time in and seen that you really have to have something special/a niche to make it in this business and seen the healing powers of the most amazing plant, garlic... Just fuckin with you... I'm about 50/50 as far as helping others and trying to make a living.. It's either make it or break it time for me... I would much rather live in a world where it remained medical but it's not gonna happen... So for now I'm still underground yet semi-legit but let's just say if Leo came by for a cup of coffee.... It would be handcuff and I reserve the right to remain silent time...

So let me tell you where I am.... I had grown in a place that was either the dumbest or smartest place you could imagine for my entire growing career up till now... I can't believe i got away with it as long as I did but through several "signs" or warnings...and the need to bring my game up to the next level... I decided to move up a notch from my 4x8 and 4x4 tents... Which I can't say a bad word about, they all did their jobs but it's time to move up into some new digs... Which I have... I got my own house, no land lord, I just put a 200amp service.... No more reasons for anyone to come in do anything... So it's time to party...

So my space is going to allow me to run 3 main rooms that will be 6x12.... 2 full time flower and 1 veg with a few smaller rooms for cloning, mothers etc... Whatever I need I'll make it happen but I have a pretty sweet layout so far but I'm just starting to build and it's going together almost to easy....

But let me end with my first real question/debate (lets not turn any of this into a pissing contest cuz I have I chihuahua that'll put any porn star to shame; so unless you wanna see a pic of what 10" or so chihuahua cock looks like after he has his way with his "stable of stuffed hoes"... Keep the dick measuring to a minimum... I think we all have a chance to do some learning on this one, I know I do....

Back to that question...

Now 6x12 or 12x6 however u wanna say it... Leaves me with 72 square feet roughly per room... Power is a concern but not a major one... If I get busted for my electrical usage I'll be more than happy to be judged by 12 of my peers....

But what I'm getting at is what do you guys think is the best option for lighting... On the high side it works out to 540,000 lumens but I think I'll be just fine with 500,000 +\-..... The question part is would you guys go with 600's? 1000's which I already have several of and will make use of.... But most are magnetic so it's time to upgrade already... 600 watt bulbs are cheaper and put out pretty close to 1k's... I plan to play with led's in the future but they aren't in the budget now, nor do I have the time to learn about what's good and what's not atm.... So even though I'm rocking a smart meter I'm rolling with HID to start...

2nd question... What ballasts do people run these days??? About a year ago I purchased a Growlite OG reflector, 1000w ballast and bulb combo and I was impressed by the reflector even though the foot print wasn't as large as I'd like but the ballast didn't last 6 months... I didn't bother going crazy with warranties and shit because I buy all my shit in other people's names but it worked flawlessly until one day it just shit the bed for no real reason... No power spike I know of, no on-off real quick... Just went into work one day and it wasn't working... Checked all the usual BS but no Bueno... My original 1000w mag ballasts are still running like champs...


I don't know.... I worked late in the "office", i couldn't sleep cuz of the excitement level... So please excuse the rambling but I'd like to know what you guys (and gals) think as far as my lighting options and layouts..

I'm doing my first indoor right now, and have already had ballast issues. I bought 2 digital ballasts used and one quit completely after a week, and the other is running very warm. I think I learned my lesson about buying used equipment. The magnetic ballasts definitely seem more dependable. As far as the digital ones go, I won't be buying any more used ones. I want some kind of warranty. I've also learned it's a pretty good idea to have spare(s). I am running 2 4 x 4 tents; one with an aircooled hood and the other with a cool tube with large reflector. Since I live in South Florida, heat is a major consideration. So far, so good. I'm sure some experienced indoor growers will chime in. Good luck! I look forward to seeing your project!

That sucks man... I'm honestly curious if there's any ballasts/light combo that's less likely to cause reason to bother taking a look into my electrical usage.... Frequencies etc... If nothing that spectacular; just a few solid ballast light combo recommendations because my first venture into the digital realm has left me in the same spot as you except I purchased mine new... Not surprising though...

Well temporary grow room 1 is framed in... Hopefully today I'll bang out the sheet rock and get it insulated a little better than it is... This is a big project for a 1 man show and I normally work with pipes for a living so it's a little harder than for the average "handy" Joe Shmoe like myself....

I gotta bleach the walls as it looks like I'm getting some surface mold (figures the previous owners "said" the basement never flooded but there's a heavy duty ground water redirection system that all funnels to a sump pump that I found after I moved all this beautiful shelving they left me...all against 1 wall ( doh') Whatever... Too late now... ) but I gotta bleach the walls... Hit the whole house outside and each room with perimeter bug spray as is part of my normal operating procedure every 6 months... I don't really like using products with 4 letter acronyms for every ingredient but the shit goes nowhere near my babies while being sprayed, matter o fact they aren't even here yet... But I've been using the perimeter spray inside and out of my grow rooms and so far so good...

Ill get some better pics of the space but it's basically getting framed in temporarily/some parts permanent but then once this temp room is running with my tents; I'm gonna build 2 full 6'-wide x 12' deep rooms all in a line bang bang bang... lol.. Then I'm gonna tear down the existing bullshit 2x3 wall that's concealing the current "temp" grow room which I can't stand looking at but once the new rooms are up n running I'll shut the temp room down n make it permanent...

As I said better pics to come

Well I'm too lazy ATM to post photo's but I am actually moving along... it took me awhile to "cultivate" the entire setup in my head as its tough until you can see a whole picture and how its going to get done etc.... I framed in one of the 6x12's, its actually a little smaller like 5' 9" wide x 11' 6 by the time the sheet rock is done... I wired up 4 20 amp plugs on one 20 amp breaker, I plan on switching to a 240v 8 light controller in the future but for right now I just ran 2-20 amp lines/breakers for my 2 1000 watt ballasts outside the room for now, I may sneak in a small 600 to have 3 lights but I'm not convinced I need it yet... I still gotta do some calculating but it should work out...

Also seeing I'm running ebb and flow tables I decided to use the room you can see in the pic in the above post as my "cold room" where I'm going to store my resi's and my 55g drums for water, and I'm going to install a portable 10,000 btu a/c unit in the room as it has a sump pump pit, so I dont need condensate pumps and I figure seeing the temps are so nice normally, 66-70 should be pretty easy to maintain in the room with all the water and resi's... I figure another couple weeks at the worst and I'll be up and running... I;ve been vegging the shit out of my proven (in organic soil, we'll see how they like hyfro) strains and plan to run them in a zero veg situation where they come out of the cloner into the flowering room... Maybe a few days to let them straighten out or start feeding them veg nutes before I pull them from the cloner but I got some serious fine tuning and working out of kinks to do but if the world were a better place it would be easier to get some help, but some things you just cant trust anyone with... Except for you guys....obvi.... But I had to post something so my post didnt get lost in the pages of RIU all incomplete.... But pics to come....

You can try the phantom 315 cmh with remote square wave ballast. More pricey to start but when you factor in lifetime replacements of ballasts and bulbs about the same. Also compares to about 500w hps for planning purposes. @ttystikk uses them in a vert scrog setup with no hoods.

If you are going to run hps I would look at the http://solis-tek.com/products/digital-ballasts/solistek-matrix-se-de-1000w-digital-ballast-120-240v.html
I have seen them on amazon for $180-200
If you are concerned with electricity usage heat ect being in a non medical state I would look into diy cob leds

I bought 3 digital dimmables to replace my old magnetics. One blew very quickly so I sent it back for replacement. When they returned it (likely not repaired but replaced) My post guy had a right grin on his face, seems they didn't think wrapping it at all was a good idea. I don't like the hum of magnetics but if that's not an issue for you then go magnetic and buy a few spares. Magnetics are cheap because they are old tech. Digitals have come down in price as I'm sure your aware but with that seems they have come down in standards and reliability too! If your going to go LED then go Cree COB, run right they could last 10years without having to replace. You say your budgets not that great for the moment so run a full set up and replace with those as your cash flow increases.
If you get magnetic ballasts I think most are RF shielded these days

Edit, I imagine I live in a different country than you but a rough conversion to dollars, a magnetic 600w costs $65 - $90. use em and replace every crop with a cree cob set up. Plenty of users on here and sellers too. Check out some youtube vids. I'm going that way eventually.

Magnetic ballasts don't need shielding because they only run at 60Hz. High freq electronics need it and often aren't shielded well at all, leading to RFI problems that can screw with your cable signal. Or worse.

Growdict said:

You can try the phantom 315 cmh with remote square wave ballast. More pricey to start but when you factor in lifetime replacements of ballasts and bulbs about the same. Also compares to about 500w hps for planning purposes. @ttystikk uses them in a vert scrog setup with no hoods.

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Mine aren't phantoms, I hear bad things about that brand.

My ballast and lamps both say Philips

Thanks for another education @ttystikk , I think I got confused as I recently changed my old magnetic 400 (veg) to a digital and went mental making sure It was RF shielded pre purchase. I have tested my wireless signal and phone near all mine and there is no drop. But is that relevant? I don't have satellite to check. Not going to matter soon but would still like to know.

coreywebster said:

Thanks for another education @ttystikk , I think I got confused as I recently changed my old magnetic 400 (veg) to a digital and went mental making sure It was RF shielded pre purchase. I have tested my wireless signal and phone near all mine and there is no drop. But is that relevant? I don't have satellite to check. Not going to matter soon but would still like to know.

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Use an AM radio. If you pick up different noise when the ballast is running, there's a problem.

I'm just thrilled to know people listen!