Awkward grow space layout help

nanobud

Member
I'm trying to plan out my first grow. The best spot I have in my house is in the basement in an unfinished room, but it seems to have a pretty awkward layout. It's 4' x 8' and 7' high, but the door is on the end not the side. Power is no problem, and I could either vent into the room above it (block off that heat duct) or directly outside, preferably to the room above so there's no exterior traces. The next room over is the laundry room which has a water faucet and a floor drain, so that part should be fine too.

I'm leaning towards a drain-to-waste drip system with coco coir, for simplicity/low maintenance and because it seems quite forgiving. I also like the sound of the Mars 2 LED light for less power and heat used (and this particular one seems like a good price point for LED lighting). That'd be for flowering, with the rest probably either CFL or T5s.

My biggest problem is how I should organize the room. I'd probably build a sealed grow tent to contain moisture/odor before venting. Ideally I'd like 1 tent for flowering and 1 for veg/mothers/clones. Since mothers/veg need less height, I could do 5' for them and a 2' shelf above it for seeds/clones. I'm guessing I might want up to 4 mother plants of different strains, and then to just make the best use of available space for everything else (tools & nutes would go in this room too).

I've attached the room details (roughly to scale) and my initial thoughts for a layout. I'd really appreciate any help from more experienced growers as I'm sure there's things I'm not considering!
 

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nanobud

Member
After reading some more here (mostly the implications of lenseless LEDs), I'll go for a more expensive LED unit. I'm just not sure how best to use this space for an all-inclusive clone, mother, veg, flower and equipment room.
 

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
Bro, you have a nice opportunity to do a small veg and a decent little flower room. Don't go with LEDs would be my opinion. After years of growing indoor, I'm just starting now to supplement them for curiosity's sake. Perhaps I'll do a full veg or even full grow with them down the line. Bur for now, you should with the tried and true MH/HPS method and run your ventilation correctly. Since you're in the basement, temps should be fairly easy to control...I've done it. Don't commit yourself to a new and evolving method (LEDs) on your first grow. Wait until there is even more information and innovation in LEDs before you make that jump. If budget is tight, just veg under T5s and get a nice little 400 - 600 watt air-cooled HPS package for your 3 x 3 room. Trust me, the end results will be far, far better.
 

nanobud

Member
Budget isn't a huge concern, but I don't like being wasteful. I'll probably do T5 for veg, and CFLs for mothers and clones. HPS isn't off the table yet for flowering.

My first obstacle is just like I said, figuring out the size and dimensions to build the various grow areas in this space. Which is what I'm hoping to get help on.

2' x 4' for mothers + veg
3' x 3' for flower (maybe up to 4'x4')

Are those realistic sizes relative to each other? Or should I try to fit in 2-3 grow tents for veg-to-harvest so they can do staggered/perpetual grows, with another just for mothers? If this room opened from the long side it'd be easy to fit 3 tents in. I added a couple more layout options. I could probably go to 30" deep leaving enough space to work on the other side. I'm guessing 4 plants per tent in either of these cases would be the max.
 

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nanobud

Member
Ok, I think my best option is this:

2' x 6' flower tent, 7' high (12 plants)
2' x 2' mother/clone/veg tent, 2-levels 3.5' + 3.5' (4 mothers, clones to fill space)

This way I can keep a perpetual grow going, with 3 sets of 4 plants in flower with 1 sqft each, and 4 different strains to choose from each cycle.

4x 2' 6500k T5 for each level of the split tent, and 3x 250W HPS (gives about 6k lumen/sqft) or equivalent in LED panels for the flower section. I figure this should yield ~10oz per month, which is plenty for my needs.

Comments/suggestions?
 

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nanobud

Member
Is the lack of feedback due to how I've presented my questions, or do members here tend to not bother with people who have yet to start growing? It's not looking good for when I have questions when plant life is on the line...
 

BustinScales510

Well-Known Member
Plants vary in growth speed and size and can outgrow spaces rapidly, it seems like the spaces youre trying to create are small, a 2x2x3.5 mother and clone area seems too small and doesnt leave much if any room for pot height or light fixture or space between the plant and light. Youre thinking in cubic blocks that click together like legos, but plants react much differently in tight quarters..the smaller the space the easier it is for things to go wrong.

I dont mean to sound too negative, your situation is obviously workable, just dont be too ambitious right out of the gate. Sometimes it takes a few rounds before you get a feel for how you can tweak things to maximize your space. Good luck
 

nanobud

Member
Hmm thanks, that makes sense... the airspace around the plants would act like an environmental buffer. So I should make the tents as big as possible, and start with fewer plants. Then after things are working smoothly I can look to expand. And realistically, I have a couple years worth of seeds at the plant counts I'm looking at, so can probably do without mothers and cloning for a while until I find a strain/plant that really stands out.
 
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