the design depends on how u will use it. are u going to flower in the same room as vegging, can u seperate the 2 areas, one for flower one for vegging. i have a space thats 3 x 6 and 3 x 6 ea. i veg in one room for 30 days from seed on an 20/4 light cycle, then move them to the flower room on a 12/12 light cycle. i also grow for volume. i found that 600 watt hid's put out more for less elec. costs. are u going to clone or from seed? i built a small 2 x 2 box that i have 4 cfl's in that i start my seeds and i have a small humidity dome from hardware store for 5 bucks i clone in , works great. trick is to start enough plants to get the females u want, but have enough room in flower chamber to flower them.
waterfarm makes a great system, i use soil, works for me. i may try aeroponics and hempy buckets on some of my next plants.
i have a perpetual grow here, i harvest every 2 weeks, i stagger my plants in the box, every 2 wks, 2 or 3 come out and 2 or 3 go in. fox farms has good nutes, it's up to you.
i have no idea what an IR blocker is, (Infra Red????)
just use good quality grow lights.
i have a buddy at HTG Supply, contact me privately and i'll give u his #. he deals with this stuff all day and knows his stuff.
u can go with autoflowers on your fist try and get your feet wet, plus get some smoke. they dont yeild much but they can help u learn quickly.
i grow, Super Skunk. Master Kush, Wonder Woman and Russian rocket Fuel inside, and Sweet Haze and LA Woman and GigaBud outside. they get too big for inside.
money dosent grow pot, u have to put the time in here to learn BEFORE u start, there is enough info on this site to do it, i did, so i know u can.
follow, Uncle Ben, Subcool posts, they seem to be some of the best growers on here, and they are breeders, there are many others also, i just like the way these guys teach.
order good quality seeds or buy clones to start, i make my own seeds now from these strains, so i dont have to buy seeds unless i just want a diff strain.
go for it dude, let me know if i can help, U IN USA???