Im Building My Grow Room...Any Help Appreciated

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donpablo

Active Member
finally some one else that is a hydro man. ive been searching for threads that will help me with my first grow and i went all hydo. i'm using a 12'x15 grow room my veg and mother room are 6'x6'x7.5 i'm not using poly infa shield like our friend is but i do have it on my cieling and two feet down the walls the rest is covered in mylar. my flower room is 7'x6'x7.5 tall. i use a 6"exhaust that i tied into an old central heat and air unit and push that hot air throughout the house. after going through a good size charcoal filter. i use a a/c unit to cool the room my exhaust suck through my domes (2 in the flower room 1-400w hps and a 400wmh and also have cap for 1000w mh i use 6 double bulbs above my mothers and babies at different hights. i have a 400w mh that i will use after they grow a little. i have a co2 system as well as a bubble cloner and a sprinkler head diy cloner. i use a bathroom exhaust to pull hot air from my flower room to my veg room and then the a/c cools that air, my dome lights, and myself as i sit stoned to watch it all grow. but i always thought that hydro ment hydro. no dirt ! i used rockwool plugs for the seeds moved them to 4" cubes to veg that put into a flood system in webbed pots with clay med. have a nice grow room but have never grown bud before
 
Ap0c0leS

Ap0c0leS

Active Member
Dont get in over your head until you get a return from this grow.. Your room is FUCKING AWESOME and i am totally jelious.... All i have is a stupid plastic cabinet from home depot and a 3'x3' DR100.. This is so unfair dude you have like fucking tons of different rooms.. its like a weed house..... its bigger than my buddies apartment i mean JEEZE.. Anyway Your lucky you have the skills to build walls and construct crap.. It was amazing that i could figure out how to drill holes in things for exaust and intake LOL. Anyway great grow but dont go rushing into a huge hydro system. As that guy said all of the plants are connected and if your not a pro yet.. you could easily fuck your entire mature crop in one week useing a connected hydro setup.. Dunno just the other side of the coin.. i use fox farm ocean forest so whatever i guess... its all preference and money
 
vandewalle

vandewalle

Well-Known Member
im still confused as to why you have so much space, ill describe my setup:
basically i have my setup in two parallel closets in my garage, the first closet is where i keep my mothers (on the floor with some florescents) and then on a shelf above them is where i keep my clones (again with more lights) , all done with bubbleponics basically i have a small container where the mothers are and then a larger container where my clones are, i cut 6 clones at a time, giving my mothers a chance to grow. then, when the clones are established i move them over to my flowering room, which is right now ebb+flow but soon will be aeroponics, i put them in the ebb+flow tray and let them get settled in with the 400w light on 12/12 right when i move them. then i just let them flower for 2 months and ive got a hp or more of some good ass weed. its a very easy and simple setup for personals and then some.

i am still confused as to why you are making things so difficult, i mean all i would have is two rooms one for flower and one for veg, do everything either hydroponically or aeroponically because its so much fucking easier. trust that.

good luck on your grow man, ill be excited to see what comes of it.
 
jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
Ap0c0leS said:
DAs that guy said all of the plants are connected and if your not a pro yet.. you could easily fuck your entire mature crop in one week useing a connected hydro setup..
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I'm certainly not a pro and I've never fucked up my plants to date, including my total newb, first go-round DWC in rubbermaid bins. Seriously, the hydro doubters are all soil guys that have this unfounded fear of hydro. You're not going to fuck up. All of the nutrient lines have detailed instructions for hydro. My method is simple, I start out at half of what they recommend (obviously, they want you to use more of their product so you have to buy more...it's capitalism..but they also don't want you burning plants with their products). Then I slowly ramp up my nutrients as the plants grow...if I ever see signs of over-dosing (usually first seen with yellowing tips), I simply back off and/or slightly dilute the mixture and let the plants' growth catch up to where they can handle more nutes. I never let my mix get over 1300 PPM (and that's at the full peak of flowering) and I've been bullet proof so far. Easy as pie!!!
 
ruva

ruva

Well-Known Member
jcommerce said:
Ruva,

First of all, I agree with the idea to keep mothers and clones in the same room, no need to complicate things.

Below is a link to a "how to" RDWC system called "The Bio Buckets". It's the method I used for my setup and it is by far the best and easiest method of hydro I've used to date (I've previously done DWC, drip systems, and ebb/flood).

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=8182

This guy's setup is over the top (in a good way), but I built my system more simply. My system can run up to 12 buckets with a single reservoir (plus a 27 gallon auto top off reservoir), a single pump, and a single 3 inch PVC return line. It took a decent amount of work to set it up, but considering the work you've done thusfar in the room, this will just be a final step. The RDWC method is much easier than I expected and I've been able to maintain much more consistent Ph levels than with other hydro methods.

Now that my system is set up and running, it is so unbelievably easy to maintain, it's crazy. I honestly spend about 5 - 10 minutes a day at most working on it (and often that's just looking at the plants because my Ph and nutrient levels stay consistent and don't require any work) and I'm able to skip days at a time, no problem. With my automatic top of reservoir, I could literally leave for a week and not worry about it. With my previous methods, I would have been too concerned about Ph flucutaion to leave for that long.

Even though the author of "The Bio Buckets" is not the best speller or writer, it will be clear enough to understand. Take the time to read it and, since I sense that you're on the fence, I think you'll be swayed to do hydro.

The basics of hydro are very simple and you only need a few tools for the trade:

1) A Ph meter - about $40 on Ebay and a very handy and easy tool to use.

2) A TDS/EC meter - for metering PPMs or parts per million of Total Disolved Solids.

3) A Reverse Osmosis filter - not absolutely critical (you can use tap water), but it allows you to start with completely clean, pure water. It's also nice to have in your house for your drinking water. About $120 - $150 at Depot, online, etc.

That's it man!

My favorite thing about hydro is that if there is a problem with Ph, nutrient deficiency, toxicity, etc., you can immediately bring the water back to where it needs to be for each and every plant in your system because they're all on the same "circuit" of water so to speak. You know with each and every plant what their Ph and nutrient levels are at.

With soil, you can have different Ph and nutrient levels in each bucket. So if you have 12 plants, you've got to individually test Ph and nutrient levels for each pot and adjust each one. VERY time consuming....VERY. Plus, if and when you do have a problem, you have to flush, test, flush, test, etc. etc. It's much more difficult to get levels back to optimal, and it's more difficult to really gauge where your true levels are compared to simple H2O hydro.

Because so many more people in the world grow veggies, fruits, houseplants, etc. etc. in soil, there's a misconception that hydro is more difficult and harder to learn. We grow up as children thinking soil is the easier method because that's all we see our parents and grandparents doing. This simply is not the case...now, more than ever, with the absolute abundance of information on the internet, it's all there for you to learn, practice, and succeed.
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I like the concept of RDWC and some of the grows Ive been checking out using that system is awesome. But reading that tutorial gave me a headache. LOL between trying to decipher what the fuck that guy was saying with all his misspelling and grammer and trying to figure out the system. It left me confused. Im more of a hands on type learner. If I saw a system in action and I could physically see and touch. It would clear so much up for me. I havent given up on it. Its just gonna take a little longer to sink in.

I think I may start off a little slower than I had originally planned.
 
ruva

ruva

Well-Known Member
vandewalle said:
im still confused as to why you have so much space, ill describe my setup:
basically i have my setup in two parallel closets in my garage, the first closet is where i keep my mothers (on the floor with some florescents) and then on a shelf above them is where i keep my clones (again with more lights) , all done with bubbleponics basically i have a small container where the mothers are and then a larger container where my clones are, i cut 6 clones at a time, giving my mothers a chance to grow. then, when the clones are established i move them over to my flowering room, which is right now ebb+flow but soon will be aeroponics, i put them in the ebb+flow tray and let them get settled in with the 400w light on 12/12 right when i move them. then i just let them flower for 2 months and ive got a hp or more of some good ass weed. its a very easy and simple setup for personals and then some.

i am still confused as to why you are making things so difficult, i mean all i would have is two rooms one for flower and one for veg, do everything either hydroponically or aeroponically because its so much fucking easier. trust that.

good luck on your grow man, ill be excited to see what comes of it.
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LOL. Are you serious? I have more space so I can grow more. Although I will admit that for my FIRST indoor grow its probably a little overkill.

Ive been reconsidering and I think I will start out a little smaller. Like i was thinking I will put up a 1000W watt in my mother room, pick up some clones and start out just using that room to flower.(still undecided on soil or hydro)When I get comfortable I will start my own clones, start a couple mothers then move my flowering operation into the big room and eventually use all my space.:mrgreen:

As far as the setuo goes, Im pretty much setup the same as you. Two rooms.The only difference was that I was gonna build a sealed box for my clones and set it it in the flower room. I have since decided to scrap that idea and put my clones in the same room as my mothers.

I started with a 10' X 12' space. I basically put up two walls. One that seperated the room and one that closed off the space for the mother room.That leaves me with a 4' X 6' space for my mothers and clones. And a 8' X 10'' space(really 8' X 8' of working space because of workbench) for flowering.


Then I will put in a couple of "doors" made of plywood. Thich is where my gameplan comes in.


Still confused?:peace:
 
ruva

ruva

Well-Known Member
Ap0c0leS said:
Dont get in over your head until you get a return from this grow.. Your room is FUCKING AWESOME and i am totally jelious.... All i have is a stupid plastic cabinet from home depot and a 3'x3' DR100.. This is so unfair dude you have like fucking tons of different rooms.. its like a weed house..... its bigger than my buddies apartment i mean JEEZE.. Anyway Your lucky you have the skills to build walls and construct crap.. It was amazing that i could figure out how to drill holes in things for exaust and intake LOL. Anyway great grow but dont go rushing into a huge hydro system. As that guy said all of the plants are connected and if your not a pro yet.. you could easily fuck your entire mature crop in one week useing a connected hydro setup.. Dunno just the other side of the coin.. i use fox farm ocean forest so whatever i guess... its all preference and money
Click to expand...
I know what your saying. I tend to do that. I get excited about something and I go all out. My money and my time is no object. And end up spending way to much money, and I go way to big.
So i took a step back and I was thinking I would start off a little slower. I was thinking that I would start off using the small room and move up into the big room as I get more comfortable.
 
Green Cross

Green Cross

Well-Known Member
ruva said:
I know what your saying. I tend to do that. I get excited about something and I go all out. My money and my time is no object. And end up spending way to much money, and I go way to big.
So i took a step back and I was thinking I would start off a little slower. I was thinking that I would start off using the small room and move up into the big room as I get more comfortable.
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It's easy to go over-board at least for me it is.

I like the idea of having one big room for flowering

When you're ready to expand the flowering operation - Have 2 - 1000w HPS lights overlapping (in one big room). That way you get the overlap effect filling in the shadows, and you'll also be able to move around when working in the garden.
 
ruva

ruva

Well-Known Member
Green Cross said:
It's easy to go over-board at least for me it is.

I like the idea of having one big room for flowering

When you're ready to expand the flowering operation - Have 2 - 1000w HPS lights overlapping (in one big room). That way you get the overlap effect filling in the shadows, and you'll also be able to move around when working in the garden.
Click to expand...

Overlapping?:-? Im not sure what you mean.

The square and the rectangle in the flower room that I show on my diagram. those arent walls. those are areas that the two 1000W HPS lamps will cover?
So I plan on having one BIG flower area with two 1000W lamps..

You dont think I would be utilizing that space well? How would you set up in a 8' X 8' square? because I thought about putting my grow area in the middle but leaving room two walk around the sides I figure I would get about 36 square feet of growing area. And if I set it up the way I have it in the diagram, I would be getting 48 square feet of growing area.
 
jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
ruva said:
But reading that tutorial gave me a headache. LOL between trying to decipher what the fuck that guy was saying with all his misspelling and grammer and trying to figure out the system. It left me confused. Im more of a hands on type learner. If I saw a system in action and I could physically see and touch. It would clear so much up for me. I havent given up on it. Its just gonna take a little longer to sink in.
LOL, I know. I'm proud of you for even getting through it. He goes off on a lot of tangents, but the jist of the tutorial is obviously the system which is very simple in nature. I just took the idea and did my own system, similar to, but not exactly like his. Basically, you have a reservoir on one end of the system, and that reservoir has a small outlet drilled in the side, near the bottom. Wait, I'm just going to take some pictures of my setup and show you.

On another note, I also thought you were showing a wall between your two 1000 Watt HPS lamps. 1000 Watters are very very powerful and you will be able to cover much more than the 4' x 4' area you are showing. I personally would run two 600 watt HPS in that area, but I think you said you already have the lamps and reflectors?? Remind me of the height of that room...with 1000 watters, the height could be a real concern, because 1000s will easily burn leaves if the growth is closer than 30 - 36 inches from the light. You really need tall ceilings in rooms that you're using 1000 watt lights (10 foot minimum in my opinion). You have to take into account that your hanging reflector eats up 24 - 30 inches from the ceiling, and your buckets or growing containers usually sit 18 - 24 inches above the floor. That's anywhere from 3 - 4 feet before you even sprout a seed, leaving you 6 - 7 feet of growth area, but much less than that as you go up in wattage on your lamps. Make sense? If you're using 1000 watt lights, that really only leaves you about 3 feet of growth before your plants start getting too close to the lights. That means a very short vegetative growth cycle before you'll have to switch to flowering cycle. You will essentially have to switch to 12/12 when your plants are only about 12 inches tall because you'll get 150 - 300% more vertical growth after the 12/12 switch.

And keep in mind that this is all assuming you're working with 10 foot ceilings! If your ceiling is 8 feet, forget about it.

Anyway, here are the pics.
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tea tree

tea tree

Well-Known Member
Hydro is easy. I switched to organic soil for the quality. It is renowned to be better in soil :). I might switch a few plants back. Maybe a 5 gallon DWC to compare next to a 10 gallon bag of soil. Man, but this pre-amended super soil is so easy there is nothing to do.

I watched a grow comparison in the magazine maximum yeild for 5 months on chile plants is a rainforest and organic soil won and the organic soil as better quality and more budsites compared to the hydros bigger single flowers. :)

Good luck all.

edit: I dont beleive this, I just smoked some dry early harvest shit and the stuff smoked so clear that it blew my mind away. It finally cured, and this is the crap stuff! Not bad for organics. . . :) go organic.
 
ruva

ruva

Well-Known Member
jcommerce said:
First Off. Dude Kick ass set-up. Fuck Im jealous. I want it.

Yes I do have eight foot ceilings. That kind of advice is exacly why I am on this forum. I hadnt even really considered my height issue. In my mind I was just thinking MORE LIGHT!! I mean at some point Im gonna try SOG and I guess then it wouldnt matter so much but im not gonna do it right now.
I only have 1 1000W that I have laying around that somobody gave to me a couple years ago. It looks like Ill be buying a couple 600W setups.
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ruva

ruva

Well-Known Member
tea tree said:
Hydro is easy. I switched to organic soil for the quality. It is renowned to be better in soil :). I might switch a few plants back. Maybe a 5 gallon DWC to compare next to a 10 gallon bag of soil. Man, but this pre-amended super soil is so easy there is nothing to do.

I watched a grow comparison in the magazine maximum yeild for 5 months on chile plants is a rainforest and organic soil won and the organic soil as better quality and more budsites compared to the hydros bigger single flowers. :)

Good luck all.

edit: I dont beleive this, I just smoked some dry early harvest shit and the stuff smoked so clear that it blew my mind away. It finally cured, and this is the crap stuff! Not bad for organics. . . :) go organic.
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What to do? :-? What to Do?:-?
 
jcommerce

jcommerce

Well-Known Member
ruva said:


What to do? :-? What to Do?:-?
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LOL, that's a funny pic, I like that you're taking the time to really decide. I'm going to shut up on this post about that because you already know what I think.....(subliminal....go hydro.....go hydro....go hydro)

What was I saying??? Errrrr...anyway.

One more note, if you go for the dual 600 Watt setups. I would go with the added blue spectrum HPS bulbs like these:

http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/itemdesc.asp?ic=HLRBHPS06H&eq=&Tp=

Even though you'll have a separate MH mother room, I still think it's good to have some blue mixed in rather than full red/orange HPS. These bulbs have been kickass for me in the past as I've actually been able to grow from seed and clone all the way through. I think that added blue allows the clones to have an easier transition out of the MH and I have a sense that you get a little more of that frostiness you're looking for in the buds from the added spectrum.

Since you've come this far, I will suggest that you pony up the dough and start from scratch on your purchase. It's always a hard pill to swallow when you see how much you're going to spend, but you'll make it up and then some in your first grow in that size of a space...no problem. As stated before, I would skip the light mover (and this is coming from someone who's running one). I would just hang the 2 600 HPS centrally in your flower room and they will penetrate the entire area easily. Keep in mind that you can always rotate plants around from the corners or edges to the center. I rotate mine even in the hydro buckets...I simply lift the lids off and move em around if I feel it's necessary...otherwise I just give em each a 1/4 turn per day to ensure even light distribution. Go ahead and get some high quality, powder coated, reflectors (I would get the air cooled kind just in case you want to add some ductwork somewhere down the line...sure it's a little more, but better than second guessing yourself or having to buy new hoods later on). BGHydro is a very reliable online distributor, they ship quickly, and their customer service is awesome (try their chat line with the sales or tech...awesome. And no, I don't work for them, just a very satisfied customer).

For two new 600 watt hps ballasts, hoods, and lamps + one new 400 watt mh ballast, hood, and lamp, you're probably looking at $1000 - $1300 depending on what you go with. Seems like a lot, but trust me, it's nothing and you'll be very glad you didn't skimp or cut corners.

Good luck, I'll be keeping my eye on your choices.

Hydro...hydro...hydro....:fire:
 
Green Cross

Green Cross

Well-Known Member
ruva said:
Overlapping?:-? Im not sure what you mean.

The square and the rectangle in the flower room that I show on my diagram. those arent walls. those are areas that the two 1000W HPS lamps will cover?
So I plan on having one BIG flower area with two 1000W lamps..

You dont think I would be utilizing that space well? How would you set up in a 8' X 8' square? because I thought about putting my grow area in the middle but leaving room two walk around the sides I figure I would get about 36 square feet of growing area. And if I set it up the way I have it in the diagram, I would be getting 48 square feet of growing area.
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No, I do think you're utilizing the space Well. What I meant by "overlap" is that the light from both lights will overlap.

I also like the idea of leaving a perimeter so you have room to walk around, but I would consider hanging some panda-film curtains - or other removable reflective barrier, for when you're not working in there.
 
ruva

ruva

Well-Known Member
I did a little more work to my growroom this weekend. I built the last wall that seperates the flower room from the entry, finished it off with reflective isulation and I put up the doors for the flower room and veg room. Oh ...and I made a purhase that puts an end to the soil or hydro debate.

so let me give u a tour so far....


The entry to the room


Door on right: Veg and clone room
Door on left: Flower room


inside veg/clone room 4' X 6'

Ive got my 1KW hanging in there now just for shits and giggles. And to see what the temps would be for my own curiosity(87 degrees without any intake or cooling. in case ur curious too;-)).


A look inside the flower room 8' X 10'.
And my new purchase. I bought it off a guy from craigslist for $250 and he threw in a CO2 generator.

I plan on eventually using 2 600W lamps on this but for now I think I will buy a 4' mover and utilize the 1000W that I already have to try to keep my initial setup costs down. Ther is still alot of equip to purchase!!



and a couple more angles.

I still have almost 4' beside the aeroponic system. It is still up in the air what will go there.


And 6' to the door.


There is the CO2 generator on the workbench. I already have and was planning on using a CO2 tank but as long as temps arent an issue (I dont think it will be)when I get set up I will use the generator.


Any comments or suggestions?:peace:
 
mr.bowlsworth

mr.bowlsworth

Member
wow,talk about a steal,nice deal dude.Id prolly make a diy system right next to that gitup since ur talkin bout utilizing a light mover,it could be very beneficial to ur yield!good luck bud...
 
ruva

ruva

Well-Known Member
mr.bowlsworth said:
wow,talk about a steal,nice deal dude.

I love craigslist. Ive gotten many steals. I did have to drive to the Bay Area which is 2 hours away but it was well worth it for this purchase. I basically paid for a used CO2 generator and got a $1500 Aerojet system for free.

Id prolly make a diy system right next to that gitup since ur talkin bout utilizing a light mover,it could be very beneficial to ur yield!good luck bud...

Thats exactly what I was thinkin. jcommerce has pretty much sold me on DWC. I think I might try that.
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Ive still got plenty of time to decide.:blsmoke:
 
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