JB's New Growroom with Graphics

[ttystikk]

So how's the build going?

Very interesting read but very over-engineered IMHO. One tall RubberMaid tub with four plants in that size grow space would do a great job and yield just as much without all the plumbing etc that you envision for what really is a simple concept.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not dissing your concept. It looks great and after reading all 11 pages it's obvious that you've put a lot of thought into it all and really flexed your CAD muscles to good ends.

I'm adding on an 8x4 grow space to my grow room and have pretty much decided to go with 4 individual tubs that sit on their own dollies with ScroG screens attached. As I'll be running different strains I don't want one central reservoir plus if the dreaded root rot were to rear it's ugly head then only 25% of the crop is threatened. It's not a lot of work as I've done 40 - 50 DWC tub grows since 2001 and can deal with it in my sleep almost. Ain't gonna be a pretty as what you've dreamed up but as I already have most of the materials and gear it won't cost much or take a lot of time putting it all together.

Your thread has inspired me to lay it all out on paper as I haven't played with a CAD program for almost 30 years when I went back to school for chemistry. We had a basic drafting course so chem-sci students could at least put down on paper something they needed built then hand off the drawings to someone else to build. Still have all my drafting tools and now an itch to put them to work so thanks for that.

I was planning to get into running a continuous grow with autoflowering plants and sketched up a simple NFT table idea I had. Build it out of plywood and coat it all with fiberglass tho it could be an open frame holding 6 or 8" plastic pipe cut in half lengthwise for the channels to set the pots in. Square tubing would be ideal but would have to source that outside my area.

The light(s) just stay on 18 - 20 hours/day and I'd feed smaller plants in one end as I removed ripe plants from the other. One pump to feed nutes into the top and gravity feed back to the rez. Airstones in the rez with an external pump for the nutes. Simple PEX or even garden hose for the feed line to the table.

View attachment 3973430

This is the simple ScroG setup I came up with years back and have done a few like it and it works great.

View attachment 3973444

Here are two of them as I plan to use going forward tho these aren't ScroGed and have way too many Afghani Kush plants in each tub. My DIY chiller works pretty good for the $28 it cost me for two fountain pumps to circulate the nutes from each tub thru coils of 3/8" tubing up to the chiller tank filled with anti-freeze and back to the tubs. I already had the tubing and the cooler was gifted a few years earlier so why not? I'm going to use air cooling to chill the tubs in the new room as it's always cool in the utility basement where the magic happens. 58 - 60F is the warmest it gets down there so no A/C needed.

View attachment 3973445

Each tall tub holds 50L/12.5USG and only need topping up every 3 or days and with pH Perfect nutes I just have to top up with RO water, check ppm and shoot some fresh nutes in to bring the ppm back up to target level. One nute change after the stretch for each is all I do so that's easy as well. I have a $3000 Polar Bear distiller that came with the house that I'm going to sell to buy an RO unit as it's a PITA and dangerous to haul the 5gal jugs down the narrow flight of stairs into the basement. Not to mention I'm 62 and pretty severe arthritis and possibly fibro as well tho the witch doctors from South Africa we have here have no clue how to do anything but hand out pills I don't need or want.

Sure wish I had cheap power like you. Here in Alberta, (the energy province), I'm paying almost $90/mth to run my 1000W light 12hrs/day at 23.5¢/KWH. Plan to go with 2 x 600W HPS on my light rail to do the 8x4 grow space. I have a tent that size but a room will be better in the basement as it gets close to freezing down there when it's -30C outside. The room itself will be 8x6 so I have 2' of space along the grow space to work on the plants without cold air blasting the plants. I may use the tent upstairs in the spare bedroom for a veg space but may just use the bare frame to get more height for hanging lights etc.

Maybe start with a simple grow room and with all the money you save not buying pot elsewhere you can pick up the gear to build your dream room in a year or so after you start cropping some real plants. I'm a little OCD myself but I think you might be further along that road than me.

Two years of planning is enough. Time to grow some green! View attachment 3973462

Cool stuff. Don't buy more HID lights, get COB LED lights or Quantum Boards instead. Both are available through vendors here on RIU. A bit more expensive up front but no bulb changes, better spectrum, less heat, less watts and they last nearly forever.

With hydro costs like yours, such a fixture would pay for itself in under a year.

 

[JSB99]

Cool stuff. Don't buy more HID lights, get COB LED lights or Quantum Boards instead. Both are available through vendors here on RIU. A bit more expensive up front but no bulb changes, better spectrum, less heat, less watts and they last nearly forever.

With hydro costs like yours, such a fixture would pay for itself in under a year.

Yeah, I really wanted to go LED, but right now the up-front cost is going to be out of my budget. When I designed this, I was expecting some funds that would cover this, but it looks like that money's not going to be available for a few years. But, I do plan on migrating to LED over time.

 

[PetFlora]

Yeah, I really wanted to go LED, but right now the up-front cost is going to be out of my budget. When I designed this, I was expecting some funds that would cover this, but it looks like that money's not going to be available for a few years. But, I do plan on migrating to LED over time.

I think you could market your graphic room design skills to variety of grow companies

 

[JSB99]

I think you could market your graphic room design skills to variety of grow companies

Just a hobbyist

 

[ttystikk]

Just a hobbyist

Lots of people turn their hobbies into income.

 

[OldMedUser]

Cool stuff. Don't buy more HID lights, get COB LED lights or Quantum Boards instead. Both are available through vendors here on RIU. A bit more expensive up front but no bulb changes, better spectrum, less heat, less watts and they last nearly forever.

With hydro costs like yours, such a fixture would pay for itself in under a year.

Thing is I need the heat or I'll be running a heater when the lights are on as well as when they aren't. I'm planning to incorporate two heat controllers to send one room's warm air into the dark room to keep heater use to a minimum. Both rooms will be used for flowering most of the time so they can take opposite shifts and keep each other warm. I'd end up using as much electricity and get less light on the gardens not to mention the extra cost up front to invest in LEDs. I may be selling the farm and getting back to BC permanently so it could be my last winter to grow for a while unless I hook up with a 420 friendly lady out there that has a place to grow already. I'm working on that.

 

[ttystikk]

Thing is I need the heat or I'll be running a heater when the lights are on as well as when they aren't. I'm planning to incorporate two heat controllers to send one room's warm air into the dark room to keep heater use to a minimum. Both rooms will be used for flowering most of the time so they can take opposite shifts and keep each other warm. I'd end up using as much electricity and get less light on the gardens not to mention the extra cost up front to invest in LEDs. I may be selling the farm and getting back to BC permanently so it could be my last winter to grow for a while unless I hook up with a 420 friendly lady out there that has a place to grow already. I'm working on that.

That's not a heat issue, it's an insulation issue. LED still makes heat, just not as much. You get better quality as well, which goes a long way.

 

[OldMedUser]

That's not a heat issue, it's an insulation issue. LED still makes heat, just not as much. You get better quality as well, which goes a long way.

I still need the heat tho. Without CO2 I need some air exchange and have a temp/RH controller so the fan isn't running all the time and it can take a while until the heat and/or RH is enough to start the fan. The air coming in can be pretty cold. 35 -40F, and very dry like 10% RH so it doesn't take long for the fan to turn off again. I'm hoping to be able to get a CO2 controller and solenoid to hook up my welding tank and flow gauge to help with that. Go with a semi-sealed type of grow room. My basement is a concrete bunker underground and has 2" styrofoam insulation with 1/2" OSB on it already. I like that it's cool or I'd be needing A/C next and then the power bill takes another jump.

As to better quality than a Hortilux Super HPS can produce I gotta say I doubt it. I'd go with dual 630 CMH if I had deeper pockets but there ain't much more in my pockets than lint.

"Pot gets me thru times of no money better than money gets me thru times of no pot!" (Freewheeling Franklin of the Fabulous Furry Freak Bros. fame.) Slightly mis-quoted.

 

[ttystikk]

I still need the heat tho. Without CO2 I need some air exchange and have a temp/RH controller so the fan isn't running all the time and it can take a while until the heat and/or RH is enough to start the fan. The air coming in can be pretty cold. 35 -40F, and very dry like 10% RH so it doesn't take long for the fan to turn off again. I'm hoping to be able to get a CO2 controller and solenoid to hook up my welding tank and flow gauge to help with that. Go with a semi-sealed type of grow room. My basement is a concrete bunker underground and has 2" styrofoam insulation with 1/2" OSB on it already. I like that it's cool or I'd be needing A/C next and then the power bill takes another jump.

As to better quality than a Hortilux Super HPS can produce I gotta say I doubt it. I'd go with dual 630 CMH if I had deeper pockets but there ain't much more in my pockets than lint.

"Pot gets me thru times of no money better than money gets me thru times of no pot!" (Freewheeling Franklin of the Fabulous Furry Freak Bros. fame.) Slightly mis-quoted.

Having grown under HPS, CMH and LED, I can tell you that LED makes the best quality.

Big concrete basement and small grow means you can absorb the heat.

If you draw your intake air from the house and exhaust it outside then you'll need less heat and the CO2 from the inhabitants will benefit your plants.

 

[Jellypowered]

Just a hobbyist

Go take a look at fiverr. You can sell graphic design gigs at your own price. You've obviously got a passion for it. From start to finish your skills have done nothing but improve. Why sell yourself short as "just a hobbyist" when this could bringing you in serious coin.

Just my .02 cents.

 

[JSB99]

Go take a look at fiverr. You can sell graphic design gigs at your own price. You've obviously got a passion for it. From start to finish your skills have done nothing but improve. Why sell yourself short as "just a hobbyist" when this could bringing you in serious coin.

Just my .02 cents.

Cool! I'll check them out.

 

[OldMedUser]

Having grown under HPS, CMH and LED, I can tell you that LED makes the best quality.

Big concrete basement and small grow means you can absorb the heat.

If you draw your intake air from the house and exhaust it outside then you'll need less heat and the CO2 from the inhabitants will benefit your plants.

All the air that gets drawn into the basement comes from the rest of the house. There are no inlets to the great outdoors leading in. I blocked the 2 - 4" pipes that were in there from the previous owner when I installed the 6" vent.

Still ain't buying LED when I got lots of HIDs to use now. Maybe if my lotto tickets pay off tonight I might get some good cobs and try them out in a proper side-by-side.

 

[SSGrower]

Hey everyone!

Got some stuff figured out in my room and I finished laying out the air lines to the reservoir and buckets. I also raised the air pump higher than the waterline, as recommended.

I secured the window with 3/4 plywood. I may or may not laminate it. It's going to be there for many years so I might go through the extra effort. After all, I do plan on painting everything the way it is in the renderings. I've been gathering info on how to paint pvc, since pvc is so finicky with everything. I'll leave a gap on the ends for pvc glue as well. The strips around the edges are screwed into the wall to secure the board.

I'm going to be using a 5,000 btu window a/c and dehumidifier. The majority of the year here in Oregon is fairly cool. I keep my house around 66 in the Winter. I won't have to use the a/c much, but I think it'd be okay to run it as a dehumidifier in the Winter. Can anyone tell me if it's the same, better, or worse doing that would be compared to using a dedicated dehumidifier?

Something odd that I'm noticing is the size of the air pump. When I made that, the water pump, and the chiller, I didn't bother going through the effort of making it look exact. I just built boxes using the size of the item it represented. Amazon states that the Alita AL-80 air pump I'll be using is 7.3 x 8.8 x 11.2 inches. I can't seem to find any other sources with the dimensions. I've had a pretty hefty commercial pump, and I don't remember it being that big. Could that possibly be the measurement of the box? Not that it'd change my mind about the pump or anything. Just wondering.

The way I laid these out, it follows the path of the air lines to the manifolds. I'm going to be pumping some serious air, but really, it's the recommended size pump. That's from the advice I got here, as well as Alita recommending the AL80 for 80 to 95 gallons.

Alita AL-80

You can see the whole collection here -> PICS

Added some posters to liven up the room

I've been experimenting with different glass and plastic textures for the hoses. You can get some really cool images with caustics (even though I didn't use any here).

I'll point out something kind of cool here. If you look at the wood legs, you can see the grooves in the wood and the little hairs sticking out. That's called a "bump map" and is an attribute to textures. The walls have an orange peel texture as well. That's your nerd news of the day

The air line is secured to the top of the green pipe. I may strap it below when I build it. Not sure yet. I still have to figure out how I want to secure the pipes themselves.

4 port manifold to the buckets. I have to redo the small lines here. The number of segments that make up those curves is too low and I can't figure out how to adjust it! Or, I could just say "Screw it! We get the point!". That does sound easier.

Still to come:

• Removing top tent extension
• Draw the straps suspending the exhaust fan/muffler, and the flexible duct, from the ceiling
• Add existing outlets to the wall, as well as my dedicated 110 and 220 lines. I should have quite a bit I can run on 220v
• Tapping the plumbing on the reservoir wall for the room.
• Adding the floor drain and p-trap
• Laying out the 4x2 mother closet. That closet couldn't have been a more perfect size my me

Everyone enjoy

I would truly appreciate an update on how this system is working. I hope it is working and hasn't sucomb to any misfortune or catastrophe.

 

[JSB99]

I would truly appreciate an update on how this system is working. I hope it is working and hasn't sucomb to any misfortune or catastrophe.

Actually, I built a variation of this, and it work awesome! Same room, RDWC/UC, 4x4 tent, but the COB LED array is on hold until I can afford it, and some of the gear is a little lower-end than what I initially wanted. To hold me over, I got a 600w hid. The thread for that grow is the "2017 Grow" link in my signature. There are a lot of pages, but I posted a lot of pics as I was building it.

 

[SSGrower]

These pictures are actually computer generated images I created using a 3D CAD program called "Sketchup". I use another tool called "VRay" to render my images and give it that realness. You're not the first who's been fooled

But I really hope no one gives you crap about that. The whole point of approaching my plan in this way, is to create something that looked real and accurate. This is so that I can make adjustments and fix issues ahead of time instead of trying to do it in the middle of a grow, when you first realize there's a problem.

The strains I plan on growing are LSD, GrandDaddyPurps, Blue Dream, and Lemon Kush. Not at the same time though. I'm going to have a small mother of each living in the 2 x 4 closet. I'll be growing those via the "Bosai-mums" method. Check it out BOSAI MUMS

Well color me fuckin stupid. Eyesight must be getting worse. I knew there was some tweaking to the pics but didnt realize how much, your actual build still looks nice though not as sanitary clean!

Did you end up with titan or any other automation controls like diy with arduino?

 

[JSB99]

Well color me fuckin stupid. Eyesight must be getting worse. I knew there was some tweaking to the pics but didnt realize how much, your actual build still looks nice though not as sanitary clean!

Did you end up with titan or any other automation controls like diy with arduino?

LOL, when coloring someone stupid, is it important to stay in the lines?

I'm not using any environment controllers. Not yet anyways. When I build the cob array, I may use a light controller that fades the light in and out for sunrise and sunset. I'll do lots of research ahead of time to see if this is actually beneficial, before I throw any money at it. I might also get a thermostat controlled fan speed controller, or switch, to help keep temps steady throughout the day. I was finding myself tweaking the fan speed throughout the day. Whether that was actually necessary is questionable, but I wouldn't mind automating that.

 

[SSGrower]

LOL, when coloring someone stupid, is it important to stay in the lines?

I'm not using any environment controllers. Not yet anyways. When I build the cob array, I may use a light controller that fades the light in and out for sunrise and sunset. I'll do lots of research ahead of time to see if this is actually beneficial, before I throw any money at it. I might also get a thermostat controlled fan speed controller, or switch, to help keep temps steady throughout the day. I was finding myself tweaking the fan speed throughout the day. Whether that was actually necessary is questionable, but I wouldn't mind automating that.

Necessary?


Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No but I do it anyway cause it's sterile and I like the taste.

Look into meanwell d series drivers they seem to have many features you may find interisting. I'm particularly interisted in the remote control interface. Seems much simpler than my idea of a stepper motor mounted to the driver Io pot!

 

[JSB99]

Necessary?


Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No but I do it anyway cause it's sterile and I like the taste.

LOL! Good practice for when the world runs out if drinking water!

I had my eye on the MW drivers ending with the "B" code at the end, indicating that it's a dimmable driver. Is the "D" model different than that?

 

[OldMedUser]

LOL, when coloring someone stupid, is it important to stay in the lines?

I'm not using any environment controllers. Not yet anyways. When I build the cob array, I may use a light controller that fades the light in and out for sunrise and sunset. I'll do lots of research ahead of time to see if this is actually beneficial, before I throw any money at it. I might also get a thermostat controlled fan speed controller, or switch, to help keep temps steady throughout the day. I was finding myself tweaking the fan speed throughout the day. Whether that was actually necessary is questionable, but I wouldn't mind automating that.

You can decent rh/temp controllers for not a lot of coin and they are well worth it. Or make your own with a bathroom humidity fan controller wired with a heat/cool thermostat like the one I use and bought the parts to build another one. Going to mount them on an old metal Makita box a drill came in.

 

[OldMedUser]

Forgot to mention the speed controller on the left side. Used a ceiling fan controller, (NOT a light dimmer), wired into a wall box and plug that into the rh/temp controller to run the fan at half speed.