Any chance of growing anything in here?

budmike

Member
Im going for my first grow and just trying to find a suitable location inside my home. Ive come across this space which is empty and wondered if there would be enough space for any type of grow? Ill be using a 8" tall NFT hydro system.



If not there is a much larger cuboard below which i could use and then run the ducting through the smaller above cuboard into the loft area.

Thanks for the help.
 

budmike

Member
ill be using HID's , so it looks like the cuboard below is going to be a better option? ill get some pictures of that up tommorow.
 

Bob Smith

Well-Known Member
Definitely the one below if you're using HIDs.

You're going to need some hardcore ventilation to keep that cool, my friend.
 

budmike

Member
Definitely the one below if you're using HIDs.

You're going to need some hardcore ventilation to keep that cool, my friend.
Thanks for your reply Bob, I was thinking of two intake fans, a exhaust fan from the HID light and a exhaust fan with a filter from the room itself. Don’t you believe this will be sufficient? If not can you please give me some tips on where im going wrong regarding this thought process and why the cupboards will need so much venting.

Thanks again.
 

Bob Smith

Well-Known Member
Thanks for your reply Bob, I was thinking of two intake fans, a exhaust fan from the HID light and a exhaust fan with a filter from the room itself. Don’t you believe this will be sufficient? If not can you please give me some tips on where im going wrong regarding this thought process and why the cupboards will need so much venting.

Thanks again.
Need some pics and dimensions of the cupboard, but when you post that, I'll help you out.

You can check my journal out for a couple of different tent setups that I have - my veg tent runs about 3F over ambient temps, and my flower runs about 6-7F over ambient with all fans running.

Both of those tents have fairly "hardcore" ventilation systems, FYI.
 

budmike

Member
Here are pictures of the full wardrobe (closet) as it appears from within the room its located.



Here’s the inside of the lower section with measurements.



Here’s the inside of the upper section with measurements. (as shown higher in the thread also)



Here’s an image of the gap down the side of the wardrobe, which I was thinking of using as a place to build shelf’s to hold the ballast, other elec items and intake fans.



Ill give you a brief run over of my plans, I plan to use a small NTF hydro system and a HID light with a extractor attached, switching bulbs from HPS to MH on the same ballast. Ill also have a extractor within the lower wardrobe (to prevent smells) both extractors will run up through the top section of the wardrobe into the loft which is above the room. The wardrobes will be fully mylar'd internally on every surface.

This is my first grow so I know im going to run into a lot of problems but ive been putting in a lot of reading this last 2 months, cover to cover of 4 growing books which will hopefully assist me with the issues that arise.

Thanks a lot for your replies, looking forward to seeing what you think.

P.S : I was thinking about maybe using the above wardrobe section as a cloning space with some tube lights if there is enough room?
 

Bob Smith

Well-Known Member
Yeah, a cloning area would be perfect for that top cupboard.

At 20" deep, anything more then a 250 is gonna be a serious struggle to keep cool.
 

budmike

Member
Yeah, a cloning area would be perfect for that top cupboard.

At 20" deep, anything more then a 250 is gonna be a serious struggle to keep cool.
Once again bob, thanks for getting back to me so quick!

I’m going to go with a 250w and hope for the best. I’ve seen your thread and I cant believe your having cooling problems with those fans etc, just goes to show how all these books don’t really illustrate how hard temperature conditions are to get correct.

I’m in a awkward position to be honest as my mum’s house is attached to mine next door (terrace houses, remind me never to purchase a property next to my family again). So for my first grow ill be just raising one or two plants, in order to evaluate the smells and other possible factors as people close by finding out (because it just isn’t a option for them to know).

Do you think it’s possible to efficiently dispose of the smells through the loft?

I’m going to select my equipment tonight, ill post it up for you to take a look at, see if all this reading is sending me in the right or wrong direction.
 

Bob Smith

Well-Known Member
Yeah, as long as you have a carbon filter hooked up to an inline fan, you can dispose of air anywhere.

I'd say a 4" inline dedicated to cooling the light should be sufficient, and then an additional intake and exhaust fan (but I always go overboard on ventilation).

Honestly, no one can tell you what's gonna work until you've tried it, so if ordering stuff, I'd always say go bigger then what you think you need, because no one's ever complained about too much ventilation (to my knowledge, anyways).
 

budmike

Member
I’ve just drawn out a hand drawn plan to show, see if im on the correct tracks or not?



How does that look? I one thing im not sure on is incoming air, I was just thinking of having some air holes (one or two) down the side at the bottom of the wardrobe, below the ballast shelf. Or do I need a actual fan system coming in also? A will I need back draft shutters in the loft incase wind is blowing through the roof?
Thanks

Equipment list to follow soon.
 

budmike

Member
Here's where i am so far (ill update this post within the next few days as i build up a bigger list).

Lighting

...Lumatek Digital Ballast 250W

...Cool Tube 250W/400W - 125mm

...HPS - Osram 250W Son-T-Plus - 33000 Lumens

...MH - Sunmaster 250W Metal Halide - 4000K

...Pair Of Easy-Rolls

Hydroponics

...GT205i NFT System - With Pump + Mats

Extraction

...4" RUCK Fan 285m3 & Rhino Pro Carbon Filter + 5 Metre Acoustic Ducting

Nutrition

...

Other


...
 

1mikej

Well-Known Member
i think your plan is nice and could work but the heat from that light will be a bigger problem than your antisapating. i would put you light in the top spot and remove the bottom of cabnet and the top of closet so that it is now one tall spot. you can put your clones and mother anywhere you can fit a floro. i notice a big difference in the amount of bud i get for every 6" of plant hight. you need to vent out the heat from the camber not just the light. that box will literally cook your plants without a exhaust fan. that wall fan in your plan is only going to make sure they get cooked evenly. lol. use osilating fan if possible. try geting a 4" inline fan. attach it to a 4 " hole on the very top of cabnet . then on other side near the bottom make another 4" hole and attach a hose to that side. when you get all set up put a therometer in there and run lights for 24 hrs before you put plants in there!
 

budmike

Member
i think your plan is nice and could work but the heat from that light will be a bigger problem than your antisapating. i would put you light in the top spot and remove the bottom of cabnet and the top of closet so that it is now one tall spot. you can put your clones and mother anywhere you can fit a floro. i notice a big difference in the amount of bud i get for every 6" of plant hight. you need to vent out the heat from the camber not just the light. that box will literally cook your plants without a exhaust fan. that wall fan in your plan is only going to make sure they get cooked evenly. lol. use osilating fan if possible. try geting a 4" inline fan. attach it to a 4 " hole on the very top of cabnet . then on other side near the bottom make another 4" hole and attach a hose to that side. when you get all set up put a therometer in there and run lights for 24 hrs before you put plants in there!
On my drawing i have a exhaust at the top of the room to draw the heat, the one with a filter attached? Or wont this be enough to stop the plants from being cooked?

Mike, when you say make a inline hole in the bottom corner and attach a hose, do you mean cut a 4" hole and attach some ducting? Just wanna be sure before i do anything. I was thinking of putting two input air holes in the bottom of the wardrobe (should help with cooling) just im not sure if they need fans attached to them in order to draw air into the wardrobe.
 

ReAVeR

Well-Known Member
make sure you get a high rating inline, Like 400cfm. Like the setup, and the plans to keep it perpetual. If oyu have any questions, feel free to stop by in my journal and I'll be glad to help.
 

Bob Smith

Well-Known Member
Bud, unfortunately for such a small space you're gonna need all of that ventilation that you think you need, but another thing that you need to take into account is going to be the noise from it - my garage sounds like an airplane hangar, so I can't imagine what a little cupboard's gonna sound like.

Other then that, your plans look solid, but again, no way to tell without you setting it up and running it.

My guess is that it'll keep temps reasonable in there, though.
 

budmike

Member
Bud, unfortunately for such a small space you're gonna need all of that ventilation that you think you need, but another thing that you need to take into account is going to be the noise from it - my garage sounds like an airplane hangar, so I can't imagine what a little cupboard's gonna sound like.

Other then that, your plans look solid, but again, no way to tell without you setting it up and running it.

My guess is that it'll keep temps reasonable in there, though.
Thanks for another reply Bob, gosh a airplane hanger, that’s getting me a bit scared lol

What’s your opinion on fresh air (from room outside the wardrobe) coming into the grow space? Will two 4" vents in the bottom left hand corner be sufficient or will I need a fan to push air into the space?
 

Bob Smith

Well-Known Member
Thanks for another reply Bob, gosh a airplane hanger, that’s getting me a bit scared lol

What’s your opinion on fresh air (from room outside the wardrobe) coming into the grow space? Will two 4" vents in the bottom left hand corner be sufficient or will I need a fan to push air into the space?
I've never relied on passive intake, nor do I ever plan to - worst case, grab an inline duct booster fan (axial, not centrifugal) - they run cheap and quite quiet - airflow isn't much, but you don't need much with the negative pressure you'll have.

Check out my videos on Youtube for a feel for how loud it gets in my garage.
 

budmike

Member
I've never relied on passive intake, nor do I ever plan to - worst case, grab an inline duct booster fan (axial, not centrifugal) - they run cheap and quite quiet - airflow isn't much, but you don't need much with the negative pressure you'll have.

Check out my videos on Youtube for a feel for how loud it gets in my garage.

Ill just try out two 4" vents in bottom left then, see how that goes, then go from there if temp issues arise.
In terms of noise I could go with these fans instead of the RUCK ones mentioned above...



They are said to run silent, however the 4" version is only 130m3, where as the RUCK is 285m3. So the quieter one isn’t going to be powerful enough?

As all the extraction is going to be in the top section I could just try and extensively sound proof that section of the wardrobe?
 
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