Basement grow room?
- Thread starter Fizzikos
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budbro18
Well-Known Member
basements are perfect especially if using HID
The natural temp of them tend to be cool so theyll cool down a HID
Id set up in the basement and say fuck the garage. Cops have different rights with entering a garage or building not attached to your house.
As well as people.
Stick to the basement if possible!!!
The natural temp of them tend to be cool so theyll cool down a HID
Id set up in the basement and say fuck the garage. Cops have different rights with entering a garage or building not attached to your house.
As well as people.
Stick to the basement if possible!!!
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
I've been using my basement for years, and love it. In looking for a different house, its been a pain trying to find one with a basement in places like CO.
Jozikins
Well-Known Member
Is it a finished basement? Or is it dirt floor? I mean, dirt floor isn't a game killer, but you will be pulling apart and cleaning your ventilation equipment on a weekly basis, and probably dusting out your ballasts once in a while. But basements help keep a great temperature for growing with HID like budbro said.
Humidity would be your chief concern, which is easy to handle. Keep it well vented and in the acceptable ranges. A basement grow is well hidden and harder to get access too than most garages, also like Budbro said. When I picked the house I am in currently, I did it because it was the only f'ing house in southern California I've seen with a basement. Does it have a low ceiling? Mine does, kind of a bitch, but using hydro really helps, I'm switching my basement to hydro soon.
Humidity would be your chief concern, which is easy to handle. Keep it well vented and in the acceptable ranges. A basement grow is well hidden and harder to get access too than most garages, also like Budbro said. When I picked the house I am in currently, I did it because it was the only f'ing house in southern California I've seen with a basement. Does it have a low ceiling? Mine does, kind of a bitch, but using hydro really helps, I'm switching my basement to hydro soon.
viper2020cobra
Active Member
basements are great just be sure to not put the pots directly on concrete floors. it leaches warmth away from the roots.
and you cant find a basement in CO? damn i was planing on moving there
and you cant find a basement in CO? damn i was planing on moving there
AimAim
Well-Known Member
Basements are great, depends on the insulation but I just insulated a basement from concrete walls to insulation board for maybe 200$ to make a 5'X5' grow area. I figured I'd battle heat in the summer but I'm not sure this is going to be the case.
My exhaust fan shot craps on me today so I'm blowing air in with oscillating floor fans.
Just weeds, I'll keep 'em going.
My exhaust fan shot craps on me today so I'm blowing air in with oscillating floor fans.
Just weeds, I'll keep 'em going.
BleedsGreen
Well-Known Member
Once again I agree with Thunder and Drolove! You should listen to those two they are pretty fucking smart!
SinnerD
Active Member
I've set up my grow in the basement for about two months now and as the other posters say, I love it! I do get higher spikes in the humidity every now and again, say around 80%, but it's not for long periods of time. My average RH is 43 to 51%. With it being winter right now, I know that it's easier to control. I'm curious to see how much it fluctuates in the coming warmer months. Ventilation I would have to say has been the most complex problem I've come across, but it's generally because I have a few options to choose from and I'm just indecisive. Also, Viper2020cobra was totally right about the concrete floor, it will cool the soil too much in a organic grow. I have all my plants separated from the floor by at least a few layers of thick cardboard if not some cheap platforms with castors on em. Got em at Wal-Mart for $2.22 a piece. They had some more durable ones for $5.22, but these could easily be made with materials found at the box stores (Home Depot, Lowes). If you're building walls, I would suggest the 1/8" white gloss paneling that cost me a little more than drywall at 8'x4' sheets. It was easy to install with either paneling nails or a brad nailer, and you don't need to mud, sand, or paint. It also works great for writing notes on the wall with a dry erase marker. Pretty cool. Good Luck!
it's an unfinished basement, concrete floor- i've used some cardboard to keep the cups off the ground (upside down box lid) I had some concerns because there's a mild leak in the basement when it rains hard and some undesired growth along that one wall... it's not horrible and hasn't gotten any worse since we moved here even with 2 hurricanes (why is PA getting hurricanes lol) We've been diligently cleaning the basement so i'm hoping that leaky wall won't cause a bad environment. Currently I'm running just CFLs, and not enough at that... but after some research i'll be purchasing a T5 grow light, energy efficiency and keeping the heat from becomming dangerous are important since we're not home all day- i'll suppliment that with a few more CFLs.
hopefully my currently started grow can hang on until I'm able to get the T5 light... if not, i've got plenty more seeds and at this point it's all about just experimenting and trying to learn, even if i nail this grow i have no idea which seeds came from an awesome bag and which came from a terrible one lol (got tired of the crappy stuff so i'm just going to grow my own!) One question I've got about keeping my grow in th basement though.. I'm really trying to do this as covertly as possible and people that i dont want knowing about this do come over occasionally... our house is very old and the floor boards have small cracks where i can see light comming through into the living room at night, besides the light comming through I'm assuming eventually i'm going to have some strong smells causing our entire house to smell like pot... this i can't have and that's why i planned to move it out to our garage where there's a very nice unfinished room upstairs that i can set up whatver i need to for these babies.
thoughts?
hopefully my currently started grow can hang on until I'm able to get the T5 light... if not, i've got plenty more seeds and at this point it's all about just experimenting and trying to learn, even if i nail this grow i have no idea which seeds came from an awesome bag and which came from a terrible one lol (got tired of the crappy stuff so i'm just going to grow my own!) One question I've got about keeping my grow in th basement though.. I'm really trying to do this as covertly as possible and people that i dont want knowing about this do come over occasionally... our house is very old and the floor boards have small cracks where i can see light comming through into the living room at night, besides the light comming through I'm assuming eventually i'm going to have some strong smells causing our entire house to smell like pot... this i can't have and that's why i planned to move it out to our garage where there's a very nice unfinished room upstairs that i can set up whatver i need to for these babies.
thoughts?
PersonalJesus
Active Member
carbon filter? carbon filter set up with an exhaust blower evacuating the air in your room as much as possible... If your in the basement, see if you can vent the exhaust out under another part of your home. If your in a spare bedroom, vent the exhaust into your attic. All this venting being done through the carbon filter so as to have zero smell... Just my .02
LeafGnosis
Active Member
basement all the way! Now if I had a house that had a 'sun room' off of the side and I lived in an area with good climate... then I would use the sun room.
Basements are good! You can use the extra heat from your lights to warm your house in the winter and in the summer your gonna have to run your lights at night or use ac to cool it down! Really depends on how large your going to go! Watch out for condensation for it can cause mold and more harm to your house if you dont have proper ventilation! Do your homework and get some advise on how to built it correctly! good luck
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
Using a tent or building a small room would solve your light through the cracks in the floor issue. My first grow I built a tent out of pvc pipe and panda film, or you can buy a nice one that will last for like 100-150 I believe. A tent will allow you to contain the light, and control the environment. You will be able to vent the tent and filter the air once the smell does start. If you've got a nice finished room above your garage and you feel good about using it go for it. In attics you don't usually have the humidity issues of the basement, but you have more heat issues. If you can cool the upstairs of the garage, and have the space and everything that will work.
Trousers
Well-Known Member
I have a 3x3 tent in my furnace room. I had to add a space heater.
In the Summer it can get warm and cold. If it is hot outside, the AC is on and my furnace room gets cold. If it is a warm, cloudy day, my furnace room gets a bit warm from my 600 watt light.
Same deal in the winter. If it is sunny and cool, the furrnace doesn't kick on as much so it gets cold down there.
it is easier to deal with cold tham with heat.
I have it all dialed in now.
In the Summer it can get warm and cold. If it is hot outside, the AC is on and my furnace room gets cold. If it is a warm, cloudy day, my furnace room gets a bit warm from my 600 watt light.
Same deal in the winter. If it is sunny and cool, the furrnace doesn't kick on as much so it gets cold down there.
it is easier to deal with cold tham with heat.
I have it all dialed in now.
Houses with basements are more common than with out here in CO.
SinnerD
Active Member
I found this T5 a few months ago when I was just getting started. In short, I have little money, and at the time (just before the holidays) I was the sole income for a family of 5. This meant that if I was going to grow, I was going to have to be very savvy about what I purchased and how much I spent. When I visited the local Indoor Garden or Hydroponics store, I found that for their 4' x 8 bulb T5, it was $259.00 + tax! I was floored. Imagine what they wanted for their HID setups! They were starting around $350.00. So, I went home and got to work cruising the internet for all the equipment that I was going to need, especially starting with the lighting. At first I really liked the Quantum Bad Boy. Collapsible, light weight, and just a all around good review from many stores and happy customers. But I couldn't get past the price being damn near $200.00, and that was if you found it at the right retailer. Some retailers wanted more than $200.00. So, I started checking out E-bay. I found this 4' x 8 bulb T5 for $130.00. It's daisy chain-able, and light weight. Not quite the cat's ass of T5's, but I thought "hey, if it'll put out 40,000 lumens and take the same bulbs as the others, I'm in!" So I sent for it, got it a week later, and let me say, I couldn't be happier. When I told the sales rep at the local Hydro store about saving 50% on a T5 as opposed to paying for his, he said "Well, it's probably not rust proof. And if you're not careful, you could've thrown your money away on a fixture with really cheap ballast in it that will go in a years time." I pretty much blew that off and considered if it lasts at least one year, that gives me time to upgrade to something else anyway. So here it is. Still on sale on E-bay and in many other sizes too. http://www.ebay.com/itm/T5-Grow-Light-4-Ft-8-Lamps-DL848-Fluorescent-Hydroponic-Bloom-Veg-Daisy-Chain/221194869730?ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1&ih=012&category=42225&cmd=ViewItem I encourage you to go with this seller and save a whole lot on your T5. I'm ready to get a smaller one for clones and seedlings as soon as I can afford to.
Now. As far as keeping the grow on the DL. Well, there is no substitute for tight lips! Don't talk about what you're doing with anyone affiliated with the folks you don't want to know. I know this may be hard at times, because I'm damn proud of all I've accomplished with my first run, and would love to share the experience with some of my friends and family. But all people react different when it comes to knowing what you're doing. Some think right off the bat that you are making mad cash, and they're going to want in on it some way or another. Some people get jealous and either consider snitching you out or talking to way too many people about it to the same result, legal trouble! It may be tough at first (depending on your personality), but just keep it to yourself.
Another thing, you mentioned aside from the light leak was smell. There is no substitute for a good air scrubber. You don't need to vent it outside, the air from the room can be scrubbed and blown into the house or rest of the basement. But you definitely want a carbon scrubber come the first couple weeks into flowering. If not right from the start. On the light leak, just use some insulation in the ceiling. It's not incredibly expensive and if it won't stay up in the ceiling, use clear or preferably white (visqueen) plastic. Some people make all their walls with plastic or tarps, and it works. I used some high gloss white paneling that I got at the Home Depot for a little less than $12.00 per 8'x4' sheet. I love it. went up on the walls I framed (with 24" wide studs for less lumber) with ease using a brad nailer or just paneling nails. The canned spray foam that you can get at the Depot is good for filling in the cracks too. It dries very strong and won't cost too much either.
In the end if you have to move to the upstairs, it won't be an entirely different ball game. You still have to consider the obvious. Good light, lots of fresh air or good ventilation, and of course water. I found it very easy to use the basement having the laundry tub right there for water.
Now. As far as keeping the grow on the DL. Well, there is no substitute for tight lips! Don't talk about what you're doing with anyone affiliated with the folks you don't want to know. I know this may be hard at times, because I'm damn proud of all I've accomplished with my first run, and would love to share the experience with some of my friends and family. But all people react different when it comes to knowing what you're doing. Some think right off the bat that you are making mad cash, and they're going to want in on it some way or another. Some people get jealous and either consider snitching you out or talking to way too many people about it to the same result, legal trouble! It may be tough at first (depending on your personality), but just keep it to yourself.
Another thing, you mentioned aside from the light leak was smell. There is no substitute for a good air scrubber. You don't need to vent it outside, the air from the room can be scrubbed and blown into the house or rest of the basement. But you definitely want a carbon scrubber come the first couple weeks into flowering. If not right from the start. On the light leak, just use some insulation in the ceiling. It's not incredibly expensive and if it won't stay up in the ceiling, use clear or preferably white (visqueen) plastic. Some people make all their walls with plastic or tarps, and it works. I used some high gloss white paneling that I got at the Home Depot for a little less than $12.00 per 8'x4' sheet. I love it. went up on the walls I framed (with 24" wide studs for less lumber) with ease using a brad nailer or just paneling nails. The canned spray foam that you can get at the Depot is good for filling in the cracks too. It dries very strong and won't cost too much either.
In the end if you have to move to the upstairs, it won't be an entirely different ball game. You still have to consider the obvious. Good light, lots of fresh air or good ventilation, and of course water. I found it very easy to use the basement having the laundry tub right there for water.
Sinner, awsome post man thank you for understanding my situation! My birthday is comming up and I'm looking to get birthday cash from some in-laws (I routinely smoke with my sister/brother/moth in-law) to buy a T5 light - i'll chck out the one you posted but i was planning just a 4' x 4 bulb.. part of my concern is the extra cost for twice as many bulbs when i need to switch between veg/flowering... any thoughts on that?.. as far as keeping things discreet i considered building a wood closet in the basement that i can lock and run a vent back into the basement to filter the air.. but even that may eventually be impossible to explain so my best idea so far now is to do the same thing out in the garage ont he first floor... there's a perfect place for me to put it and to have a lockable room in our garage is really a nice thing to have even if not for hiding illegal activities. Being on the first floor with a concrete floor should make temp regulating easier than upstairs and I do not intend to ever get into the halide/sodium bulbs (i know they perform better... but the wife and i agree that if it produces that much extra heat and energy costs... it just seems risky... i'm not trying to become the weed growing champion, i just want to get high for free and maybe hook a few friends up and make some cash on the side)
I know the garage will present other challenges for controlling the temperature but i feel that's offset by being a spot that meets my needs for discretion.... i'm envisioning the plywood walled room with a locking door.... T5/CFL lighting inside with a carbon filter to handle smells. I don't have an active water line out there but I own two water dispensers so that will do. I also own a floor AC unit from when we lived in a basement with no AC/heat vents so if i absolutely have to cool that room down, frankly this one would be overkill but iirc i can set a temp and it should keep things around that range inside the room (would be around the side of a small walk-in closet)
so am i nuts or is this starting to sound like a plan?
I know the garage will present other challenges for controlling the temperature but i feel that's offset by being a spot that meets my needs for discretion.... i'm envisioning the plywood walled room with a locking door.... T5/CFL lighting inside with a carbon filter to handle smells. I don't have an active water line out there but I own two water dispensers so that will do. I also own a floor AC unit from when we lived in a basement with no AC/heat vents so if i absolutely have to cool that room down, frankly this one would be overkill but iirc i can set a temp and it should keep things around that range inside the room (would be around the side of a small walk-in closet)
so am i nuts or is this starting to sound like a plan?
SinnerD
Active Member
With the basement, if not a lot of people have seen the basement, or maybe just didn't really pay much attention to it, you could consider building a false wall straight from one side of the basement to another and just making the basement appear smaller and a portion of it disappear. Just an idea. As for the garage, there are plenty of wireless security implements that are sold now a days that can be bought separate and connected to a wireless keypad (much like any regular wired system) like motion detectors, window and door breaks, loud siren alarms, broken glass detectors, and they all report to the keypad. In some of the security devices I viewed the keypad can be programmed with up to 5 wireless phone numbers that the unit will call if it gets tripped. This way you can be notified even if you aren't at home when the alarm is tripped. It's pretty cool.
I was surprised to find that my 400 watt H.I.D. didn't really up my electric bill (along with an inline fan, some oscillating fans, and other small devices) much more than $20 to $50 a month, depending on the light cycle. But I run the T5 that I showed you and the 400 watt, so, it can get up to $50 more. However, you're right about the CFL's are a pretty good option, and the LED lights are expensive, but even more of a light bill saver.
Don't get too big with the room and a 4" inline fan will work great (at about 190 to 220 cfm) to replace the air in the room at least 4 times an hour. The carbon filter for any 4" fan can be found for less than $50. I work with Fox Farms Happy Frog potting soil because it already has such great nutrients loaded in it, you don't need a killer amount of chemicals to boost your plants. As a matter of fact, I find that the Organic nutrients are a bit cheaper than the chemical ones anyhow. I started with Hesi, but it was really overkill and contradictory to using a organic soil, so I've switched to General Hydroponics. Good nutrients and I don't have to worry about the pH balance being thrown off in the soil. Temperature and humidity will always challenge you at some point in time or another with climate change during the seasons if you live in a seasonal location. I'm pretty sure with how humid the summers get in MI that I'll need a dehumidifier at some point, or an A/C unit.
I think you can pull this off. If I can suggest anything it would be keep it to 2 to 4 plants to start. My 3'x3'x7' tent is packed with 4 plants, but using bag seeds you need to start by planting no less than 4 seeds just in case you don't get but 1 female. If that happens, just hurry up and plant another few and keep your plant in a veg state a bit longer and let the other catch up. That just another idea. You'll know after the first run or two if you want to continue or you're any good at this. It's not for everybody, but I think just about anyone can learn how to do it. Best of luck!
I'm about to shut my room down for the night/day, so I gotta run. Good luck, plan well, and keep records of when you make changes to your operation. Records will help you a lot in the long run. Whatever you do, don't be afraid to ask more questions, no matter how big or small the question.
I was surprised to find that my 400 watt H.I.D. didn't really up my electric bill (along with an inline fan, some oscillating fans, and other small devices) much more than $20 to $50 a month, depending on the light cycle. But I run the T5 that I showed you and the 400 watt, so, it can get up to $50 more. However, you're right about the CFL's are a pretty good option, and the LED lights are expensive, but even more of a light bill saver.
Don't get too big with the room and a 4" inline fan will work great (at about 190 to 220 cfm) to replace the air in the room at least 4 times an hour. The carbon filter for any 4" fan can be found for less than $50. I work with Fox Farms Happy Frog potting soil because it already has such great nutrients loaded in it, you don't need a killer amount of chemicals to boost your plants. As a matter of fact, I find that the Organic nutrients are a bit cheaper than the chemical ones anyhow. I started with Hesi, but it was really overkill and contradictory to using a organic soil, so I've switched to General Hydroponics. Good nutrients and I don't have to worry about the pH balance being thrown off in the soil. Temperature and humidity will always challenge you at some point in time or another with climate change during the seasons if you live in a seasonal location. I'm pretty sure with how humid the summers get in MI that I'll need a dehumidifier at some point, or an A/C unit.
I think you can pull this off. If I can suggest anything it would be keep it to 2 to 4 plants to start. My 3'x3'x7' tent is packed with 4 plants, but using bag seeds you need to start by planting no less than 4 seeds just in case you don't get but 1 female. If that happens, just hurry up and plant another few and keep your plant in a veg state a bit longer and let the other catch up. That just another idea. You'll know after the first run or two if you want to continue or you're any good at this. It's not for everybody, but I think just about anyone can learn how to do it. Best of luck!
I'm about to shut my room down for the night/day, so I gotta run. Good luck, plan well, and keep records of when you make changes to your operation. Records will help you a lot in the long run. Whatever you do, don't be afraid to ask more questions, no matter how big or small the question.