4 X 8 SETUP have some questions

Ok so in the next 3 months I'll be able to buy my new setup.

I was thinking buying on

http://monstergardens.com/index.php?route=common/home

Is this a good site ?



Ok so here is my situation. Im living in an appartement 4 1/2 rooms so the second bedroom is for my 4 x 8.
I want the setup to be quiet, well build with quality items, good light, no odour ..

I have a budget of 4000$ for the whole setup. (1700$ for the Led lights ..)

Here is the list:


Tent:

= Gorilla Grow tent 4 x 8 x 8 height


Light:
= Solis-Tek Matrix 1000 ballast
= Both 1000 watt bulb from Genesis, the mh and the hps
= The Karma Reflector 8 inch from GrowLite (similar to the OG reflector

= Will be adding a 750 watt led just before bloom
The unit is from Hydroponics Hut https://www.hydroponicshut.com/pro-grow-led-750-hydroponics-hut-grow-light.html



Air:

= 8 inch vortex s-line for out
= 6 inch vortex s-line for intake
= Phresh Inline Carbon Charcoal Filter 8 inch / 750 cfm
= Phresh Intake Filter 6 inch 450 CFM
= Insulated 8 inch ducting
= Insulated 6 inch ducting
= 4 x Six inch clip Fan for air movement



Temperature control:

= Titan Controls Mercury 3, Day/Night Fan Speed Controller (auto)
= The speedster / Variable fan speed control (manual)
= EcoPlus Thermometer & Hygrometer

Of course there is some others minors parts like the pots saucers, bamboo stick etc ..


I'll make a soundproof box for each inline fans because I don't want my neighbours to hear the fans
The intake will take air from the window
The out will push the air in my appartement .. Will warm up the appartement during the cold winter !!

I live in near North Canada so the weather during the year I think will be enought to keep the perfect temperature inside. The highest temp I got last summer in my appartement was 29 degrees celsius so Ill be good with the temp I think

I already have a humi and dehumidifier

I want the cleanest organic grow. Sounds like future real medecine


PLZ let me know what you think, what you would change and why. Sorry my english

I would go to amazon and buy all that stuff and save probably 1-2 grand. From my personal experience the cheaper stuff on amazon works perfect. Most of the cheap digital ballast come out of the same factory as te expensive stuff just a diffrent name and case

Don't use LED's sure they work, you'd be better off investing in another HPS however.

Is this your first grow?

I see a few things I would nix right off the bat.

-intake fan/filter
-LED light

- I would not use a vertical reflector. They are big and heavy and you need a lot of headroom to make them work efficiently. I would use air cooled horizontal, something like the blockbuster or XXXL. 8" flanges with 8" ducting. I would run filter > ducting > hood > ducting > hood > ducting > exhaust fan > out

You could also run dedicated intake for the air cooled hoods and use a carbon filter as a "scrubber" to deal with odor in the tent. In that case, you would need 2 fans/filters.

- One 16" fan is fine for air circulation. I would do that instead of 4 small ones.

- The controls are unnecessary IMO. Get a good duct muffler to quiet down the whoosh from the exhaust.


IMO, your setup is a bit large for an apartment grow, especially if you are concerned with security. That is a lot of equipment to hide if there is a surprise inspection/visit. Even with a good filter, the smell of 2000w worth of flowering plants is tough to eliminate esp in an apartment. Not to mention the heat and noise.

Are you growing for personal use? You can pull over a pound every few months with one 1000w and it would be easier to deal with.

Yes I'm concerned with security and odour and everything and yea this is for personal use. Will be making just some really good extract from the buds ..

The controllers are just to control the temps automatic when I'm not home.
Am I mentionned the Karma reflector from grow lite

http://growershouse.com/karma-8-reflector-from-growlite

Maybe 2 of them running both 1000 watt which I can dim to 750 maybe ? Instead of a led lamp

And I dont understand your ventilation system. Dont you think an 8 inch vortex inside a sound proof box will be enought cool the light run the carbon filter ?

and simply use another vortex but 6 inch for the intake ? which take new air from the windows ?

Ok this is likely to get some banter going but I have to chime in here. Not trying to be a hater here, just trying to insert some logic into your plans and make sure you consider all factors.

Contrary to what you may have heard from LED haters, they work and work well. Case in point, my son (yes I'm an old guy who's been smoking and growing weed for 35+ years) was one of those LED haters, gave me a hard time about LED's, yada, yada, yada... until he saw my last couple of grows when I decided to do some indoor growing. He's now saving to convert to LED's. This is real life experience/comparison from someone (my son) who's been using the other alternatives for a few years, not 3rd or 10th hand heresy like what you hear on half the posts in this site. Now that my position is clear I'll expand my line of thought - lol.

You're going to build a monster (monster being relative to your location/apartment) room in an apartment (good luck btw with any inspections/work they may have to come into your apartment for). Hope they don't meter your individual/unit hydro usage, particularly if you go with mh/hps.

You're concerned (and rightly so) about smell and noise to the point where you're planning mufflers and installing decent smell control components. Yet you're going with mh/hps lights for vegging? If you look at it logically and factor in risk (your location is arguably the highest risk site you could choose, short of having cops for neighbours on either side), they contradict each other related to noise, heat control, never mind cost of operation and risk associated with higher power draws. Even **IF** (big question mark here) you were to get slightly lower yields from LED's for vegging and flowering, it makes no sense… logically. LED's run almost silently (no mufflers required, sounds like a PC running) if you get decent panels and you certainly seem to have the cash. LED's produce virtually no heat in comparison to alternatives like HID/HPS/MH, reducing your overall need/worries about noise and heat reduction components. Think about it.

Whichever way you go with your setup, be absolutely sure (or have a very good answer) that they don't/can't monitor your individual unit's electricity usage. With LED's you might have a chance at flying under the radar, with hps/mh no chance, may as well fly a red flag with a pot leaf in the centre on your venting window.

Of course, if you're the building superintendent forget about what I just said and GO FOR IT! lol

Man a 4x8 tent in an apartment is a bad idea......smell smell smell

Solis-tek ballasts are over-hyped, and expensive

1700 for leds, thats crazy talk. Can leds grow decent plants, they sure can. Are they better than HPS, hell no.

Vertical hoods suck....just a gimmick

Vortex makes really good fans

The speedster sucks, get a variac if you need fan control

Insulated ducting is a pain in the ass but can work well.

Gorilla grow tents are pretty nice.

Phresh carbon filters are good, I like phat better, and theyre cheaper.

Don't need the intake filter unless your taking air from outside.

Yea Ill take the air from the outside and as I said, this is not a vertical reflector !! The karma from growlite is the horizontal version.

And I was thinking buying the nano ballast

http://monstergardens.com/Grow-Lighting /Digital-Ballasts/Nano-Ballasts?product_id=1706

And which of the controler you think is a shitty one ?

why not do what everyone else does and order from plantlightinghydroponics.com

That ballast seems identical to CAP nano ballasts, if so they seem to work good

I figured it was the og style from karma. Still, that hood looks like it sucks. Think about it, the most amount of light comes from the sides of the bulbs. How much are you gonna lose when you have ducting there.

Okay, I'm being a little critical about the hood, but you could save money buying a different brand and most likely get a higher quality hood.

the speedster is shit. Read this thread https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/504744-fan-speed-controllers-cheap-versus.html

jijiandfarmgang said:

why not do what everyone else does and order from plantlightinghydroponics.com

That ballast seems identical to CAP nano ballasts, if so they seem to work good

I figured it was the og style from karma. Still, that hood looks like it sucks. Think about it, the most amount of light comes from the sides of the bulbs. How much are you gonna lose when you have ducting there.

Okay, I'm being a little critical about the hood, but you could save money buying a different brand and most likely get a higher quality hood.

the speedster is shit. Read this thread https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/504744-fan-speed-controllers-cheap-versus.html

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Dude the Karma reflector like the best of all. No light leak in the in the ventilation. Go watch some videos about it.

I choose monstergarden because they have a lot of stuff that I cant find on other sites, and their shipping cost to canada is very low.

I know the speedster is a cheap controller but the real controller for my temp is the other Titan control which control the intake ( which take cold air from the window) And maybe with the led lamp I need to save some money somewhere

Its up to you man. Its all a gimmick in my opinion, just watched some videos. I'm not a big fan of massive reflectors either.

Never saw one in person, but, it looks like theres a reflective flap covering the air duct, seems like a big restriction.

I prefer gavitas, but theyre not for everyone, and not air cooled.

Yea this is the problem, I need an a/c one.

jijiandfarmgang said:

Solis-tek ballasts are over-hyped, and expensive

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Depends who you talk to really, from my 3 months of research, the Solis Tek Ballasts used with their bulbs are an excellent match.

jijiandfarmgang said:

Vertical hoods suck....just a gimmick

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From what I have found, the Vertical Hoods are better than Horizontal, for one main reason is that there is too much light being lost from the ends of the tubes. Most of the Gurus recommend using open wing type reflectors, or better still no reflector at all. I am using 2x 600w Cool Tubes, and to me the light output is crap, a lot of light goes out the ends, and there really isn't any way of stopping it.

jijiandfarmgang said:

Vortex makes really good fans

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Its now said that the new Hyper Fans are the way to go, and they include a built in speed controller.

jijiandfarmgang said:

Phresh carbon filters are good, I like phat better, and theyre cheapest.

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I have also heard the Phresh Filter is good, I have also heard they are crap, I think either the Phat or Phresh will do okay.


One thing I can say for sure, the more light you get, and the closer the light is to the plant, the bigger the flowers. I have noticed quite a difference in size, as one of my 600w lights is about 10" from the plant, and the other is about 18" away. The one that is closer is considerably larger, so obviously the more light you have, and the closer you get it the better.

Why do you say the Hyperfans are the way to go ?

I'm happy you respond to this topic Aussie

I changed a little bit my mind during the last month. I think going with a 5 x5 instead and build a low budget veg room in a cabinet or something ( will be later)