Considering moving indoors - looking for critique of plans

Here we go…

After several successful outdoor grows under my belt, I am seriously considering trying my hand at indoors. After spending a significant amount of time browsing different forums, I have come to the conclusion that there are a lot of different ways to skin this cat and thought I would see if I could bring some focus to my plans and throw them up for critique from those who have indoor experience.

Some background -

Location: Northern New England. Weather is nice for two months, hot for two months, and cold and miserable for the rest.

I have a secure barn with a 200 amp service and a substantial loft that would allow at least a 15x40 room if I wanted to. I will obviously scale that back to a reasonable area. The area will be will framed, insulated, sheet rocked, and painted flat white. I am planning on two rooms – one for veg/cloning and one for flower with a door separating the two. I'm figuring on 6-8 plants to start.


Questions:

1. One of my first dilemmas is climate control. Given the variation in temperatures throughout the year (below 0 to 90’s) this is a concern. I’m guessing that sealed rooms (no external ventilation draw from outside) will be easier to moderate with a thermostat coupled with electric heat and small portable air conditioners would work. A mini split would be better, but is not an option at this stage.

1. If the room is sealed, I presume I will need to provide CO2 in some manner? What is the easiest solution?

1. Grow Media – looking at coco coir to begin with. DWC seems intriguing, but I don’t have a water supply at the barn and would have to haul it from about 1000’ away.

1. Lighting – I am considering a vertical grow with a 360 degree setup. Plants would be vertically SCROGed on frames/screens with fans supplied to move air and heat generated from the lighting around. Anyone have a good rule of thumb for wattage required per sq ft. or per plant? Would I be better off with multiple bulbs of smaller wattage as opposed to larger, single bulbs? Completely different lighting setup? Better off with horizontal bulbs/reflectors?

How far off base am I? Are there better solutions than what I have planned? I am open to any and all suggestions and critiques.

Thanks!

mackdx said:

If the room is sealed, I presume I will need to provide CO2 in some manner? What is the easiest solution?

Click to expand...

You don't really *need* too, but it's a good idea. Not sure what your living situation is, but if your house has natural gas heat you can get some extra CO2 by venting your gas hot water heater inside - same goes for the furnace. You can also get a gas fireplace and run it 24/7 in the winter.

If you don't have natural gas or oil, then you'll need to use propane or co2 tanks (or maybe kerosene? never tried) If your not tight on funds, a $400 cap co2 controller is a nice buy. It has a real easy-to-read screen and is fully adjustable.

And to be honest, the first thing I'd do is figure out how to get water in there without carrying it. Even soil plants use lots of water - I'd put in a garden hose hookup and a utility sink at the very least. Now is the time to do it, because if you are going to have people come out and drill a well, you don't want any grow stuff around. If you don't have the money for a well, you can still catch rainwater in barrels or divert the gutters (do barns have gutters?)

The barn is separated from the house by over 1000 feet so CO2 from that is not going to happen - same with water. Drilling a new well at > $5k is not an option either so I am content with having to haul water,

No experienced indoor growers willing to help a brother out?....