new room minimal experience

I am in the process of building a new grow room.
As of now I have a 7.5x7.5 foot room with a9 foot sealing, 6 inch of insulation on all walls, under the floor and on the sealing.
2- 1000 watt lights with fully enclosed 6 inch duct hoods 2 -6 inch high volume duct fans and 2 large carbon filters, timers PLC temperature and humidity controllers and a natural gas wall heater to be used on pilot only to help with carbon dioxide.

The plan is to keep a minimal negative pressure in the room at all times pulling in fresh air from a basement that is cool ( 60-65 degrees). The light hoods cooling will be supplied from air moving in a duct from the basement through a carbon filter on the sealing and duct blower to a box containing an ion generate then exhausted. The fresh air will be suppled in the same way and also be carbon filtered and exhausted into the ion filter box then to the attic.

I plan on a dedicated carbon water filter and plan on growing hydro. The budget is VERY MINIMAL! Fortunately I have the above listed items and should only have the cost of a home built hydro system.

The questions are will I have to use external humidity control beyond air flow. Any extra cooling will be controlled by a dedicated air conditioning setup.

This is my second grow and first in the new room. I am green to sat the least!
No duct work has been installed yet, wiring is adequate, water is available. I have never grown hydro so a lot of questions will be forthcoming.

Any suggestion are greatly appreciated! Time schedule is less than 30 days to completion of room and hydro setup.

I am technically skilled in maintenance, construction and electronics with a GED and a can do attitude!

Joe36

That is going to depend greatly on the temperatures and amount of air flow, also the size and amount of plants that you will be running

joe36 said:

I am in the process of building a new grow room.
As of now I have a 7.5x7.5 foot room with a9 foot sealing, 6 inch of insulation on all walls, under the floor and on the sealing.
2- 1000 watt lights with fully enclosed 6 inch duct hoods 2 -6 inch high volume duct fans and 2 large carbon filters, timers PLC temperature and humidity controllers and a natural gas wall heater to be used on pilot only to help with carbon dioxide.

The plan is to keep a minimal negative pressure in the room at all times pulling in fresh air from a basement that is cool ( 60-65 degrees). The light hoods cooling will be supplied from air moving in a duct from the basement through a carbon filter on the sealing and duct blower to a box containing an ion generate then exhausted. The fresh air will be suppled in the same way and also be carbon filtered and exhausted into the ion filter box then to the attic.

I plan on a dedicated carbon water filter and plan on growing hydro. The budget is VERY MINIMAL! Fortunately I have the above listed items and should only have the cost of a home built hydro system.

The questions are will I have to use external humidity control beyond air flow. Any extra cooling will be controlled by a dedicated air conditioning setup.

This is my second grow and first in the new room. I am green to sat the least!
No duct work has been installed yet, wiring is adequate, water is available. I have never grown hydro so a lot of questions will be forthcoming.

Any suggestion are greatly appreciated! Time schedule is less than 30 days to completion of room and hydro setup.

I am technically skilled in maintenance, construction and electronics with a GED and a can do attitude!

Joe36

Click to expand...

exhaust to attic? how cold does it get where u at

joe36 said:

I am in the process of building a new grow room.
As of now I have a 7.5x7.5 foot room with a9 foot sealing, 6 inch of insulation on all walls, under the floor and on the sealing.
2- 1000 watt lights with fully enclosed 6 inch duct hoods 2 -6 inch high volume duct fans and 2 large carbon filters, timers PLC temperature and humidity controllers and a natural gas wall heater to be used on pilot only to help with carbon dioxide.

The plan is to keep a minimal negative pressure in the room at all times pulling in fresh air from a basement that is cool ( 60-65 degrees). The light hoods cooling will be supplied from air moving in a duct from the basement through a carbon filter on the sealing and duct blower to a box containing an ion generate then exhausted. The fresh air will be suppled in the same way and also be carbon filtered and exhausted into the ion filter box then to the attic.

I plan on a dedicated carbon water filter and plan on growing hydro. The budget is VERY MINIMAL! Fortunately I have the above listed items and should only have the cost of a home built hydro system.

The questions are will I have to use external humidity control beyond air flow. Any extra cooling will be controlled by a dedicated air conditioning setup.

This is my second grow and first in the new room. I am green to sat the least!
No duct work has been installed yet, wiring is adequate, water is available. I have never grown hydro so a lot of questions will be forthcoming.

Any suggestion are greatly appreciated! Time schedule is less than 30 days to completion of room and hydro setup.

I am technically skilled in maintenance, construction and electronics with a GED and a can do attitude!

Joe36

Click to expand...

fun

1 do not grow hydro ........hydro is a unforgiving bitch
from what u said this is a can not fail op on a low starting budget .....hydro cost the most money in gear to keep the system under control and producing for

i would tell u to do soil grow and 1 bucket dwc hydro grow
the soil grows are your money crops and the the hydro is your learning curve plant ......given u cash to reinvest into the op to get the stuff set up
100% on point

plus if u do it right u can make a hydro a monster plant 1 plant can fill your area leaving u work room

the AC unit should have a dehumidifier built into it .......unless u are in the deep south or some other place with RH in the 70s alot of the times that should do u

as for the heater and only a starter light .......no turn it off do not do that .......if u are doing C02 u need to control it ......just letting the light keep going is going to do more harm to u with dark hours u need oxygen in there for that part ........if u were doing auto flowers on a 24/0 time then doing what u were talking about would be worth it

but i tell u now if that room is in the lowest part of the house with a air path from the lower part of the house all the co2 u and anyone breaths out flows down there ......i had a natural rate of 600-700 ppm with only 2 ppl in this house

OK I appreciate all the advice I can get!
My first grow was in soil and was not very productive. I caused 90% of my problems by not being able to attend to the grow room properly. I was only able to check it every few days and it was several neglected.

I originally used Miracle Grow soil with very high humidity. It worked well for some time but before maturity I had mold problems and the soil grew large quantities of a bright yellow mushroom that quickly killed most of the grow. I was using a natural gas heaters pilot light and minimal ventilation. Where I discarded the soil it killed most of the broad leave vegetation.

With the next upcoming room I plan on doing much better at controlling the process. I will also be able to attend to the room daily. The purpose and use will be entirely personal for myself and family, 3 peoples needs with the hope of producing several times what is needed. The intent is to grow a year or 2 and take some time off.

The first grow was not so limited as this on money. I have the original equipment minus the soil and pots. This time with the advice already given I will try soil once again however I will be using soil from the yard. I can have it analyses but know that it is low on potassium. I live in a rural farming community so analysis is free from a university. I have the resources to heat sterilize the soil.


The seed I have on hand is from seed-4-free and are not feminized but at this time it is what I have. I do plan on growing some for future seed. I live at a latitude of 40 degrees north with average humidify over 50% year round. The duct fans (2) have are rated at 450 CFM. One will be circulating cooling air for light hood cooling. The other will be for fresh air and room cooling.

The light available are 2 1000 watt I power dimmable ballast rated for MH and HPS bulbs and 1 250 watt HPS. The 250 HPS hood has no provisions for cooling. The 2 1000 watt hoods are enclosed with 6 inch duck.

I do have the capabilities and knowledge to fabricate anything mechanical. However I am limited by some physical disabilities. It just takes me a lot longer to get results.

A few questions.

With advice already given concerning Co2 and drawing my intake air from a low point. Would there be advantages to draw the intake air from the basement floor?

Should I run continuous ventilation for circulation and cooling or use less air circulation and depend on AC for cooling? If continuous, how many CFM for 450 cubic foot of grow room?
The room is air tight other than ventilation.

Should I put the ballast outside of the grow room to help with cooling?

I originally plan on using the 250 watt HPS for seedlings adding the larger lights as plant size increases. Is this OK? The dimable ballast have 1000 watt MH bulbs but I do plan on buying 1 HPS bulb for the larger ballast.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Joe36

joe36 said:

OK I appreciate all the advice I can get!
My first grow was in soil and was not very productive. I caused 90% of my problems by not being able to attend to the grow room properly. I was only able to check it every few days and it was several neglected.

I originally used Miracle Grow soil with very high humidity. It worked well for some time but before maturity I had mold problems and the soil grew large quantities of a bright yellow mushroom that quickly killed most of the grow. I was using a natural gas heaters pilot light and minimal ventilation. Where I discarded the soil it killed most of the broad leave vegetation.

With the next upcoming room I plan on doing much better at controlling the process. I will also be able to attend to the room daily. The purpose and use will be entirely personal for myself and family, 3 peoples needs with the hope of producing several times what is needed. The intent is to grow a year or 2 and take some time off.

The first grow was not so limited as this on money. I have the original equipment minus the soil and pots. This time with the advice already given I will try soil once again however I will be using soil from the yard. I can have it analyses but know that it is low on potassium. I live in a rural farming community so analysis is free from a university. I have the resources to heat sterilize the soil.


The seed I have on hand is from seed-4-free and are not feminized but at this time it is what I have. I do plan on growing some for future seed. I live at a latitude of 40 degrees north with average humidify over 50% year round. The duct fans (2) have are rated at 450 CFM. One will be circulating cooling air for light hood cooling. The other will be for fresh air and room cooling.

The light available are 2 1000 watt I power dimmable ballast rated for MH and HPS bulbs and 1 250 watt HPS. The 250 HPS hood has no provisions for cooling. The 2 1000 watt hoods are enclosed with 6 inch duck.

I do have the capabilities and knowledge to fabricate anything mechanical. However I am limited by some physical disabilities. It just takes me a lot longer to get results.

A few questions.

With advice already given concerning Co2 and drawing my intake air from a low point. Would there be advantages to draw the intake air from the basement floor?

Should I run continuous ventilation for circulation and cooling or use less air circulation and depend on AC for cooling? If continuous, how many CFM for 450 cubic foot of grow room?
The room is air tight other than ventilation.

Should I put the ballast outside of the grow room to help with cooling?

I originally plan on using the 250 watt HPS for seedlings adding the larger lights as plant size increases. Is this OK? The dimable ballast have 1000 watt MH bulbs but I do plan on buying 1 HPS bulb for the larger ballast.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Joe36

Click to expand...

ok help

1 miricle grow soil is crap ........never use it for anything other then flowers in the yard
1a .....good soils are fox farms ocean forrest ...roots organic (anything other then 707) ....black gold (this is the one u can find in any store )
1b .....augments to the soil u can add worm casting bat poop ...all kinds of stuff look up Subcool's super soil ......use that as your base
1c.......just info for u 1 gallon of soil equals 1 month of food for the plant....us feeding it just boosting what the roots intake

2 your light .....the 1000w
2a dimmable is very bad ......the bulb is not designed for dimming ...when u run the power lower then what the bulb is designed for it is damaging the bulb's filament and also letting off the wrong type of lightwaves .....always keep the ballast on 100% after about 10k 12 k hours if it has a power boost u can turn that on (power boosting is use to replace the lost lumens ....as the filament wares out the amount it puts out lessens the boost allows u to gain those back untill the end of the bulbs life in about 10k-8k hours)
2b.......the ballast place it outside the grow area and run the cord to the plug .......when u set the ballast up place it in a cool area maybe even a fan blowing over it to help lessen the heat ......a digital ballast is good just rem heat is the enemy of electronics

3 your seeds ........i can help u fem them
https://www.rollitup.org/t/a-guide-to-colloidal-silver.865536/
this will tell u all about it .......u can make the stuff yourself or buy it off amazon then u just need to spray the seeds with it (98% of them will turn into female)

With advice already given concerning Co2 and drawing my intake air from a low point. Would there be advantages to draw the intake air from the basement floor?
yes the lowest coolest point u can intake from is the best ....inside a house ...i made power intakes using lvl 10 filters (cleans out pollen mold virus smoke hospital grade)

Should I run continuous ventilation for circulation and cooling or use less air circulation and depend on AC for cooling? If continuous, how many CFM for 450 cubic foot of grow room?
The room is air tight other than ventilation.
your going to need to decide .........a exchange room or a sealed room
exchange room means u always have the air flowing to control the temp and supply co2 (this one u would RH and AC the air before it enters your grow area)
sealed room u seal it all off supplying co2 from a burner or tank and using a mini split ac to control the temp and RH

Should I put the ballast outside of the grow room to help with cooling?
yes answer 2b

I originally plan on using the 250 watt HPS for seedlings adding the larger lights as plant size increases. Is this OK? The dimable ballast have 1000 watt MH bulbs but I do plan on buying 1 HPS bulb for the larger ballast.
NO HPS for seedlings or veggie .......HPS is bloom only ......MH for veggie
buy 2 bulbs for your 1000w
hps
https://www.amazon.com/Ushio-US5001671-Enhanced-Performance-1000-watt/dp/B009D4JUIW
or
https://www.amazon.com/EyeHortilux-1000-Watt-Super-Grow-1-Pack/dp/B002JLE6HG

finisher ........this adds UV and 10k light use at the end of flower to tighten up the buds and make more resin/oil on your plant
https://www.amazon.com/SolisTek-1000W-10K-Metal-Halide-Digital/dp/B00R2Q7GUC

as for your 250w
https://www.amazon.com/EyeHortilux-901791-Daylight-Halide-250-watt/dp/B000KQQKU8

yes i know the bulbs cost more then the other ones.......but ask around the brands i linked u are the top ones ....u will get good results and no issues of them blowing up or anything on u like some of the cheaper ones