Another "am i setting up this tent right" thread. bout to drop some $$

[IndoorScore]

Setting up a 5x9 and just wanted a little confirmation before I drop a ton of money on all this stuff there isn't better alternatives. Going DTW in coco, emitters fed by a cycle timer. This is what I have so far

5x9 Gorilla Grow Tent
2x HLG-550s
2x 8" Hurricane Inlines
1x8" Carbon Filter
1x Sentinel DEC-4 Environmental controller
12x3 Gal Equivalent Airpots
Pump for rez (to be decided)
Cycle timer for rez pump
Various tubing
Hanna Constant PH+PPM Meter for rez
4x8 Tray


I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff per usual. Going to keep the nutrient game simple running KISS via maxi, eventually on a dosatron but I don't really want to drop that $ yet. Hoping running intake/exhaust should cool the tent down just fine, going into a spare bedroom so ambient temps always ~70*.

Thanks for any advice, first time dropping all this cake at once got me itching for a double check. Also if anyone has had stellar service from one of these hydro shops... someones about to get a large order.
Regards

 

[greg nr]

That's a pretty gold plated system. I'm jealous.

For cooling, your spare bedroom is always an ambient 70's, but you are about to throw 1400++ watts worth of heat into it while the lights are on. Do you have the a/c control and capacity to keep that room cool without turning the rest of the house into a fridge? What about humidity?

Also, you better come up with a flood prevention plan. If your drain tube breaks and all that water spills out of the tent instead of your drain, what happens?

Btw, how are you going to dispose of the drained waste? Bedrooms don't often have drains in them, or fresh water sources..... Soil may be a better option if you can't drain easily or can't get 50 gallons of water to the res easily..

And finally, I'm assuming you already have the ph and ec meters? All the small bits?

 

[IndoorScore]

Thanks for the reply and the questions, the first time I'm sinking multiple K into setting up a grow, especially all at once. But we just bought a house (we were renting). Deal is she gets to decorate and I get the spare bedroom. So here we are. Pretty Psyched.

I'm going to exhaust straight out the window, not use the bedroom like a lung. I'm hoping the LEDs won't heat up the tent too much, Haven't hung them yet obviously. If need be a window a/c for that room is an easy fix to avoid freezing up the rest of my house but ~70* intake air getting exchanged pretty quick hopefully does the job. I do live in the north east so in the winter at least I can intake some from outside, into the bedroom and then through the tent to "temper" the cold air a bit. Considering the season, probably won't have to worry about this a ton right now.

No IDEA how I'm going to drain it, honestly probably just throw a drain rez under the tray and have it end up in the sink with a wet vac or pump. shouldn't ever be more than like 10-12gal of waste in there daily but certainly something to think about.

Going to be using the Hanna constant ph and EC meters and leave them chilling in the rez. I'm sure I have some stick style meters still bumping as well.

 

[greg nr]

Ok, so this isn't an added grow space then? What about veg/clone/seedling space?

Venting outside can work, but you will be dumping a lot of cool house air outside. Most people use a an a/c that has two vents to the outside (one in to cool the condenser, and the other venting the hot condenser air outside). The room air just recircs. Basically create a sealed room. You will still use your carbon filter, but you won't be dumping room air outside.

Just a thunk.

 

[coreywebster]

Not sure what a sentinel controller is? Does it control fan speeds? If not you want your intake fan turned down lower than your extraction since your extraction will be at most 75% power with filter and duct added. I use an 8" extraction and don't use any intake fans, but we all have different climates.

Sounds like you have a great grow planned though.

If it were me and I owned my own house with a room available for this sole purpose I would forget about the tent, tile the floor like a wet room with a slight slope to a drain in the centre and possibly add a tent to one side of the room for vegging. That's just me though. One day I will do just that.

 

[IndoorScore]

Not sure what a sentinel controller is? Does it control fan speeds? If not you want your intake fan turned down lower than your extraction since your extraction will be at most 75% power with filter and duct added. I use an 8" extraction and don't use any intake fans, but we all have different climates.

Sounds like you have a great grow planned though.

If it were me and I owned my own house with a room available for this sole purpose I would forget about the tent, tile the floor like a wet room with a slight slope to a drain in the centre and possibly add a tent to one side of the room for vegging. That's just me though. One day I will do just that.

The reason I'm not building out the spare bedroom is that I have ~800sq/ft in the attic to work with once I pile up the money. Housing in the city isn't cheap, just had to write a check for 100k for the down payment, so once money allows I'm going to install forced air and extra power up there. This is more of a stopgap, in a finished bedroom we plan on using eventually for a kid. Thats kinda the thought process behind the tent.

I do have variable speed controllers for the fans. The sentinel DEC-4 will control the timing for the lights, as well as kick on the exhaust fan for temp and RH control. If I need to stick a dehuey in there it will control that separately from the fan as well.

Vaguely from the site:

• Separate Day / Night Cooling setpoints.
• Separate Day / Night Heating setpoints.
• Separate Day / Night Humidity setpoints.
• Minimum / Maximum recall of temperature and humidity readings.
• Temperature: Two independent outputs to control cooling and heating with separate Day and Night settings for each.
• Humidity: Can either increase or decrease the amount of humidity inside the area with separate Day and Night settings.
• CO2 Coordination: Allows for basic coordination of CO2 enrichment with daytime settings, ventilation cycles etc. This allows for increased growth, lower cost of CO2 enrichment as well as lower power consumption in your garden. Manufacturer set CO2 enrichment at 1250ppm.

So should take care of the lighting, exhaust fan, whatever I decide to do about RH and temperature within the tent. I'm in the less is more camp, so just getting rid of a couple shitty timers and a furnace sensor to run the exhaust and replacing it with a single controller is pretty attractive to me.

May have rambled, the GSC distillate tanks got me rippppped.

 

[IndoorScore]

Ok, so this isn't an added grow space then? What about veg/clone/seedling space?

Venting outside can work, but you will be dumping a lot of cool house air outside. Most people use a an a/c that has two vents to the outside (one in to cool the condenser, and the other venting the hot condenser air outside). The room air just recircs. Basically create a sealed room. You will still use your carbon filter, but you won't be dumping room air outside.

Just a thunk.

For the next ~6 months, its going to be heat getting ejected, not A/C from the house. Outside temps are already mid 60s during the day. I could easily throw a window banger in there and not vent to the outside and use the bedroom as a lung room. At that point where is the natural co2 coming from to feed the ladies without enrichment? Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong but to me ventilation is as much about fresh air getting into the grow space as much as it is about temperature control.

Don't do this professionally so I may very well be way off.

 

[IndoorScore]

No-one else has any suggestions? Any best place to purchase?

 

[coreywebster]

Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong but to me ventilation is as much about fresh air getting into the grow space as much as it is about temperature control.

Don't do this professionally so I may very well be way off.

Your damn right.

 

[greg nr]

Best place? Depends on whether or not you are in a legal state. I'm in a legal rec state and I got most of my gear off Amazon, and pick up what is too big to ship or too small to wait for from local hydro stores.

But if you are in a prohibition state, other factors apply. Cops stake out hydro stores. They plant ads on craigslist. They make it about as risky as they can.

But my basic suggestion is to start small and simple. Use a small tent, 3x3 or 2x4, basic soil, and a cheap light. Once you get a couple of grows done, you can use that for veg and get what you think will work better. What you end up with will certainly not be what you start out with, so start small, get the logistics worked out, then go bigger.