Test my DIY Knowledge (And save yourself money!)

pocw94

pocw94

Well-Known Member
hey buck i am building my new grow room and its coming along nicely, to lightproof it i am going to put tiinted tarp everywhere,with reflective insulation on top of that, my main concern is the air flow, i will have a oscilating fan in the , but is that enough,what type of vents do i need in it.
 
pocw94

pocw94

Well-Known Member
and what is the name of the stuff that ill need to get/make. anything you think i should add to it aswell
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
pocw94 said:
hey buck i am building my new grow room and its coming along nicely, to lightproof it i am going to put tiinted tarp everywhere,with reflective insulation on top of that, my main concern is the air flow, i will have a oscilating fan in the , but is that enough,what type of vents do i need in it.
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oscillating fan will circulate air around the room, but you need to have a supply of fresh air coming in as well. if you just recycle the air in the room without replacing it, the plants will use all the CO2 and suffocate. also, it will likely be necessary to have an exhaust vent somewhere depending on how much heat you will generate in your room.

the best way i know of to get some vents in there without allowing any light leaks: bends in the ducting. light does not travel so well around a couple of 90 degree bends. especially if you paint the inside of the ducting black.

hope that helps!
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
jman214 said:
Unclebuck I ask you about cooling off a rubbermaid grow box what if I took it down to 6 lights
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that will cut your amount of light by 40%, but it will still get pretty hot in that little box. i know one of my main surprises was how hot just a few cfl's could make a small space, and they do it very quickly. what i will say is this: do not try to skimp on ventilation! especially with a carbon filter, you will need a strong fan capable of extracting the hot air and pushing it through walls of carbon in order to draw in fresh cooler air.
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
pocw94 said:
thanks for the info, would a carbon scrubber be good, if it is how do u make one
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carbon scrubbers are for eliminating the smell of cannabis from your exhausted air.

if you need to keep this grow secret/stealthy, you need a carbon filter.

if this is a legal grow or you have no neighbors/concerns, you might not need one.

there are many many many ways to make a carbon scrubber, and i can give you my method if you'd like. the main idea is that ANY AND ALL air leaving the grow room must pass through some amount of activated carbon before exiting the grow room and may not leave otherwise.

mine is a common design based off of existing tutorials in the diy section. it uses ducting materials and reducers, contractor's cloth, activated carbon pads, activated carbon, pantyhose, and some duct tape.

i've often contemplated walking into walmart and frantically telling the greeter that i need those materials just to see the look on their face. but that would involve me going to walmart, and frankly, that will never happen.

check out some of the tutorials in the diy section for carbon filters and let me know if you need any specific advice if you indeed choose to build one.

good luck!
 
pocw94

pocw94

Well-Known Member
wow im an idoit i thought that they would create carbon dioxide for my plants.<---to do that all i need is to have an intake fan then?
 
bongtokinjuggalo

bongtokinjuggalo

Well-Known Member
Uncle Buck

I am an outdoor grower looking to move indoors within a year or so. And I have always wondered, where the fuck does the ducting/exhaust go to? Do you hook it up into the houses ducting? Or what?

Thats like the only thing about general indoor growing I dont know. That and how to wire things.
 
B

brucecisselky

Member
UncleBuck, thanks for helping us rookies out. I posted this earlier, but want to make sure to get a look. My number #1 goal is stealth and security, let me know what you and offer as many suggestions as you can. Thanks again and ahead of time.

Area: Wooden box, 8 ft tall, 4 ft wide and 2.5 ft deep. It has a door that latches shut.

Equipment: 1000 W HPS, Squirrel Cage Fan (465 cfm) running through a carbon filter and to the outside. I also have two mounted, oscillating fans and an intake fan, which can be attached to the AC unit with a little duct love. My ballast is off the floor, placed on two bricks. Everything with a plug is going through a moderately expensive surge protector, which is plugged into the wall via a 14 gauge extension cord.

Flora: 7 plants that came from Nirvana seeds, 6 sprouted in 3 days, the other came the following day. I've been watering every other and plan on starting the nutes in a week. I'm using Fox Farm's ocean blend as the medium. The PH is currently reading at 7. There is 5-6 feet between the lights and the plant, but I think the wattage is ok for the area.

The temp has been down around 80 and humidity steady at 50-55. Am I going in the right direction? I'm extremely paranoid and have attempted to cover all worse case scenarios. The major problem is that I live in a major city and my building is close quarters. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated, thanks a lot.
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
pocw94 said:
wow im an idoit i thought that they would create carbon dioxide for my plants.<---to do that all i need is to have an intake fan then?
Click to expand...
yes, an intake fan will bring in fresh air, which is generally about 300 ppm CO2.

you could use a tank to pump CO2, but you need lots of expensive equipment and a sophisticated set up, best to wait until you have a few grows under your belt before messing with all that, IMO

and don't worry about sounding way off, it does not mean you are stupid, we all started somewhere. on my first grow back in college, i tried to use a single 20 watt floro for the whole grow....you can imagine the results were pretty pathetic!

good luck!
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
bongtokinjuggalo said:
Uncle Buck

I am an outdoor grower looking to move indoors within a year or so. And I have always wondered, where the fuck does the ducting/exhaust go to? Do you hook it up into the houses ducting? Or what?

Thats like the only thing about general indoor growing I dont know. That and how to wire things.
Click to expand...
it really depends on your set up.

i personally would not connect my exhaust ducting to the ducting in my house because i am no HVAC tech and wouldn't want to mess it up somehow. if your indoor grow is in your closet or a spare room, you will likely want to exhaust the hot air into a separate area or outside. some people will simply cut a hole in the drywall and vent the hot air up into an attic. patching a hole in drywall is one of the simpler fixes out there, so this is somewhat common.

if that is your only concern, i bet you will do just fine indoors. the key is just to get rid of the hot, stinky air so that it can be replaced ith cool, fresh air. i'm sure you'll know what to do!

good luck
 
UncleBuck

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
brucecisselky said:
UncleBuck, thanks for helping us rookies out. I posted this earlier, but want to make sure to get a look. My number #1 goal is stealth and security, let me know what you and offer as many suggestions as you can. Thanks again and ahead of time.

Area: Wooden box, 8 ft tall, 4 ft wide and 2.5 ft deep. It has a door that latches shut.

Equipment: 1000 W HPS, Squirrel Cage Fan (465 cfm) running through a carbon filter and to the outside. I also have two mounted, oscillating fans and an intake fan, which can be attached to the AC unit with a little duct love. My ballast is off the floor, placed on two bricks. Everything with a plug is going through a moderately expensive surge protector, which is plugged into the wall via a 14 gauge extension cord.

Flora: 7 plants that came from Nirvana seeds, 6 sprouted in 3 days, the other came the following day. I've been watering every other and plan on starting the nutes in a week. I'm using Fox Farm's ocean blend as the medium. The PH is currently reading at 7. There is 5-6 feet between the lights and the plant, but I think the wattage is ok for the area.

The temp has been down around 80 and humidity steady at 50-55. Am I going in the right direction? I'm extremely paranoid and have attempted to cover all worse case scenarios. The major problem is that I live in a major city and my building is close quarters. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated, thanks a lot.
Click to expand...
wow, sounds like you have it figured out pretty well!

your set up sounds like a stealth grower's wet dream, looks like you really did your homework before getting started.

the only thing that worried me was how early you plan on starting the nutrients. in my experience, the fox farms ocean forest (ffof) does not need any nutes for the first 30 days or so. if your babies are less than a week old, wait until they are about a month old before you start them on nutes. start the nutes at 1/4 - 1/3 strength and gradually work it up to full strength from there.

also, how big do you plan to let them get before switching them to flower? reason why i ask is because it surprises many people how much they grow once you switch to 12/12 for flower, they will often double or triple in size. i did not plan on this on my first 'real' grow and all my plants hit the lights and had to be topped.

feel free to hit up this thread with any ongoing concerns!
 
papapayne

papapayne

Well-Known Member
Looking to make a Cheap as possible greenhouse that doesnt look to ghetto and will hold 8-12 plants, any ideas?
 
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