Some of you might know from my other threads that I'm moving to the middle east for a few years and well, this is the first time I've been given the opportunity to have such a big and comfortable grow room and I figured I should devote a thread to this design. So I call for help from you fellow blades, how should I get this done? I'm strongly considering an MH/HPS approach but also have LED in mind. Hydro or organic? How many plants should I place in a square meter? Ventilation? How many lights? and do I need a ballast for each light? (this is my main concern) Also, electricity costs are NOT a concern This house will be a two floored house, I live on the second and my parents below me, preferable that they don't find out but I'm going to light proof and upgrade security to fingerprint lol. Help is highly appreciated blades, thanks! So I'm still building this house at the moment. But the design will probably be staying like this (arrow is grow room):
What size is the room? is that measurement in inches or centimeters? how high is the ceiling? Also, LED's are a bad choice if you want to grow, they are good for micro grows but that is not what you want for a larger grow. Hydro will produce faster and bigger results then organic but many people say organic tastes better. either way its for what you want. some things to think about: How are you going to vent your exhaust? What are you going to hang my lights from? how are you going to seal the room? Can your electrical wiring handle the amount of power you are going to require?
Those measurements are in centimetres and I'm not sure yet but I'd imagine a few metres at least. I'm probably going to go hydro in that case, I find that it tasting better is just a myth lol. The exhaust can be vented trough the windows, as the house is not built yet I can make a few adjustments if necessary but if a few years down the line I'd need to use the room for something else that the changes would not be damaging. I'll have to look into how I'll seal the room and what to hang it from, this idea sprung to me 2 days ago so I haven't planned yet. Also, I can change the wiring to suit the needs so I imagine this wont be an issue.
How long term is this going to be? because if the house isnt even built yet you got a hell of alot of cool options open to you. its roughly 11ft x 10ft area to work with (excluding area that the door swing takes up and a walk path.) You could for instance raise the ceiling in that room to 14-16 ft which would allow you to grow huge sativas like Nevilles Haze. or even build a true hidden room.
I'm not quite sure yet, depends on how family business is going but for the very least 2-5 years. If I like the country now (wasn't so nice 5-7 years ago) I'll be staying permanently. But Christ that plant is fucking huge! and a very nice high from what I've read. I'm not sure if I could raise the ceiling in one particular room though, I'd have to raise the entire house. and I never even thought about building a hidden room! :O
I like the hidden room with a secert bookcase shelf door. But they might shoot you as a terrorist if they find it, being secert and all. Thats a weird part of the world with different customs and punishments than the rest of the world. Be careful, whycant you just grow on a hillsidelike the locals do?
They've got fairly relaxed laws actually, and you can probably buy the judge off haha. I have a 2 acre garden in my name like a 30 minutes drive from me but it would be inconvenient to use it as I'd probably only be able to visit once a week or so. Maybe a nice idea for the summer. I like Bandits idea though. Just waiting on his and others input. (feel free to suggest improvements)
I would just suggest doing this right, if the house is being built i would recommend you have specialized insulation put in the walls. (sound proofing/heat reflective) and run your exhaust straight up through the ceiling, through the attic and to a actual chimney that way if there is any smell the carbon scrubber misses it will dilute enough that it won't be detectable. also the sound and heat won't be detected either. You could have the door replaced with a bookshelf or a giant mirror (its better because it gives you the illusion of more space which will make the "unaccounted for space" (grow room) be virtually undetectable. ) and have a true hidden room. It would require abit of fabrication but would be supremely cool. Take a look at other hidden doors
With a 11x10ft area you have many options open to you, like how much do you want to produce? you could have 4 1000watt HID lamps in there, or you could split it up and have 3 1000watts HID's for your flower room, build another smaller room within that room and have a Veg/Mother room so your flowering room is always full. (my recommendation, allows you to try new strains and have a faster turn around time from harvest to harvest) Your Veg room doesn't need a big HID lamp either, you could run a big fat T5 HO lamp and produce little heat (so you don't have to run ducting to the lights) There is a lot of options open to you, like getting a mini-Split AC unit plumbed into the wall directly. (would be a no-negative pressure AC unit, allowing you to run Co2 if you wanted in the future) There is quiet a bit of work that can be done before hand to insure you have an growers wet dream of a room. really depends on how much you are looking to spend, how much you want to harvest etc.
Sound proofing will definitely be important. I'm not sure about heat insulation though as the government there doesn't check for grow houses etc. Also, the house design is different from houses in UK and the US so I don't know if I can place a chimney on one. Here's a picture of what it will roughly look like: But I'll definitely see if I can put a hidden room in there. Do you have any recommendations on how many Watt lights and amount plants I should aim for? I highly appreciate your help by the way.
No worries man, sound insulation for sure then, since your chimney option isn't too available perhaps a vent on the side of the wall then that exits the house 6-10ft above ground level. i assume this is somewhere in the middle east then? if so it would make AC an absolute must as temperatures in the room should be between 68f - 78f for ideal growth. anything over 90f will harm the plant. this entire setup changes with a lot of small details. so more i know the more i can make suggestions
Your asking questions that you should know the answer to at this point.. You have allot of reading to do mate.. Lucky for you youve come to the right place.. just dont put the cart before the horse.. Plan well, the best rooms are the thought out rooms.. indoor growing your best to not grow huge plants..takes to much light and isnt effecient.. Look at flood tables, soundproof and plan a closed room. this will benefit you in many ways, as you read you will see what Im saying.. gluck mate
I see, it will definitely exit the house at up to 20-40 feet as my house will be on the second floor so it shouldn't be a problem. I like your veg/flower separation idea, I can't use a solid concrete wall though in case I ever had to empty the room for it to be used for something else years down the line. AC unit can be done and does seem like a very useful thing to have in case humidity ever gets too high. Yeah haha I'm hoping to get every detail right so I don't have to worry when I get there and just enjoy. I've got a budget of around $1500-3000 to work with roughly. And I know Yoda, I just get too excited when it comes to things like this, haha. I will keep reading and follow your advices.
You could probably get some left over drywall from the house build as well as 2x4's then all you would have to front for would be a door and panda poly (to make a air tight/water tight seal) after they wire that room with the normal 15amp/120v outlets i would recommend running a 240v 30 amp breaker to that room, means you would have to run 10 gauge wire to it. that 30 amps should feed all your electrical needs, and your 120v can run your fans etc. i am in the middle of thinking out a layout for your room when i remembered that you have a small budget and i don't think you need to go quite this scale unless you smoke a-lot of grass. first attempt but here is something in the price range you mentioned. Second attempt This would be a better overall fit, as it doesn't take up a huge amount of room (gives you space to work) and the ducting is easier compared to my first thought, the inline fans would vent through the same exhaust on the side of the wall. Might be prudent to put a Carbon scrubber on the Light intake as well, in case it started pulling scent from the grow room (i'd make sure the hoods and all the ducting is very well sealed, then i'd tape it again) The 50W per SQF will give you the best yields and potency. most growers aim for 50w/sqf. You would have room for circulating fans, possible AC unit etc. my tip would be to put the ballasts and timers etc on the outside of the room (between hidden door and the other two doors) so the heat from the electrical equipment doesn't heat up the room at all. Another thought, is there a window on this room?
I just woke up so I quickly read through it but that sounds great, I'll be sure to re-read what you said a few times when I wake Also, yes there is a 150 cm window in the far right corner Okay I just completely read trough it and I like what you did in the second attempt, with nursery do you mean the veg room or? I was thinking putting the door from the nursery on to the other side and add extra security to the middle door. As far as I can see there is an inline taking in air near the hidden door for the lights and another inline on the other side and then there is an inline for the scrubber. I just don't know hot to put the scrubber with the lights lol So three 600w lights I see. How many plants should I aim for there like 36?
Yes, nursery is mother room/veg and clone area, i thought the door on the outside would be a better choice to avoid light leaks from under the door and allows you to check on your mothers/veg room without interrupting the flowering rooms photoperiod. The scrubber for the lights might not be needed, if the window can be opened for the light intake it will create a relatively neutral pressure, the inline fan that is pulling air from the room will insure that room is in a negative pressure, meaning no smell could escape as its pulling air into the room from all small gaps. you will have to put one 6" hole somewhere below the air intake for the lights (on the very bottem of the wall, with a dryer filter on it to keep bugs etc out the air intake for the lights is at the top of the wall) so you can get some actual air exchange. even with a hole in the wall the exhaust fan should keep the room in a negative pressure so no smell goes wafting through the house. you could put any number of plants under the lights its all dependent on how you want to grow. i would go with 27 (9 under each lamp) to start. your hidden door should be all the security you need imho.
I see, the that's good then, I don't understand what you mean though with the hole at the bottom, is that so the air can exchange between the two rooms? I'll go with 27 then h, ill see if I can raise the roof as well. Just read it on pc, I know what you mean now but shouldn't the inline for the lights and exhaust be enough or should I still make a hole?
The air from the lights intake, should never come in contact with the air inside the actual grow room (since it will be very hot from the lights), the air intake for the room can be either passive or a inline fan that has a lower CFM then the exhaust. either way it will insure the room is in a negative pressure.
Ah yes I see what you mean now. That's all taken care of then! by the way, do you suggest I put tempered glass on my hoods or not? Also, I realized that I miscalculated my budget (thought exchange rates were lower and general calculation fuckup) and I've got around $4000-5500 to blow lol, with this in mind should I raise the level of Watt's to 1000w? what other positive changes can I make with this new budget? Thanks a lot by the way, that's my grow room nearly designed now.