**Long post warning** So I've decided to grow and this is the space I have chosen to use. This is underneath a staircase in my basement. Solid slab concrete floor, already framed up for a door. You can see the exact shape and dimensions in the attached PDF. I figure on putting some long unused carpentry skills to use and finish this out and hanging a door with a lock. I also do some photography, so this will also be my "locking storage closet for expensive equipment". The finished floor area will be just shy of 24 sqft. I plan on using that insulating foam you can see in one of the photos all around before hanging sheetrock. That's for noise reduction as well as insulating. (And I have it.) Finished volume is about 145 cubic feet. Planning for a carbon scrubber to be vented under the area in the back which will then disperse throughout the rest of the basement. Will a good carbon filter remove all the odor? This is one of my bigger concerns at this point. I could run an exhaust out under the front porch if I had to. Cool fresh air will be drawn in near the door down low to take advantage of the cool concrete floor year round. Haven't checked humidity down there yet, but the temps should be pretty steady since this area is in the middle of the house. (By steady I mean they shouldn't vary a lot all of a sudden. It is definitely cooler there now than mid summer.) Now, should I parcel off the back 3ft x 3ft x 40ish for a dedicated flowering room? Or maybe come out to 4' and get a bit more height. I plan to grow organically and ScrOG it. Rather than wall off another section, I might go with a tent for the first few grows then if I decide to wall off a flower room, the tent could serve as a mother station. Good plan? Waste of effort and money? Oh, going to spring for a 600W MH/HPS switchable light with a cool tube. No sense doing this half-arsed, right? Should the lamp cooling air be pulled from the chamber and thus need filtering, or is it better to run the lamp cooling air from outside the chamber then right back out? That could move more air quicker and maybe quieter than exchanging all the chamber air continuously. Then cycle the chamber air periodically to expel oxygen and pull in fresh air. (Not going to touch CO2 yet.) Any other thoughts or questions are welcomed! View attachment Darkroom.pdf
Note to self, keep posts shorter. 367 views and not a single comment. Must be putting people to sleep at their keyboards...
So I've not been able to work on the room much yet, but I did pick up a cheap temp and humidity meter to get a feel for the conditions down there. Even with the bitter cold we've had the past couple of days (single digits) the unheated basement has stayed right around 50F and humidity has been 30-31% every time I've looked. I think with the 600W light, even with venting it, I should have pretty good temps and humidity. Thoughts?
I wouldnt mess with a tent. Id just finish that room and go from there. A carbon filter will remove 99.9% of the stink. Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Your humidity is good too. Just keep the air moving with fans. Dont bother with co2 unless your doing a lot of plants. Thats just my opinion. Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Oh keep your carbon filter at the highest spot in the room. Heat raisesSent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
The first problem that comes to mind is the one I'm having. You're showing a long narrow space. Similar to the room I'm growing in. I have to remove all the plants to get to the ones in the back. Real pain in the ass.
Yeah, thought about that. I'm only going to have a couple at a time for now. I'm planning a false wall to seal off the back four feet and use that for the actual grow room. Shouldn't be too hard to manage that way. And hopefully, once I get to the point of putting up the screen I won't need to mess with the pots that much. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the input!
That's the plan now. Roughing in the electrical today in fact. Hope to be hanging sheetrock this weekend. So do folks usually pull the air through the filter then through the fan and out? I was thinking to pull air into the exhaust hose(s) and push the air out through the scrubber. That way I could put that down low under the remaining part of the stairs where it couldn't be seen easily, but I could get to it to change the filter easier. Thanks for your input!
You should pull air through it. They have a pre filter for dust. Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Nice, I grow in similar conditions, you will do well with those temps. I think you would be fine with one 6" fan and an air-cooled hood for a 600w in those temps. For odor control, you want the fan pulling on the filter and pushing through the hood, then out of the room. If you place your fan so that it pulls on both the hood and filter, it's possible that your hood will leak some stinky air into your exhaust. (especially a DIY hood)
I was planning separate air flows for the light and the room. The light will have a fan pulling air into the room, across the light and back out. Pulling through the filter seems like it would decrease that air flow significantly. And with a proper hood there shouldn't be any stinky air getting into it. Or at least I think not. Then a separate 6" fan would be used to exchange the room air periodically. I don't see a need to constantly exchange that air, so I was going to put it on a timer. Was also thinking that would make it easier to control the temp and humidity. Oscillating fans to stir the air in the room. All intakes would be passive and have back draft dampers. Good or bad ideas?
That's exactly what I do in my 1200w 4x8, it's so efficient I have to keep my fans on low to maintain 72f. Good choice edit: wouldn't put your exhaust fan on a timer, need to maintain negative pressure to keep odor from escaping. Low setting does the trick for me, like I said.
Was hoping the backdraft dampers would take care of that if the intakes are low to the floor. But you have a point. I did order a speed controller for the one fan. Looks like I need another. Thanks!
Got most of the electrical roughed in. Need to do a little bit of framing before I can finish up. But I got to thinking about the fans while I was down there. The first photo below is where I was planning on putting them. Mounting them to that 2x4 that is fastened to the concrete floor should reduce vibrations. This is the area under the landing, at the back in the photo above. Was going to put two 6" through flanges in the wall back there and duct out under the workbench on the other side of that wall. That let's me access the fans without having to bother the plants in the room. As long as I'm pulling the room air from near the top, I don't see why I couldn't exhaust down it there. Plus it maximizes the space inside the room by not having to fit those fans in there. (Another reason I want to push the room air out through the filter.) Also, I have peg board on the outside of the other wall. Do you think if I put a flange against the pegboard and ran a short piece of 6" stove pipe into the room to attach the flex to it would be able to pull enough air through those holes to keep the bulb cool? (Second image.) I would put an inline filter at the wall so I could clean that and blow out any accumulated dust on the outside. The third image has a few of the first ordered supplies that arrived today. A timer, a speed control, submersible pump for the cloner a couple of intake/exhaust hoods, clamps and 2"mesh pots and inserts. And lastly, something that is already growing in my basement under absolutely horrible conditions. Angel's Trumpet. Hopefully I'll have better photos soon.
You could possibly get away with one inline fan. But if you want to do it with 2 thats the best way. You have much more control over your environment. I was going to do the 1 fan but the control I get with 2 is unbelievable. I won't go any other way. I run a 1000 watts in my 4.5x4.5 tent. My average day temps are 72-78 nights are 64 or soSent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Well, I've about got the framing finished. And I've learned one thing today, driving a nail is a LOT harder with bifocals. Particularly in cramped quarters. So I switched to decking screws. Also got my fan in yesterday. That puppy moves some air. May rethink the dual air for now. I'd still stub it in, but I'm getting close to my budget. (Didn't figure on finishing out the room initially.)
Got the insulation and electrical finished. If I can get a dry enough couple of days I'll be picking up the sheetrock this week. Also mixed up my soil today to start it's "cook" and got some work done on my cloner.
Where are you cooking your soil? It's too cold in your basement. Thats something most growers do in the summer or fall to prepare for next season. With a cooltube as long as you don't have too many bends it will keep your glass cool to the touch. You might have to get a heater for the room because 50 is too cold and the 600w isn't going to help. If i were you just go with one inline and do filter then fan and then push the air through the cooltube. If there is even a tiny tiny space for the suction of the fan to pull stinky air through the cooltube it will smell. Thats why it's better to just push the air over, it still keeps the bulb cool as long as you have a suitable fan. For a 600w i would reccomend 440cfm. Also using a bungie cord and hanging your inline fan will reduce vibrations a lot more than concrete. Plus you want your fan at the top of the room anyway since thats where the hot air is. You won't need a fresh air intake as long as you have a small crack inthe door. The nevative pressure from the fan pushing air out is going to pull fresh air in from the crack. Inline fans aren't cheap and there is no sense in spending another 70 bucks if you don't need to. What are the dimensions on the floor? It looks like you could fit 4-6 plants in there pretty happily. You could build a scrog on each side and leave yourself a foot to shimmy through to the back. I would just fill it up and drag your plants out when you need to. It's worth it to just fill up the space. With your sq footage though it's probably better to just do one full cycle rather than a perpetual. You could easily pull out a couple pounds which i would hope could last you another 4-5 months until you harvest again. You may as well fill up your space or you will regret it once you've smoked your whole harvest and have months to go until the next. I learned that one the hard way.
Basement. yeah. That's warmer than outside right now though. May drag it out to get some sun after this next cold snap. We should be heading out of the worst of winter here soon. The fan I got is a Ventech 440cfm. So that would work. I just hate taking up what little head space I'm going to have with the fan. I'm willing to put the intake (filter) there. I'll have to see what it looks like once I get the light up. Good point about the bungee's though. I do plan to ScrOG and have been giving some thought to a modular system using square plant caddy's and a PVC frame that ends up about 15" square. (1 plant) I could do four of those in there and be able to shift them around pretty easy. Going to use smart pots and a SIP type setup for watering.