This my first thread, and I have finally decided to start my own grow room. I have 2x 1000w HPS for flower, 400w HPS for my mothers, and 3x 48" fluoros for the clones. The 2x 1000w HPS are under a 10' x 3' 9" area below. The flowering room will be light tight with mylar all around. Lights will be set for 12 hours on 12 hours off with CO2 released 2 or 3 times a day. Next, the clones are in a 4' x 3' space under the fluoros with lights on 18/6 cycle. And lastly my mothers are under a 400w HPS in a 2' x 4' area with 18/6 as well. I am running my flowering cycle so I can harvest every two weeks, which are represented by the different colors in my pictures. The plants being flowered are all on a ebb and flow system, but I was wondering if maybe you guys could give me a tip on which water system is best for clones/mothers. Check out my pictures and tell me what you think. The ratio's and proportions are not exact, so please do not message me back saying my lights are too close to the ground, it is just a rough sketch. Key: Lightest Green - Flowering 0-2 week Light Green - Flowering 3-4 week Green - Flowering 5-6 Dark Green - Flowering 7-8 Red - Mothers Orange - Clones *I have two fans running on both sides of flowering room, along with another one in the veg room, and fans connected to the 1000w HPS to help keep room cooled down. *The machine in the flowering room is a dehumidifier, do you guys think these are a good idea to have? Thanks. </H1>
it looks good, for a grow that size you planning on using co2? it seems like you are going all out so might as well throw that in the mix. besides that love using the sketch up, i use rhinoceros before each grow setup to dimension out the equipment. plus rep
I am curious as to how you will get your power. That is an aweful lot of juice required to do 2000 watts plus whatever overlap you have with your veg room time, adding those watts in too. Just curious. Looks killer.
Thanks yeah, i forgot to mention i am going to saturate the room for a certain amount of time with co2, while the lights are off. What im am curious about though is what ppm (I think thats the measurment it goes by) I should set my co2 tank at, and how often i should turn it on and for how long? Do you think a 1000w HPS is enough light to cover a 5' x 3' 9" space growing on semi sog?
Well, that acutally was another one of my few problems. I hadnt really gave it much thought, but do you think that is too many watts for 1 rooms worth of outlets?. Should i get curuit breakers or something? Anything would help
I haven't used CO2 yet, but from what I've read around the forums it seems like get a ppm monitor/controller for the tank and set it for around 1500ppm for the best results. These are spendy tho, which is the biggest reason I haven't ventured into that territory yet. I've read that it isn't very effective if you are trying to do it manually. Also CO2 is heavier than most of the gases in the air, so make sure it's coming in from a high place in the grow room, away from intakes, so the leafs get the benefit from it.
Great points Version. Yeah I saw the 1500ppm a couple times so its good to hear it from another person. But im still not sure how often they should turn on for and how long. And do you happen to know how much these meters go for or should I just look around? Well I'm not sure if this is high enough, but check out this picture and tell me if you think it is, the tube is around the outside probably halfway up the vegging plants and comes across 4 or 5 times to make sure the plants in the middle get CO2 as well.
Plants need oxygen when the lights are out. Use it during the lighted times. Distribute co2 from above the plants on the ceiling is great. A fan in the interior is needed to keep that air circulating. In your size grow, a co2 generator would work best; One that burns natural gas or propane (whichever your house is plumbed for) 1500ppm is the number, right on. If using a generator (co2) you will need a meter ($400 or so) to turn the unit on and off at preset values (1500ppm) If you are sealed up tight using AC, you can use a formula to fill the room with Tanked Co2. Just search on google for "co2 flow meter ppm calculator" and somthing should come up for you. I have a link but it is on my other computer. I think that is too many watts for one house as far as a power bill is concerned. There is just no way to offset that kind of usage and it will look fishy to the electric company. If you can afford a grow like that, you can afford a $6000 generator to power it from natural gas or propane (again whatever youre plumbed for)
Oh I always thought you wanted to release the CO2 when lights were off. I guess not. And I know that fans are good to keep air moving, that is why i have 2 on both corners of the room, do you see them in the picture? I have been looking at some CO2 generators that run on either propane or natural gas, and they seem to be running at around $300 - $350, so then would i have to buy a meter which would be another $400, so like $700-$750 total? Does the quality of the bud really go up using CO2? Also, if this is too many watts for one house, could I run like half of my op on the generator, and half on the electric bill? or just all one big generator? Because generators are pretty loud and obnoxious.
Yeah thats what i thought, i mean i know power bills vary in each state, but how much do you think 2400w would set me back each month? You guys think a dehumidifier is necessary for this size op?
the rule is usually 1000w per room in the house as long as you have 3 bedrooms in your house it shouldn't draw attention due to electricty, just pay your bill on time. one 400w and cfls was around $30/month, so I'd guess around $125-$200
Well there is certainly nothin stealthy about an extra $200 a month on an electric bill just showing up. You can get some pretty quiet gens. The inlaws have one and when the power goes out, it it no louder than a brand new Cadillac running in the yard, quiet. Natural gas usage is not as monitored, neither is propane. You could do half and half. But on that scale I'd do it all on gen. Personally, I'd say if it is a residential area that you are in, that is too much power consumption to be run on the electric company's power. Maybe it's just paranoia here. But Just looking out. Maybe offset the usage spike by dividing you single flower room into 2 flower rooms instead of one, and have them on opposite lighting cycles, then at most you have is 1400watts running at a time.
Alright. Well I have been reading threads about how some people think that the electric bill companies really could give a shit less about how much power your using, as long as they get their money on time. Is this true? And have you happen to read anything Don has said? what do you think of the generator idea?
Thank for the info on that. I was looking at some gens, and how many watt gen do you think i should go with, so I dont have to refill the propane like every day. Also, dont those size gens tend to get pretty hot? If I were to soundproof my gen room could the sound be mostly covered up? I just dont want to listen to bbbrrrrruummmm every day. Good idea on the offset, i might look into splitting my veg room up, but i'll have to check with my space restrictions. *Most of the gens i see only run 11 hours half load with a 20lb tank...thats a lot of reffilling dont you think? a lot more suspicious.
You'd need one that can put out around 4000watts. And you could run the exhaust outside and have the gen indoors in a soundproof room. I was thinking about outdoors. No noise inside that way. Do you not have access to natural gas there?
Outside? But then what if the neighboors hear it? And i am not sure if we have access to natural gas. I live in SF Bay, California. I'll look and see. Also, what about how the gens only run for 11 hours on one tank of propane?
If you are in the Bay area than you probably have PG&E as you electric supplier and there is absolutely no issues with an increase in your bill .... as long as you pay it. PG&E has repeatedly made it clear that they will only allow access to their customer information if the LEO's have a warrant for a specific address and consumer. Although PG&E are great to work with as far as not monitoring usage they also have some of the highest rates in the country ($.42 a KWH with high usage). Barring use of the California "CARE" program your increase with 2500w is likely to be closer to $500-$600. I assume you have or are going to get your 215 recomendation? With this in place you should have few worries with LEO's but still need to keep good security against theft and home invasion.
Yes, they do have some of the highest rates in the country, but I was thinking of moving up towards Arkada or Humbolt. Or down towards Arizona. I am not sure yet, but which might you think would be the best? And I am not sure what you mean by my 215 recomendations? If you could please elaborate, thanks