Ok , so I have started to design my grow cab. It will be 6' wide x 3' deep x 6'6" tall. There is an exhaust vent from an old heater on the wall that goes into the chimney, I plan to vent through that by way of 3 fans over the light on a duct system. Will I need to cut holes in the bottom for fresh air? What lighting would work best for this situation hps/mh/cfl??? will I need a CO2 added? Should i paint the inside white or get mylar? The floor has room for 12 potters 1'x 1' apart with a 2'x3' table on the side with storage under it. I will also place bars on the walls or a chain system to adjust the lights. The box is right next to my circuit panel and it has a gfi receptacle on a 20A breaker just below it I plan to use for power. I live alone with my wife and have very few visitors. The grow cab would be in the finished basement which is already pretty climate controlled. Here is a rough drawing for what I am thinking of. Yes its a drawing, I didn't use paint, I guess I am just old skool! suggestions?
Nobody has anything to say....... It sucks It won't work it's cool it's good to go ANYTHING???????????? I am new to this and just trying to find out if I am heading in the right direction. I want this to be done right. Thank you for your help blades..................
Everything you've got so far will work. You've got the really basic stuff organised. What lights are you thinking of using cause you're gonna need some legit lights if you're going to grow that many plants. High Tech Garden Supply I haven't done the wattage per plant or anything but at a guess you'd need three of those... I'm building a pc grow at the moment thats just got 4 cfl light bulbs and a red/blue ccfl so you could just go nuts with cfls. But you'll probably end up using the metal halides, tried and tested and you'll find plenty of info on here about em. However, they are outdated technology and the efficiency of leds or cold cathode lights is hard to beat. Your power bill will thank you for two reasons... both of those types of lights produce a lot less heat (which saves power) thereby reducing the amount of venilation/cooling you'll have to do, saving power on fans. definitely hang your lights on adjustable cables from the top of your grow box... did you say its 6 foot high?! Hope that helps. You thinking soil? Cause a nice little bubble system woul work well there.
Thanks for the input Yeah is said 6' high, I got plenty of space so I said why not. I figured it would be more air and more room to dissipate the heat Yeah I was planning on soil, I was a little nervous about jumping right in to hydro. I am not sure about lights yet , I was thinking HPS and MH , but the T5's look tempting. i like the idea of the leds, but they are a bit expensive. I will definitely rig something up to make the lights adjustable.
With your ventilation questions, as long as you have a fan forced intake and a carbon filtered out take you'll minimise smell and there'll be plenty of fresh air to grow. Make sure theres a fan inside to move your leaves around a lil bit. Fair enough on the leds being expensive, they do have an average lifespan of 25,000 hours. So you won't need to replace the bulbs.
Looks good bud, you can pick up a 400 watt mh/hps for about $150 if youre tryin not to spend alot of money
Youre taking your chances buying refurbished, but you got the right idea, i didnt notice if you could run metal halide bulbs on it or not.