Hello, im new and been skulking around... quite an impressive amount of info and help on these forums. Ive had one small grow in the past and it was nice, nothing fancy. I have a nice space in my basement, unfinished cement walls and floors with exposed joists above with some plumbing. the whole area is 16' x 9' (144sqft) and 7' high... I plan on making 2x4 walls/floors/ceiling with plywood/osb sheathing and wrapped in mylar... I plan on making 3 "rooms"... 1st room is the flower room with 2 x 1000Watt hps/mh with e-balasts and a SCROG setup, organic soil in fabric bags... thank you to Marapa, i learned a lot from your posts... 2nd room is the work room where I plan on having all the wires, ballasts, and "other stuff" as well as a small bench to do the cuttings, mess with soil, vent the rooms to... 3rd room is the germination, seedlings, clones and mother room running on flourescents... I dont have a great idea on the design of this room beyond a shelf type system with germination on the top, seedlings in the middle and mothers on the bottom... i think... My first challenge is building the walls... I dont quite know how big to make each room... im kinda handy, i learn a lot by doing, but that takes longer and is often more expensive... i dont know the shortcuts yet... the seeds are on the way from 3 different places, so hopefully the all make it... ANY HELP WITH MY DESIGN WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED... i felt i had to yell that, sorry. How big should I make each room???
I'm right there with you bro. Been building my own as well. If I learn anything I'll pass it along. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
I would start with basic house framing...Studs at 16 inch centers..Same with the ceiling. Frame the whole square room in and then measure it out. You dont need allot of space for veg at all compared to flower. so think about how many plants u need to have in veg and flower at each time and litteraly draw the pots on the floor with chalk or something just so u can see how close things get, and if u may want to shift the rooms a bit...I would then put up the center walls. I would now set up fans and wiring so u can run all the wires behind your walls to keep things tidy and clean, unless u plan on just installing outlets right into your walls. then i would do that instead at this points..then i would either hang drywall or ply wood for the walls..and seal the seams (dont want air leaking in where it aint supposed to be). the rest should be pretty straight forward panda film the room install lights to existing wiring installed earlier, let the room run a few days to lvl out temps. Then get the babies in there !!
Thanks for that good info... That's the plan... I'll snap photos all along... I got the lumber, I plan on using OSB/plywood then putting Mylar over that... Any ideas on good ways to seal the seams on the plywood walls? Will the Mylar on the inside be good enough? Also, should I put a floor down (studs/plywood) or just leave the concrete? I've heard reasons for and against both... It's getting easier to picture in my head now and my seeds "should" be arriving in the mail in the next week or two... I am so stoked!!! Now to get to work...
to seal the wood i used chulking then just polyed over and taped the seams really well with white duct tape. In my own personal opinion i would install a floor (studs ply wood) and poly it also for easy clean up. also u can help add a passive air intake if you build it correctly. If you want u can get real fancy and build on a slight slope and a a drain to collect run off from your plants and u can re use to save on costs.
Cool, thats good stuff... definitely gonna put a floor down now, poly it cause im a mess anyway! thanks for your help!
Great idea! You can also consider some type of waterproof flooring paint such as you would use in a garage. I'd put in a drain in the case of a raised floor. It will make it easier to flush, and it's a place for any stray spills to go. You can practically make it automatic with a slight angle (not a LOT!) in your floor. I'd say raised back to front so you can put a drain plug in the floor right near the door. You DON'T want moisture under the room too far back where you can't dry it or clean it out. Just an idea, I know water in the grow room is bad!
Yes stagnant water will cause mildew and mold...HUGE NO NO will destroy crops. But as mentioned if u add a slight angle u can use it to ur advantage, 1) u can collect the run off and re nut and re use 2) u dont have to empty run off trays under ur plants after you water them the run off just rolls right on over to ur collection spot 3) after u water you plants and do your work the floor is a little moist and easy to give a quick dry mop for clean up. But these are all things that i would be thinkin of on a larger scale grow..if you had to water 10 plants then trim and such this would be a needed mechanic to save time for sure.
Thank you all for the "tilt" floor idea... I want to keep the plants on the floor as my ceiling will be 7' and I'll be working with about 8 plants in a SCROG... Sound like a good thing to incorporate... I can shim under the subfloor with cheapo shingles I have lying around... You all are super helpful! Can I really re use the run off from an organic grow? Makes sense... Maybe I should keep it to make a tea?
dont get water on the floor, I have a bunch of plants and water on the floor is not a problem. 1,000 watt lights tend to dry things right up. I changed to hydro and its so much cleaner.
Snoopdog6502 I saw that in your journal... I liked the popcorn buckets you used with soil, but I was really liking the DIY bubble buckets I saw in another thread... I can't wait to finish my room and get a few grows under my belt so I can see what works and what doesn't... Thanks a bunch, man!
the pocorn buckets are just under 2 gallon, great for autoflowers and sea of green. Dollar store score. I own about 50 of them. I know how to grow cheaply, well lights and power are the big cost. How is you electrical? you will want a sub pannel. I put one in for less than $150 and is good to 7,000 watts running 110 VAC or 14,000 running 220 VAC. get that lined out good. I used #4-3 copper cable 30 feet for $100 and ran off a 60 amp breaker to feed the sub panel with up to 6 circuits. View attachment 1376808
Holy shit you rule! You just saved me huge amounts of time looking all that up... I was just making a list and "figure out sub panel" was the first thing on it... BOOM... Cross that off!
$17 for a load center. you will need the big breaker from you main a 60 amp is about $30-40. Power cable is $3-7 per foot depending on size. breakers on the small end are cheap $4-6 bucks for a 20 amp. get some 12-2 wire romex you will need more stuff thats small. boxes and recepticals. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D-by-Schneider-Electric-Homeline-100-Amp-6-Space-12-Circuit-Indoor-Flush-Mount-Main-Lugs-Load-Center-with-Cover-No-Door-HOM612L100FCP/100149777?N=5yc1vZbm2w from there you can run all the outlets you will need for a while.
Thanks for the leg work... I have a bunch of romex and cable left over from other projects... I plan on a floor style a/c, prob won't need a heater since I'll have 2x1000w hps... Assorted inline fans and assorted fluorescent on the veg side... What else, hmmmm... Looks like your set up will have me sorted out nicely.
Good look buddy! Thanks... The great North East and where we are is a brand new medical state with the laws still getting worked out... But all it takes is one cowboy to jam up my investments... Thanks for real!
I really hope you're going to own this home for a while... you're doing a ton of work for the next grower who buys it.
I like your plan and your style... I intend to do the same in a few years. I had a nice setup, but unfortunately, the divorce... need I say more? I'll get back to it, soon!