I have been growing for a couple of years and I finally have the money to be able to step things up and try to turn this hobby into a business. Like most Novice growers I thought I knew everything because I read a few books. HA I know now that I know very little and knew even less before. Anyway I want to set up a stadium grow in my basement. The last time I grew in the basement I had Powdery Mildew and almost lost my crop. Also the flower room would get so cold while the lights were off that the plants grew at an extremely slow rate. I plan on using co2 this time around and running bare bulbs hanging vertically in the center of the room. I also plan on growing in the sub cool mix. What can I do to keep my environment perfect? Can I run a system that heats and cools my room. What should I buy in order to keep temperatures right and humidity and Co2 levels right where they need to be. I never use any nutrients other than what I ammend my soil with at the beginning of my grow. I use everything that the Super Soil mix calls for. Is that enough or should I be using nutes? Any help would be Great! I want to do things right this time!!!
I think CO2 is overkill. It adds more variables that you must control, and it costs a lot of money. Plenty of growers out there don't touch CO2, and they pull awesome weights. It's just one thing that isn't really a necessity. Get an air conditioner and a heater. You can plum a window unit into a wall if you need too, but remember that it's going to pump out hot air from the back and a considerable amount of moisture. As for a heater, an electric space heater should work but beware of how many watts it's using. It can rack up a HUGE power bill. You should run your lights at night if temperatures are a problem. I'd say that running at 60 degrees should be your absolute lowest. You could always brew up some teas to feed your plants. There are also top feeds you can buy or make that would do the trick. I feel like your best bet would be transplanting right before flowering into bigger pots with fresh soil in them. Then do a top dress with some amendments and call it a day! Stadium grows or any vertical grows can get really labor intensive. You can either turn your plants all of the time, or have buds that are biased towards the lights. Other than that, it should be fine. I just know from personal experience that vertical buds look a lot different as far as structure than top lit buds.