First, a short intro. this is not my first rodeo. I'm a caregiver for a med cardholder in a very liberal state, complying with all state laws, so secrecy isn't much of a concern for me. that being said, Hi All! i've recently decided to tear up my entire room and start from scratch, and was wondering if anyone here would have any input to increase yields, efficiency, and lessen upkeep time. I grow in recirculating bubble buckets of my own design. Basically bastardized a waterfarm and made my own buckets without the hydroton. Hate that shit. One control bucket, and another bucket to supply plain water to keep water levels proper. Use pool noodles as "media' to keep heads above water. I've completely torn down the opaque black plastic (wood floor underlayment works great for this, if you need it) lined with 1 mil mylar, and the 3 600 watt lights I had running inline with cooltubes to a 4"vortex fan in a 5X8 area in a shed in my backyard. Was getting lots of bud, but lots of loose scraggly crap because lighting was inefficient, I was getting light leaks through the plastic, and there was not enough watts per ft^2. I was also constantly fighting outside critters like spider mites and whitefly larvae, and it was just getting to be too much for me. I've since decided to go with a 4X8 area, 70 inches high. This is mostly for convenience, as sheets of plywood are exactly that size, and I am 5'9" tall, and can walk around inside without stooping. This also gives me enough wattage per square foot for dense nugs. As you've guessed, i'm completely boxing in my main flower area with plywood and 2X4s to get an absolutely light-tight and air-tight seal. And to keep the exterior mother nature type critters out. Organics has its place, but not in my damn shed! As i'm re-doing things anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any tips for light placement and orientation, airflow management, and general grow room management from an efficiency point of view? Thanks in advance, and pics of the area will be forthcoming, once I resize them. thanks again for reading all the way through a tolstoy of a first post! moonie
Couple of specific questions I have moving forward with this... btw, sorry not pics yet. still on the cam... Anyway, what is the best orientation to hang the lights for highes efficiency? Inline is easiest to run the 6" ducting for the cooling fan, but that seems to lose a lot of light to the mylar and force it to reflect back. Would hanging the lights transversely be more efficiently lumen-wise, even though I have to throw in some 180* bends in the cooling the cooling air? I have also heard good things about running them hanging vertically from the roof with no reflector at all. While a pain in the ass to keep cool, I'm sure i could figure something out. Any ideas on this one? Next post involves cooling air, but i'll hold off for a bit on that one