Hi, May I ask for some advice? I am going to cultivate MM as a licensed cultivator in Maine. I plan on using soil so as to learn the trade so to speak. I have the opportunity to build a 4x8 (possibly 6x8) with 7’ ceiling grow space in the middle of my basement. My basement is 60 degrees in winter and may reach 65 during summer. I plan on insulating the sub floor with rigid insulation. Also sheetrocking the walls and insulating those as well. My basement has year round ventilation by way of a 4 inch floor drain that juts out the side of a hill (I have pest protection over this). I will also be installing an inline fan for intake and will exhaust odors through a carbon filter which I will then shoot via PVC through a basement window. I have no neighbors by the way. I would like to start off modestly but would like to go perpetual grow ( 1 plant every 3 weeks perhaps? Doable) using soil. Philosophically I plan on using LED (such as Tasty-LED). The reason is for power consumption and minimizing heat build up. My questions are as follows: #1 What layout, given this space, would be the most efficient? Can someone throw me a sketch or photos of their setup if similar size? Would you have one door into 1 room and then another from that room to the other? Could I keep clones and mother in the Veg room too? #2 Would the exhaust fan (located in the flowering room be able to pull enough ventilation through the veg room and then into the flowering room and then be pushed through a carbon scrubber? #3 If you are familiar with the Tasty-LED COB’s which one or (ones would you recommend for the flower room? And I ask the same for the Veg room? I am reading a lot about this stuff but my head hurts over it sometimes. I want to start off right, if small, and maximize this small space. Does anything seem wrong right off the bat? My electrical service is 100 amps. Would this room be able to stay warm in the correct range in winter? Could you furnish particular models and brands and quantities for the room ventilation? Also would I need additional CO2? Last, if anyone in the Portland, ME area would chime in I would like to talk to you as well. Thank you for reading.
The perpetual grow thingie isn't a difficult thing to accomplish once you get all your ducks in a row. If you are wanting to be able to harvest (1) plant every 3 weeks, then you would need a 4 x 4 flowering room so that your flowering room can support a flowering range from 8 - 12 weeks to compensate for the different flowering times a strain may have. Say you have a strain that takes 10 weeks to flower, plant (1) would be put in the flowering room on day (1), then 14 days later plant (2) would be placed into the flowering room, then 14 days later plant (3) would be placed into the flowering room, then 14 days later plant (4) would be placed into the flowering room, then after that, in 14 days you would harvest plant (1) if it's done and also add plant (5) to your flower room. But if plant (1) isn't done, you could have another room 2 x 2, which in my setup I call the extended room, which gives you an added 14 days to finish flowering a plant that isn't playing nice without interrupting your regular flowering schedule. Your vegging room would work the same way. Your cloning room and where you would keep your mother(s) would use a small florescent lighting array. Your lighting schedules for both your flowering and vegging rooms would intersect. So that a growing light would always been on, thus providing the needed heat to raise your growing environment temperature to say in the 68 - 72 range. The only thing that should remain separate is your humidity control. In your case you won't need to worry about dehumidifying because basements in New England never ever create high humidity. As for CF filtering, your carbon filter should be in your main flowering room, then use small booster fans with ducting to push air from your veg room, and extended flowering room into your main flowering room You only vent directly into your flower room from your extended room. But when you vent your veg room into your flowering room the vent gets attached to your CF using a c-band ducting strap, that way the humidly coming from your veg room gets filtered directly into the CF, so you don't screw up your humidity range in both your grow room and extended grow room. You know all that I said may seem complicated, but it's really not. Anyway... if you need some diagrams, I have some that I can share, when I next go up to Portland I could copy them and post them online. I do have a setup like this in the Portland area, but seeing I don't know you I can't really let you see it, but I wish I could, cause seeing it first-hand is always better. As for the Tasty lighting, you couldn't buy anything better, they are very well made, and work wonderfully!
Hi Fataqui and thank you for your response! Your idea about overlapping the the lighting times so that it keeps the space warm is quite ingenious. I will have to remember to not insulate between the Veg and Flower rooms. Also, if you could throw me some sketches of your setup and perhaps some photos would be great too. I understand about showing the space (I haven't even started anything yet and I feel the same way The gentleman from TastyLED answered my query concerning lighting needs but he was recommending more units than I was hoping I would need. Doing a DIY COB might be an option. Are you using soil or hydro? I want to start off with soil while learning the ropes. Given the rough guess off my space 6x8x7, how many vent fans would I need, what size and what brand would you recommend? Is there a way to private message here? If not, I'll just say that whenever you are in Portland, would you be willing to meet over a beer at some point? I have a lot of questions but I don't want to overwhelm you either as I am sure you are busy as well. Thank you again for your response!