okay, so i have become possesed with the passion for growth and self sustainment - you all know it. my back aches from the countles computer hours going through growshops and forums and i go to sleep thinking about solutions and salt flushes. and during this past two months of furious research and killing around twenty bag seed seedlings with poor soil, window sill light and crap water i have dizzyd myself to confusion and would appreciate a back board to bounce some ideas off before swishing into production of my first final grow space... so heres how it stands. when i move place in the next weeks there will be a little storage room off the kitchen measuring (approx) H-2.8m, W - 1m, D - 1m - or 9' x 3.2 x 3.2. if my calculations are correct then thats 93 ft3, but im still foggy on calculating volume. it dosent work out right in meters (most likey as i am a spaz) and would appreciate any clarifications... the bad thing about this room is the walls are concrete, one is an external wall (cold) and another is next to the back stair way of the appartment block (smell). (i was wondering if white flamingo (polystyrene) slabs could be put on the walls to serve as insulation and reflectors?) the good thing is that the room is close to the cooker wich has a fan which is vented into a chimney. the vent tube is close to the grow room wall and i wonder if this would be safe to connect my extractor fan outlet to? would this mean i could do away with a carbon scrubber (good) or would it mean id flood the upstairs flats with a smell of delcious herb (bad)? i have possibly jumped the gun and ordered a 600w balast and phillips son t pai bulb with out ordering an extractor. but, again, due to calculation method ignorance (not for want of looking) im unsure how to select the best fan. if my room is almost 3 cubic meters (and i dont know if it is) do i really need a 400m3 ruck can kit? should i just vent the light, or the whole room? the other option is to build a cab in a seperate room to best suit the light. i want to grow as much as i can with the light i have. im game for sog and scrog if i have enough power. i plan on eventual MH bulb for veg and lil tubes for seeds/clones but dont wanna climb any higher on the Watts scale so no more big lights. how big can i go with this? these are some initial ideas and questions ive been a-pondering and would like all you well worn vets and better read new grows to kick them around a little with me and see what we can shape. im not lazy and links to relative information will be read throughly. i thank you all in advance and yell a mighty hail to this united cannabis comunity HAIL! cheers tsk
OK, here goes... If the room is 2.8x1x1m then you have 2.8 cubic meters (that 1x1 footprint makes calculations very easy). That storage room sounds pretty good except for the stairs. What is the ambient temp in there? Does it get heat from the living space? No way we can tell you from here about odor control, you'll just have to try it for yourself. You might be able to tap into that vent hood exhaust line, just so hard to say from an overview description. If you are concerned about odor then vent the whole room not just the light. Use a carbon scrubber, and if you are worried about odor seeping up those back stairs you could hang some activated charcoal in stockings in the grow space to passively clean out the smell. Not familiar enough with polystyrene. Cover the walls with mylar or paint them bright flat white, or put up some kind of polyboard that is bright flat white. To properly vent the room you want a fan that pulls out the room volume at least three times a minute, so you would want something rated for at least 9 cu m/min. Good luck with it, sounds like a great little space. Oh, and put a lock on the door!
waah, questions answered in under fifteen minutes. big cheers for toastybiz! more detail: thinking about it, the room must be beside and underneath the stairs, the stair case being spiral, but the walls are very thick, concrete. i dont imagine theres much heat in there but im yet to live in the space and so its all just guess work the now. though smell is a concern im more bothered about getting enough fresh air for the plants as well as regulating the temp of the 600w. and id like to experiment with extra co2 but dunno how much would be needed to compete with the final venting amount (however much that is) or whether it would be worth it if the light aint strong enough for the space... is the answer in thermo timers for the fans? is it in a bigger or smaller space for the light? is it in the bottom of my wee bag? oh no, thats something else. speaking of which... tak once more toastybiz tsk
I'm using a 600 w hps and believe me you won't want to insulate the room the heat from they things are tremendous good luck by the way, I'm on my first grow and I'm using an nft system but since I didn't think of buying a meter to read the nutrients I aint getting the full potential as I'm scared of flinging too much nutrient solution in, still I'm going to buy one on monday. I hope you get as much enjoyment as I have had watching the little buggers grow
i dunno what an nft system is but i aint got one. nor do i got a nutrient meter. all the things to get... but i was checking out supernatural terrapots and theres a pack with six pots of soil, a heap of hutrients and a free patented nutrient wand (retail value 40 quid) all for about 170 british pounds. the terrapots look amazing for growth results, but then only in their own advertising. ive not read any reports on them yet... good greens to your grow Tevion. thanks for the word on heat. how big is your grow space and how many plants?
my grow space is about 6" high by around 4" x 4" currently I'm growing 10 plants but they are unsexed so I expect around 5 to be females and the old bin for the rest. An nft system is short for nutrient film technique basicly it just pumps a film of nutrient solution past the roots constantly giving them plenty of access to air the plants can take as much water and air as they need, my main reason for going nft or hydro was basicly the problem of getting rid of the used soil and also carrying it from shops to home. I must say I have no regrets about going nft even if the plants all die from now till then, I have just learned so much over the past few weeks many folk would or will say its madness to jump in as I have especialy without neccessities such as a nutrient meter but to be honest I think it would be madder to continue buying weed at the extortianate prices that it goes for and we all have to start somewhere even if that means a load of dead plants. Monday will be my 5th week of veg, I plan to start flowering on the 6th week so I have started reducing the lights by an hour a day until next saturday when they will go in for 36 hours of darkness then 12/12 till the good times roll lol. I wish you every successs with your grow but don't underestimate the smell its pongy stuff, if you can vent it all the better don't be put off though if worst comes to worst you can always chop the plants until a solution is found all the best
okay, hydro. i can understand that. im starting with soil as its the old fashioned way and its a good place to start. and ive read plenty of convincing material that suggests you dont have to dump it and it can be reused as long as its flushed and mixed with bone meal/blood meal/perilite etc. three little birds, who i susspected are seasoned vets, said they are still using the same soil after possibly hundreds of grows. and the terrapots also claim to be totally reusable, as well as being semi hydro. check out http://terraponicseurope.com/default.html hydroponics sound a little trickier than dirt, though i know neither medieum is easy to begin with. more power to you tevion for jumping right in. ive been reading like nympho shags, but the difference between knowledge and experience is uncalculable. thats why newgrows like us end up on these forums with our clean nails and eager questions to those who are knee deep and green fingered. i dont reckon your mental for jumping in head first. full respect. and im aware of the power of bud funk and the nessecity of ventilation. i just wanna get the right thing for my space. i guess more is better, but i dont wanna suck the floor boards up. still, gotta do all the right things wrong before i learn to do em right. let me know how the grow goes tevion. best of bud to ya
Cheers tsk, I aint no expert on growing as you know but from what I was told and from what I have read soil should only be used once but hey your at the right place for the answers eh, would be good if it is reusable but its too late for me I'm in at the deep end, one thing I havent read much about is the smell from the nutrient solution it bloody stinks man the plants are a nice smell but ugh the nutes are stinking my house out lol. keep us posted on how things go with your grow I would have done so with mine but I use a mobile phone (cell phone) as a modem for my pc as I cant get broadband where I am and uploading things is almost impossible with that type of connection otherwise all my screw ups would be well documented with the evidence posted lol. Anyway good luck with your grow and I will let you know how mine gets on. toke on buddy.
checked out that system looks good man we can only try and try again gaining expeirience along the way, I dare say if you end up getting massive crops that way I will not be to far behind investing in a system such as that. Take care man