1st background. I raised a 210 gallon reef aquarium for 3 years w/ 3-250 watt HQI's. The tank thrived and I had all kinds of corals that were picky. We sold the house 3 yrs. ago and along with it the aquarium. I don't know if any of you know anything about reef keeping, but it's hard. It's almost a 7 day a week constant attention type of thing. So recently we discovered the absolute joy of weed. I have bad arthritis and I can take 8 percocets a day and it doesn't have near the affect of one of my wife's cute little brownies. I digress. I live in the sticks in New England. I have an employee getting me stuff. The first batch was full of seeds and sticks. Not twigs. $60 1/4. I complained and the next batch had 1 seed and no sticks. Good stuff. Here's my question. Finally! When we built this house, we put a broom closet in the hallway that backs up to my bedroom closet.My wife has her own. Twice as big. Anyways, the dimensions of this closet are as follows: 57" one leg, 44" next leg, 15" next leg and and diagonal back to the 57". According to my calculations and I think my geometry is good, it is approximately 11 sq. ft. Odd shape, but it has a couple of real advantages. 1) If we close off the door from the hallway and put a hidden door in my closet, this grow closet would be dead in the middle of a super insulated house. Now this closet has a 6" return duct that goes back to a 3.5 ton Lennox A/C w/ odor and germ filter system. Is this closet big enough to grow enough just for myself and my wife? If I use a Vortex and a Can carbon filter and hook it up to the return on the A/C, will that suffice? I'd like to use a light I found at one of the growers that is about 18" long and has three BIG CFL bulbs. I'd like to keep the elecricity as low as possible. We run the A/C environmental filter 24/7/365 so that closet return will always be active. I own the house but it's a duplex with non-drinking/smoking/toking friends downstairs. Will this smell get thru my plan? There's already a 15amp and a 20 amp electrical line in there. All suggestions welcome. I spent over $10k on my aquarium. I can't do that now, but I only want to grow the BEST I can get my hands on.
Well, I know I can grow a plant in there. But I gave the dimensions to see if anyone could tell me how many plants I could grow in there. And my BIGGEST concern is can I vent into the A/C vent return. See how it's also got an air purifier system buillt in. Oh and the big Central A/C is only on our floor. Just a little 2500 sq. ft. retirement apt.
Depends on grow style. You could partition the closet in 2 parts and have 4 vegging and 4 flowering nice and big or I am sure you could SOG or SCROG a bunch more. All depends on how much you want. I am just vegging 3 and flowering 1 at a time since its just for me. A 2500 sq ft APARTMENT? My 2 story 5 bedroom house is 2300 sq ft and plenty of room. The master walk in closet is a small bedroom itself.
That 2500 sq. ft. is just upstairs and doesn't include the attic. Downstairs I have a 2200 sq. ft. apt. and a 600 sq. ft. w/ 3 garages. I only ask about the size because I have alot of options and that closet just popped into our mind as an afterthought. I was thinking of adding a 4x11 extension on my office that is part of the back attic, but That would entail far more work and money and I am having trouble with how to vent the room. And the back area is not heated. And it gets very cold in the winter. I need this to be a TOTALLY stealthy grow, so although that closet is odd shaped and small (11 sq. ft.), NO ONE would know it was there unless they dug out my closet to get to the door into it. And again it has that A/C return for ducting????
I would still use a carbon filter before sending raw exhaust out the A/C return. Never know when it would get "full" and need a filter change itself. You could definitely use it as an exit to boost pull from your scrubbed exhaust.
Well, that helps. Actually, using my architect plan, I might be able to expand that closet at the expense of mine..... I'd love to hear any more opinions about the A/C return. Now, can you build a good carbon/air scrubber yourself? I built my acrylic sump for my reef tank and my own protein skimmer. I built the skimmer for about $150 and to buy the exact match cost over $800. Does anyone have a list of everything you should have to grow a quality grow? Also, how does everyone buy their seeds and supplies? I'm slightly paranoid about paying using a debit card. I don't have any other plastic. My wife said you could buy debit cards like phone cards and pay cash. Does that work. Are they traceable?
I have seen a post here and a few others elsewhere on how to DIY a carbon filter. Soil, water, nutes, lights, circulation, and exhaust are the main points. 100w per plant or 5-7000 lumens per plant is a good rule. Red spectrum for flowering and blue for veg. Soil or rockwool/hydroton setup is your pref and you will need nutes accordingly. PH and TDS meters are needed to test your water. Exchange air inside grow area 1-5 times a minute and have a circulating fan to blow across the tops of the plants to keep them cool and strengthen them. Exhaust to keep smell, temp, and relative humidity in check. I got my beans from High Grade Seeds. Sent cash and got a few bonus seeds. I dont see why a debit card/visa gift card bought with cash wouldnt work either but cash is least traceable.