Just playing the what if game- If you could design your set up all over again, knowing what you know now, how would you do things differently? I’m talking layout, space, electricity, ventilation, security, equipment, etc. Id like to hear about it all!
I’m about to start framing out a space in my basement, and kind of have a blank canvas to work from and would like to hear from y’all about things you think I absolutely need to consider, and what are some traps or pitfalls to avoid?
A couple parameters for my own space I have- id like to have a veg room/cabinet to keep a mother or 2, along w space for cuttings and rooting clones that are getting vegged. And my bloom room is going to be pretty small bc to stay legal I’ll be keeping it at 5 plants total. Interested to hear if you had a blank slate to work with, what direction would you go?
You have got the 3 main rooms, you will need a place to dry it once harvested, which be the coolest room. A sink and taps close bye is good, and whatever size your thinking of making the rooms, double it lol. Its nice to be able to walk around without having to keep moving things, in and out.
If you gotta keep it to 5 plants, you’re gonna want some big plants. Flowering just one or two at a time will require some extended vegetative time. If you’re growing one big plant under, say, a 600 you’ll want at least 2.5 months of veg time. Invest in a larger veg setup, accommodate a 2-3 larger plants, your mother, and any clones. Invest in stronger vegetative cabinet lights to grow larger plants rapidly. Under a 1K you’ll probably need at least 3 months veg time for 1 very large plant. Think 20 gallon Rubbermaid Brute trashcan with one real big scrogged plant.
Alternately, you can run longer flowering varieties that grow quickly and need less vegetative time.
General Advice: Use more airflow than you think you’ll need. Frame more space than you think you’ll need. Use more light than you think you’ll need. Any basement can handle a 600HPS, and most basements can handle a 1K with no additional inputs like A/C. You’ll need inline fans of course, but the only other HVAC at that level you’ll need is maybe a dehumidifier, but that’s not really an issue out West as it is in the East.
More wattage means more moving parts. I don’t know how much wattage you were planning on running, but a 220v 30 amp dryer circuit can run several 1K lights. I run my my single 1K off my washer circuit (120v, 20 amp) and my 315 cmh veg tent on a separate 120v 15A circuit.
I would plan a lung room for everything to save having to get separate filters. I am still trying to figure mine as I need a drying room and now a third carbon filter and more fans. If I planned from the beginning bring with my layout and a lung room would have saved a lot of $$$.
Lung room meaning a room to pull fresh air from and through your fans? Sorry, been ~15 years since my last grow and never heard of the term lung room used.
Basically a room that pulls air from all the rooms and filters it unless smell is not an issue for you. It would just need to be large enough for the carbon filter and fan that would be sized for all the rooms/airflow you need. Also you could mount it the best way to minimize noise as well and free up space in the grow rooms.
This is what I’m talking about! Pretty sure I’ll be able to make this work with what I’m planning. So, a room that has a big fan sucking air into it and thru a filter that’s pulling air from whatever rooms need odor control? Yeah I can make that work for sure
I am working on a Basement setup as well I plan on setting up a large filter with a 10" vortex inline fan and possibly a hepa filter to bring cold air into my room, another 8" inline fan pushing hot air out. I am going to be using two 315 CMH and two LED no size specific yet on that part i want to buy the panel LED’s, there is so much to research on LED’s compared to HID’s.
Also I live in Washington state, I have my medical authorization to grow cannabis what I am changing from my past grow op’s is the rush factor we have all been there. Also going back to organic’s Which I have always used in conjuction to hydroponic nutes. my room size is about 8ft Wide by 6ft height ceiling which is kind of a pain.
So I have that also to factor in. every grow is always different unless you buy your own house and setup a permanent grow which I am working towards being a home owner so I can enjoy life more so.
2 315CMH and some LED in flower probably won’t require a 10" fan. I like that you’re planning for a bigger grow someday. a 10" fan is going to move a ton of air, over 1000 cu. ft./minute at full speed.
I have run very expensive LED lights and relatively cheap HID lights, and the bud isn’t even comparable. The LED product was awful. No weight, no real frost, next to nothing extract yields. LED is fine for veg, though.
2 630 CMH units will provide more than you and all your buddies/family can smoke and will be perfect for a canopy 3x6 ft. Cooling 2 630 CMH units will be of no concern with all that airflow you’re planning. Then you’ll still have space in your 8x8 room for another veg area.
The only thing I would change is I would enclose my heat sinks so the heat is vented directly out of the tent. Preferably this would include a way to damper or adjust in some way that provides the ability to fine tune ambient tent temperature. Other than that, I would change nothing.
Hey vernal, not looking to start arguments or derail the thread but there are a lot of people who would take exception w the LED statement you made. I have no dog in that fight, never ran LEDs myself so just looking for some perspective from you and others as to the real viability of LEDs vs HPS for flowering.
(Hoping I don’t release the hornet’s nest w this post!)
I’ll back that up my only journal on here and ever is my first round using any kind of LED lighting and I was not disappointed for a fuck around run. Only thing that did surprise me was the heat but is what it is. I think it just depends on what kind of LED you’re using and how many watts etcetc
Some say that photos shot on film and vinyl records are still superior also, different strokes for different folks I guess. Personally I wouldn’t go back to HID if you payed me, but that’s mostly about heat and power prices in my part of the world.
The results I personally get are better with LED in pretty much every way, and the only time I have had density issues is when running cob lights that pump out the heat. Now I have a fuckton of strip lights it’s not an issue.
Of course, feel free to DM me if you wanna know more about LED/HID debate and my 2 cents. I am merely sharing my experience. I have nothing to gain by admitting I bought a $1000 LED light and the results were so poor I had to sell it at a significant loss after 1 cycle. I don’t sell HID lights for a living. Others can take exception, I only care about results, not feelings.
You seem concerned about heat, but you really don’t need to worry about heat in a basement with 5 total plants unless you’re growing Heath Robinson-style indoor trees with serious wattage. From what I gather, you have an 8x8 space with a 6ft ceiling you can frame up for this? What’s your electrical/outlet situation looking like? Do you have a drain in the floor or a basement sink? Do you have a moist basement or does it stay fairly dry? What’s your rough budget for equipment?
Running 3 1meterx1meter tents. All daisy chained together via ducting blowing thru a 6" carbon filter. 1st tent in the line is the clone and drying tent, next will be the flower tent powered by 4 Qb96V2elite. I will probably run 16 2gallon coco DTW bags. Tent 3 will be the veg tent powered by 2 of the QB96V2elite. And from there the exhaust/filter.
I would like bigger tents or use more of the room I have. If I had the room, I’d get 4 huge tents at least 4’x4’. 1 for veg and autoflowers, 1 for flower, 1 for a mother plant, and 1 for drying, quarantine of males or other problems that may arise.
Space is my issue and with what I know now, I want more space to grow in. I would also like to grow or start growing plants that repel pest and other issues naturally. That would be neat. If I had that space i’d probably also look into better fans for air movement.
So I guess if I could design my set up over again, it would be to allow for more space.
there is not much i can change about my grow … i flower in a 30 x 30 shower stall …it was the only space i had that i was not using …and was out of the way. i have been adding things as i go to make it as nice as i can …just put in a net thingy so i can spread my plants out …am currently growing a sour diesel that takes 12 weeks to finish and it tends to get to tall and the buds so heavy they fall over …so i am trying this in hopes it will work for me …my indoor grow experience is limited since prior to this i had a greenhouse … whole different set of challenges in this
