A few questions from a first timer

[PicApartPixls]

Greetings all!

I am currently assembling a box for my moms, clones, and veg which will house a 4ft 6bulb commercial t5 which I already purchased. I have already made the box and it has dimensions of (WxHxL) 24"x36"x51" or 2'x3'x4'3". I have already constructed the box with a 2x4 frame with metal supporters and am using siding for all six walls. Since I am using wood and humidity is a given I have painted everything with kilz premium primer which protects against mildew and what not. I am currently on my second coat on all pieces but plan to do a third (because of my perfectionist side). I can throw up some pictures if needed.

I am going to create a second box which is 4'x4'x6'ft which will be my flower room with the same process as the box above (primer coated with Kilz). I will have a single 1000w in the flower room with a vented reflector hooked to a carbon filter. I haven't made this box yet so pictures aren't available. I could however draw up a schematic real quick if it helps.

I chose to make a box instead of going with a tent because I have access to all the free wood I ever need and have the tools and know how to create a legit box. I plan on lining the flower box with either mylar or poly but not sure if I'll need to since the Kilz is white. The only thing I question about the Kilz is how reflective paint surfaces is compared to poly or mylar.

Here come the questions, most deal with ventilation at this point:

- I plan on lining the boxes with either mylar or poly but not sure if I'll need to since the Kilz is white. The only thing I question about the Kilz is how reflective a paint surface is compared to poly or mylar. I'm sure mylar beats it outright but not sure about poly.
- Will running a 18/6 light schedule in a box that houses veg, moms and clones interfere with any of the later? Like lets say clones wouldn't survive on that light cycle but moms and veg would do fine or moms wouldn't do fine and clones and veg would?
- Ventilation is where I have come across various discrepences in how to calculate what size and CFM fan you need... How Much Ventilation Do I Need in My Grow Room? That article states that you times the cubic feet of the box or room you need by five and that is your required CFM implying that you would be recyling the air in your room about 5 times per minute in your box. Another place I came across stated that you dived the cubic feet of your box or room by 5 to get the CFM you need from a fan, implying that you recycle the air in your room about once every five minutes. These figures dictate quite different figures and VERY large different figures when it comes to prices of fans to consider.... I plan to overshoot my ventilation needs regardless in case of temperature problems later down the road. If anyone could give their insight on these equations and possibly your experience with ventilation requirements for a similar sized tent, room, or box would be appreciated.
- I have heard about passive ventilation but am not quite sure the best way to go about it. I'm thinking that for my mom, clone, and veg box passive intake would be ideal since the size of the box isn't very large. I'm assuming that I would want to exhaust from the top of the box (heat rises) and place a hole at the bottom of the box (cold air sinks) with some form of filter to keep unwanted things out. I'm not sure that a passive intake for the larger box will work because of the size hole that would be needed without light leaks.​

I had a few other questions that I thought up before posting this but after jaunting all of that down I seem to have spaced them.... Any help on any of the questions is appreciated!

 

[MILF]

hey man, i was reading over your post and i figured i would try to help you out possibly but considering im new to this as well i dont want you to think my ideas are the best im still learning just like everyone else..and i also figured since no one else had anything to say i thought i might kick you some of my thoughts

first off i want to say next time you start a thread dont throw so many questions into one post because its a little overwhelming for people or they are just lazy or too stoned haha and considering im the only one who has replied i think i might be right.
anyways heres my thoughts (im going to answer them as you asked them (if i can) haha

1.)if im remembering correctly that paint is "flat" so honestly you wont have to spend any more money on reflective material UNLESS you are really trying to reflect as much light as possible but i have seen many grows with flat white walls and they are still growing dank pot. so if your like me and want to save some moolah then i say stick with the paint.

2.)as far as the lighting goes it could be on all 24 hrs and it wont do any harm..basically in a nutshell more light equals more growth (considering the plants stage of life) obviously if your trying to flower the hours of light are important...but in this case your not, so 18/6 is harmless to your clones/mom/veg

3.)i had a lot to question when it came to ventilation but as of right now i feel like i know what i need to know. lets say in another world where heat wasnt an issue to the ladies, we would only have to recycle the air once every five minutes (im guessing because it takes around 5 min. for the leaves to use up all the Co2 around its perimeter. which then means it would have to be replaced) but because heat is an issue to the ladies we have to keep the temps in a specific range..but its hard to do that when your in a space that has an HID releasing all this heat. so one way to combat this is to vent hot air out and cold air in. and i think i remember you saying something about a 1000w which im guessing is an HID your obviously going to have to worry about heat which in turn means your gong to have to circulate the air more than needed to combat this. Thats why they say to times your cubic feet by 5

4.) your ventilation idea for your smaller box is fool proof so stick with it, just remember if your going to use a passive intake the intake should be a little bit bigger than the exhaust. But as far as ventilation for the bigger room im sure there is a way to use a passive intake that cuts out the possibility of light leakage...just look and ask around. just thinking about it i thought of something..perhaps you could cut a hole in the bottom of the room (obviously) haha but then get a foot of ducting and stick it through the hole which will cut out most of the light im sure....but since we both have a perfectionist side i figured you could somehow paint the inside of the duct black and that will significantly stop light from bouncing around the inside of the duct and prevent it from ending up in your room

i know i dont have all the right answers but i hope i helped you out a atleast a little haha

 

[PicApartPixls]

Seems I can't edit my initial post so I'll throw it here!


If you have any answers to just one of my questions please feel free to share. You don't have to answer all in one go! Thank you and your advice and input are much appreciated.

hey man, i was reading over your post and i figured i would try to help you out possibly but considering im new to this as well i dont want you to think my ideas are the best im still learning just like everyone else..and i also figured since no one else had anything to say i thought i might kick you some of my thoughts

Thanks for the indication of your experience level! That's a very respectful thing to tell people that your semi new to this as well.

first off i want to say next time you start a thread dont throw so many questions into one post because its a little overwhelming for people or they are just lazy or too stoned haha and considering im the only one who has replied i think i might be right.
anyways heres my thoughts (im going to answer them as you asked them (if i can) haha

Eh may or may not be true. I tend to throw many questions in one thread not expecting people to answer every single one just ones that they may or may not have experience with. I'll throw a thing at the top of my initial post that states that I suppose.

1.)if im remembering correctly that paint is "flat" so honestly you wont have to spend any more money on reflective material UNLESS you are really trying to reflect as much light as possible but i have seen many grows with flat white walls and they are still growing dank pot. so if your like me and want to save some moolah then i say stick with the paint.

I do want to save some money because the initial investment is quite large even for a small grow op like I'm planning. Once I start getting some return on my investment this will probably be one of my first upgrades is either mylar or poly.

2.)as far as the lighting goes it could be on all 24 hrs and it wont do any harm..basically in a nutshell more light equals more growth (considering the plants stage of life) obviously if your trying to flower the hours of light are important...but in this case your not, so 18/6 is harmless to your clones/mom/veg

I was reading the Do Roots Really Grow In The Dark? article by SmokeyMacPot and from what I took reading all the posts there is that allowing them to rest for 6 hours cuts down on electricity costs and gives the plants time to rest and do their thing at night. The main aspect that I wanted from the 18/6 schedule was to cut electricity costs to be honest but if other factors weigh in on it then it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

3.)i had a lot to question when it came to ventilation but as of right now i feel like i know what i need to know. lets say in another world where heat wasnt an issue to the ladies, we would only have to recycle the air once every five minutes (im guessing because it takes around 5 min. for the leaves to use up all the Co2 around its perimeter. which then means it would have to be replaced) but because heat is an issue to the ladies we have to keep the temps in a specific range..but its hard to do that when your in a space that has an HID releasing all this heat. so one way to combat this is to vent hot air out and cold air in. and i think i remember you saying something about a 1000w which im guessing is an HID your obviously going to have to worry about heat which in turn means your gong to have to circulate the air more than needed to combat this. Thats why they say to times your cubic feet by 5

4.) your ventilation idea for your smaller box is fool proof so stick with it, just remember if your going to use a passive intake the intake should be a little bit bigger than the exhaust. But as far as ventilation for the bigger room im sure there is a way to use a passive intake that cuts out the possibility of light leakage...just look and ask around. just thinking about it i thought of something..perhaps you could cut a hole in the bottom of the room (obviously) haha but then get a foot of ducting and stick it through the hole which will cut out most of the light im sure....but since we both have a perfectionist side i figured you could somehow paint the inside of the duct black and that will significantly stop light from bouncing around the inside of the duct and prevent it from ending up in your room

i know i dont have all the right answers but i hope i helped you out a atleast a little haha

Thank you for your input on the ventilation issues. I was talking with a buddy of mine that grows and he stated that there aren't any equations that will give you your exact need for ventilation because there are so many factors that come into play. Some he stated which are in line with what you state are: heat from the lights, heat from the ducting being dispersed into the box, altitude (he lives 2,000 feet higher than me so its generally about ten degrees cooler on the same day), the temperature of the air being pulled in to cool the room (i.e. hot air being pulled into the room will not cool the room as well as cooler air), and outside temperatures. His main advice was to overshoot by a lot on size and power of fans because you can always buy a fan speed regulator later but can't make your fan more powerful later.

I really like your idea about the ducting and possibly painting it black to remove reflection possibilities. The second you brought that up in my head I was like yea I'd do that but probably paint it black and then got to your sentence where you said that exact thing and had a small chuckle.

Thank you for your input!