Yes a passive intake is what I’ve always done. In my case various diy flap systems that get sucked open when the out-take fan comes on. There are lots of ways to light-proof the ducting.
Building a grow room advice
- Thread starter ZoomZ06
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Gabby987
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Outside vent goes to veg room. Duct work with extractor ( just a booster fan) goes from veg room to flower room.
There was a slight glare coming in from the duckwork into the flower room, I put a black stocking on the end of the duct. Solved problem, and looks sexy.
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- #23
ZoomZ06
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So for my case I could have my exterior walls, put a 2 inch gap then have my interior walls and I could use that gap to be the passive intake fresh air? And just run vents from the interior wall to the gap instead of directly outside?
do that on my flower room space right now. it's just a small personal space for my parents and myself. technically room in room. we use the wall gap between the studs as an air column. that is what it is called.
hole at the top on the outside, hole at the bottom on the inside. distance between the two is a natural light trap.
edit: gonna edit to say the air column pulls from inside the building. pulling from the outside could create a situation where winter / summer air could be a plant killer.
always pull passive air from inside the building. what you are doing is letting the building's hvac condition your air. solves piles of problems. you wanna exhaust the grow space air outside so the building hvac does not have to deal that load.
kopasetic ?
Southerncough
Well-Known Member
Also, a small detail that could totally make or break your operation...since you will be passing through the great outdoors to enter the grow, some sort of bleach shoe wash and/or a shower for those entering the grow may be needed to keep unwanted guests and their eggs from getting tracked in.
Just saying maybe plan for some space and plumbing for that part of the build if you feel it necessary
Just saying maybe plan for some space and plumbing for that part of the build if you feel it necessary
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- #26
ZoomZ06
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Sorry I should have been more clear lol my house is also in the middle of this 16 acre field
My idea now would be to have a walk in hallway and on one side have a smaller size veg room, in the other side a changing/storage room and then at the end of the hallway would be the entrance to the flower room
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- #27
ZoomZ06
Well-Known Member
Yes that makes sense lol that way the air in the chamber can be brought up to a consistent temp before entering the room. Also would be filtered before entering the roomdo that on my flower room space right now. it's just a small personal space for my parents and myself. technically room in room. we use the wall gap between the studs as an air column. that is what it is called.
hole at the top on the outside, hole at the bottom on the inside. distance between the two is a natural light trap.
edit: gonna edit to say the air column pulls from inside the building. pulling from the outside could create a situation where winter / summer air could be a plant killer.
always pull passive air from inside the building. what you are doing is letting the building's hvac condition your air. solves piles of problems. you wanna exhaust the grow space air outside so the building hvac does not have to deal that load.
kopasetic ?
- Thread starter
- #28
ZoomZ06
Well-Known Member
Another thought that has just crossed my mind is watering all these girls. Doing it manually is going to take some time so I have thought about doing an auto pot system. I understand how they work and everything, what I can’t wrap my head around is how it works for feeding schedule. I run my plants on a f/w/f, how would I achieve that through an auto watering system when the soil would never dry out to know when the feed cycle is done? I feel like just running nutrients the whole time could cause a hot soil problem, or am I just over thinking this? Or would going in a larger scale, would it be wise to switch to hydroponics? I have had a couple sativa edibles so I’m feeling quite thoughtful
Another thought that has just crossed my mind is watering all these girls. Doing it manually is going to take some time so I have thought about doing an auto pot system. I understand how they work and everything, what I can’t wrap my head around is how it works for feeding schedule. I run my plants on a f/w/f, how would I achieve that through an auto watering system when the soil would never dry out to know when the feed cycle is done? I feel like just running nutrients the whole time could cause a hot soil problem, or am I just over thinking this? Or would going in a larger scale, would it be wise to switch to hydroponics? I have had a couple sativa edibles so I’m feeling quite thoughtful
we mixed enough feed for a single watering. ran it out on the pumps to 1/2 inch lines, which fed spaghetti lines to individual plants. mix up a barrel, flip the switch, turn it off when the barrel was dry. re-mix for next days feeding. we didn't bother with computers and stuff. super easy, never fail.
I turned my shed into a grow room. The most important part is the electric. What Amp your box is rated for & how much electric you'll be pulling into that grow room. Have you calculated that to see if it's even possible. I was able to run 6/2 wire with a 50 Amp Breaker but couldn't go past that & will probably never use over 30 Amp at a time. But my shed is more like 8' x 12'.I guess a little more info would have been more useful for all of you lol
It will be a separate building. We will be building it ourselves. So my thought was for it to be insulated up to house coding obviously and using the same dry wall as you would in a bathroom to prevent mold. Also would most likely be adding reflective material/Mylar over top of the dry wall. There will be absolutely no windows, and one way in one way out to eliminate any possible chance of light leaks. for the flooring, my first idea would be to use basement sub flooring to give a bit of a raise to the floor in case of any water leaks it would keep any damage minimal. Then I top of the sub flooring putting a linoleum over top.
@Weaselcracker yes I figured I could use it as a storage room as well as the veg room that way I can utilize as much space as possible in the flower room.
so I guess some of the questions I’d be looking at would be ventilation set up. I’d assume a wall extraction fan would be best for exhausting hot air out, but would I also need an intake fan to bring fresh air from outside the building in? I know I would need a smaller CFM rated fan for the intake to be able to maintain a NPD inside.
For controlling temperature I figured I’d get a portable a/c unit or 2 to control the cooling side and would a couple decently sized space heaters for heating. Would that be ideal? I imagine installing an a/c and furnace would be overkill.
Sorry for the long winded message, just trying to cover as much ground as possible
I live in AZ. so I insulated every wall & ceiling. I went straight on top of that with Bath Board (water proof 4' x 8' white paneling) & then covered that with Mylar. With my 8000 BTU window AC & 117 F outside I have no problem keeping temps 68 - 77 F.
You mentioned a Veg & Flower Room only. No little clone area or place to keep a mother ? Or just keep the mother in the veg room ?
Why buy heaters & a portable AC. They have portable AC's that have AC, Heat, Dehumidifier & Fan. I just ordered a 12,000 BTU one since they were on sale now.
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- #33
ZoomZ06
Well-Known Member
Electrical is not my forte lol I’m a mechanic so everything I know about is complete opposite, we use DC. I know a few electrician buddies who will have no problem helping out. I do know is we will be building a barn as well and will be running a new power line off the street to that. So my assumption is I will have more than enough available. This is all in very early stages so advice in every field is welcome lol somethings I have yet to put much thought into such as the electrical
As I do more and more research I’m thinking a sealed room would be best and just have an a/c unit and air purifier instead of dealing with ventilation outside. I mentioned heater just because I do live in Canada and being as this will be a year round adventure, I wasn’t sure if the lighting would be enough to keep temperatures up especially during light off periods in the winter months. It can get down to -35°C ish where I live
edit: I would imagine an 8x9 area would be sufficient for a little cloning set up and room for 1 possibly 2 mother plants. My thought would be having 2ft wide tables/shelves around the perimeter of 3 walls which should give enough space to have 50ish veg/clones. If my math is correct that’s work out to 42 sq ft of growing room on the shelves and leaves me a little work area in the centre
Electrical is not my forte lol I’m a mechanic so everything I know about is complete opposite, we use DC. I know a few electrician buddies who will have no problem helping out. I do know is we will be building a barn as well and will be running a new power line off the street to that. So my assumption is I will have more than enough available. This is all in very early stages so advice in every field is welcome lol somethings I have yet to put much thought into such as the electrical
As I do more and more research I’m thinking a sealed room would be best and just have an a/c unit and air purifier instead of dealing with ventilation outside. I mentioned heater just because I do live in Canada and being as this will be a year round adventure, I wasn’t sure if the lighting would be enough to keep temperatures up especially during light off periods in the winter months. It can get down to -35°C ish where I live
prairies here. sask.
edit : you probably have enough power service in the house. we hucked breakers in a couple blanks for dedicated circuits and built separate distros run off the 50a dedicated circuit. the distros had their own breaker boxes as well. can use stove or welding plugs - as main to the distro. everything is kept safe and clean power wise.
i worked on show production. it's similar to how those are powered.
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- #35
ZoomZ06
Well-Known Member
I’m sorry like I said my house electrical fails me lol what is a distro? A distributor?
slang for electrical distribution block / box. think portable breaker box with outlets etc wired direct from it.. creates two levels of safety. same as taking a feed off your main breaker box, and putting in a second smaller one..
you aren't increasing the amount of power coming in to the house, just wiring a second box. pretty much the same thing your electrician will probably do.
Pretty much the same as adding a sub panel breaker box in your shed as I did. I live in a manufactured home so I have the electric pedestal out back which my 6/2 wire runs to with the 50 Amp Breaker. I didn't mess with the breaker box in the house at all.
However, I do need to do what Bluter said because I grow in the house sometimes.
But since you're having a pole put in you can probably get more than a standard 200 Amp Service Box used on houses.
You may want to run 240 V also for your lights to save on electrical cost.
However, I do need to do what Bluter said because I grow in the house sometimes.
But since you're having a pole put in you can probably get more than a standard 200 Amp Service Box used on houses.
You may want to run 240 V also for your lights to save on electrical cost.
200 amp still works on average houses but most large or custom homes now utilize 400 amp service with twin panels
exact same. just portable. the sub trips before the main panel breaker taking the feed.
