Need input on new grow room setup - probably hydro!

[boxpipe]

Hi Folks, a friend of mine just got his card and has asked my help setting up his new grow. He's got a 7'x15' room with a 5' ceiling (crazy, I know). See the following pic for an idea how it looks now (yah, that's a 5' foot guy standing there).

The first 5' we expect to use for equipment & supplies. That gives us a 7'x10' space for flowering plants (veg will be in a different room). Obviously we also need some room in there to move around and tend to the plants.

The idea we have so far is to put two rows on each side with a 3' space down the middle for maneuvering. Then use an NFT affair for the plants, possibly getting 20-40 plants in. We would use 600W on two movers, one on each side.

So I'd love to hear some ideas on a setup. Lighting, type of hydro system, number of plants, etc. Thanks in advance.

(We're pretty set on a hydro system, but I'm open to other ideas.)

 

[420fied]

With NFT/Aero you'll need a res and that will put the pipes up off of the ground a good 2 feet. That means your plants will have to be kept tiny(5' ceiling)....

My advice is a 12 site Ebb and Grow. That way your buckets are on the floor and you dont have to worry about ceiling height.

Love the mover idea... hydro is the way to go.....40 would be crammed in a 7x10....20 sounds much better.

 

[boxpipe]

Thanks as always, 420. What I was actually thinking was to put a small drain tub at the end of the NFT troughs and pump it from there back into the main reservoir. Just need a failsafe in there in case the pump fails. Don't want to flood the room.

This way I keep the troughs as low to the floor as possible.

 

[420fied]

Yeah but to utilize your tub you'll have to raise the troughs up high enough so that the res can hold enough water to spray your plants. Follow me?

 

[Flurple]

good luck on whatever you end up doing. just make sure you plan it out and understand the system. my dad wasted about 1500$ online buying pumps pipes nozzles and a bunch of other crap that didnt even work because he didnt take the time to look into sprayer systems and examine specs or requirements
he bought really nice expensive high pressure nozzles and then a cheap ass 1200gph pump i think it was 15psi=epic fail. and he had already built the resivoir and pipes and drilled the holes... for about 2 weeks it was build up, take down, buy stuff, build etc.... got very expensive and stressful. dont just reach for the sun, climb a hill or a tree first then reach.

good luck man

 

[not1ofu]

I am currently on my first grow in 35 years. It is an ebb and flow system. I have 2 closets apx. 30" X 60". The grow trays are 24" X 48" With a 35 gallon reservoir apx. 26" X 32" X 12" which will slide through the doorway, the grow tray sits on a shelf 17" off the floor. I think you really need to rely on gravity as a fail safe,(the reservoir underneath). I plan on having 6 mothers in each closet and in the future I will use a 10' X 10' room for flowering and cloning. I currently have a 400 watt MH in the closet which I may change to all cool white fluorescents for temperature control,that is what I'm using now for my 1 month old seedlings (in dirt). I was amazed at how well and fast they were growing under the cool whites,(about $1.10 per bulb for a case of 12) I'm using 6-40 watt bulbs and I will probably add some "Son Agro lights for a more full spectrum. When I put my babies in the closet with the MH they started shooting upwards, that's why I want to switch back to the fluorescents, I can put them closer to the tops and they will bush out more, in theory. If you are absolutely limited to 5' then you may want to go dirt. The reason I wanted to go hydroponic was so I wouldn't have to spend too much time on them, but as it turns out I am checking on them several times a day. My hydro is actually not in use yet until my premo seed roots have filled the 3 gallon container they're in. I use the same nutrients in dirt as hydro. I also lined my closets with Mylar. I plan to partition off the flowering room with skinned foam panels, I plan on using contact adhesive to apply Mylar to them. Also if you really want to get the proper equipment I would try to find a local supplier, you can always shop online just to compare prices. A question I would like to ask is about how far from say a 400 watt MH should the plants be? I found used ballasts with new combo bulbs (MH or HPS) and bat wing reflectors on ebay for around $130.00. I guess I'll have to buy a new camera so I can take pictures.

 

[420fied]

I am currently on my first grow in 35 years. It is an ebb and flow system. I have 2 closets apx. 30" X 60". The grow trays are 24" X 48" With a 35 gallon reservoir apx. 26" X 32" X 12" which will slide through the doorway, the grow tray sits on a shelf 17" off the floor. I think you really need to rely on gravity as a fail safe,(the reservoir underneath). I plan on having 6 mothers in each closet and in the future I will use a 10' X 10' room for flowering and cloning. I currently have a 400 watt MH in the closet which I may change to all cool white fluorescents for temperature control,that is what I'm using now for my 1 month old seedlings (in dirt). I was amazed at how well and fast they were growing under the cool whites,(about $1.10 per bulb for a case of 12) I'm using 6-40 watt bulbs and I will probably add some "Son Agro lights for a more full spectrum. When I put my babies in the closet with the MH they started shooting upwards, that's why I want to switch back to the fluorescents, I can put them closer to the tops and they will bush out more, in theory. If you are absolutely limited to 5' then you may want to go dirt. The reason I wanted to go hydroponic was so I wouldn't have to spend too much time on them, but as it turns out I am checking on them several times a day. My hydro is actually not in use yet until my premo seed roots have filled the 3 gallon container they're in. I use the same nutrients in dirt as hydro. I also lined my closets with Mylar. I plan to partition off the flowering room with skinned foam panels, I plan on using contact adhesive to apply Mylar to them. Also if you really want to get the proper equipment I would try to find a local supplier, you can always shop online just to compare prices. A question I would like to ask is about how far from say a 400 watt MH should the plants be? I found used ballasts with new combo bulbs (MH or HPS) and bat wing reflectors on ebay for around $130.00. I guess I'll have to buy a new camera so I can take pictures.

Depending on the lighting system you have a 400 can be placed anywhere from 12" to 20" above the tops of your plants. Obviously, If you have an air cooled hood you'll be able to get it closer. A regular reflector with no air cooling will need to be a little further away.

If you can put your hand on the top of your plant and it doesn't get uncomfortably hot, then you should be OK. I use dual 600's and keep them about 14-16 inches away from the tops of my plants and my reflectors are not air cooled. However, I do have a 5k BTU AC feeding the room so that helps. There are always lots of variables.

Good luck.