New guy from east Texas

Ryn0nTX

Ryn0nTX

Well-Known Member
i just moved to east Texas on a 30 acre spread. My wife and I are aggressively learning gardening for all vegies/fruits. Part of the plan is a grow room to maintain and enjoy some of our favorite fruits year round.

I have the room somewhat started. I started by putting together a simple DIY aeroponics system in a tote. I've learned a lot over teh last month, but my questions are getting deeper as I start to prep the room for a more valuable grow. :)

I have quite a few questions about ventilation, lighting and more. Please look for my posts in the (hopefully) proper threads. I look forward to conversing with everyone here.

~ Ryn0
 
Ryn0nTX said:
i just moved to east Texas on a 30 acre spread. My wife and I are aggressively learning gardening for all vegies/fruits. Part of the plan is a grow room to maintain and enjoy some of our favorite fruits year round.

I have the room somewhat started. I started by putting together a simple DIY aeroponics system in a tote. I've learned a lot over teh last month, but my questions are getting deeper as I start to prep the room for a more valuable grow. :)

I have quite a few questions about ventilation, lighting and more. Please look for my posts in the (hopefully) proper threads. I look forward to conversing with everyone here.

~ Ryn0
Click to expand...
Welcome to 420.
I’m originally from North Dallas area, but have family in Lindale, Mineola, and Tyler.

What questions do you have?
 
Welcome @Ryn0nTX , all answers documented within! Every mistake you can come up with has been made here already. CHeers mate, gl with your grow! :yahoo:
 
Thanks everyone! I will get some pics posted later today so everyone can see what I'm dealing with in regards to the room and the simple little system I've been testing with.

Here is the video I followed for my first tub...


I have a 60x40' workshop and the previous owners of the home/property built a one bedroom efficiency apartment in the workshop. They lived in the apartment while constructing the house. The apartment is now my office. BUT, it has a separate laundry room that is completely enclosed. I have, plenty of electricity (there is a 100a circuit running to this room), water supply, drain and an existing 4" vent at the floor (dryer vent). *EDIT: The laundry/grow room is 10'x6'*

This weekend, I'm touching up (sanding and filling any imperfections) the unpainted sheet-rock and painting with a quality flat white latex paint. I am also putting down epoxy on the floor for durability and easy cleanup. I would like to hear the different thoughts just on those two items. I'm just going by research that I have been doing online.

I am a controls/automation engineer and I have access to incredible control systems along with the know how to program all the relays to do whatever I want based on any number of inputs we can think of. Initially, I plan on automating lights and humidity. I plan on full automation, but that's where I started scratching my head while reading yesterday.

I have a large in wall A/C unit that I planned on permanently mounting in the wall to service the room. I also read a lot about venting. If I have this unit that will get the supply air from the workshop and send the exhaust to the same, do I still need vents? I would like a charcoal filtered exhaust for odor, but I'm not finding any clear answers.


Here are a few more questions I'm pondering....
- I bought a FAMURS SAMSUM COB X3 Series 3000W Triple Chips LED Grow Light Full Spectrum Reflector Grow Lamp from Amazon. The Amazon reviews were great, but after buying and then searching for any external reviews, I can't find any. I have several different plants in the tub now and the leaves keep bleaching out and feel dry. I have the light 40" from the canopy and have tried many things. Any thoughts? I need one more light to complete this room, should I get rid of this and buy a different setup?

-Algae....I had an algae attack inside the res about two weeks after starting it up. I realized the yellow lid was too translucent and for now, just covered it in foil. After cleaning the res and changing the water, I have the Algae under control. But two of my net cups that are filled with perlite. Both have cucumber planted in them and the algae attacked the perlite. Now its turned black and I haven't tossed them because the plants are booming! Should I still scrap them to be sure the algae is gone? What are your tips in dealing with this?

I will leave it at that for now. I can't wait to get everyone's direct feedback. We are really excited to get our first grow going! I'll be posting the pics in just a bit.
 
heya texas,, cheers to ya

i know some folks vent into the same room they intake from,, we is looking for air exchange here,, if your intake is from a 60x40 workshop, i would think that is tons,, of course, any space needs some fresh air , for you to breathe too

there are electronic folks on here, or was anyway,, that fully automate everything. guess it's fun for y'all,, a new motto maybe

aint it great to automate..

ha,, cheers friend,, i am from way up north but spent plenty o time exploring texas,, near every inch,, just loved it all,, cept waco maybe,, that a bit weird

oh,, the one thing about an a/c unit is the exchange part needs to be outside,, it produces lots of moisture.

there are fully indoor a/c units tho,,
 
nivek said:
heya texas,, cheers to ya

i know some folks vent into the same room they intake from,, we is looking for air exchange here,, if your intake is from a 60x40 workshop, i would think that is tons,, of course, any space needs some fresh air , for you to breathe too

there are electronic folks on here, or was anyway,, that fully automate everything. guess it's fun for y'all,, a new motto maybe

aint it great to automate..

ha,, cheers friend,, i am from way up north but spent plenty o time exploring texas,, near every inch,, just loved it all,, cept waco maybe,, that a bit weird

oh,, the one thing about an a/c unit is the exchange part needs to be outside,, it produces lots of moisture.

there are fully indoor a/c units tho,,
Click to expand...

Thanks Nivek, cheers to you as well. My thought on venting the A/C with the interior shop air is due to humidity. On a good day here it's around 70-80% but on most days its over 85%, especially summer. So the air in the shop will be less humid to begin with (its well ventilated). The A/C will drain into a drain that I will extend directly to the A/C so there is no mess. It's the same drain the dehumidifier will drain to.
 
Nice to see a fellow Texan on the site! I'm from Corpus Christi. Welcome to the site, everyone here is very helpful. There is tons of experience on this site. Definitely start a journal, it will easier to offer help on your "growing":laugh: experience. Cheers!
 
AC units don't exchange air through the wall. Your supply air and return air are both on the indoor portion of the unit. The exterior is just for cooling the condenser. The water that drains out is the condensate from inside that collects on the cold evaporator coil.

A few relays a thermostat and a humidistat and you can run dehumidification and cooling with the same unit.

You don't need "vents" if you have AC, but you will need co2 if you don't have fresh air exchange.

You can just run a fan with a carbon filter on it somewhere in the middle of the room and that will scrub the odors.


Flat white is good. :thumb:

You'll want better lighting. Quantum boards are great, diy strip lighting is as well and costs less but takes a little time.

Some algae on the perlite won't be the end of the world, it will obviously continue to try and grow, as long as it doesn't get out of check your fine, it doesn't eat much.
 
Canadadoes said:
I also have built one of these systems, have not used it for anything yet, I did test it though. I found the “micro-nozzles” I purchased didn’t look to be fine enough on testing. What size orifice did you use? And is your res tank separate?
Click to expand...

I made holes to accommodate 3" net pots. I used 1/2" pvc across the board and the sprayers I picked up from Amazon.
xGarden Green 360 Degree Micro Sprayer Fan Jet Hydroponic Aeroponic Misters

A lot better deal than the local hardware store.
 
Canadadoes said:
I almost have the exact setup, although I did use 3/4 in PVC, which could attribute to the nozzles not spraying a fine mist. Does your seem to spray as droplets or mist? And what size pump did you end going with? if you don’t mind me asking
Click to expand...

it's definitely a spray, when they aren't clogged. The folks that made the video even replied to a comment of mine and said they never have a clogging issue. it seems that the nutes are building a film inside the pvc that eventually breaks loose and jams the sprayers. Also, I have three net pots with perlite. I bought the wrong perlite (fine) and it also seems to find its way through the pump bag and clog the sprayers. I'm re-building this system this weekend with more filtration. I'll let ya know if it helps.

I did have to up-size the pump after the first try. I'm using a 500gph submersible fountain pump that I picked up from Lowes. It could easily run to or three totes at a time.
 

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