Pretty stealthy under the stairs setup

[DutchDude]

Hi fellow growers!

Wow, time flies when you are having fun The grow room is almost setup, so it is time to start documenting what I have done so far.

The area is in the basement, which has a pretty consistent temp of 65 F. The lack of humidity is always a problem here, so I will have to keep a close eye on that, and perhaps supplement with a bucket of water with a fan blowing on it, but I am not that far yet.

The former closet was a mess, so cleaning up is the first priority:

That old moving box dates me I guess

There is a hole on the other side of the closet that goes to the room where the furnace and the water heaters sit. I figure that I can pretty safely vent in there:

To this 6 inch vent hose I have added a lasco blower (see DYI project in signature) which is also attached to a 8"x24" carbon air scrubber:

I have scored some little racks from the second hand store for $5 total, and this is what the current setup looks like:

Tomorrow I will be planting my first grow from their current jiffy cubes into their first 20 ounce hempy cup, I will also have to get another roll of the shiny stuff, and hook up the 250 W HID light to the ceiling. I have placed a fan to the upper left of this picture. The fan is a 8" model that moves up and down for now, while drawing some air from the space between the floors.

 

[DutchDude]

Now it is starting to look like a grow room. Major light leakage around the door that will need to be addressed tomorrow.

 

[LEDman]

I like the setup! Looks clean and simple. Are you planning on going with the one 250 W HID or will you add more light eventually?

Cheers!

 

[Stilletto]

I like what I see.... great area and nice preperations so far. Good job, I will be stopping back to see your progress.
Keep it up

Jonny

 

[DutchDude]

Thanks guys. I think that I will stick with a single 250W HID bulb for this grow. It should be alright, but if it is totally disappointing, then I will probably upgrade by either buying another 250W, or just do a single 600W ?

For now, I need sunglasses just to enter the room if I don't want to see stars for an hour after

 

[NCDude]

Thanks for posting!

 

[ronbowe63]

Nice room. What do you have for room in there?

 

[DutchDude]

Thanks for the comments NCDude and Ronbowe63!

The area is 42" wide, 80" tall at the door, going down to the floor in about 8' (?) I am not using the last 3 or 4'

I also added some more CFL lights, and a humidifier:

 

[ronbowe63]

Sweet area;Good Luck!!

 

[G-Dog]

I had a grow room under the stairs and really liked it. Good luck

 

[DutchDude]

Thanks Ron and G-Dog. So far so good. When opening the door this morning I had a first smell of the things to come. Delicious, and it made me all giddy. Negative pressure with the carbon fan, so no worries there. Somehow I need to figure out how to get a grow/mother area incorporated though.

 

[G-Dog]

Explain how Major your light leak is around the door and you may have some great answers here. We have all had to deal with that. I have put sheets over the door on the inside, that reflects some light back (curtain, sheet, whatever). I have also used inulating foam around door to keep light IN as my under stair area was visible from the general living area. I had to put a lock on my door to make sure some curious little visitor just didn't open it at the unopportune time

 

[DutchDude]

Looks like we kinda went the same route G-Dog. I have the good fortune that my 'under the stairs room' is in the basement, so there is less traffic. I then took the 1/2 foam strip and put it on the inside jam of the door, getting most of the light. There is just a little left on the lower left, under the door, but you have to look for it. Changed out the lock so that it doesn't match the rest of the house. You don't really hear it, there is no reason for kids to go visit that door, and now it does not have any obvious light anymore either. Worked out alright, I think.

 

[DutchDude]

Grow room update: I noticed this morning that things were getting tight with the plants standing on the shelve unit. So, I renovated the place a little bit creating hopefully a little bit more grow space.

 

[G-Dog]

Looks good and healthy down there Dutch. Nice thread

 

[DutchDude]

Thanks G-Dog! Here is an update with the new SCROG in place.

 

[GrowGSL]

Forget a stack washer & dryer! I never saw this setup, but I have seen the washer/dryer in the same space. Holy crap if you live in an apt with the washer setup under stairs , scrap the washer and use that dryer vent for something better! all of a sudden the laundry mat is looking good!

Good luck bro!

 

[Hydrogrown]

Wow man I can't believe this is your first setup. Everything is looking good, nice and healthy. I think the re-arrangement is much better looking, and the scrog is a great idea, especially because of your height problems. I am really impressed keep it up man

 

[lil stinker 420]

thats a pretty impressive setup for the space you have, everything looks real healthy to, i like it.

 

[DutchDude]

Updated picture of the SCROG at 6 weeks of flower, more pics in the first link of my sig: